Bill Simmons on Tracy McGrady

[HardwoodLegend]

2003 up 3-1 to Detroit and loses the series.

Care to go look up how his teammates performed in Games 5-7?

That 3-1 lead was miraculous and part of the perfect storm of T-Mac playing out of his mind and then Detroit having to adjust as a team to focus all their efforts on slowing him down. A Detroit team that would win the Finals the next season with some minor tweaks. The series loss should not leave that much of a stain on T-Mac's legacy, because they weren't supposed to win that series. No chance.

As for the other series, other match-ups started to get exploited and that was the main reason for his team losing. T-Mac was ALWAYS delivering and performing better than the regular season. The way you talk, it's as if he just disappeared and was a shell of himself due to crumbling. That's not the case.

[HardwoodLegend]

A segment of the article that makes a very good point:

[QUOTE]Van Gundy wishes people didn't overrate playoff success when they evaluated players, pointing out that Kevin Garnett was the exact same player in 2007 (32 wins) and 2008 (82 wins, including playoffs). He believes the line between success and failure is much thinner, and much more random, than anyone wants to admit. The ultimate example: Game 6 of the 2013 Finals, obviously. But in 2007, Van Gundy's Rockets squandered a Game 7 at home, blowing a late lead to a fairly young Jazz team.7 Like always, everyone blamed McGrady for not coming through, even though he scored 29 points and added 13 assists. Had Houston prevailed, it would have played the no. 8 seed Warriors in Round 2, then San Antonio in the Western finals. Let's say it made the conference finals and lost in six. Would you feel differently about T-Mac's career then?

You would

[kNicKz]

The planets never aligned for McGrady.

Lebron had Ray hit the big shot

Michael had Kerr hit the big shot

Kobe had Artest hit the big shot.

T-Mac never had Yao when he needed him and never had the planets align for him like some stars do. It happens...he was a great player who will be missed.

[miles berg]

Care to go look up how his teammates performed in Games 5-7?

That 3-1 lead was miraculous and part of the perfect storm of T-Mac playing out of his mind and then Detroit having to adjust as a team to focus all their efforts on slowing him down. A Detroit team that would win the Finals the next season with some minor tweaks. The series loss should not leave that much of a stain on T-Mac's legacy, because they weren't supposed to win that series. No chance.

Minor tweaks? They got a new best player (Rasheed Wallace) and a new head coach (HOF'er to be Larry Brown) the next year. Those were huge changes!

TMac/Orlando should have beaten Detroit that year, Rick Carlisle completely exposed TMac much like he exposed LeBron in 2011.

[HardwoodLegend]

Minor tweaks? They got a new best player (Rasheed Wallace) and a new head coach (HOF'er to be Larry Brown) the next year. Those were huge changes!

TMac/Orlando should have beaten Detroit that year, Rick Carlisle completely exposed TMac much like he exposed LeBron in 2011.

T-Mac's stats in Games 5-7: 25.7 PPG, 8 RPG, 5 APG.

How was it T-Mac that got "exposed" when his teammates shot a combined 29% from the field with zero defensive attention directed their way in Game 5? T-Mac shot poorly for the remainder of the series, but that's only because defense against him ramped up as his teammates were dared to contribute something. Anything.

No way comparable to what we saw with LeBron in 2011 who had Wade and Bosh at his aid. LeBron simply checked out mentally.

You're telling me the Orlando Magic were the favorites as the 8th seed in the 2003 Playoffs? The hell kinda revisionist history is that?



No they shouldn't have won. They shouldn't have been up 3-1. That was a fluke all things considered, but ALL of the credit goes to McGrady for that lead. None of the blame should go to him for the loss. That's just the logical conclusion.

[HardwoodLegend]

Keep in mind T-Mac is the same player that carried that 2003 Orlando team to 2 straight wins for a 3-1 lead after they shot a combined 26.1% from the field. He outscored his teammates collective efforts by 13 points.

Yet, he was on the squad that should have beaten the #1 seed.

[hawkfan]

He should stayed in Toronto, but he was too selfish.
Carter-McGrady would have won several championships. And McGrady would have eventually have become the man, instead of just a bunch of good stats.

His ego got in the way of him collecting championships.

[IGOTGAME]

He should stayed in Toronto, but he was too selfish.
Carter-McGrady would have won several championships. And McGrady would have eventually have become the man, instead of just a bunch of good stats.

His ego got in the way of him collecting championships.

He went to Orlando to play with grant hill and possibly Tim Duncan...wanting to play with other superstars made him selfish.

[SilkkTheShocker]

Im a Bill Simmons fan, but that article that hasn't already been talked to death about. Tmac always had a loser mentality.

[SilkkTheShocker]

He should stayed in Toronto, but he was too selfish.
Carter-McGrady would have won several championships. And McGrady would have eventually have become the man, instead of just a bunch of good stats.

His ego got in the way of him collecting championships.

No they wouldn't have. They may have made the Finals, but they were beating the Lakers or Spurs. And I have my doubts Toronto could surround them with the pieces needed to win it all.

[Jacks3]

I like how he brings of the stats of Kobe/Mac from 01-08 but ignores the fact that:

1. Kobe had significantly better scoring efficeiny.
2. Played better defense.
3. Had much better advanced stats
4. Had far better +/- numbers
5. Played in more games
6. Had a prime that lasted far longer. T-Mac was out of his by 05, Kobe's lasted from 2001 to 2010. A good decade!

They're not close. Certainly in peak play, but Kobe's prime is well ahead. T-Mac and his talent and potential will continue to get overrated, just like every other star with injuries (G.Hill, King, Sampson, etc). People love to romanticize these guys and what they could have done. It gets ridiculous.

Saying T-Mac could have been GOAT or Grant Hill could have been as good as LeBron. LOL.

[guy]

I like how he brings of the stats of Kobe/Mac from 01-08 but ignores the fact that:

1. Kobe had significantly better scoring efficeiny.
2. Played better defense.
3. Had much better advanced stats
4. Had far better +/- numbers
5. Played in more games
6. Had a prime that lasted far longer. T-Mac was out of his by 05, Kobe's lasted from 2001 to 2010. A good decade!

They're not close. Certainly in peak play, but Kobe's prime is well ahead. T-Mac and his talent and potential will continue to get overrated, just like every other star with injuries (G.Hill, King, Sampson, etc). People love to romanticize these guys and what they could have done. It gets ridiculous.

Saying T-Mac could have been GOAT or Grant Hill could have been as good as LeBron. LOL.

Not like he says T-Mac was better.

[HardwoodLegend]

Tmac always had a loser mentality.

How so? You never explain this fully.

How does a player with a loser mentality step up his production in the Playoffs and have his outmatched supporting casts at least being competitive into multiple Game 7's if he has a loser mentality? He clearly wanted to win and was giving it his all.

[Jacks3]

Not like he says T-Mac was better.

He implies they have close primes even though Kobe is actually well ahead when we look deeper. I've also seen some other morons say T-Mac had the better prime. Laughable.

[HardwoodLegend]

I like how he brings of the stats of Kobe/Mac from 01-08 but ignores the fact that:

1. Kobe had significantly better scoring efficeiny.
2. Played better defense.
3. Had much better advanced stats
4. Had far better +/- numbers
5. Played in more games
6. Had a prime that lasted far longer. T-Mac was out of his by 05, Kobe's lasted from 2001 to 2010. A good decade!

They're not close. Certainly in peak play, but Kobe's prime is well ahead. T-Mac and his talent and potential will continue to get overrated, just like every other star with injuries (G.Hill, King, Sampson, etc). People love to romanticize these guys and what they could have done. It gets ridiculous.

Saying T-Mac could have been GOAT or Grant Hill could have been as good as LeBron. LOL.

Kobe never had a 29.0 PER, let alone 30.2 like T-Mac.

Pretty impressive that T-Mac was able to keep his numbers afloat and comparable to Kobe while he rapidly became a shell of himself.

And, Kobe was in a more advantageous position for most of his career. A good game that highlighted this was the 2003-04 matchup when Kobe had that monster surge in the 2nd half and OT for a comeback win over T-Mac's Magic. He was able to bide his time, lay low through most of the quarters as Shaq dominated one half of the offense and then turn it on when T-Mac's energy started to fade from doing all the work to keep his team in the game.