Yao would be far more effective with the way they allow verticality now, Mcgrady is way too much of a chucker to be that good today.
T-Mac could of been possiably the best player ever. I mean he gives kobe a run for his money. He just had a lot of injuries and bad luck. Yao obviously is more skilled then howard but howard has better D So I think Tmac and Yao win but harden could potentially be a real winner in the NBA
So, McGrady was playing in a much slower paced offense yet he still put up 20% MORE shots than Harden? As far as jacking up 3's Harden shoots just over 1 more 3 pointer per game than McGrady did. Difference is that Harden is a far superior 3 point shooter. During those 4 seasons, McGrady's 3pt percentage was comparable to Terrance Jone's career percentage from 3. McGrady settled for jumpers way too often and that caused him to be inefficient here. Harden is just the opposite, he's incredibly efficient. So, McGrady was shooting much more and making much less. If you really want a good laugh go check out the end of game results between the two.
You don't know basketball. Slow paced game usually set your leader and playmaker to take more shots, because there is no movement offensively and role players are always giving the ball to the leader on the last fourth of a shot clock for a tough shots. Nothing to say here. LeBron James. 4Quarters. NBA Finals 2015. Enjoy
Harden alone is good enough to beat T-Mac and Yao. Unless we're talking prime T-Mac and prime Yao. Houston T-Mac never measured up to Orlando T-Mac.
LeBron James made it to the NBA Finals on a regular basis Tracy McGrady made excuses for his playoff failures on a regular basis There's not a comparison here. LeBron's headband has more playoff series wins than a billion t-macs.
you guys forget that the only season yao and tmac had a good surrounding cast were the last two years together. first was the 22 win streak, but yao was out for the playoffs. 2nd tmac was out for the playoffs then yao in the 2nd round. any team that loses a superstar in the playoffs aren't going far esp in the west
Lets not bring other players into this even though i know you didnt mention lebron first in this topic... The point i believe being made about fast vs slow pace is all about efficiency. You run a fast pace you get quicker more open shots which can lead to better fg.
well, maybe Tmac should have joined D'Antoni and the Phoenix Suns if he wants a fast offense. Because JVG = slow offense Rick Adelman = motion offense
Have to give it to Yao and Tmac since they were both very good to elite 2-way players, when healthy. Yao did stuggle on pick and roll defense but he was very good in the post and when he learned how to keep his arms up. Tmac was originally supposed to be a lockdown defender when he was drafted. Even though he got a little lazy on defense when he became a superstar, he was still way more capable defender than Harden will ever be. Dwight and Harden are just too much of 1-way players, in my opinion. You also have to factor in that Tmac was way less turnover prone than Harden. Just wish Tmac and Yao had the type of supporting cast Harden and Howard have, when they were in their primes. We wasted so much time with poor roster with Tmac and Yao.
It is a tough considering Howard and Harden are still in the middle of there run. T-Mac and Yao had the worst teams to carry until the end of the duo's run. The West is much tougher now than it was when Yao and McGrady were together. Yao used to dominate Howard 1 on 1 in the low block. McGrady was a legit MVP candidate the year we had the 22 game win streak, Harden was #2 in MVP counting (should have won the MVP. I'd say it is too tough to call right now, if Harden and Howard build on last season I easily put them ahead but if they stay stagnant or started to take a step backwards, then the case can be made for Yao and T-Mac over them based on how much more depth this team has than the Yao/McGrady teams overall. If I had to choose now I would say Harden and Howard because health wise they are more reliable. And to a 3-1 run lead against the Eastern Conference finalist with this playoff roster. Starting Line -up in playoff series, courtesy of Basketball Reference Gooden, Vaughn, Giricik, DeClercq Bench: Darrel Armstrong, Pay Garrity, Shawn Kemp, Chris Whitney, Steven Hunter, Pat Burke. I get it, you are bitter about how things ended with McGrady in Houston, but don't spin the facts. The only legitimate view you have is relating to his mental weakness when his body started to break down. Yes, he was immature and mentally weak
Not gonna lie, I'm shocked that Yao/McGrady are leading this poll. I get it: injuries + the supporting casts of the CD era vs. the DM era are a night & day difference. There's no question that Harden/Howard have more talent surrounding them than Yao/McGrady ever did. Hell, look at the 13 in 33 video. Look at some of the players we had on the floor. It's comical. ....but results matter. This current team was more successful, and when you look at what Harden has accomplished alone, it's more than enough to decide this one, IMO. He damn near won the MVP award this year. When you look at our franchise historically, I'd say he's in good company in that regard.
Harden/ Dwight and no it's not even close . I hated Tmac/Yao era, too much expectation too little achievement
Ok, so slow paced games make your leader take more shots? Let's see. Here's the 5 slowest paced teams from last season and the player that led them in FG attempts. #26. Memphis - Gasol 13.16 FGA 48.1% EFG% #27. NY - Anthony 20.15 FGA 48.2% EFG% #28. N.O. - Davis 17.8 FGA 53.6% EFG% #29. Miami - Wade 17.48 FGA 48.3% EFG% #30. Utah - Hayward 14.3 FGA 50% EFG% Hmm...that doesn't seem to backup your claim. None of those teams have anybody that took more shots than McGrady averaged. In fact, the only one that's even close is Carmello Anthony who's always taken lots of shots and never been efficient. The rest of the guys aren't even close to McGrady's number of FG attempts. Also notice that every one of those guys is also more efficient than McGrady. Just for fun I even went back to check on the slowed paced team that I've ever seen which was Mike Fratello's 1997 Cleveland Cavaliers. They ground the game to a crawl and averaged 87.5 pts/game while holding opponents to 85.6 pts/game. Terrell Brandon led them with 16.8 FGA/game. Again nowhere close to McGrady's 20.83% (20% fewer shots). Who are the guys that you are remembering that played on slow paced teams and took a ton of shots? If that's what usually happens, as you say , then there should be a bunch of examples. EDIT: BTW McGrady's last season in Orlando, the Magic were #14 in the league in pace and McGrady averaged even more shots per game (23.4) than he did in Houston. Ditto for the prior season when he took 24.2 shots/game. I thought slow paced forced him to take more shots?
If I didn't know better I would think tinman is making argument via troll account just so he can cut them down with machine gun efficiency.
Harden is much better than T-Mac. Even at his peak here, T-Mac was maybe equivalent to a Paul George type of player. Very very good, but not quite enough to lead a team on his own. Replace Mac with Harden on some of those Rockets teams, and they would likely do a lot better. Yao-Dwight goes to Yao hands down. Yao would be the perfect Center next to Harden. Play defense, set good picks, and could step out a little bit from under the rim to not completely clog the paint.
