Prime Vince Carter vs. Prime Tracy McGrady

[Fudge]

because basketball is a team sport and numbers alone are not enough to evaluate a player

Yeah but this is a player v player argument. We're not ranking them all time to put team success into account. Mcgrady was the better player, whereas Carter was more successful.

[StateOfMind12]

because basketball is a team sport and numbers alone are not enough to evaluate a player

Agreed, just throwing a bunch of data and seeing who has the better data is not going to prove anything. Basketball is not baseball, it goes beyond production. I feel like a lot of people don't understand the difference between prime and peak and that is why so many people are picking Tracy without even hesitating.

[ShaqAttack3234]

Yeah, Carter's prime('00-'07) was longer than McGrady's('01-'05), but McGrady's was better.

Despite T-Mac not being a consistently great defender on a night to night basis, he had the ability and showed it numerous times, far more than Carter did. Carter had the physical tools to be a very good defender, but lacked the effort especially in his early years as well as having a low IQ defensively and poor fundamentals at that end. I think he gave a bit more effort in New Jersey, but he still had a lot of mental lapses at that end and was regularly late with his closeouts. Which isn't to say that T-Mac's defense should be propped up too much. While it's understandable that he couldn't consistently play lockdown defense given his offensive load, he was criticized for his subpar play at that end in '04, and even before then. Regardless, he still has this advantage.

McGrady was also a better passer and his superior ball handling ability made him a better playmaker as well. Vince did really improve in this area though and the gap wasn't as large if you're comparing New Jersey Vince, though T-Mac still has the advantage.

McGrady peaked higher as a scorer, but they were more or less even as scorers, imo. McGrady had better footwork and ball handling skills, but Vince was a better pure shooter as he got a lot more arc on his shot and was also a better free throw shooter.

It's actually funny that Vince was generally equally efficient, or even more efficient than McGrady because watching them, it seemed like T-Mac took better shots. Vince's shot selection was really poor in his early years, regularly taking the most off-balance fadeaways imaginable as he would often not square up towards the basket until he had already jumped and was fading away. He cut down on some of these shots in New Jersey and played smarter, though. And he also seemed to improve as a leader in New Jersey rarely missing games, never having problems with teammates and improving his skills and approach even though he wasn't quite as explosive.

T-Mac had a less successful playoff career as far as team success, but was also a more consistent playoff performer. Vince was great in '01 and very good in '06, but not that good in '00 or '05 and had a disastrous second round series vs Cleveland in '07 after an up and down series vs Toronto.

[iDefend5]

I would say prime T-Mac was better than Vince Carter and peak wise, T-Mac had a far superior peak.

However career wise, Vince Carter had a superior career. For the majority of T-Macs prime, he had to carry his team on his back so you can't fault him for that.

and vc didn't??

[Noob Saibot]

Prime Tracy McGrady was ridiculous, injuries totally messed him up. VC has proven to more durable and reliable than his cousin after coming back from his own injuries.

I think only a Prime LeBron would prove to be more dangerous on the court than a prime T-Mac.

[iDefend5]

Peak T-Mac is arguably better than Kobe. No idea why people lop him in with Carter and Iverson.

Because this isn't a discussion about peak nor is he as good as peak Kobe.