Are We Witnessing the Greatest Shooting Guard in Rockets History?

The contest comes down to Clyde, T-Mac and the Harden. Clyde won a title...with Olajuwon. So, in fairness to T-Mac and Harden, the Phi Slamma Jamma connection should be noted. Sure, T-Mac had Yao...but he ain't no Olajuwon. Harden has only played one full season with Dwight, and we don't know yet whether Dwight is on his way out ala Yao. In short, I don't give much weight to Drexler's ring in 1995 in terms of how great Drexler was in comparison to T-Mac and Harden.

To me it comes down to how you like to watch the game being played. A healthy T-Mac in a Rocket's uniform was better IMHO opinion than a healthy Drexler or Harden in a Rocket's uniform. T-Mac was more versatile than either of them, and his game was more fun to watch. There are lots of reasons to dislike T-Mac, and Harden has the best stats, but I say T-Mac was the best 2-guard in Rockets history.

 

T-Mac spent most of his time @ the 3 and he's clearly out done by Clyde Drexler.

 

Going with Tmac at this point. He was sick in the playoffs despite the team results. Harden hasn't shown anything in playoffs yet.

 

He has the potential to be the #2 shooting guard in NBA history.

IMO.

 

Horry ahead of Artest... or even Barkley...

 

All Harden has to do is win one playoff series and he'll surpass T-Mac. I don't care what kind of numbers you put up. If your team doesn't win, it doesn't matter. And to make matters worse, T-Mac had a history of blowing opportunities in the postseason. The 3-1 lead over Detroit with the Magic. The 2-0 lead coming home against Dallas. And Game 7 at home against Utah.

 

Of course it wasnt his fault that he let Derek Fisher and Matt Harping abuse him.

You cant be the best 2-guard in Rockets history if you let Derek Fisher check you.

Now try picturing Derek Fisher trying to contain Clyde Drexler in playoffs.

 

Harden barring injuries is going to easily be the best SG in Rockets history.

Hell he may even become the best in Rockets history (long way Hakeem was unbelievable.) He'd need loads of work, playoff wins, championships needed, but could happen.

I think if Harden continues to improve he'll be talked about as 1 of the greatest SGs in history in that mix after Jordan.

 

That's because he would start the series strong and finish like a wimp.

He was a mental midget.

If I would have ever met McGrady in person I would hand him a pair of my pristine Hakeem Olajuwon Spalding sneakers, the bottom of which read, "FINISH STRONG".

But he would probably throw that under the bus as well.

 

Harden has the potential to be a top 3 SG in league history with MJ and Kobe.

 

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSvMOexrNFEGueQHq5D-XWqkj4ErpmQDnSCBVwVMMvBzUuQpLTWYw:https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-vQ0x11RP3sg/AAAAAAAAAAI/AAAAAAAAATo/m23GQntWoGs/photo.jpg

 

I have some sympathy for T-Mac. That 2005 team was not better than the Mavs talentwise. But they still should've closed after stealing the first 2 games(yes, the refs screwed us, but we allowed them to be in position to screw us).

And the 2007 team was arguably inferior talentwise to the Jazz. We had little depth that year(unless you count Luther Head, Juwan Howard, and Deke). Still, they needed to win Game 7 on their home floor. Utah was not a good road team.

And go figure, when the Rockets finally did put together a really good team in 2008 and 2009, Yao got hurt the first year and T-Mac was hurt the second. And to add insult to injury, the 2009 team upset the Blazers and nearly beat the Lakers all with T-Mac sitting on the sideline in street clothes.

 

I'm far, far from a McGrady apologist but that's just incorrect information. http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=280502026

He brought it that game in Utah. One of the best performances I've seen from a Rocket in the playoffs. After that series, the Rockets, already without Yao would have 4/5 starters go under the knife that offseason. McGrady did everything he could that game with very little help.

40, 10, 5, 50% and 1 gutsy block from an exhausted McGrady.

The version of Drexler the Rockets wound up with couldn't carry a team the way Harden can IMO. But that Drexler did miss a QUADRUPLE double by just 1 assist (Willis missed the 3). Pretty wild.

 

Yeah, that's solid. There's not just a whole lot of competition at that position and a clear cut #1 in MJ so the #2 spot is very possible if he keeps this pace up.

 

Talent being the main factor.....yes ,he is the best guard to play in Space City.

 

T-Mac doesn't deserve much heat for 2008. What was he supposed to do? The Rockets were not winning that series once Yao went down. It might've been more in doubt had Tony Brothers not f'ed us over late in Game 2, but the Jazz were still heavy favorites.

It's a shame too cuz I have no doubt we would've spanked them had Yao been healthy. That team had so much more depth with Landry, Scola, and Jackson added to the roster.

 

We Clutchfans have been down this discussion of whether players should be held accountable for team performances for about 10 years now.

I agree though - it's just going to take a couple series wins for Harden to firmly take #1.

Let's hope he can do it - the Beard becomes the legend.

 

Got to go with Harden. Drexler barely played here. Harden has already scored 1049 more points as a Rocket, and he's played in only 12 fewer games as a Rocket. Murphy never won 50 games. Heck, the Rockets only had 3 winning season in Murphy's 13 seasons. As for there postseason success, both of their teams had an MVP that wasn't them.


As far as Tmac vs Harden, Tmac had more physical tools. There's no doubt about that. He just never could make it happen on the court in Houston like he did in Orlando. He had 1 great 7 game playoff series that showed you what he could be, but the rest of the time, he just wasn't that guy. Harden is a smarter, more efficient player, and this season he's been more productive than Tmac was.

 

It's hard to say, T-Mac would be up there to be debatedly better than kobe if it wasn't for his injuries. T-Mac also destroyed ass in the playoffs. Harden, not so much yet. If he can carry us at least to the conference finals this year like he has all season long, I think it'll be acceptable to start speaking about comparing him to T-Mac.

But right now, certainly not.

 

Holy ****. Is this really happening?