Yeah, but if you compare advanced stats such as PER Kobe was far behind T-Mac. Kobe had more turnovers in each of the seasons. Furthermore, Kobe had Shaq to pass to. While that hurts scoring slightly, it definately helps assists. I would take T-Mac because of the better court vision. Both can score and both could defend if necessary. Kobe is a better defender but T-Mac had better length. If only the teams were even
Even if teams were even, Kobe's teams would still be better. TMac was good in the clutch, but he is no Kobe.
Yep. I think Tmac in his magic days was better than LeBron, I dont know about Kobe, but better than LeBron. The leagues changed. Sometimes I can't stand to watch games. LeBron gets touched and he gets a foul, he takes 4 steps for a dunk but its okay because its gonna be in the highlights for nba.com. LeBron was getting superstar calls before he even entered the league lol. Sure LeBron is a great player and hes been great ever since he entered the league but, I just don't think he is as complete as McGrady was. Im just not sold on LeBron jumper, his defenders basically invite him to pull up for the jumper and he still shoots a below average percentage for them. Take a look at his hotspots chart. If I had to choose a player to centre a team around for one year, and it was between LeBron right now and a prime orlando magic Tmac, Id take McGrady. I don't blame LeBron, I blame the NBA.
If T-Mac kept losing in the first round because of bad match-ups, how come his team always seemed to blow leads in the series? Were the match-ups only bad after the first few games? Was Utah a good match-up for the first two games in 2007, but a bad one after that? What about Dallas in 2005? What about Detroit the year his Orlando team blew a 3-1 lead? Did the teams change rosters after game 4?
Exactly, I don't like how the league handles the superstars. They should make them work harder not make it easier for them.
I am not sure PER considers usage at all. When you are in a bad team and the offense runs through you every time, you are going to get both high scoring and high assists. We saw that on TMac in Magic, see this in LBJ and CP3 these years. In comparison, triangle is an equal opportunity offense. Neither Jordan nor Kobe can get high assists out of it. This is evident since Kobe had career season high assists in 04-05, when they ran P&R when Rudy's the coach. This stat also counters your "Shaq to pass" to argument. High usage in P&R => high assists, that has more ground. I don't think PER is a good measure. e.g. It discounts individual assists when team assists are high, now in triangle lakers yield high assists but it's rather evenly distributed on a few players. It's like 8/20 >> 6 / 30. But the team with 30 assists usually run a more smooth and effective offense. TMac was never in Kobe's league in terms of defense. He never had the stamina to do it on both ends of floor. In the only series he tried hard (04-05vs. Mavs). It's obvious he ran out of gas when the series became deep. TMac is long, but he's not as fast as Kobe, or as strong. While TMac can guard 2 and 3, Kobe can guard 1,2,3 and hold his ground well, we saw Kobe guard Rondo all game long, and Melo in 4th quarters for recent playoff. TMac can't do that in his prime. The TMac better court vision is a myth. They tie on career assist number. And had Kobe played P&R all these years, he probably would have better numbers.
It's not just blowing the lead, it's also about not being able to get a good record in regular season. Western conference is tough. But 7,8 seeds only won once in the decade. When TMac teamed YM, I don't think the expectation was 4th seed at best.
Yes he was great but its over now and thats the sad part. He had all the talent in the world and this is how his career plays out hes nothing more than a role player.
I think Kobe D is so overrated now and in the past. I'm not saying he wasnt better than Tracy I just dont think hes that great of a defender.
I think the problem with that is they would discover that many of their "superstars" are not deserving of the label if you don't hand it to them.
yes vujacic, luke walton, samaki walker > mcgrady too. healthy with rings. realize that thread title was how good "was" and the links i provided showed what "was" not what "is".
Its a shame there are still idiots on this board who can't just sit back and appreciate a good player, even if it was only for a small period of time.
Right. We all know he havent been a great player the past few years, but I hate when people act as if he was never a great player.
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I love all of these amazing youtube clips from games before the All Star break. He really did step up when it counted didn't he.....
I love how people who hate TMac can't help but talk about him. We won't him gone they b****....then when he is......they still talk about him. LA
