If you replace Kobe with T-Mac, this team would be a “true” title contender. T-Mac has showed me that he has the “talent” to be a superstar, he just doesn’t have the “heart”. You can’t teach “heart” .
Yeah, that's what we're missing H.E.A.R.T. It's not the role players disappearing, the turnovers or the lack of a real defense on the perimeter. It's not the fact that Yao is being abused by Carlos Boozer or the fact that Rafer cannot stop Deron Williams. But Kobe, look at what he did with his lakers over the past 3 years. Now that is what heart will do for you.
No. You also can't teach unselfishness either. Kobe's a ballhog. Why can't you people just accept our team for who they are and not waste our time thinking of all kinds of wacky possibilities. Get real folks. The trade deadline is over with so we can't trade Battier for Barnes. Kobe will never be in Houston. And we are not going to trade Yao for that German choker.
Who's to say Kobe wouldn't have more ego issues with Yao? Actually Yao doesn't speak up like Shaq, so Kobe might pass it to Yao even less. You can't teach heart to Tracy, but at this point you can't teach Kobe to have a brain and trust his teammates either.
Kobe won 3 titles with Shaq, they didn't split up because he had to pass it to him too much, they split up because of off the court issues. Kobe is a freak on the basketball court. The greatest offensive weapon in NBA history.
With Kobe on the team, we are lucky to even be on the playoffs. If we made it, we would have been #8 and would have lost to Dallas. With Kobe on the team, Battier, Deke, Hayes, Head, Howard, and most except Yao would have wound up doing nothing. T-Mac makes all of those guys better, and involves them in the game so that we get the most out of them. Kobe would freeze those guys out, and all of their performances would have suffered. Kobe has a surrounding cast that is slightly better than the Rockets, and they underperformed because of Kobe. Now if team we had made it this far, and then we swapped T-Mac for Kobe the series would already be over, because Kobe won't disappear at all in the playoffs. But the team wouldn't be in the same situation if we had him all year.
Yes. T-Mac, while able to make his teammates better, has better teammates than Kobe. And Kobe can dominate and takeover a game with this talent around him. T-Mac of 3 years ago could also.
Here is the truth that might hurt lots of YOF: Shaq + TMAC > Yao + Kobe Shaq + Kobe > Yao + TMAC simply because: Kobe > TMAC, but Shaq at his prime >>> Yao
I agree. Funny I had this converstation with a friend of mine in the 4th quarter when Yao and T-Mac were trying to win the game on their own like they were Dream and Kobe. The truth is they are not on that level. I think that the gameplan for the Rockets needs to take that into account. We don't have Kobe-level talent on the Rockets, we don't even have Baron Davis level talent. Just not consistent enough.
