I'd take Clyde. McGrady is a better shooter and scorer, but Drexler can really attack the basket, something McGrady doesn't like to do, and he is a far better defender, and is probably a better passer. Plus he's.... won a playoff series?
Drexler You put Drexler's pissed off/never quit will in Tracy and Tracy would already have several rings. If things weren't going well Clyde would lower his head and he was going to the hole and woe to anyone who got in his way. There is no way somebody like Fisher would have frustrated Clyde, Clyde would have made him his b!tch.
Drexler was stronger mentally, better at running the break and was a better finisher in the paint. T-Mac has a better perimeter game, have better ball handling skills, and is a better passer. It's a tough call, but considering T-Mac is actually capable of running an offense, whereas Drexler was a pure shooting guard, I'd say McGrady has a slight edge.
TMac: - better perimeter game? Definitely - better ball handling skills? arguable at best, since otherwise we don't need Rafer in full court pressure situations - better passer? The numbers don't support that. TMac career assist per game average: 4.6; peak year APG: 6.5 Clyde career APG: 5.6, peak year APG: 8.0
i've said it before and i'll say it again. i've never seen a better player than T-Mac in Orlando. Talent wise T-Mac blows Drexler out of the water. there's just no comparison. you all should be comparing prime T-Mac to Jordan, because talent wise they would be equal. however, T-Mac lacks will, and Drexler's will far surpasses T-Mac's.
Tracy is/was more talented. Few would argue that. But when Clyde got hit in the nose, he played harder. When Tracy got hit in the nose, he complained to the refs (even in Orlando). Tracy has more skills and in Orlando he was more athletic than Clyde ever was, but his competitive mentality doesn't measure up to Clyde's.
Yep, and Yao is a big stiff who is the next Shawn Bradley. I'm sure that's what you think, no, I know that's what you think because you trash Yao with every opportunity you get, you even make opportunities out of nothing like bashing him after the SA game.
clyde and tracy are both very athletic but they are two different kinds of athleticism. tracy's athletcism is more condusive to basketball, the way he can make quick cuts stop on a dime and pull up, those are things clyde was not good at. clyde's athletism is more conducive to football, like a wide receiver. deceptively strong, long strides, very fast in the open court. what clyde lacked in quickness he made up for in strength, if he got bumped in the lane he continued on his path, thus the dribbling with the head down. no one was going to really stop him. two different types of players, lebron is a lot like clyde was only more skilled and maybe stronger.
Clyde by far. T-Mac more athletic? Lets see T-Mac jump from the free-throw line and dunk the ball. Plus, Clyde had actually been able to dunk on a goal raised to 11 feet. The only person that could jump like Clyde was Michael Jordan, no more explanation required. How exactly is T-Mac a better jump shooter? His shots are straight lines to the basket. He's streaky, either he has them or has 4-14 nights. Clyde wasn't any better, he had a goofy ball-behind-the-head shot, but at least it had arc. T-Mac and Clyde stand on equal ground for jump shooting. Attacking the basket, Clyde could get to the hoop and ran over people to do it if he had too, even in his prime I rarely saw that from T-Mac. Clyde had to have great awareness of the court and where his teammates were, how else could he have put his head down and still know where he was and where he was going. People also assume that T-Mac can improve his skill set. This is his 11th season in the NBA, I think he would have done it already if he could. People like Dream and Clyde constantly worked on learning new things in the off season to improve their skill set, I never hear that about T-Mac. That doesn't mean he doesn't do that, but you hear about Rafer and Yao working on different facets of their game during the off-season but not T-Mac. I don't think you can put potential and T-Mac together anymore.
This is a really tough choice. Glide was a PHENOMENAL athlete. But one thing people overlook is that he was a really streaky jumpshooter, who did most of his scoring on drives, posting-up, and from the FT line b/c his jumper wasn't reliable. T-Mac on the other hand has a streaky shot also, but not nearly as much as Clyde's was. I remember with Clyde I used to be shocked if he made 2 jumpers in a row. Post-up wise, there is no comparison. Clyde could score on anyone in the post and he was a really underrated as a passer. He was also a great rebounder. As far as the competitive fire..well it must have burned within, b/c Clyde rarely showed much emotion on the court (although a notable exception might be when Jake "The Snake" O'Donnel threw him out of the PHX game). Keep in mind also that Clyde took his team to the finals while playing on some VERY good Portland teams. Those were 60 win teams we're talking about. Drexler couldn't have taken any Orlando team Mac played on into the finals, no way. Clyde was also easily my favorite player during the time he played for Houston (Hakeem was my 2nd favorite, believe it or not). I just liked how smooth his game was, and of course the dunking. All that said, I still take T-Mac. T-Mac circa 02-03 (and maybe circa 07-08, keeping my fingers crossed) takes that same Portland team to the finals too. I think all-around he is a more complete player when you consider all facets of the game.
This was tough but I went with Clyde because he is less injury prone and had the ability to lead teams to the finals with him as the best player.
what the hell can you bash Yao about in the SA game? he was rebounding, dishing assists, and hitting clutch shots in the 4th quarter.
Seeing this, a reader who is a not basketball fan would think TMac took his Orlando team to the finals. That's just great.
If TMac proves his clutchness in the postseason, I still might disagree, but wouldn't argue. Until then, it's Clyde making a big steal in crunch time, finger-rolling over an out-stretched Admiral in the last minute, pulling a team back from a 20+ deficit in game one of the finals... that's the critical facet and if you truly consider all facets, it has to go with Clyde... for now.
Excellent analysis. from For The Love of The Game I think that perfectly sums up the debate here. McGrady is an almost automatic scorer, but Drexler does all those other little things that add up to the W.
