Wednesday, December 27, 2000 Carter blasted by Szczerbiak By BILL HARRIS -- Toronto Sun MINNEAPOLIS -- Raptors marquee player Vince Carter scored a game-high 32 points, but he needed to take a game-high 31 shots to get there. For the Minnesota Timberwolves, that added up to success. And following the Wolves' 100-97 victory over the visiting Raptors last night, Minnesota forward Wally Szczerbiak went so far as to take a verbal shot at Carter. "I'm surprised how cool (Carter) thinks he is," Szczerbiak said. "He's styling, profiling and making facial expressions, almost like he doesn't care what happens. I guess he doesn't respect my defence. "We didn't start with me on (Carter). I just tried to do what I needed to do. Chauncey (Billups) and A.P. (Anthony Peeler) also did a great job on him. "We just tried to make him work. I just tried to make him put the ball on the floor, shoot fadeaway jumpers and then I would contest the shot." Six times this season the Timberwolves have blown a double-digit lead and gone on to lose. So as the seconds ticked down in the unreasonably tight fourth quarter last night, no one could blame the Wolves for swallowing hard and expecting the worst. The Timberwolves led by 15 points with 3:11 to play and almost blew it, despite their good defence on Carter. "In the first three quarters, we shoved the ball down (the Raptors') throats," said Minnesota forward Kevin Garnett, who scored 22 points. "Then in the fourth quarter, we kind of got away from it. We just have to learn to finish games better, but a win's a win." Nothing could be more true for the Wolves, who snapped a season-long four-game losing streak with the victory. "We've been struggling a lot lately -- that's no secret to anyone," said guard Terrell Brandon, who scored 24 points to lead Minnesota. "But everyone contributed." As a team, the Timberwolves shot 50.6% from the field. Many of their shots were open looks, thanks to the Raptors' lackadaisical defence. Sometimes, however, hitting an open shot is the toughest thing to do, especially with a four-game losing skid threatening to balloon to five. "We are trying to get the ball moving," Minnesota coach Flip Saunders said. "(Garnett) was unselfish and he wound up one rebound and one assist short of a triple-double." ------------------
It's official: Wally is now one of my favorite players in the league. There is really only a few players I hate more than Carter--namely the entire Jazz roster--this is really nice to hear. ------------------ Jazzkiller
Wally was merely pointing out a lack of respect players have for their opponents in today's game and I couldn't agree with him more. ------------------ Now chew through my ball sack
Carter proved himself to be an A-hole while at the olympics. There is nothing more annoying than seeing the guy make a spectacular move, and then stare down an opponent while pounding his chest. There was an SNL joke about the dream team where they said, "see Vince Carter dunk over a smaller, slower Chinese player, and then taunt him". That is exactly what this guy is like. He will never win anything as long as his attitude is like that, unless of course, his team gets a dominant center. (dig at Kobe) ------------------ "Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning how to put food on their family while being put to death."
Precisely. Vince is a phenomenal talent. He's also a phenomenal jerkoff. I read somewhere that all his Olympic preening BS was done in his bid to impress Gary Payton. Impress Gary Payton? Let's get priorities straight. This isn't the playground or the hoops version of WWF Smackdown or whatever it's called. You want to be phenomenal? Just play the game. ------------------
Im glad wally made this comment. Vince has clearly bought into his own hype. Wally was also pissed because Vince yelled to Flip Saunders that they better get Wally out of the game or he would go for 40 ------------------
Vince tried to play the "modest superstar" act early last season and I didn't buy it. I don't buy it now. I think he's a punk, and he is way too self-centered. The guy really does think he's better then Jordan. I hope T-mac punks him the next time they play. ------------------ "I am" is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. Could it be that "I do" is the longest sentence ?
We are all criticizing vince for acting like he is the best and for the remarks he made, but our own steve francis said he is the best point in the league. So if Vince is way too self-centered then Stevie is pretty self-centered also.
Man, do I agree with that. He'd act so unselfish and modest for the camera, but you notice his commentary and actions during a game, you'd think he's a damn fool. ------------------ "I give up. Oh my holy hell I give up." -- Clutch expresses utter frustration in encountering difficulties trying to communicate across a damn bbs. (It's even funnier if you picture Homer Simpson saying it)
No, Steve's just a damn dork. ------------------ "I give up. Oh my holy hell I give up." -- Clutch expresses utter frustration in encountering difficulties trying to communicate across a damn bbs. (It's even funnier if you picture Homer Simpson saying it)
Steve might do a little celebration after a mean dunk, but if he is in Vancouver I think he has the right when the crowd cheers at the prospect of him getting hurt, those jerk-off fans deserve that after being so ignorant. Call Steve self-centered, but I don't think you'll ever see him take 31 shots this season, he prefers to get others involved. But I agree that Carter does too much preening even when they are losing. ------------------ I Bleed Rockets Pajama-Pinstriped-Blue!
That is true. Steve is also self-centered but NOT AS MUCH as VC. Let me take you back to last year's slam dunk contest. I think it was round 2, Steve's about to go for his dunk and Vince walks by and talks smack to him and then after Francis says a few words, VC looks at him like he's crazy. I used to think Vince Carter was cool, the next MJ.....but now? No. It was all media hype. The NBA's tryin to make him look like the next Jordan but he's ruinin it for himself by messing with smaller international players, and talkin trash off the court. The closest thing to MJ in my opinion right now is Kobe. He can hit the fadeaway,drive,dunk, and pull up.He also has defense like Jordan and has that photographic smile that Jordan had.....Vince has the smile too but the only thing you see Vince for is dunks. You never see him named to the NBA All Defense team, or as the league MVP. You just look at the stats every night and you see VC - 40 pts, Toronto loses. ------------------ Francis out top, 9 seconds on the clock, he gives a no look pass to Cuttino Mobley, 4 seconds left, Mobley passes to an open Langhi in the corner with 1 second left! Langhi at the buzzer.......YES!!! How Sweet It Is!!
Rockets'R'US, you'd see 40 points, 12 of 28 shooting and 3 assists also. Actually, I think Vince is a great player, I just don't care too much for him. I guess he has a reason to be conceited, but I don't like his posturing. ------------------ "We don't have any plans. We just plan to win." Mack Brown
I remember MJ 68 - Chicago loses I remember alot of that in the early years VC is a conceited [i.e. Mr conVINCEd] kobe is a punk Rocket River ------------------
Long time no post, Yup Vince needs maturity period, and its possible like Mike he'll get it and then we'll say he is the greatest thing since toilet paper. Mike's early career looks fairly similar to Vince's and they both had to put up with Charles Oakley. Francis is fast on his way to be the best poing guard in the league, but if Mobley continues to demand the ball, the stats could drift away from him, just like it has been doing this season. ------------------
Between Kobe and Vince, I can't decide which one gets on my nerves more. There's Carter knocking over refs w/o apologizing and running smack on foreign players with less than half his talent. Then there's Kobe saying he doesn't any comparisons to MJ, but all he does is copy Mike's every action from his moves down to the way he talks and even tries to dress like Jordan. But what really bugs me now is that Kobe jacks up shots like he's playing for the Clippers, I guess passing the ball to Shaq and getting rings isn't what MJ did earlier in his career, so now he'll settle for taking more shots than anybody in the league. ------------------ I Bleed Rockets Pajama-Pinstriped-Blue!
Lets not get on Steve's case here. Everybody in the entire damn league is cocky. I gurantee you almost every player in this league thinks they are better than they really are, it's just some players can get away with that bravado because they actually have a case for being that good, Steve is one of them.Kobe is by far the COCKIEST player in the league but at least he goes about in a cool and calm manner unlike Vince who does his little "dances" after each dunk. Kobe is the best player in the league, without a doubt, Vince doesnt even come close. I dont see how some people can even think Vince is better. Kobe has a better shot, better handles, better defense,better passer, better EVERYTHING. All Vince has on Kobe is hops ------------------
This line is so funny. ------------------ "Breaking up is hard to do...[with] everyone trying to make it a parting befitting all the professionalism that came before. Trying to find that Olajuwon graceful fade one more time." Scott Howard-Cooper (Sacramento Bee, ESPN.com)
Vince is a very selfish player but Kobe is just as bad! That's what wrong with the NBA today! It's all about me and not the team. ------------------ TheMugg
