You kidding me? PP clutch performance when? Mcgrady clutch performance? The whole 04-05 series. PP is getting highly overrated here ok, i was a hardcore PP fan like i said and i followed him, but the talent he has on his team is atrocious! Its unrealistic to have all the players that the celtics have. Also Adoo, excellent point, my bad PP is a great defender and your right Mcgrady doesn't play too much defense, but he can when he wants
PP has had an amazing series, but he has a luxury that T-Mac doesn't (ever?)have: He can have a bad game and the team doesn't fall apart.
If you're going to say someone has a clutch series, you shouldnt point to series where we didnt advance. Pierce has been creating his own shots to get his points (for the most part). Its not like he's just sitting by the 3 pt line waiting for the ball. Who really cares about unrealized potential? If we valued that, then Stromile would still be on the team.
You could also say if PP doesn't step up in the 4th the celts would be sitting at home. I don't think I trust Garnett or Allen at the end of the game if you need a bucket.
Paul Pierce is better. Just look at shooting percentages. player a) FG- 46%, FT- 84%, 3pt- 39.2% player b) FG- 42%, FT- 68.4%, 3pt- 29.2% Guess which one is player a and which in is player b.
And I'm guessing PP gets doubled like crazy every game. I'm guessing that he's the only threat that can create a shot for himself. I'm also guessing he wasn't playing through injury during that stretch. PP has Ray Allen and Garnett to deferr to, and yes Wecko, most of the time he does float around the 3 pt line. Don't forget this guy never took the celtics to the the playoffs once by himself, also leading the worst team in the leastern conference, funny thing is thats when i used to like him. PP: Position Small forward/Shooting guard Height 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) Weight 235 lb (107 kg) League NBA Team Boston Celtics Jersey #34 Born October 13, 1977 (1977-10-13) (age 30) Oakland, California Nationality USA High school Inglewood HS (Inglewood, California) College Kansas Draft 10th overall, 1998 Boston Celtics Pro career 1998–present * 3-time All-NBA Third Team: 2002, 2003, 2008 * 6-time NBA All-Star: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008 * NBA All-Rookie First Team: 1999 * NBA regular-season leader, total points: 2002 (2144) * NBA regular-season leader, free throws made: 2003 (604) College * Named First Team All-America by the Associated Press after his junior year at the University of Kansas. * Named Big Eight Freshman of the Year in 1995-96. * MVP of the Big 12 Conference Tournament in both 1997 and 1998. Other * Member of the US national team in the 2002 FIBA World Championship.[24] * Member of the 2006 USA Basketball World Championship Team (Did not play due to an elbow injury). NBA records * Most free throws made without a miss, playoffs: 21 (Game 1, 2003 Eastern Conference First Round). Boston Celtics franchise records * Scored 30 or more points in a franchise record 12 consecutive games * Most points scored in a game at TD Banknorth Garden: 50 (February 15, 2006 vs. Cleveland Cavaliers). * Most points scored in a half (including Overtime): 46 (December 1, 2001 2nd Half vs. New Jersey Nets). * Most points scored in an overtime period: 13 (December 1, 2001 vs. New Jersey Nets) * Most three-point field goals made, career: 989 (1998–present). * Most three-point field goals attempted, career: 2769 (1998–present). * Most free throws made in one game: 20 (November 2, 2002 vs. New York Knicks). * Most free throws attempted in one game: 24 (November 5, 2005 vs. New York Knicks). * Most free throws made in one half: 14 (March 2, 2001 vs. Utah Jazz). * Most free throws made in one season: 612 (2005-2006, breaking his own record of 604, set in 2002-2003). * Most free throws attempted in one season: 812 (2005-2006, breaking his own record of 753 in 2002-2003). * Most steals in one game: 9 (tied with Larry Bird; December 3, 1999 vs. Miami Heat). * Most free throws made without a miss, playoffs: 21 (Game 1, 2003 Eastern Conference First Round). * Most points scored in one half, playoffs: 32 (Game 4, 2003 Eastern Conference First Round vs. Indiana Pacers). * Highest scoring average through one month: 33.5 PPG (February 2006). * Only Celtics player in franchise history to lead the NBA in total points scored in a season, scoring 2,144 points in 2001-2002. * Playing with Celtics he accumulated 2,071 points in 2000-2001. * Career scoring average: 23.6 PPG, 2nd only to Larry Bird. T-MAC: Height 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) Weight 223 lb (101 kg) League NBA Team Houston Rockets Jersey #1 Born May 24, 1979 (1979-05-24) (age 29) Bartow, Florida Nationality American High school Mount Zion Christian Academy Draft 9th overall, 1997 Toronto Raptors Pro career 1997–present Former teams Toronto Raptors 1997–2000 Orlando Magic 2000–2004 * 2-time NBA scoring leader: 2003 (32.1), 2004 (28.0) * 7-time NBA All-Star: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 * 7-time All-NBA: * First Team: 2002, 2003 * Second Team: 2001, 2004, 2007 * Third Team: 2005, 2008 * NBA Most Improved Player Award: 2001 Orlando Magic franchise records * All-Time Free Throws Made (1,819) * Most points in one game with 62 (March 10, 2004 vs. Washington Wizards) * Most points in one half with 37 in the first half (March 9, 2003 vs. Denver Nuggets) * Most points in one quarter with 25 in the second quarter (March 9, 2003 vs. Denver Nuggets) * Most free throws made in one game with 18 (December 25, 2002 vs. Detroit Pistons) * Most points in a playoff game with 45 (in Game 2 of the 2003 Eastern Conference playoffs, First Round vs. Detroit Pistons) * Most three-point field goals made in one half with 8 (January 26, 2004 vs. Cleveland Cavaliers) Career achievements * Career 40+ point games (regular season): 45 * Career 50+ point games (regular season): 4 * Career 60+ point games (regular season): 1 * Career triple-doubles (regular season): 3 * Shares NBA record for most three-point field goals made in one half with 8 (January 26, 2004 Orlando vs. Cleveland) On December 9, 2004, he scored 13 points in the last 33 seconds of a game against the San Antonio Spurs, with four consecutive 3 pointers (one of which was part of a four-point play), including a steal and the game-winning 3 pointer with 1.7 seconds left in the game that helped the Rockets win. On March 12, 2008 the Houston Rockets defeated the Atlanta Hawks to break the second longest winning streak in the NBA set by the Milwaukee Bucks at 20. The streak started on January 29, 2008 and continued through 22 wins. This streak was snapped with a 74-94 loss to the Boston Celtics, with him scoring only 8 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists. Thats the overall summary on both players , you decide. Morey would never do this, it wouldn't make us better first of all. You can also bet that the celtics would jump at this deal, pierce is going to turn 31 this year.
Actually, he's better at creating his own shot than Tmac is. Who cares what Tmac has accomplished in the past? How does that have ANY bearing on the disparity between Tmac and Pierce in this moment in time? Tmac is not the same player anymore.
You like to preach objectivity and you portray yourself as some infallible basketball maven, but you can't even get it into your head that winning isn't all about fg%? Arguing with someone like you who clearly cannot accept anything positive about a certain player is like talking to a wall. I just saw another one of your posts saying Yao isn't responsible for his turnovers...sheesh. Tmac causes cancer and Yao's **** don't stink -> your credo.
i like paul pierce but he is a sneaky flopper on offense. he flails his arms whenever a defender makes contact and that just pisses me off. he is also an underrated defender but i would still take tmac
Another poster said that Tmac was the entire team when Yao was down. I pointed out that with his miserable field goal percentage, that was simply not the case. The reason you cant argue with someone like me is because in order to argue effectively, assertions must be supported by logic. Yours are not. I said that when a weakside defender comes up behind Yao and steals the ball, the fault belongs to the teammates who didn't warn him that defensive help was coming. You expect him to have eyes in the back of his head? Come on man... Thats basic basketball.
This is a 100% true, i have come to respect you a little more, but there are other fans out there that criticize tracy and make sense, like badger or IBM. If it was every once in a while and had some sense into it, people would listen to what you have to say. Wecko, we don't want another Antisonic type of poster when it comes to T-MAC. Believe it or not, people tend to not listen to you show no flexibility like you have been.
we need to put the tmac fans and yao fans in a cage and lock them up. the real rocket fans are the ones that shall dominate this kingdom, as it should be.
Man, this is a pretty good question. In agree with what many of the posters have already stated in this thread. T-Mac's egregious efficiency on the offensive end and his lack of consistency on defense makes this a tough debate. I will still have to go with Tracy Mcgrady, though. I believe that a fully HEALTHY tmac can do ALMOST anything Paul Pierce can do but better. Nothing against Paul Pierce, he is a great player. The Tracy Mcgrady at the beginning of this season was very close to the tmac of the Orlando days. Call me blind, but i still believe that if healthy, Tracy can and will play an entire season like the level he was at once this season started. I do not want to make injuries an excuse for all of T-Mac's struggles, but I know that a healthy tmac is not this wildly inconsistent. The playoffs showed me that Tmac still has a higher level in him.
Overall career-wise it's a different question. I am talking about who is the best player NOW. TMac is fragile, shoots a low percentage, and can't get to the basket. PP, on the other hand, shoots a high percentage from anywhere and gets to the rim relentlessly. I'll feel lucky if TMac plays a full year next year. Paul Pierce has played at least 70 games every year except 2. PP has also played at least 79 games in seven out of 10 years. If we were to trade TMac for Pierce, we could pencil in 20 ppg, a mid 40's fg%, a 3pt% near 40%, and an 80% ft percentage. With TMAC...who knows what we will get. Pierce also doesn't go through "woe is me" phases.
The only area I think PP better than Tmac is intangiblity. Other than that, hell no. Tmac is a much better passer, trading tmac means one less player who can get the ball to Yao down low.
one less toxic (Woe is ME) element in terms of team chemistry. ps. while PP plays tough Defense, while TMac is too lazy to do it.
So Paul Pierce is the flavor of the month? What's the current rotation? March - Kobe April - Manu May - Redd June - Pierce July - ????
Obviously you didn't follow the Celtics before this year. We just hear about Mac's so-called "toxic" quotes b/c we hear everything the guy says to the media. And then the board over-analyzes it and tears him to pieces.
PP is only better at intangibility? I guess you're forgetting the ft shooting. and the 3 pt shooting. and the fact that he aggressively gets to the rim and can create his own shot. i know tmac is the hometown hero, but you should still look at everyone else objectively.
