not alot of people really hated Tupac. He was just paranoid because his worst enemies were closest to him. Not many people would choose Tmac over the Dream. Tinman's just paranoid.
Where to start? If you have not seen Hakeem play it's a safe bet you haven't seen Wilt,Kareem, or russell play, right? Yet, you put them ahead of Dream. That my friend was ignorant! Next, with the exception of kareem, Wilt and Russell played in the era of the chumps. The game now involves so much more skill and athleticism, that you can't get by with just being bigger than everyone anymore. If you look at the skill on those guys in old videos, they're not all that. Hakeem was a perfect mix of defense, offense, athleticism, skill and finesse. He could take over a game on both ends of the floor. Thats why he ranks #1 for me. Plus, Kareem had Magic for most of his career which couldn't of hurt.
I think comparing T-mac to Drexler at their peaks makes more sense... that would be a close one... T-mac is more skilled but Drexler got to a lot of loose balls (the way Ginobili does) and could really push the ball up the court-creating fastbreak opportunities
Of all the big men since the late 80s, Hakeem is the best... Hakeem is like a cross between Duncan and Amare... He had the strength, footwork (or even better) and defensive smarts of Duncan combined with the quickness, explosiveness and touch of Amare...
See buddy, you got that backwards. Duncan is like Hakeem, and Amare has wet dreams wishing he could have Hakeems foot work and grace. Which is my point of Hakeem's greatness. You have to take 2 centers regarded as top 5 in the league, and combine them to equal Dream!
If you don't think Garnett is clutch you haven't been watching any of his games. The guy's got height, he can finish around the basket and he's got an outside shot. There is no question that at this point he is twice the scorer McGrady is. Even if the only NBA games you actually watch are the ones the Rockets play you should have seen Garnett torch the Rockets both times they played this season. What's even better is that Garnett is unselfish. There's been zero reported problems with him playing with Pierce and Allen in Boston. I'd trade T-Mac for Garnett in a heartbeat. If you think Yao buckles under pressure go back and watch the fourth quarters of the game where the Rockets finally beat GS or the game against Sacramento right before the All Star break where he was basically the only Rocket scoring in the fourth quarter. Or for that matter the OT loss to Denver. I'd trade T-Mac for Duncan in a heartbeat as well, the same way that I'd trade T-Mac for Dwight Howard. Swing Duncan or Howard over to the PF spot with Yao and see what happens. At the very least the level of talent in Duncan/Howard makes a trade for McGrady a no-brainer. As for the PG's I'll repeat myself. The job they do is more critical to a successful team than any other position except maybe the center. Guys like Nash or Paul I would absolutely trade straight up for McGrady because their level of talent/ability for their position easily matches McGrady's. The other guys are simply quality PG's, but they get the nod over McGrady because the PG position is so critical. They also by and large have qualities of drive and leadership that McGrady lacks. Billups would be the floor general and leader of the Rockets if he played here. Iverson can not only play the point but he is also a huge scoring threat--arguably a bigger threat than McGrady since he converts at a much better rate and has averaged more ppg this season. Finally, at this point in his career T-Mac might crack the list of the ten best players in the league, but barely. There's no way that he's top five.
Amare's nowhere near as strong as Hakeem either... I remember how Hakeem defends Shawn Kemp.. Kemp tries to bang bodies then jump but Hakeem is so strong he can just stand his ground and Kemp ends up getting blocked... Defensively, Hakeem's the best I've ever seen... he can do everything-trap pick and roll/block shots/intercept drop passes on penetrations/hold his ground
In terms of "above average" SG's Stockton and Malone had Jeff Hornacek. And the Lakers had Byron Scott.
Hakeem's the all time leader in blocked shots. Part of what made him so impressive is that he was a nightmare on both ends of the court. T-Mac by comparison is a lackluster defender. That should disqualify him right there. 35 people in this poll either clicked the wrong button or have zero legitimacy when it comes to commenting on anything basketball related.
I said its debatable, I've never even seen any of these guys play, im just basing this around all the all time rankings for each position I've seen. Its hard to tell is what Im saying. Obviously you lot will be biased because you've seen Hakeem play all his life.
damn even tinman destroyed kg a few games ago b/c he couldn't take varejao in the post v. single coverage in the 4th in game 4? and he never took over any of the hawks game in the first round. the only game he took over was game 5 of this series. what are you smoking? kg is as unclutch as there is. he's a great all-around player (defense, rebounding, and 20 pts), but he will rarely take over a game offensively. and when you say trade garnett for tmac, your knowledge of basketball is done. yao already occupies the post. garnett already is too perimeter-oriented. you want him to stay outside 100% to give the post to yao? trading yao for garnett is more of an option considering the positions. and you want to trade duncan or howard to pair up with yao too??? seriously, do you watch basketball? the only reason robinson and duncan worked was b/c robinson was not in his prime and is satisfied with 10-12 ppg, and both are agile so both can play outside for stretches. can howard play outside? he would be rendered useless, along with yao if both played outside. duncan's main game is inside. so yao would have to stay out 50% of the time. and we saw yao at the high post bro. even people like you didn't want yao anywhere outside of 10ft. again, yao does buckle under pressure. you're pointing out "2-3 games." if you think tmac doesn't step up in the 4th consistently, yao is even worse. there is a reason despite yao's great ft %, an inside-out coach like JVG rarely run plays for yao down the stretch. when you say billups for tmac straight up, that should just show your knowledge of basketball. i'll at least chuckle and not laugh if you say tayshaun prince, who is their main MVP. they wouldn't win those 2 games if prince was out rather than billups v. orlando. it doesn't matter if he's in top 5 or not. the reason he's not is b/c he's not always healthy to play at his best. but we're not concerned about regular seasons are we? with tmac played subpar this year (which he did), we still had a great reg. season. tmac paces himself during the reg. season. we only care about what he does in the playoffs. and he has done great as a rocket in the playoffs. he has been a top 5-7 player for the most part when the playoffs rolls around. he put up 27, 8, 7 with the 5th best PER in this playoffs even if you only include the first round. and i still chuckle at your KG being clutch. lol. that was a first. who was their go-to guy in minny when sam cassell and spree were playing with him? kg was a THIRD option down the stretch dude.
T-Mac should be in his prime now. But we haven't seen it because of injuries/laziness/whatever. Maybe we never will. Unfortunately, his "prime" will be known as his Orlando days.
04-05 in his first year here, he was pretty much healthy and we saw how dominant he was. it's really injuries. when he's injured, he feels he has to hold back a little bit or else he's going to get injured again. i consider 04-05 as one of his dominant years.
Most of your points are based on your own opinion, i'm not going to waste my time replying to all of them, but the 4th quarter BULL****?? LOL Trend = Rafer wasn't here first 2 games Trend = TMAC didn't score a lot the first 2 games Trend = When rafer came back he DID score, are you dumb...any rockets fan knows that Kobe is shooting 26% in the 4th qrtr...yet they still win and Tracy is a better passer, do you see ppl rag on him? Lebron is shooting 28% overall...why isn't anyone ragging on him?
You're not replying to them b/c you know i'm right. He disappeared in the 4th in games 1 & 2. FACT. First, its incorrect to say that Tmac is a better passer. Rather, he's a more willing passer. Second, kobe shooting 26% in the 4th is the exception, not the norm. What was tmac's shooting percentage the last few weeks of the season? Third, even if kobe isnt shooting well, you can always count on him to play with intensity. The same cant be said for tmac. Fourth, the lakers are winning. Winning tends to mask deficiencies. B/c this is a rockets forum and not a cavs?
that's not the exception. it's the norm. his 4th quarter shooting avg the last 4 years have been around 25%. generally most guys shoot worse in the 4th quarter. kobe just takes more shots and thus you'll see the makes. and yes, winning tends to mask deficiencies. if we won, if you're a true fan, you would still worry about those faults of tmac's right? you should. but then you need your role players to also hide those deficiencies. and the lakers are doing that for kobe. it takes a team to win. please remember that. kobe went from 1-and-out to advancing simply b/c of a better team, not b/c of him.
