Paul Pierce or Tracy McGrady

If the Rockets had Paul Pierce instead of TMac for the 1st round series against the Jazz, we still lose. TMac was not the problem. The problem was we were missing 25 and 10 from the C position.

 

We had Yao last year and still failed to advance. Tmac and Yao do not play well together.

 

There 50 points and 16 rebounds a game looked okay to me.

Now Chuck Hayes, Juwan Howard and Luther Head playing big minutes was another story...

 

It looks okay to you b/c you're looking at stats. You're not looking at how they play together.

Do you seriously think Tmac's game complements Yao's?

 

I vote Pierce. He got better D, FT and powerful drive. Even Kobe couldn't stop him. That's all.

 

Are you saying we lost to the Jazz in 2007 because Tmac and Yao don't have offensive games that complement each other? Did you even watch the series?

 

Kobe can't stop any star wing player and hasn't done so for years (since Shaq left). In fact, he doesn't even attempt to guard the other team's best wing 99% of the time. Quite frankly, he's a glorified Larry Hughes on that end of the court.

Pierce is way more efficient than T-Mac and attacks the basket a lot more even though he has far less physical gifts. He's a better spot-up shooter, though less able to rise up and fire like T-Mac. Also, it is worth noting that Pierce hits his free throws and converts layup attempts in traffic, both things that T-Mac has trouble doing with any regularity.

T-Mac has him beat in ball-handling(big time), passing ability, and athleticism. His advantages over Pierce are apparent, and yet Pierce manages to stack up very well in terms of numbers and in the clutch. A prime T-Mac blows him out of the water, but this version of T-Mac is less scoring dynamo and more game manager. If I had to have a bucket down the stretch, I'd probably rather have the ball in Pierce's hand.

T-Mac had a far better prime, but Pierce will be remembered as "greater" and more worthy to be in the Hall.

 

Did you? Think about how they play. For a wing player to be an effective complement to Yao, he must be capable of playing off the ball, hitting a spot up 3, and driving.

Tmac is most effective when he runs a pick and roll. So yes. I'm saying that Tmac and Yao have offensive games that do not complement each other.