T-Mac of 01 (might as well all the way back) to 05 is better than Kobe in his prime. The man had everything. The quickest first step, he got past his defender at will, unbelievable handles, mad atheliticism, the most unblockable jumpshot in the league, lock down defense, clutchness...the list goes on. T-Mac always had a pretty great passing ability, he was only noticed for it on the Rockets because he finally had a few players who could finish.
Very little is different from T-Mac now (when his knee/shoulder are not stiff...game by game basis) and 2005. His defense is the same, just he now has Battier to play lockdown defense, so he often roams around and looks lazy. He has lost a bit of athleticism, but very little...this season, specifically before the knee injury, he was performing the most impressive/acrobatic moves we have seen from him in years. His longrange shooting has gotten worse, but his midrange shooting is just as good.His ability to finish around the rim is slightly worse. Passing/playmaking has gotten better. Ballhandling is slightly worse, but not very noticable because he has gotten less wild (as seen with a lower TO count despite assists shooting up). People exagerate how good he was in 2005 and how bad he is now....dude is still a superstar.
No, people don't exagerrate how good he was. T-Mac in his prime averaged 30/7/7 on 45% shooting. The T-Mac now can barely shoot over 40% most nights, let alone reach 30 points. He's lost a lot of athleticism and lost not one, but two steps. He also used to be a lot leaner two years ago. If we had the T-Mac in 05 we would SWEEP the Jazz. He's still a good player but it's obvious he's not what he used to be.
before he got injured htis yr with the knee, he was playing like the 04-05 tmac. it's just the injuries. he might not ever play at a high level for the whole yr simply b/c of that. it messes up his rhythm, confidence, and jumpshot (elevation). the first 10-12 games of this yr, he was easily a top 3-5 player. dude was scoring with ease. just pray he won't get injured again (which is probably not going to happen)
T-Mac in his prime was 32/6/5, and that was 2 years before he ever joined the Rockets. His best year as a Rocket statistically was last year (IMO, because of the rise in assists), rather than 2004-2005. He actually shot as well last year as he did in 04-05, and even better from 3. His playoff numbers were better in 2004-2005 than the last 2 years, but at the same time he was facing a much easier defensive team.
You have to remember that when he sat out with the back issue he said he ballooned up to 265lb or so (if I remember correctly). It looks like he is one of those guys whose metabolism shuts down very early and now it is a struggle for him to stay lean. Remember how heavy he was last year? He looked 10-15lb heavier than this season. He needs to bust his butt this summer. There is no reason for a professional basketball player to not be as lean as possible with everything that is available to him. Tmac, please use some HGH to lean up and strengthen your connective tissue -thanks I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see Tmac rolling up at 270lb+ within 2 years of retiring from the league.
He was NEVER 265lbs...2 offseasons ago (2006) he said he rested the whole summer because of all the back problems he had the year before, and came into camp at 240lbs-245lbs. That is the heaviest he was at his entire career. Last offseason, after getting worked on by Patterson, he lost 15lbs over the summer, and came into camp around 225lbs. LeBron just scratches 260lbs, and it is very clear T-Mac has never been as big as LeBron.
