Same story again. VC has ONE good game out of four, and his FG% in that "good" game was only 40%. Once again he proves that when the going gets tough, his offensive game goes AWOL. Let's face it. VC isn't mentally tough enough to succeed in the playoffs. Miami's defense is good, but it isn't good enough to shut him down like that in a 4 game series. If VC had the toughness to match his skills, he would be all world. Richard Jefferson must come up huge because if the Nets must rely on VC as their offensive leader next year, they will have another 1st round flame out. Oh well, at he's good for 82 games if he doesn't get hurt. P.S. I realize they have other needs on their roster. Even if they get the inside help they need (along with another shooter), I still say VC will break their heart again.
the whole new jersey team sucked b/c they have no shooters. a team like miami could just swarm the big 3 whenever they felt like it and let the cliff robinsons, travis bests, and nenad krstics of the world take jumper after jumper. carter didn't shoot well but he, along with kidd and jefferson, hardly saw anything resembling a good look (although he did just blow a layup at the end there). whereas guys on miami got all the open looks they could handle. and vince did have a badass playoffs that one year when toronto had a pretty good team around him where he and AI had that 7 game duel.
As a self proclaimed basketball genius, I kind of disagree with the above sentiments. I watched most of the series and time and time again saw Vince Carter drive to the bucket. The NJ offensive system is pretty pathetic, and VC and Jason Kidd have been carrying this team for 30 games. Carter has been amazing averaging over 30 points per game, 5.5 boards, 4.7 dimes, and shooting 45% from 2 and 3 pt land. In the playoffs, Eddie Jones sole job was to harass VC. Hubbie Brown said in today's game that VC was getting fouled on most of his drives but the referees are letting them play rough on him. VC did not have a good playoff series and he took many bad shots, but they were the same type of tough shots he made during his hot 2nd half of the season. I blame more of this on Eddie Jones' great Defense, combined with the refs letting Miami play rough (it went both ways, but Miami is better at playing that style). Plus, VC was kicking it out to shooters galore and NJ just cannot hit open J's. It was like the Rockets first 2 months of the season. So looking to next year, I really like the core of VC, JKidd, and Richard Jefferson. They need a couple of spot up shooters, or maybe a big man who can shoot. Nenad is nice, but not enough. He has some decent post up moves and good athleticism, but his numbers are also inflated bc he has been onthe receiving end a lot of VC and JK penetration dishes for easy buckets. Just break down the game tape. Yes VC took some fadeaways, but look at game 2 specifically, the dude was driving every time he got the ball. The D always collapsed on him and VC missed many drives, got fouled a lot and of course NJ couldn't hit jumpers. They shot 39% for the series.
I have to agree with your sentiments in regards to Eddie Jones playing great D on VC. When you are the superior team (Heat) you can do many different things to beat your opponent and Eddie Jones did exactly what he had to do harrass and contain VC to the best of his ability on the perimeter and when he posts up. Also helps when Hasslem, Zo, and SHAQ have your back. As far as the Nets should be concerned I think the trio is breaking up for sure and Jefferson is the odd man out. They should trade him for a skilled PF that brings toughness that can board and score i.e. Boozer, Randolph etc .
Using your "logic", Iverson shouldn't be toasting the Pistons and T-Mac shouldn't be dominating Dirk like he is. VC can only wish he was in their class. He's a 2nd tier star player with superstar talent and a questionable heart. Maybe he will grow up some day.
