Hall of Famer? Part 2: Tracy McGrady

[RRR3]

The second part of a 10-part series. As I said, will do a new one each day. Today's player is Tracy McGrady.
Part 1: http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=240203



"Tracy McGrady is playing like Michael Jordan, Jerry West, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Kareem all wrapped into one.......[I can say] with a straight face that this guy has a chance to be the greatest player of all time"-Bill Walton on McGrady when he was with the Magic

"Much of the game was so easy [for him]...He should be a Hall of Fame player. His talent was other-worldly. He was given a great leg up in the race against other players. He’s as close as I’ve ever seen to someone with a perfect body and a good mind.”-Jeff Van Gundy, McGrady's coach in Houston

"What scares me is that Tracy's probable for about 40 (points).
Questionable for 50. Probable for 40."
—Jeff Bzdelik

Regular Season Stats (bold indicates led NBA)
*Purple Indicates Raptors, Blue Indicates Magic, Red Indicates Rockets, Black Indicates Rockets/Knicks, Dark Blue Indicates Pistons
[COLOR="DarkOrchid"]1997-98: (18 MPG) 7/4/2/1/1 on 45/34/71. 17.4 PER
1998-99: (49 games, 23 MPG) 9/6/2/1/1 on 44/23/73. 20.6 PER
1999-00: (31 MPG) 15/6/3/1/2 on 45/28/71. 20.0 PER[/COLOR]
[COLOR="Blue"]2000-01: 27/8/5/2/2 on 46/36/73. 24.9 PER
2001-02: 26/8/5/2/1 on 45/36/75. 25.1 PER
2002-03: 32/7/6/2/1 on 46/39/79. 30.3 PER
2003-04: 28/6/6/1/1 on 42/34/80. 25.3 PER[/COLOR]
[COLOR="Red"]2004-05: 26/6/6/2/1 on 43/33/77. 22.9 PER
2005-06: (47 games) 24/7/5/1/1 on 41/31/75. 21.9 PER
2006-07: 25/5/7/1/1 on 43/33/71. 23.2 PER
2007-08: 22/5/6/1/1 on 42/29/68. 18.4 PER
2008-09: (35 games) 16/4/5/1/0 on 39/38/80. 16.3 PER[/COLOR]
[COLOR="Black"]2009-10: (30 games, 22 MPG) 8/3/3/1/1 on 39/25/75. 12.2 PER[/COLOR]
[COLOR="Navy"]2010-11: (23 MPG) 8/4/4/1/1 on 44/34/70. 14.9 PER[/COLOR]
Career Regular Season Stats: (34 MPG) 20/6/5/1/1 on 44/34/75. 22.4 PER

Playoff Stats
[COLOR="DarkOrchid"]1999-00: 3 games, 17/7/3/1/1 on 39/29/88. 15.3 PER[/COLOR]
[COLOR="Blue"]2000-01: 4 games, 34/7/8/2/1 on 42/20/82. 26.8 PER
2001-02: 4 games, 31/6/6/1/2 on 46/31/74. 25.6 PER
2002-03: 7 games, 32/7/5/2/1 on 45/34/77. 27.0 PER
[/COLOR][COLOR="Red"]2004-05: 7 games, 31/7/7/2/1 on 46/37/82. 27.2 PER
2006-07: 7 games, 25/6/7/1/1 on 39/25/74. 21.2 PER
2007-08: 6 games, 27/8/7/2/1 on 43/21/62. 24.4 PER[/COLOR]
Career Playoff Stats: 29/7/6/1/1 on 43/30/76. 24.7 PER

Awards and Accomplishments
7x All-Star (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007)
2000-01 NBA Most Improved Player
February 2001 Player of the Month
3x Eastern Conference Player of the Month (February 2002, November 2002, March 2003)
2x All-NBA (1st)
3x All-NBA (2nd)
2x All-NBA (3rd)
Finished 4th in MVP voting in both 2001-02 and 2002-03. Also had four other seasons with at least a top 8 finish in MVP voting.
Led NBA in Points per game in 2002-03 and 2003-04. Only 10 other players in NBA history (George Mikan, Neil Johnston, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bob McAdoo, George Gervin, Michael Jordan, Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant) have won back-to-back scoring titles.
Ranked 7th in NBA in steals per game in 2004-05
Led NBA in PER in 2002-03. Finished in the top 3 three other times.
Is 46th in NBA History in PPG
Is 25th in NBA History in PER
Is 4th all time in PPG in NBA Playoffs history

Highlights
43 points against Pistons in 2003 Playoffs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTqK7Z8fejQ
Going head-to-head with Kobe Bryant (both had 38 points) in 2003. Three parts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqXPfdTzAzc and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5-VO...eature=related and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkrrA...eature=related
Some great plays: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4ERnuOZ7LA
62 points vs. Wizards http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvcBcQvPrCs
52 points in 3 quarters: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVO1qegcbXY
And, of course, 13 points in 35 seconds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfurCV1FDpM


Conclusion: I am sure you all know what my opinion of T-Mac is (he's my favorite player ever LOL), but even if I'm being unbiased I think he has a strong case to be a hall of famer. His career did not go as some would have hoped, due to injuries and perhaps a below average work ethic, but his peak is one of the greatest seasons ever for a perimeter player. That, coupled with his excellent prime, for me, should be enough to push him into the HOF (not first ballot, but eventually). I realize he did not have playoff success, but you cannot really blame him for the majority of those years if you look at how well he did and how awful his teammates were (in Orlando). In Houston, he and Yao were rarely healthy together, which is a damn shame. Anyways, your thoughts?

[Rnbizzle]

T-Mac should definitely make the HOF imo..

[RRR3]

Here's another video...T-Mac 46 points vs Pistons in 03 playoffs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx1IY5ZFAxw

The box score for this game should illustrate to some degree how bad his teammates were in Orlando: http://www.basketball-reference.com/...304230DET.html

[D-Wade316]

If you value his peak, then he definitely should enter the HOF. But if you value his entire career, disappointing one, then he isn't.

[Rnbizzle]

Are there ANY (retired) players currently not in the HOF who have had seasons as dominant as T-Mac's 03 season? I seriously doubt it.

[RRR3]

Are there ANY (retired) players currently not in the HOF who have had seasons as dominant as T-Mac's 03 season? I seriously doubt it.

Not to the best of my knowledge. To be honest, there are few perimeter players ever who have had seasons on that level.

[D-Wade316]

Are there ANY (retired) players currently not in the HOF who have had seasons as dominant as T-Mac's 03 season? I seriously doubt it.

Shaq

[Rnbizzle]

Shaq

[L.Kizzle]

Adrian Dantley, Bob Lanier are hall of famers. So is Mac. But Bernard King and Sidney Moncrief are not, so who knows.

[JMT]

Not a chance. Not even close. Laughable.

No MVP (never higher than 4th in voting). Couldn't guard a door with a machine gun. Next meaningful pass he throws will be his first (as much as he dominated the ball only one season of 6.0 assists or better).

Only thing going for him is two scoring titles, and those are EASILY offset by the fact that he couldn't even get a team out of the first round of the playoffs.

[Rnbizzle]

Not a chance. Not even close. Laughable.

No MVP (never higher than 4th in voting). Couldn't guard a door with a machine gun. Next meaningful pass he throws will be his first (as much as he dominated the ball only one season of 6.0 assists or better).

Only thing going for him is two scoring titles, and those are EASILY offset by the fact that he couldn't even get a team out of the first round of the playoffs.

[Jimmy2k8]

Not a chance. Not even close. Laughable.
No MVP (never higher than 4th in voting). Couldn't guard a door with a machine gun. Next meaningful pass he throws will be his first (as much as he dominated the ball only one season of 6.0 assists or better).
Only thing going for him is two scoring titles, and those are EASILY offset by the fact that he couldn't even get a team out of the first round of the playoffs.

[JMT]

And fools are gonna think Tracy McGrady deserves or ever makes the HOF.

[RRR3]

Not a chance. Not even close. Laughable.

No MVP (never higher than 4th in voting). Couldn't guard a door with a machine gun. Next meaningful pass he throws will be his first (as much as he dominated the ball only one season of 6.0 assists or better).

Only thing going for him is two scoring titles, and those are EASILY offset by the fact that he couldn't even get a team out of the first round of the playoffs.

Fail. You can't honestly blame him for any of the Magic years, and he still played well in the playoffs for the Rockets. Bad circumstances and bad luck IMO. He deserved to be in the top 2 in MVP voting 02-03 IMO, and he was a MUCH better defender than you gave him credit for. And you're going to criticize him for not passing enough? On the Magic, at least who was he supposed to pass to? Drew Gooden?

[Rnbizzle]

And fools are gonna think Tracy McGrady deserves or ever makes the HOF.

Give me one player, who has dominated the game on the level Tracy McGrady has, who is not currently in the hall of fame.. Don't worry, I'll wait.