[Slam Online via TrueHoop] Clyde Drexler, trashing Tracy McGrady a little

Clyde was #2 b/c the other guards in consideration were Jeff Hornacek and Mitch Richmond.

 

As a fast break player, Drexler was better than Tmac.
However, Tmac's jumper is better and less ugly than Clyde's.

 

Clyde modeled his game after, like many guys of his generation, Julius 'Dr. J' Erving, which meant you worked on driving to the basket and getting as many dunks as you could, while doing the dirty work of rebounding and defending, and working on you odd jumpshot later on. It was about jumping, quickness, and hustle, as well as playing the team game that Dr. J eventually developed. Clyde was playing a SF game at the 2Guard.

I still remember that Portland team. Clyde, Porter, Kersey and Buck Williams were the core of that team. Buck was already a veteran, and his best years had been in NJ, where he used to rebound like crazy and defend and dunk (sort of like Jayson Williams later would). Porter's game was much like Chauncey Billups, where he drove the team and would take many of the big shots, usually 3-pointers at the end of games. Cliff Robinson was really the prototype for guys like Rasheed Wallace, Dirk, Van Horn, etc. - tall skinny guys who wanted to shoot the 3 point shot all the time instead of playing in the paint. Kersey was a solid all-round player. If they would have had an above-average Center, they might have won it all.

 

There's a reason they called him Glide. Watching him on TV he didn't look quick but somehow he just knifed through defenders on the way to the rim. Pretty much the definition of "smooth".

 

There's nothing like using a youtube highlight reel to prove your point.
But Tmac, I would say, is definitely more talented than Drexler, but he's an easy target because of his injuries and his inability to get out of the first round.

 

More comparisons with Tmac:

Drexler lost in the first round to the Utah Jazz despite having homecourt advantage. Unlike Tmac however the Blazers won 53games that year to Utahs 47 and they lost in 4 games (3-1).

And Drexler made the playoffs as a 40win team, and yes he made it past the 1st round his second year but he wasnt as good as Tmac was at the same stage of his career. (Drexler averaged 4th most points on his team and 2nd most assists) He had a good squad around him

 

Ridiculous.. Hakeem is my favorite player of alltime but he did not win those champoinships by himself. Their were many players that stepped up and made big plays at crucial times. Remember the kiss of death? Seasons over if Elly misses that shot.

For those of you who think TMac is a better player than Clyde you either never seen Clyde play or you didnt follow his career until he became a Rocket. Clyde was the better player hands down.

 

Remember how to spell his name?

 

I'm one of the biggest Clyde fans ever , but in fairness to TMac he doesnt have near the same type of player surrounding him that Clyde did. Its a lot easier to be a passer when you have Kersey, Buck Williams, Terry Porter, and Kiki Vanderway to finish with jumpers or dunks.

 

clyde was the more efficient scorer in terms of fg% and played better in the transition game (tmac was on par if not better in orlando but injuries have taken its toll). but tmac is better in every other aspect for the most part. he's more of a lethal/scarier scorer b/c when he's hot, he's just as good as kobe when he's hot (kobe just gets hotter more often ).

but clyde always had great teams in portland. like the other guy said, he had terry porter (an all-star in his portland days), a defensive/rebounding beast in buck williams, a tremendous SF in kersey in his heyday and i can go on. clyde never had the responsibilities tmac has had simply b/c he had a better team.

but at the end of the day, you want results. clyde had his and his stats are on par with tmac so clyde is better.

 

The PER disparity between Clyde and Tracy will become nothing by the time T-Mac's career is over. I think the two compare pretty well, but if you forced me to pick I would choose Clyde. Every team he was on was a winner; he never had an Orlando team like T-Mac even though T-Mac has since learned. And at the final moment, who would you trust with the rock in their hand, to take it to the hoop or shoot the last shot? Clyde has quite a few moments I can remember, including the buzzer-beating bank three against Denver in the regular season and that final drive in Game 1 against Orlando (even if it didn't go in, do you think T-Mac would have had the guts to drive in the final seconds?). So far the only thing T-Mac has is his final jump shot to win that playoff game against Dallas (Game 2?).

Oh and the 13 points in 35 seconds. Damn I wish we had that T-Mac back, but even that T-Mac was a streak shooter and not an end-game penetrator like Kobe Clyde or Jordan.

 

way to be modest clyde...


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Yeah, former players always overrate themselves. The Murph would tell you that he was the best shooter ever. I think it was last week he almost blew a gasket when talking about being "snubbed" from the top 50 list while Shaq made it.

 

Is this a joke? Seriously? This is what I'm talking about with the overrating of Portland players of back then. It's easier to be a passer when you have TERRY PORTER? Give Clyde Yao Ming or a player you have to double and see if they never advance.

Btw, Kiki was well past his prime when Clyde's teams went far. Not to mention he wasn't even on the Blazers at that time.

 

terry porter made the all-star team while he was with portland. that's not overrating the guy. that meant porter was a star. or at least the fans/coaches think so to put him on the all-star team.

these are terry porter's stats during the 88-90 season when portland was really good
88-89 17.7 ppg, 9.5 apg, on 47% shooting, 36% 3pt, 84% fts
89-90 17.6ppg, 9.1apg, 46% shooting, 37% 3pt, 89% ft

i'm sorry, that's not overrating the dude. those #s would put him as an all-star in today's league. he had even BETTER years after that putting up 18 ppg though his assists went down to 6.

jerome kersey you said?
87-88 19.2ppg, 8.3rpg, 50% shooting
88-89 17.5ppg, 8.3rpg, 47% shooting
89-90 16ppg 8.4rpg, 48% shooting

that gave clyde 2 legit 17+ scorers, that are either rebounders and elite passer.

i question whether you watched those portland teams. that team was a complete team that sadly ran into michael jordan's bulls.

if rafer put up 17 and 9, or battier put up 17 and 8, you really think we're talking about 1-and-out?

 

Any time someone mentions portland all i think about is Sam Bowie, the #2 pick ahead of MJ being the biggest Bust ever IMHO. Of course this has nothing to do with Clyde though.

 

Bottom line: Drexler won a championship, T-mac hasn't.

And with everyone saying T-mac >>>> Drexler, should T-mac not have won a championship already then?

 

PJ Brown got one didn't he? He's better than T-Mac obviously...

 

Clyde was a little defensive because he is one of the greatest players of all time and the interviewer was comparing him to a guy who has never made it out of the first round in 11 years even though he was up 3-1 against the Pistons, 2-0 against the Mavs and going home for games 3 & 4, up 2-0 against the Jazz with HCA and favored to win the series before it started, and with HCA against the Jazz this year too but without Yao.

Clyde made it out of the 1st round his 2nd year and then regularly after his 5th or 6th year. Tmac will be entering his 12th year.

You can see why Clyde would be offended being compared to Mcgrady.

 

Yeh I can see why he's offended, but if they never changed the format of the first round from a 5 game series to a 7 games series, tmac wouldve been out of the first round in that 2003 series against the Pistons (they changed THAT year). If it's just all about first round stuff, Clyde played in a time where all the first round series were 5 games.