I'm a Mac hater, but I agree with that statement by Popovich, though I actually think Kobe is the tougher guy to guard.
According To AK-47( The leauges toughest primeter defender)Tracy is the tought Player to cover Too. he in my Opinion is also the best Pure Scorer in the leauge to.
I'm not surprised, offensively mac and Kobe are almost neck and neck. I just think Kobe is better because hell we've all seen what he can do in the playoffs.
But T-mac's biggest Knock was his mental Toughness, right?.... i think after what we've Seen Thus far, that maybe be Unwarranted?. his single handedly won us alot of games this season. he was clutch in LA( Clipps) Portland, Dallas, Denver, And both the Spurs games.
yes, he's been doing that his whole career, winning game singlehandedly at times. Kobe has been winning championships though, and the all around game he's been showing this year without Shaq just shows his skill level. I dont think anyone thought the Lakers would be this decent. I serisouly doubt Mac lacks mental Toughness, the guy is good and he really knows it. My biggest problem with him is that sometimes it just seems he doesn't care, though recently, he's brought up his intensity and filled the leadership role on this team.
According to their record, so have a lot of other teams. The Pistons are playing nowhere near their level from last year
Let's all hold our horses here. First of all, we all want the Rockets win, and we want their players from T-Mac, to Yao, to Sura, to everyone shine. But before we rain them with praise like "greatness" or "best" etc, we should at least wait until they have some playoff success. Because that's when you show your true color. I surely hope he'll be the best guard, or SF, and Yao becomes the best center. Let's wait whether he can be clutch in the playoffs, before we claim he's better than Kobe. What seperated Kobe with other talented guys is his will to win. Something I saw in AI before as well.
Guys, Kobes Success in the Playoffs was Mainly Due to Shaqs Prescence. if Tracy had an Shaq playing with him too, you think he would'nt have done that Well? look at Wades rise to Being an elite SG. having a guy like Shaq helps. BTW, Tracy took a bunch of no hopers to the playoffs and the had the pistons by the neck, but could'n finish them. it's not like all his years in Orlando were losing ones!
While I agree with you, this argument would somewhat weaken my reasons for thinking Kobe is the tougher cover, so in the interests of not weakening my stance, I politely disagree. Never said they were, it's just shocking how bad they were last year
Please don't diss Kobe just like that, you made it sound that anyone could win with Shaq. Well, it's not possible to win alone, even Shaq, even MJ, even TD, ok? Wade and Odom brought the Heats to fourth seed in his rookie year! It's not just because of Shaq. Besides, when Tracy was in playoff, Amstrong was very good, and they got shooters all around. Yes he's good, but don't just make others no hopers to make your point that Tracy single handedly did that. Besides, after up 3-1, they got cocky, especially started with Tracy, they lost 3 in a row. That's inmature, which was a good lesson to him. I believe he will be really great someday, but I will wait until he show greatness in playoffs before i could start to consider putting him ahead of Kobe.
imho opinion your logic is a bit off. you say that it is not possible to win alone. So every superstar needs a good second best. Duncan has parker. Jordan had pippen. so basically Bryant was the second best with the lakers. McGrady has never been second best. (atleast not since orlando). Bryant won those championships because SHaq qas the best player, and he was able to be the second best. he was very good at being second best, but stil nothing more then second best. Look at what kobe is doing now, his team isn't that good anymore. and it is way more talented then the old magic. Nobody knows how mcGrady would play if he was the second best, and he played with Shaq. We do not know if he would have won those championships. so we should not look at it.i think it is not good that if you compair kobe and T-Mac people keep sying kobe has 3 championships. He had Shaq and he was not the best player on that team. hel Horry has 6 championships(i think) but that doesn't make him a better player then Kobe. he had a role o his championships teams just as kobe had his. now for who is harder to defend. i have no idea, both are just unbelievable talented on the offensive end. i couldn't choose