http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news/20011005/mcgradyftr.html It's funny how he claims to be the best player in the NBA when he hasn't done **** so far in this league. Sure, he exploded in the playoffs, averaging 33.8 ppg in the series against the Bucks. That's because, if you actually watched the games, T-Mac pretty much had the ball in hand for most of the time. This is all a joke...
Umm. he played good the whole year, not just in the playoffs. I wouldn't say he's the best player in the L, but he's in the top 10 for sure, and I doubt you could name 3 SF's better than him Vince is not better than him by the way
tozai, I agree with you on this one. McGrady is definitely in the top 10. But however, I still think people are going to over-hyped about this guy. They say how good he is right now and will soon to be, about how he comes in a total package and so on (27ppg, 7.5rb, 4.5ast, 1.5stl 1.5blk). If he is nearly as good as he say he is, then why did the Magic get beaten by the Bucks, and failed to advance to second round, huh?
Losing to Milwakee because the Bucks had a greater depth is not an excuse. Just look at the Bulls' championship run in the early 90s. Who are Jordan's supporting casts other Pippen? None of them had any impact on the game, it was Jordan's show all the way. Now look at Magic's last year roster, atleast they had Darrell Armstrong, who can distribute the game and score sometimes and Mike Miller, the 3-point specialist.
Oh wow. Darrell Armstrong and Mike Miller! That's just too great of a supporting cast First of all, McGrady is not Michael Jordan. MJ was at the top of his game in the championship years and had an excellent supporting cast. As much as we all hate Pippen here, he is still considered one of the 50 greatest of all time and played excellent in the Bulls championship years. Take 96-97 for instance, Pippen put up near McGrady stats himself: 20.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and nearly 2 steals. And none of the other Bulls players had an impact on the game? This shows your obvious lack of basketball knowledge. Dennis Rodman's 14.9, 16.1 and 14.9 rebounding averages in his 3 seasons with the Bulls must not have had any impact at all. Oh, and Kukoc's 13 points per game must not have meant anything either. Yeah, Kerr's clutch shots and Ron Harper's excellent job at running the offense were just so unimportant. I suppose Phil Jackson's coaching and the triangle offense they used was just a minor detail while MJ singlehandedly won titles for the Bulls with no help. Nothing against MJ at all though. Put McGrady, whoever in his place and the Bulls most likely don't win...but to say he won the championships alone with no supporting cast, and to say McGrady had a better supporting cast last season (No Hill of course) than Jordan is just insane.
McGrady, along with many other NBA stars would probably think of themselves as the best player. It's called confidence. Any star that doesn't think they are THE best is setting themself up to be intimidated. Geez, maybe because the Bucks had a better team. McGrady is very, very good, but so is his counterpart in that series Ray Allen. Armstrong is a quality PG. Sam Cassell is an All-Star caliber PG. Mike Miller is a quality SF. Glenn Robinson is an All-Star caliber SF. Without another star playing (ie: Hill), it would be extremely difficult for McGrady to lead the Magic past the Bucks and their star trio, not to mention Ervin Johnson and Tim Thomas who played very well in the series...McGrady played AMAZING in that series, and the Magic still didn't stand much of a change. The games that they did win were very close. McGrady was dominating most of the games. I remember one of the games specifically when he scored 20 straight points in a row for the Magic. McGrady simply didn't have enough help. Even when McGrady would drive to the rack and score with the foul with seconds left to put the Magic up one in a game, there would still be Allen, Cassell, Robinson AND Thomas to go to in clutch situations.
If you actually took your time reading my post, I was talking about the Bulls' first three championships in the early 90s. Where did you get names of Rodman, Kukoc, Kerr, Harper from?
Jordan also had 7 years of experience, and McGrady had Grant Hill on the injured list all season long. The Magic also didn't have a frontline, the Bulls' frontline was light years better then Orlando's last year, so that should speak volumes. Comparing the banged up Magic of last year to the Bulls championship season makes no sense. And asking why the Magic didn't beat a Milwaukee Bucks team that was at 100% and had been together longer then the Magic and had more experience doesn't make sense either. McGrady isn't overhyped, it's amazing what the guy is doing at his age. What is he 22? I'll take that production any day of the week, and I'd have him on my team any time. If the Rockets had him now we would be so freaking awesome it would be unreal. McGrady is fine. If you look a most of the young players in the league they didn't advance to the 2nd round. If it wasn't for McGrady Orlando doesn't make the playoffs. Actually what I was thinking was where did you get the idea of comparing a banged up Magic's team missing one of their superstars, lacking frontcourt production, and playing together for the first time to a 3-time world championship team? I'd love it if Francis thought he was the best player in the league, it means he has great confidence.
Ok. Early 90's...lets see. There's still MJ and Pippen...then there's Horace Grant - 15.1 pts, 11.0 rebs in 93-94...can't find stats on the other key guys, but this site says it all: All 90's Bull Team PG: BJ ARMSTRONG (90-95)- Gets nod over Harper because of outstanding 3-point shooting. SG: MJ (90-98) SF: PIPPEN (The 90-95 Pippen made the team) PF: Rodman (The only 95-98 Bull player to make the team) C: CARTWRIGHT (90-94) 6th man: GRANT (90-95) Then there's also clutch shooter John Paxson who played a vital role in championship runs...among other role players.
Exactly! It's nothing about being a jerk or being conceded. Like McGrady said, "I'm not going to say somebody's better than me. I'd be stupid to say that." Btw, did you even read the article you posted?? I had heard about McGrady saying this a few days ago, but now that I read the article I see: "Watching McGrady in last season's playoffs, it would be hard to argue. In just his second postseason, he averaged a stunning 33.8 points per game, scoring seemingly at will. The smooth 6-8 swingman turned Orlando's first-round series with Milwaukee into a woofing contest with Glenn Robinson, and before it was over, the "Big Dog" was very little bark and no bite. Unfortunately, basketball is a team game, and McGrady's Magic lost in four games to the deeper and more talented Bucks."
Alright then, their first three championships. Grant-13.4 ppg, 9.3rpg,1.3 bpg, 2.5 apg, and 1.2 spg. Armstrong-13.3 ppg, 3.4 apg, 1.9 rpg, Not to mention Bill Cartwright, John Paxson, Craig Hodges, Stacy King, Rodney McCray, Cliff Levingston, and Scott Williams. If you haven't already, you should read the Jordan Rules. It is very enlightening about Jordan's supporting cast. Jordan had an excellent supporting cast, almost custom made for him.
Ok, ok...I get the point. Man, seems like everyone in this board ganged up on me. It's all because I'm a junior poster, isn't it?
McGrady said he was the best non Shaq player in the league. I cant agrue. He added 10pounds of muscle over the summer. Said he improved in every area in his game. Doc said he can bring the ball up much faster now and his 3point shooting is mch improved from last years 35%. He's been working with Mike Miller all summer. Miller is the MVP of the Magic camp so far. If you compare McGrady's 4th year stats to Kobe's then McGrady is wayyy better. He rank 1st or 2nd among all shooting guards in Block shots, Rebounding, Steals, Assist. This year McGrady said hes gonna lead all non centers in block shots. At 6'9 with his speed and atheltic ability he can be a really speical player. So far in camp the Miller, Hill, McGrady line up is dominating. Hill and TMAC are working really well together so far. Prediction for TMAC 29pts 8.5 boards 5 assist 1.8 steals 2.1 blocks 47%FG I think it will be close to that.
My question is how will McGrady lead non centers in blocks with EG in the league? EDDIE! EDDIE! EDDIE!
Outside of Shaq, McGrady might very well be the best player. I wouldn't say he is better than Duncan, Webber, Garnett, Iverson or Kobe just yet, but it would not surprise me at all if is by the end of this year he is the best of the lot (Shaq excluded). Also, how did McGrady's year last year compare with Grant Hill's best year? how about Pippen's in 94-95? I'll bet their stats are all close, but I think McGrady is more unstoppable on offense than those other guys. Elite company any way you look at it. I would say T-Mac probably will be the best SF since Bird or Barkley (I think early on he played the 3) because it look like KG might be starting to max out how good he is going to be.
Nothing personal huby... Just defending Stevie's homeboy and my favorite non-rocket player (besides Hakeem now), TMAC!
