Kevin Durant or T-Mac: The Better Individual Talent?
 

I think a prime T-Mac would smoke, school and style all on Kevin Durant head-to-head. KD wouldn't have been able to guard T-McGrizzle, and T-McGreasy would D him up hard and frustrate his offense the same way he did to Dirk in the 2005 Playoffs.

KD has shown scoring prowess with incredible efficiency, but I think T-McGutta would have been just as efficient had he gotten some help over there in Orlando. The frustration mounted, taking a toll on his mentality, and he began to adopt terrible habits as he felt an increasing need to carry that team all by himself. He was fully willing to be a team player and use his playmaking skills alongside Grant Hill, but the feeling of isolation stayed with him even as he went over to Houston and found himself sometimes haunted by those ghosts.

Overall, T-McGrimey was just a flat-out better talent and would have had a great career with some more roster assistance early on when he was mentally vulnerable as a youngster. I think this would have motivated him to work harder on his fitness and prolong his career as well.

I'm not excusing his fragile mindstate, which seems to have been his only flaw as a player.

Re: Kevin Durant or T-Mac: The Better Individual Talent?
 

Mac is the better talent, Durant would probably tell you that.

Re: Kevin Durant or T-Mac: The Better Individual Talent?
 

T-Mac could've been a better player, better than Durant? Probably not. Durant is one of the most effecient and difficult to guard players in the league. Aside from a few years in Orlando T-Mac was never effecient or a consistent shooter.

T-Mac didn't work hard enough on his shooting (look at his FT%), his ball handling, or his conditioning (he prefered to play a slow down style of play even though his skill set and body type were better for an up tempo offense.

Also it isn't clear whether he's more talented than Durant. Durant is bigger, has longer arms, much better hand eye coordination, and a better first step. T-Mac (pre-injury) was faster, stronger, and might have had a higher verticle (allthough Durant get's up). And most importantly Durant is much, much, much more durable, which if you've ever played sports you would know is extremely important.

Re: Kevin Durant or T-Mac: The Better Individual Talent?
 

T-mac

Re: Kevin Durant or T-Mac: The Better Individual Talent?
 

Maybe to appear humble in front of the cameras, but I think every superstar believes deep down they are better than the next dude.

Hell, even Deshawn Stevenson was likely thinking to himself "that fool LeBron ain't $hit!" when he outscored him in one of those games in the Finals.

Re: Kevin Durant or T-Mac: The Better Individual Talent?
 

I hate these "one-on-one" debates because they literally have no merit whatsoever. You could say that T-Mac would shake n bake KD, but how would TMac handle KD's length? He'd have to shoot on a really high arc. How would he handle KD's ability to shoot and drive? It goes both ways.


Debating the better basketball player, it's close. But I have to say KD. I think both are all-timers, KD is one of the most difficult players to guard in the history of the association. His length, ability to drive, ability to shoot, and now ability to rebound, is an absolute killer. He's too multidimensional to stop.

Re: Kevin Durant or T-Mac: The Better Individual Talent?
 

T-Mac. Orlando Mac was my favorite player ever.

Re: Kevin Durant or T-Mac: The Better Individual Talent?
 

Hardly anyone's ever been as "talented" as Tmac was.

Who cares? Take your talent and shove it. You never accomplished anything and you didn't work hard. And KD's very talented himself. He's at least 6'10, long ass arms, and can dribble and move like that? Hands that soft and good? A scoring instinct every bit as good as Tmac's, and he can actually consistently make jumpshots and free throws to boot?

I gotta give it to KD. Despite Tmac's huge advantage over him in passing. Tmac was a great passer... among guys currently playing I'd say only Paul, Kidd, Lebron, and Nash are comparable. Tmac might have an edge over even some of them.

Re: Kevin Durant or T-Mac: The Better Individual Talent?
 

Tmac was probably more talented than Lebron. He wasn't better than either Lebron or Durant though. Being Better and being more talented are different.

Re: Kevin Durant or T-Mac: The Better Individual Talent?
 

Maybe. It's a good question.

I'd probably go with Lebron. Having a guy the size and strength of Karl Malone who can dribble and move and pass like a point guard is hard to top. But if Tmac had perfected his game and his body (I will never believe his injury problems were not preventable) the way Kobe did and consistently applied himself on defense? Close. Certainly, they're 2 of the most talented guys to ever come around.

Re: Kevin Durant or T-Mac: The Better Individual Talent?
 

I don't get this about T-Mac. Everyone says he doesn't or didn't work hard? You don't just make the NBA without any work. Ok, he may not have the work ethic of Kobe, but who the hell does?

Remember him as a rookie, than think of him in his 7th, 8th season with Orlando. That was work put in. Dude was what 180 6'7 twig out of high school?

Durant is durable, some people have good and bad luck. Mac was pretty durable his first couple of season in Orlando. Just bad luck.

Andre Miller, come in camp and the early seasons some times chubby and out of shape, yet homie has missed a handful of games his entire career. That is just pure luck.

Re: Kevin Durant or T-Mac: The Better Individual Talent?
 

Tmac was not as physically gifted as Lebron but he was more overall skilled than he was. Specifically with his smooth jump shot.

Tmac was probably just as quick and fast as Lebron was, maybe even quicker and faster, but the strength is the biggest difference between the two and that is where Lebron has a huge physical edge over McGrady.

Re: Kevin Durant or T-Mac: The Better Individual Talent?
 

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/sho...65#post7982165

Thoughts?

Re: Kevin Durant or T-Mac: The Better Individual Talent?
 

Bron has that edge over everyone.

Re: Kevin Durant or T-Mac: The Better Individual Talent?
 

:oldlol:

Tmac from 01-05 was a great player that I respect. Tmac from post-05 is someone I don't. When I was talking about Yao, it was mainly about Yao at his prime which was from 06-09 and which was also when Yao played with the loser version of McGrady, of course, you say it was just the injured version of McGrady but whatever.