remember, clyde the glide, he won a dunk test in which he finally dunked on 3.65 meters rim? that is about 12feet and 1or 2 inches.
you're comparing a retired drexler who has his full resume v. a tmac who still has 4-5 more dominant all-nba yrs. if tmac does well in the playoffs, there's no doubt he will be considered the better player. he has more all-nba, all-stars, stats when it's all said and done (meaning when tmac retires). but right now, drexler >>> tmac. but tmac's career is not finished. it's tough to compare/
'cause you got so many voters from China who probably have never watched Drexler playing other than a few highlights, just like many of them tried to compare Yao to the Dream. Think about it this way, no one would say TMac is better than MJ in their right mind, but Drexler was frequently mentioned as someone close to MJ during the Blazers' run, that tells you how good he was at his peak. TMac is a better scorer, but Drexler was amazy on the open court, and I'd rank him and Scottie Pippen as two of the best open court players in NBA history.
btw, Terry Porter, Jerome Kersey, Buck Williams, Cliff Robinson and Danny Ainge were on Drexler's team, just so you know.
Despite Drexler's greater assists and FG%, I think it's arguable that TMac is better in both of those categories. As we saw last year, TMac can run a half-court offense, and he's capable of regularly making even contested 3-pt shots. The league really has changed a lot from the late 80's early 90's days when there was much much less defense. Back in '94 when we won our first championship, people were trashing the Rockets for being a plodding defensive team that just shot 3's and posted up. But that team would be considered a fastbreaking team compared to most of the teams in the league today. Seriouly, Penny Hardaway looked like he was going to be the next MJ in the early 90's. And TMac>>Penny, even pre-injury. That being said, I chose Drexler because I agree with you that Clyde's "finishing a game" skills were >>>> TMac's. Clyde was more clutch and simply had a better sense of what it took to win.
there was no zone defense or the type of defense where u can shadow a guy and not full-blown double the guy. back then, either u double or you don't. back then it was more man D and tmac would love to face that type of defense. i'm not sure how drexler would fare against a zone. but like i said, we're comparing a retired drexler to a still-playing tmac.
I would give it about another year because clyde took portland to the finals in his 8th year in the league. now that this league is tougher especially the west, tmac is on pace to get out the first round and possibly further (GOD willingly). and when clyde came to houston it was dream's team so it was dream that got him better. now currently its safe to say that this is still tmacs team and its proven that hes makin yao alot better.not the other way around.
i think tmac should more rightly be compared to cousin vince carter. both soft, both take off every other play, both have athletic ability, but rely on quick, illadvised jumpers, and neither play off the dribble much anymore. and even with that comparison, i would have to go with vinsanity. until tmac cracks the first round and takes over a playoff game, he will always finish second. tmac isnt even in drexlers league.
People were comparing him to MJ only because there were no players remotely similar to those 2 during the late '80's/early '90's. It wasn't until the mid '90's when Hill and Hardaway were the 'next MJ's'. You didn't have the Kobe's, LeBron's, T-Mac's, Wade's, Pierce's, Melo's, etc... If T-Mac of 02-03 was around in the early '90's, he would have been considered the 2nd best player in the league by most (him of 02-03 and MJ of a few seasons are only guards in NBA history with a PER of over 30 for a season). What T-Mac did in his prime is why, even 3-4 years later, that he was being doubled last season despite a bad back, some weight issues as well struggling through bad shooting games (I remember the game against NJ where he was being doubled despite just coming off his 7 game hiatus, and he shot only 4-17 or something in that game). Only Kobe demands as much respect as T-Mac on the perimeter. Anyway, give me T-Mac in his prime over Clyde in his prime. Scoring- Not even a debate- T-Mac. Clyde has an edge in FG %, but it decreased down to 46-48% when he started to take over a bigger burden of the scoring like T-Mac has done since Orlando. T-Mac in his prime was a far more talented scorer-amazing jumpshot that has unlimited range, the quickest first step in the league, more agile than Clyde around the rim, and got to the line more than Clyde ever did. Passing- Once again, give me T-Mac. Clyde was only a 7-8APG guy when he was scoring 18-20PPG. Last year T-Mac averaged 6.5APG while still having to score 25PPG, and it was in one of the most offensively challenged systems in the league. Rebounding- Give me T-Mac. His rebound rate during his time in Orlando was higher than Clyde's ever was. Defense- Give me Clyde. T-Mac in his prime was a pretty poor defender. Clutch ability- I'd probably say Clyde, but neither of these guys stick out as guys to rip your heart out in the clutch ala MJ, Kobe, D-Wade, Reggie, Bird, etc... Overall, it's pretty easy for me to say T-Mac...just an overall more versatile, dangerous player.
Again, I don't think we should compare these two together right now....its still too early considering Tmac isn't finish with his career so individually breaking down each of their attributes seems unnecessary because all that really matters is the wins and the rings. But I have to say on the defense part you're mistaken-Tmac in his prime (Orlando days) was considered a very good defender by all the GM's even though he never made all-nba for his defense. People just typecast his laziness on his defense as "bad" defense
I agree, but I was comparing them in the prime of their careers (at least up until this point) rather than their career's as a whole. T-Mac was a poor defender in Orlando. I originally became a TOF in 01-02, and have watched him grow since then. When my mind needs refreshment, I have over 15 games downloaded on 2 of my computers from his days in Orlando. T-Mac was a lazy defender in Orlando, and in turn he got burned often. In Toronto he was primarily used for defense, but in Orlando he admitted that he slacked on defense to conserve energy for his offense, and it showed. He often lost his man on pick and rolls, got beat extremely easy off the dribble, and when he tried to lock someone down he played over agressively and would commit horrible fouls by swiping at the ball for a steal. With Houston he is much more fundementally sound. He stays further away from his man so he doesn't get beat off the dribble, doesn't try as much to swipe the ball away and commit costly fouls, etc...
Just because he played lazy defense doesnt mean he can't or have the ability to play good/great defense. He had all the good attributes of a lock-down defender but he slacked his ass off (get the irony?) on that side of the ball. Even Doc Rivers wanted him to become a 1st team all-defensive guy, because he knew he had the potential. But now in Houston you can see that he can be a very good one-on-one defender when he's given the task, even though they still want him to conserve his energy on offense (and to ease his back a little). Basically what I'm saying is that he probably won't get any accolades for his defense but he has shown that he can be one of the better defenders in the league. Now I have never witnessed Clyde during his days so I can't compare him and Tmac
This one of the biggest misconceptions of the '94 team on this board as well as nationally. The Knicks were a plodding defensive team and we had to play their brand of ball in the Finals. The Rockets were versatile. If you watched every game that season and the previous one you would know with Otis "Warren Moon" Thorpe throwing great outlet passes, Kenny, MadMax, Sam running the break Horry, Elie, OT, MadMax filling the lanes, MadMax hoisting fastbreak 3s, the Rockets were a potent open court team. BUT, if we had to trade haymakers, we had Hakeem and OT (one of the most unique players that doesn't get his due)
