"Legendary" is the word that Rudy T. used to describe Hakeem Olajuwon's undressing of David Robinson in the year that D. robbed Hakeem of the MVP. Hakeem dominated that series, unveiling moves that we had never seen before, playing with quickness and power that could not be stopped. Fast forward nearly a decade and we have T-Mac v. Nowitski. Tmac has elevated his play to an unbelievable level. Tracy has played 45 minutes per game, averaging 30.2 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 6.6 apg, and throw in 2 steals per game and 1.2 blocks. Shooting at a 46.2% clip, his output has been incredibly efficient. He has done this in the face of multiple, athletic would-be defenders, like Marquis Daniels, Josh Howard and Michael Finley. But we suspected he could do that. His defense makes this performance legandary. Charged with the responsibility of stopping Dirk, a would-be MVP, T-Mac has dominated both ends of the court. Despite giving up 4 inches of height and 35 pounds, and playing way out of posiiton, T-Mac has hounded Dirk into submission. Tracy has denied Dirk the ball, attacked every dribble, contested every shot and forced Dirk into the teeth of the Rockets defense. Tracy has willed Dirk into submission. Legendary. The question that resounds in my mind is this: Has anyone ever been asked to do more and responded in this way? The anwer: Yes. My mind goes back to Michael Jordan. I am reminded of the pre-championship Bulls teams, where MJ didn't quite have the cast of support he needed and he was forced to carry the team. The Bulls were learning to win and MJ took his game to new heights. He learned to pace himself and to trust his teammates. I see that maturity in T-Mac. He has relied on his teammates in the middle of the game, setting them up with scoring opportunities time and again. As did Jordan, T-Mac has learned to save that reserve of energy for the moment. For the burst that he now knows is necessary to carry his team to victory. History's account of T-Mac's performance will be colored by the outcome of Game 7. That has always been the case and always will be. But today, before this magnificent series resolves, I wanted to take the time to reflect upon and admire T-Mac's legendary performance.
nice post. I don't know if I can call it legendary yet, simply because they haven't won the series. But if he plays big in game 7 and they win, its one of the best playoff performances I've seen. Maybe its not on the Olajuwon level, but its a great performance. Dream held the MVP to 7-8 points per game under his average, while increasing his scoring and rebounding numbers. Both players though have used there defense to change the series.
While what McGrady has done has been awesome and without him we wouldnt have a chance, I dont really think it qualifies for legendary. What Hakeem did was just unreal. I love McGrady and hope he takes us to the promise land. I really think he will. I still dont think that its on the same level as how Hakeem made David Robinson his b**** in every possible way. He made him look like a fool. I havent seen McGrady do that just yet.
There's a difference between an "incredible" performance and a "legendary" performance. "Legendary" performances are tied to team success. Only winners ever get remembered in history. There have been many, many "incredible" individual performances over the years in the playoffs, but no one remember them because their teams failed. One man can only do so much in a team game.
when he scored 13 points in 33 seconds, he made that game legendary. if that was the playoffs he would be considered one of the most clutch scorers of all time. the way he played in thie series was awesome, but if we don't win then he might as well have played like dirk.
Just what exactly were Dream's rediculous numbers in that series against the Spurs? Not sure but weren't they something like 35pts,13rebs,5blks?
