Both heathy? Yao and tmac couldn't beat utah or dallas Dwight Howard hasn't been healthy and we got to the wcf. The difference is harden is always heathy and he's a leader.
I want options for Harden/Yao, McGrady/Howard, Harden/McGrady, Yao/Howard each option broken into 4 categories, EX: Yao/Harden with JVG, Yao/Harden with Rudy T, Yao/Harden with McHale, Yao/Harden with Adelman. Only then will this be a proper offseason thread. Let me know when it's done.
Too many variables to compare in my opinion. Cant compare just 2 players on a team of 12-15. You also have to look at the supporting cast, the injury bugs, and how those injuries affect the number of wins, which then affects who you end up matching up against in the playoffs. Yao/Mac only played in 2 playoffs together (2005 and 2007). Both 1st Round playoffs exits, but their supporting cast was not nearly what Harden/Howard have had. Howard/Harden have also played in 2 playoffs together. 1st one was a 1st Round exit, the 2nd got the Rockets to the WCF which was a pretty damn stacked team compared to any of the Yao/Mac teams (not including the Ron Artest season).
People tend to forget that Yao's inability to guard Boozer and Okur outside of 15 feet really hurt the Rockets in the playoffs.
Yao's pick-and-roll defense was horrible, and his offense could be completely shut down by fronting. Overrated here big time.
Better yet? Beverley Tmac Ariza DMo Yao vs Beverley Harden Ariza Dmo Howard Who do you want to roll with, if both stars healthy?
The T-Mac/Yao team easily. Better offense and defense. No need to have interior defender to hide Harden's bad perimeter defense. Opponent cannot stop Rockets scoring freely in the post.
That team could've won the championship without McGrady. All they needed was healthy Yao and Mutombo after the 1st round. To me, McGrady wasn't even a part of that team. I disagree with the OP's statement that McGrady was a better passer and had better vision. James has averaged more assists per game and has a higher assist percentage as a lead dog than McGrady did when he was a lead player. Tracy was better at taking care of the ball, though. Harden (2012-2015): APG = 6.3 Ast% = 29.4% TO% = 14.9% McGrady (2000-2008): APG = 5.5 Ast% = 28.7% TO% = 9.4%
People also forgot that they had trouble getting the ball to him in the post And people forgot tracy mcgrady loved to pull up and jack 3s
The moment Dallas realized that Ryan Bowen has no offense, Houston lost 4 out of 5 remaining games. The better team eventually won.
Tmac could have not won a championship for the simple fact he never sniffed the 2nd round when he was a starter. But if tmac fans want to feel happy fantasizing a scenario that will never happen in the history of the universe, do so. The only rockets who have a chance are Harden and Dwight
Really, really, really tough call. Each of these guys are outstanding in their own right. McGrady did things on the court that are so unbelievable that its a shame he didn't win a Championship - or even get out of the first round. We know now that the series against Dallas was rigged - legitimately. We know Yao could smother Dwight and if rated out of 10 at the time and Yao was a 10, Dwight would have been an 8. Yao was also such a finely tuned offensive weapon. What a workhorse! Howard and Harden are fortunate to have Morey working under their reign vs CD. As much as I love Dawson and what he brought to the Rockets, he is nowhere near the match of being able to discover, buy low - sell high, and to put it bluntly, straight up punk other GM's the way Morey does. I think that if the Morey we have today had been doing all of the deals with the McGrady / Yao era we would have had much better teams to compete with and progressed through the playoffs much easier than we did and not have even given the refs a chance to beat us in that Dallas series.
There's no what if olajuwon was healthy and there isn't any moral victory thread for him. Only real victory threads
Yao's pick and roll defense was sooo bad, and it constantly killed us in the playoffs. It was a killer to our team defense. He was just so slow laterally. Can you imagine Yao trying to guard Deandre Jordan? It would be alley oops for days like we had against Dirk last season. His offense was unbelievable, but I think I take Dwight in the playoffs, just by virtue of his paint and PnR defense. T-Mac and Harden are a little harder to choose between. They were both so damn good. T-mac was longer and more athletic, so he could get a shot up over the top a little easier than Harden. He also took better care of the ball. I feel like Harden is better at actually running an offense though. He can get people open looks constantly while still getting his. T-Mac fell in love with a contested jump shot a little too much. All of this doesn't really matter though, because Yao ad T-Mac couldn't stay healthy. I know you say in the OP assuming health, but in my eyes health is a skill. Freak injuries happen, but certain players are definitely more durable than others, and staying on the court is the most important part of the equation. For that reason alone I would pick Harden and Dwight.
