In '08 McGrady played with Yao, Landry, Scola, Mutumbo and Battier and still only had a TS% of 48.7%. In '13 Harden played with Lin, Parsons, Asik,Delfino, Patterson, Morris and Greg Smith and still put up a TS% of 60%. Defenses focused on McGrady? More teams were worried about stopping Yao. Teams were perfectly willing to allow McGrady to fire away from the outside since he wasn't very efficient at it. McGrady had an all-NBA center Yao as a sidekick and Harden had who? Jeremy Lin? Rookie Parsons? McGrady wasn't forced to take bad shots, that's just what he did. He loved to fire away from long range even though he wasn't a good shooter. That was always the complaint...McGrady won't take it to the hoop...he settles for long jumpers.
Pretty much this. Just a few examples that stand out. In Game 7 against the Mavs, McGrady comes out chucking and bricking shots after shots from the outside. He did not even want to take it to the hole. His bricks from the outside got the Rockets in a big hole early which they never could recover from. In Game 7 against the Jazz, while on his own home court, he was chucking from outside with the game on the line. Derek Fisher and Matt Harpring were bullying him in the series. Not exactly defensive juggernauts. McGrady had several inches on Derek and a major quickness advantage against Harpring yet failed to take advantage of both in the series. The guy hated physical play and contact.
Ok, let's see who else is on the list for highest turnovers in a playoff game. Lebron, Duncan, Garnett, Penny Hardaway, Kevin Johnson, Dwayne Wade, Durant,Carmelo, Magic and Nash are all up there at the top of the list. So what was your point again?
I simply disagree with your assessment. I do not believe T-Mac and transcendent and playoffs should belong in the same sentence, ever, unless it was that his overall postseason success wise, was transcendentally bad. Mentioning T-Mac in the same sentence of Kobe and Durant just reminds me of those "Which one does not fit" pictures.
McGrady had an All NBA center to play with. Who was the other offensive option besides Harden in '13? Harden was the entire offense, scoring and passing yet he still was efficient (60% TS%). You can spin it how you like but McGrady didn't like going to the hoop and he settled for long jumpers despite the fact that he wasn't a good shooter. He wasn't good from the field, he wasn't good from the 3pt line and he wasn't even good from the FT line either.
Let's just go back to simplifying everything. Did Tmac make it out of the 1st round? No Did Harden make it out of the 1st round? Yes Harden > Tmac
1) It is hard to compare ts% from different eras when this era obviously awards more free throws and protection for star perimeter offensive players. 2) I agree that Harden takes it to the rack much more than Tmac did. However you do have to factor in that Tmac was slowing down when he got to Houston.
I think you are being a little bit of a cherry picker here selecting McGrady's 2008. Why not select 2005 when they were closer in age? According to BBall reference, Yao did not even play in the 2008 playoffs. Landry averaged 5.7 ppg and Mutomobo averaged 3.8 ppg... McGrady also averaged 8 boards, almost 7 assist and 3 TO's per game, compared to Hardens almost 6 boards, 4 assists and 4 TO's per game. Seems like both ended in a first round exit as well. Also, if you are talking about the regular season, there are plenty of arguments as well.... injuries to McGrady (66 games) and Yao (55 games), 6 players averaging 10+ in scoring in 2013 compared to 4 in 2008. There are more as well..... I am not saying McGrady was the better player, and I actually think that Harden will be the better player when his career is over, if not so already, but at least be fare about your comparisons? You can make your point by comparing the relative body of work without being a cherry picker. Remember, there are only 3 kinds of lies... Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics...
Yes JVG was a factor but even his last year in Orlando I think his performance regressed as his back problems got worse. I could be wrong but I believe this was the case.
I feel that the talent which most folks speak of with regards to TMac is about a certain perception that "this is how a very good basketball player should look like". Seems to imply that Harden doesn't have the same talent. Some talents are often underrated because they are not flashy and seems boring. Case in point: Ability to get to the FT line at a ridiculous rate This basketball play accomplishes so many good things for a TEAM.. - Gets opponents into foul trouble having them play limited minutes - Quickly gets the opponent in penalty situation (although not good for our bigs ) - Defensively set after the FT's - Stops the shot clock and helps if the team is trailing This talent alone out weighs any of Tracy's best talent by a mile as it has multiple positive effects for the whole team in just ONE play. There is a reason why he is considered by a lot of experts to be the true MVP this year. Tmac never even sniffed that honor. When people describe Tmac, they say he was talented. Which really is a back handed compliment that he never reached his potential. Harden on the other hand, surpassed everybody's expectations and still at 25.
