Will McGrady be the greatest Rocket ever? Better than Hakeem?

FAOS i don't think anyone would say that after hakeem's first four years in the league because he offensive game -- his post up game -- didn't really develop i believe until 92 or 93 when the dream shake came about.

Look at it this way: A dominant center such as hakeem , IMO the best center ever, i don't give a rip what ppl say about shaq. hakeem was the best center ever CAN IMPACT a game so much more than a guard. IF Mcgrady was a bad ass defender such as jordan was than there'd be some argument. but he's not. I don't know how much better mcgrady will get. he's near the ceiling. After hakeem's first four years in the league the sky was still the limit because hakeem was such a phenomonal athelete. I don't know if you've seen some clips from his early years on the rockets, but geez man. there is no one like hakeem in the league right now. KG is a great athlete but **** he aint on dream's level.

Just to reiterate. Just the fact that a dominant defensive center can impact the game so much more than a guard, dream is so much more valuable.

remember what dream did in 94? HE CARRIED THAT TEAM. he had no co-stars, no yao, he had around average role players. he did everything. that's how good he was.

 

Manu Ginobili

 

I voted yes and I watched Hakeem night in and night out from college through retirement.

While I agree that Hakeem has a huge edge defensively, there is something totally different about watching McGrady work offensively.

When T-Mac is "on" the basket even looks bigger to me. I remember Olajuwon taking over games, but he was reliant upon being fed the ball. T-Mac isn't reliant upon anyone to take over the game and seems to be doing it every 3rd or 4th game, at a much earlier age the HO.

I also remember that I was always concerned with Hakeem getting the ball out of the double team, or taking shots that weren't the "dreamshake", or putting the ball on the floor. I have absolutely no concerns about McGrady's offensive game and think he's got just as big an edge offensively as Hakeem has defensively.

Hakeem hit his stride w/ the team in years 9-11 and at 32-34 yrs of age. If McGrady does the same....watch out. If he's behind Olajuwon at this point (and he is because he hasn't earned two rings for the Rockets), I think he will surpass Hakeem. I never thought I would say that....but this kid is special. I still can't believe he's a Rocket.

 

uuhhh....wrong

http://www.clutchfans.net/playerinfo.cfm?PlayerID=131

21/12/2(roughly)

and the leading scorer on the 86 team that took the Bird Celtics to 6 game in the Finals.

yea..he didnt do squadoo in his first few years......NOT!!!

others have answered this question with what I would say...specifically dacabbage

 

Dream was Houston. He bleeds Houston. Playing at UH was big. Phi slamma Jamma was great for Houston and Dream & Clyde were something special together.

Tmac might be great.. But to be the greatest Rocket ever, Houston will have to mean as much to him as he does to us.

 

Hakeem MADE the Rockets in his time.

McGrady may very well MAKE the Rockets now. But it's hard to compare a dominant guard/small forward with a dominant center.

McGrady will benefit from Yao, of course, but if it turns out that the Rockets win several championships with Tmac and Yao, then opinions can be drawn then.

 

Until he averages almost 40 points againt the league MVP during a playoff series, Tmac will not be considered.

Dream dominated Kareem, Robinson, Ewing, Shaq during playoff series.

Tmac hasn't even won one yet.

Tmac hasn't even gotten to Moses level yet, and he may never will.

 

Here's something to think about.

Most people agree that how soon the Rockets will win a championship depends on how soon Yao develops. If Yao does not improve and become one of the top 10 players in the league, it is safe to say that Mcgrady will have a hard time getting a ring. In order to surpass Hakeem he has to get 3 or more.

Did Hakeem have to wait for someone to get his first championship ring? Nope. He did it with a bunch of role players. In his second year in the league, he and Ralph Sampson eliminated the lakers and took Celtics to 6 games in Finals.

Now, if Tmac takes an underdeveloped Yao and a bunch of roleplayers to Finals this year and wins the whole thing, then yes, he would definately have to be considered as a rival to Hakeem.

IMHO, if you take out the role players from the equation, current Rockets are equally dependant on Yao and Tmac while Hakeem's Rockets were relied solely on him.

 

Huh? He took out the lakers (Magic and kareem) in Western Conference Finals in his second year in the league and took the Celtics to 6 games in the Finals.

 

Hakeem won a championship while being on the court with "4 other guys." If TMac wins a championship, worst case scenario it'll be with "Yao & 3 other guys."

I don't think TMac could carry the team like Dream did. So I'm gonna stick with Dream on this one.

 

Dream was the first to bring a championship to Houston...and he did it twice...back to back.

Only way TMac can surpass Dream, in the minds of true Rocket fans, is if he brings 4 championships all the while becoming as dominant offensively and defensively. Anything short of that, I think Dream will remain in the hearts of us true fans.

 

Interestingly enough, the 'always hating' Charles Barkley was on TNT last night, and when they showed some of the best highlights of the past week or so, they showed that T-Mac 360 layup against the Cavs I believe. Charles then uttered the following: "That kid has sooo much skills and potential, he can be the best player in the league, if he wants to"!

I was surprised Charles said that, but apparently those are his sentiments about T-Mac.

Anyways, going back to this topic, it is really VERY difficult to compare guards to centers, they are apples and oranges, because they impact the game differently and have different roles, their proximity to the basket makes their numbers different, etc.

Great Centers almost ALWAYS have more impact than great guards, just by their sheer size/strength and position in the court (the inside force they are expected to be). The only guard that probably be compared to Centers as far as impact is Jordan, and we all know that no one comes even close to being in Jordan's class as far as impact of a backcourt player.

So in that respect, this comparo is unfair to McGrady, mainly due to his position on the court, which might make him a bit less impactful than Dream regardless of what he does/how good he becomes. There is a reason why Centers are more expensive and the great ones are rare and far inbetween, while at any moment there are more star guards that star big men.

Still, Hakeem was putting up great numbers throughout his career, but he didn't win a ring until about 10 years into his professional career, that is after being a developed, mature player who got to play in college and was given a starting job pretty much right off the bat. Obviously, McGrady came out of high school at the tender age of 18, he was a bench player for about the first 2-3 years of his career, which slowed down his development somewhat. When given his first chance to be "the man" in Orlando, he won the "Most Improved Player" of the year by making a huge jump statistically almost out of nowhere, and just like that (seemingly overnight) became a premier star in the league.

I say don't compare both, because there is really no need to do so, both have a different track record, a different experience, and play a different position. If this question is asked about Yao, it would be more comparable and more accurate, and would actually make sense (comparing apples to apples that is).

Besides, no veteran Rockets fan would ever acknowledge that T-Mac is better EVEN if he wins 5 championship rings and dominates his opponents, because Hakeem was that first child that the city watched grow and develop and finally bring the city its first championships (something McGrady can never do because someone else has already done it). So in short, there is just so much more emotional attachment to Dream than there will likely ever be for T-Mac, even if he is successful.

Just MHO...

 

This one is tough, because they played different positions and their responsibilities are different. T-Mac will lead the Rockets to some championships and will improve his game along the way. He will be as good a player at his position as Dream, maybe even slightly better.

However, Dream was the 1st to take a Houston team to a major(I said major because the early Oilers AFL title was in an upstart league) pro championship. T-Mac will have a hard time overcoming this.

By the way, I voted no.

 

That never happened.

 

sorry...but the greatest Rocket ever would have to be YAO MING!!!

okay...well maybe the greatest media powered Rocket who brings lots of National and international attention to the Rockets.