Who was a better player for us - TMac at his best or James Harden this year?

Orlando T-Mac >> Houston Harden > Houston T-Mac

McGrady in Houston was a high-volume scorer who shot 40% from the field and 70% from the line. He was a good rebounder and decent defender, but was nowhere near the player he was in Orlando. Harden's FG shooting (not great, but solid compared to T-Mac) and his FT numbers (both volume and rate) make him more efficient and valuable than McGrady during his time in Houston IMO.

 

People tend to forget that T-Mac turned out to be a pretty darn good defender.

Give Harden some time to grow though... his D will get better.

 

Had the Rockets draft Yao a year earlier, we would have won at least one championship with T-Mac joining Houston.

When T-Mac became a Rocket, Yao was not quite in his prime yet, otherwise the result would have been different.

 

Harden. He goes to the rim and doesn't mind contact.

McGrady should be the correct choice but he rarely played to his potential..as we all know painfully well.

 

Not fair to compare the two of them yet, easily McGrady, but we have not seen the best of Harden.

 

1:32. Tmac fakes 2 defenders!! Man the game came so easy to him. It sucks injuries derailed his career.

 

Haven't read any responses, only saw the results. Wow, can't believe how far apart my thoughts on pro basketball are from seemingly everyone who posts here. I thought it was a no-brainer, in the opposite direction.

 

For sure, Ron Artest was a better complement to Yao too.

 

There are two players post-Jordan who at their peak were better than McGrady. Lebron, and Shaq. I'd take McGrady at his peak over Nash, Dirk, Garnett, Kobe, and Duncan, he was THAT good. Obviously those five are much higher than McGrady on an all-time list, but McGrady had it all at his very best.

 

i don't think tmac/yao were bad compliments. we didn't have a legit third option (or fourth option caliber) guy in 05, 06, or 07. if anything tmac/yao's HEALTH were not compliments to each other. otherwise, even with a lack of other consistent scoring options, we had a pretty damn good record iirc with the both of em in the lineup. in '08, tmac had declined a bit, and yao was out for the post-season. in '09, tmac was done unfortunately. that was the year, we truly had a very good team all round too. oh well.

 

They were two charmin soft stars, one of them needed to take a stand and at times both faded away. (Final minutes of Jazz game 7 is one of the best examples)

 

right. i'd agree with that.

but i'd still say it's a stretch to say artest/yao was better than tmac/yao.

 

I don't want to get blasted because the last time I mentioned T-Mac I did.

But, It's defiantly a easy given it was T-Mac but I think Harden has the potential to be just as good regardless of his size to T-Mac. Harden is still young and has a alot of years until his prime which is usually 27-29. I think Harden can lead us to a championship but he can't do it alone not yet anyway. He need's another star even if he does become the player T-Mac was this league his changing and in order to defeat a super power like Miami you need stars. Boston did it, Miami did it and Knicks tried anyhow but stoudmire semi failed for them.

 

Just bring back Yao. We'll see who's better then.

 

Did T Mac even play 70games in season????

Harden is my pick because I know for fact he won't p***y out in games and say "Oh... my leg... my arm.... my eye.... my skin...my hair...... my nail......my ear...... my hand.....my mouth.....my knee.... HURTS.

 

TMac no doubt but his prime didn't last long. With Kobe's health, TMac could turned out to be just like him and a future HOF.

 

Agree with the general consensus here. T-Mac at his best, but Harden is still young, and it seems we have yet to see his best. This could get good.

 

Tmac had elite ball handling skills and great court vision for his position.

 

McGrady by a little. If we actually go by "win shares", Harden has already BEAT ALL of McGrady's best Rocket years.

But Harden is a lesser defender than McGrady. And good and bad, McGrady was even more ball dominant than Harden as THE creator, even with Yao on the team. McGrady had more 'imprint" on the game both sides.

I think Harden can pass Houston McGrady, even next year if everything aligns right. The key being he's still 23, his defense can develop and he'll have gained a year of experience as the man

Even this year if Harden kept up this season performance through March and April, it'd be even closer. (If you take way Harden's last 15 games, Harden's season numbers would be nice and it'd be like a typical McGrady 65 game season, and would be apples-to-apples comparison)

 

Harden can easily surpass the Rockets version of Mcgrady, being as efficient as he is, but to me he's not as unstoppable as Tracy was when it really counted (and when Tracy wanted to be unstoppable). In terms of sheer talent, Tracy wins easily. Tracy was potential MVP material and arguably a top 3 player when he got here.

But I'll take Harden and his consistent willingness to drive to the basket over Tracy's occasional lazy chucking anyday.