Exactly, Tmac settles far too often for the jumper, and when it is on he is amazing, but if he attacked the rim as often as Kobe we would be looking at a 35ppg scorer. DD
Not taking anything away from Tmac, but Kobe > Everyone right now. The tough thing is he's such a good passer, if you double team the guy he kills you with the pass. He had 9 assists tonight. I'd hate to be a coach trying to draw up a defensive scheme to defend Kobe. We still should have won this game, Tmac's shot is just off, we live and die with it. He must really be hurting.
For once DaDakota and I agree. It's not the injury. Kobe is clearly a more complete player than McGrady. Drama queen sure, but better player.
T-Mac through out his career has been a jump shooter so its not his back. He needs to think drive to the basket and he has admitted in the past that he has not had that mind set. I have to give Kobe credit, he is the ultimate warrior and his big contract has not caused him to let up. His training regimen and practice habits are legendary. The Lakers are a bunch of scrubs without Kobe.
I've been saying for years the Kobe is just a little better than T-Mac even when T-Mac is healthy. Kobe takes the ball to the hoop better, whereas T-Mac settles for the perimeter shot a little too much. It's surprising that T-Mac doesn't drive to the hoop more often, you know, he did beat the Lakers at the buzzer earlier this season, by, of all things taking the ball to the basket.
Kobe > Injured TMac One thing is clear to me: JVG lost this game. He put Wesley on Kobe. Brian Cook was constantly left wide open. Didn't JVG see him torching Dallas hitting 12-16 for 28 points the night before?!?! He kept Howard and Swift in the game even though they were doing crap on rebounding. Where was Hayes or even Baxter? They always hustle for the ball, unlike Howard and Swift who just stand around watching the Lakers grab the rebounds. He kept playing Bowen. Bowen is a hustle player, but he just sucks on offense. Bowen keeps bumping the other team and getting stupid fouls. Again, I'd rather have Hayes or Baxter instead of Bowen. He let his team take bad shots near the end of the shot clock when they should be running more pick and rolls to make the other team adjust. I see the pick, but where is the pass to the roller?!?!? When Yao is in, the offense is so boring and predictable. It's pass it around the perimeter, wait for Yao to post on the other side and then pass it in. Sometimes Yao passes it out and they pass it back in. By then so much time has already been wasted and it's up to Yao to hit the shot. Because if he misses, there is no one there to get any second chance points of the offensive rebound. Again, where is Hayes and Baxter? I admit, we had a boring and predictable offense with Olajuwon, but Olajuwon had an unstoppable shot one on one, and when he was double teamed we would swing it around to a shooter. We don't have any consistent shooters now! Where is freakin' Barry? At least he was a decent 3pt shooter. The only bright spot was Rafer Alston. He had a great game. Did you see him near the end of the game when they brought out the garbage players? He was totally pissed that they lost the game. As you can probably figure out by this post, I'm totally pissed too that they lost because we could have won this one.
I agree that Kobe is more competitive. He is more competitive than 99.9% of NBA players I've ever seen. Tracy is very competitive but not like Kobe. Just don't discount Tracy's injury. If you've never had serious back pain or back problems before, I understand why you would say "all players play hurt". But a stiff back, along with the fear of recurring back pain, is different from any other injury. I've been there. Even when the pain is just dull and not piercing, it can psyche you out just leaning forward to open a door or bending over to get into a car because you are afraid of triggering a spasm that can leave you horizontal for several days. Kobe is sturdier and more durable than Tracy, which counts for a lot in the NBA grind. When both are completely healthy, Kobe is still better this year, but not by a wide margin. Tonights game was not a fair comparison at all. I feel your frustration though. Bad loss for us. And what's up with Brian Cook the last 2 games? 28 & 27 for a guy that averages 7 pts.
Weird, I must have missed it when McGrady won the game against the Lakers earlier this year... BTW, McGrady DOES drive it inside plenty and can do that...when healthy. Refer back to his Orlando days and you will see what I am talking about. I think he's injury-riddled and has too fragile a body right now, which is why he's breaking down at this young an age, and why he deosn't drive in nearly enough. Kobe is better than everyone this season, I agree, but I think those who say "Kobe is just sooooo much better and McGrady has no fire" are a bunch of PMSing biatches, because they're just overreacting after a loss. Is Kobe better than an injured McGrady? Of course, no doubt. However, in reality, what Kobe is better at is his stamina and his health. What did Kobe do tonight that was "OMG soo amazing?" He had a good game, but nothing special, including most of those points in a row over DW, while even when McGrady was missing his shots, Phil Jackson insisted on doubling him. Seriously, some of you need to rent some Orlando tapes and watch those games, then come back and tell me McGrady doesn't drive inside enough. I know it was a loss and McGrady sucked on offense tonight, that'a a given, but some of you are reading way too much into it.
Yup. Its not that Kobe is more athletic or talented than Tmac or other players, but he just has the work ethic and killer instinct to put himself over the top. If Kobe ain't playing, he's practicing. I'd still take a healthy Tmac though. Tmac is still my fav. player regardless, but you've got to give Kobe credit where credit is due.
Even though I agree Kobe is a better player (slightly), I don't understand how you can say he needs to be more agressive and drive to the hole when he was CLEARLY struggling physically due to his bad back tonight. I don't think he would have had a poor performance tonight if he wasn't healthy. T-Mac is the kind of player that puts it in another gear whenever he faces a Kobe, LeBron, Wade, etc. Tonight he just couldn't. You can see that he is having a hard time driving past his man the last couple of games. He is usually able to do that with ease.
Tmac sucked on offense no doubt, but it was the WAY he sucked, settling for too many jumpers when the lane was there for driving. And, if I am not mistaken, hasn't Kobe played in more games than Tmac? I think Tmac is a bit of a wuss on the injury side, sure he is hurting but some players play through it, not sure if Tmac would be one of them. He is hurting, but he sure moves well when he seems to be challenged, tonight he wilted. DD
Boy, he's a wuss?!! The guy has been playing through injuries and IS playing with injuries AS WE SPEAK, are you seriously calling him a wuss? He's a tough-ass guy man, come on, at least give him credit for playing through all his injuries going back to last season...at least give him that much. Geez, DaDa, remind me not to be around you after a Rockets loss, you sure do turn against people rather quickly.
Kobe is definitely better all-around, and for most of the game. But come the 4th quarter and needing some big shots, I'm going with T-Mac all the way.
Come on, get real, he is not above criticism, I love the guy, but I just wish he had a bit more of a lion in him as this team is far too passive. We need more attitude out of our star players. DD
Anyone saw mac's Tomahawk dunk in 1 st half? anyone notice the large numbered demands of alley-opp plays from t-mac last few games? how in the world a very-injured person would do those things. maybe he is not hurt? maybe he is using his back as excuse? just maybes..
LOL - Look I just think he sometimes is a bit of a drama queen about his injuries. I could be mistaken, and have no evidence, it just seems that he gets nicked up more than other basketball players of his stature. DD
Couldn't agree more. I don't like using T-Mac's injuries as an excuse. We need him to play better than this, whether he is injured or not. We need any player on the team to make sure the other players are accountable for their actions. I ultimatley think that once T-Mac and Yao get some role players worth a damn, the game will come to be easier for them. Guys like Howard and Swift are worthless and don't help ballclubs win. Neither does the dirty work. Wesley tries hard, but has too many dificiencies. Same with Bowen.
His body is more fragile, it just isn't built like Kobe's or Lebron's or even Wade's, those guys have that solid, durable body-built type. McGrady just doesn't have that, but believe me he has more natural skill than any of those guys. Come on dude, it's not like McGrady begs out of games or crap like that, the guy really wants to win, I think he's discouraged sometimes because of his injuries...heck, I would have given up on this season a loooong time ago. He had a really bad shooting night, Kobe laid an egg in Dallas last night...it happens to the best of them. BTW, Kobe doesn't take it inside as much as you think he does, he too relies heavily on his outside shooting, his shooting % from the field in his career is almost dead-on with McGrady's...they both are in love with that jumper. If you want to honestly complain about him not going inside nearly enough, then make that comparison to Lebron or Wade, both of whom use their speed and strength to go inside and finish strong. Kobe and McGrady are mostly jump-shooters, they have been their whole careers, but McGrady did go inside plenty in Orlando, it was too easy for him to not do it given his speed and explosiveness and jumping ability. Kobe now is playing more like how McGrady played in Orlando, pretty similar really.
Maybe, but I think he's discouraged more because his current supporting cast sucks. I almost fell out of my chair the other day when, on Sportsradio 610, Les Alexander gave high praise to Juwan Howard and said he was an integral part of the team. I was heartbroken when I heard that.
