Something just hit me - Duncan - being drafted in 1997 - has played through the Olajuwon / Drexler era, the Francis / Mobley era, the Yao / McGrady era and now the Howard / Harden era....... And the dude is still playing at a relatively high level and competing for Championships. That's incredible!
Hands down McGrady and Yao had more potential and more talent Hands down HH duo produced better results because of durabilty and because their game matches better with today's game People still ignore the fact that Houston was not spoiled by championships like the Lakers Spurs and so on.... Whole different scenario if you ask me, had everything worked out differently You got to have the best stars and the best role player ensemble Houston was always second tier in both due to injuries, slightly awkward management issues......so the development of having trolls on a forum like this can be understood and reasoned with The fact that having Howard and Harden and the late Josh Smith only yielded a WCF outing (1-4) and an almost 2nd exit rd against the Clips is just too little given the talent of that team
I'm not a TMac fanboy by any measure, but... I'm not sure how much success Harden & Howard would have if their starting five was: Howard Ryan Bowen McGrady Wesley Sura With a bench cast composed of Padgett & Mike James. McGrady & Yao COULDA SHOULDA WOULDA had better results with health, not having to fight fixed officiating, and better luck (that game 7 rebound rebound vs Utah was heartbreaking).
I'd say Howard's inability to hit free throws hurts just as much as Yao's struggles against stretch big's.
Yao>Dwight If only considering Howard and Harden vs T-Mac and Yao and also all being healthy - I believe a healthy T-Mac has a better chance of slowing down Harden, but their matchup could be close to even. Yao vs Dwight however is not even close. A healthy Yao dominated the matchup with Howard. Howard wouldn't have a chance in stopping Yao from hitting hooks from left and right, jump shots from 10-15 feet, and keeping Yao off the boards. Dwight's only advantage would be running on the fast break. How often does Howard do that? A healthy Yao would have given Hakeem fits, but Hakeem could run and shake 'n bake. Howard can barely post up. Yao could just stand in the way with his arms up and Howard would have nothing. This matchup isn't really fair. T-Mac can snowbird on offense and just let Yao work over Howard, then T-Mac can focus on defense on Harden by pressing and forcing long Harden jumpers with a hand in his face. Howard looks so much better now that Yao has retired.
Harden/Howard >>>>> Yao/TMac in terms of defense. I think they're roughly equal offensively, but Harden/Howard fit better. I take H&H.
Yao can make hook shots, Tmac can dunk and do all fancy stuff but that's it. When the game start, tMac will quit and Yao get Hurts. And more likely its 2 H against one
Stop comparing everything to rap of the 90s, it's getting old just as you and you're probably white as ****!
Harden and Howard won twice as many playoff series last season as Yao and TMac did in a 5 year span. And yes while health did play a major factor, there was no reason why we should have lost in 05' and in 07'.
way too nostalgic for old players. harden was pretty much the mvp this year and dwight is the best defender around
Tmac was a phenomenal. I mean the guy was just a natural creator. His problem was just staying healthy. Yao was just a better basketball player than Dwight. Not taking anything away from Harden & Dwight, but....if healthy.... Yao/Tmac> Not even close
It was also on Morey that he did not get a better PG and better players. By the time he got Artest and Lowry Mac and Yao were already nearly done or already done.
