Kobe is the better defender. Actually few are better than him. But I think T-Mac is equal to the scoring task, though he settles on the outside shot more than Kobe who hardly fears contact. Essentially, their scoring strong-points cancel each other out. But the edge goes to Kobe for defensive purposes and for carrying the goat Kwame Brown. It is a moot point. Neither have achieved singularly. Didn't T-Mac average 30+ two-three seasons ago. To be honest, both are inferior to AI only because AI won more (by himself) In my unpardonable bias, I'd still rather have T-mac though. He can defend if he WANTS (remember the Toronto days). Open to applaud/boos.
Kobe is not injury prone, our guy T-Mac is. And his career in my opinion is over, he will never be that player that he was in the 2004-05 season. It's a downhill road for him, while Kobe can STILL get better, T-mac's back won't let him. It's too bad we have a MAX player who won't be able to perform to that superstar level. That just takes away from having a deeper bench. He's gonna be the reason we never make it out of the first round.
Ouch, but the definately is a vaild fear. I'd say basketball talent wise their on par. Give Tmac a healthy body, and you'd see someone capable of putting up similar numbers. As for team talent, you could argue that the Lakers were put together better due to having a role players that stayed healthy and are able to do their job (spread the court and hit the 3). Hopefully Houston can find these guys as well (Rybo hardly fills this role).
Dude, seriously, I've tried to make this point before. You AREN'T McGrady's doctor. You've never examined McGrady's back nor are you qualified to have an opinion on it. Yes, they've said that this injury will plague him, but it has ALWAYS bothered him from time to time. I'm tired of your unsubstantiated pessimism. Go back to your Toronto board with that garbage.
Kobe is better. 3 rings vs zero. He is much more durable. The best you can do is argue IF Tracy didn't have injury problems he might be as good or better than Kobe. His passing, court vision and ability to get his teammates involved is something Kobe has yet to learn. What Tracy needs to do is stay healthy the next couple of years and we can see what happens when he has a decent team around him.
TMac is not healthy right now, there's no point saying what a player could be if certain conditions are met. I take current Kobe over current Tmac in an instant
offensively, i think a healthy t-mac is a little bit more talented than kobe, but kobe is a little bit better player. when kobe is on, he's more aggressive. but, the impression i get watching him is that he has to work harder to score than t-mac. not that he can't score as well or better than t-mac, just that it takes more work. however, we all know he's more than capable of bringing it. when t-mac is on, it's almost effortless. you can barely tell the defender is even there. (i just re-watched the game @NJ earlier this season) pull up in your face for a languid three point jumper? no problem. blow by you with his deceptive speed for a nifty layup/nasty slam? coming right up. effortless. kobe can get the same results and more, but it seemes to requires a little bit more effort. HARD drives for pullup fadeaways, fading HARD. back down in the post, for a turnaround fadeaway, fading HARD, making it an impossible shot for anyone other than kobe/mj/tmac/etc. hitting ridiculous, acrobatic, high degree of difficulty shots, layups, flip shots. he's a scoring machine, yes, but he seems to have to work harder. t-mac can play point slightly better than kobe. his ball handling, vision and passing seems slightly better. t-mac is taller than kobe (check gettyimages, they're standing side by side for an all-star photo from a couple years back), maybe that has a little to do with why t-mac's game seems more effortless than kobe's. if someone brings up kobe's 81 this season, he did it vs the raptors, no-defense playing cellar dwellers. t-mac scored 43 on the pistons, arguably the top team in the league, and cetainly one of the best defensive teams in the league. i say, this point is inconclusive, maybe a wash. but in the end, i think kobe is better offensively. his offensive game takes more effort, aggressiveness, and determination, but he has these in ample supply, pushing him over the top, in my mind at least. factor in health, whether that's fair or not, and it's not even close. kobe easily.
It is really moot to bring this up. If there is a single best player in NBA, that is Kobe. Period. The gap between Kobe and Tmac got bigger after this season.
I still think this is one of the stupidest arguements in basketball (or any other sport). That's like saying MJ and Horry are in the same level. Either we're comparing Kobe to a healthy Tmac or we might as well compare today Yao vs. today Wilt and say, whose better?
This argument is completely subjective, so it really is moot. But the rules of the NBA change, and the game is played with one man per team, I do NOT agree that Kobe is the best player. To put it another way, individually, he may be the greatest talent of our time. But basketball is still a team sport.
Basically Tmac and Kobe switched positions. Kobe is doing now what Tmac had to do in Orlando. Tmac has Yao so he dosent have to lead the league in scoring and the the same went for Kobe when he had Shaq. Now its vice versa.
Yall dont know what yall are talking about. Kobe is just as injury prone as Mcgrady is becauce Kobe has played in 707 games in 10 years..thats 70 games a year Mcgrady has played in 612 games in 9 years...thats 68 games a year The only reason it seems Mcgrady has been hurt more is because Kobe has has a ridiculous year and we have not not seen the Orlando T-mac yet.
How many championships does Kobe have? I still like TMac better. When he is healthy, he is unreal, unstoppable.
you make a good point, there is sort of a myth about how many games t-mac has missed, but there is no denying that this back injury is a different situation.
those rings are a crap argument. If any elite 2 guard played with Shaq, they would have some rings during those years.
Kobe is good. But anyone who says who and who is better than Tmac now will eat crow in the future after this Rockets team wins 3 championships. That day will come after both Tmac and Yao get healthy and we add a few role players who can match up with the ones of the better teams.
good post... it's hard to determine who will be better going forward because of the uncertainty surrounding t-mac. i hope all these clowns who think they know anything about t-mac's back eat crow if he comes back with a vengeance. i'm nervous about him sure but i hope for the best. t-mac healthy is as good any player in the league, including kobe.
Now, let's just hope that translates to some rings for Houston. And the ring argument, you should know better. Not to mention, we've touched on it. This is a discussion of Kobe vs. TMac. I argue that Kobe has yet to show he can carry a team farther than the 1st round by himself, something that is constantly being said of T-Mac. I guess you can throw AI in the mix, b/c he has done just that. So many if's and factors, but it's a fun discussion nonetheless. Some good discussion here, thanks for the read during my slow times at work
