[Star-Ledger]Carter, McGrady eliminate bragging from matchup

http://www.nj.com/nets/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-2/1105600283242740.xml

Nets: Carter, McGrady eliminate bragging from matchup
Thursday, January 13, 2005
BY DAVE D'ALESSANDRO
Star-Ledger Staff
HOUSTON -- College guys don't normally talk to high schoolers, but Vince Carter, just about the easiest guy in the word to talk to, did it anyway. They were about to play a pickup game at the Dean Dome, and the kid needed a place to store his stuff, so the North Carolina sophomore said, "You can put it in my locker," and this high school hot shot from Durham thanked him.

"I knew him because we had played in Florida -- I played AAU with the older team, he was on the younger team," Carter recalled yesterday. "He was making a lot of noise out there at Mt. Zion (High School)."


Two days later, Carter got a call from his mom.

"That Tracy McGrady boy you shared you locker with?" she said. "Did you know that he's your second cousin?"

Small world, huh?

Just one day after that pickup game, McGrady attended a family reunion, where he was the first to learn that their grandmothers are sisters.

"I can't remember why I didn't make the family reunion, but Tracy was there," Carter said. "And then I got that call later on -- it was one of the weirdest things."

Playing T-Mac nowadays is not so weird. The two superstars will meet up tonight at Toyota Center, where the Nets open a three-game trip against the Rockets, but for the two cousins, this is what they've been doing since they were teenagers.

"The special stuff kind of wore off," Carter said. "But it's fun, we have a good time doing it. It's more like, 'I'm not letting you score.' But we have a good time, because it's always something to talk about later. It's not like, 'Remember how I busted your butt ...'

"When he plays well, I ring him up and say, 'Good game.' He has his life and I have mine. But we talk, don't get me wrong."


The pursuit

of Jimmy Jackson continued yesterday, but the Nets are facing competition for the disenfranchised swingman from at least two other teams. Rod Thorn, who thought about signing Jackson in 2001 (he chose Miami) and 2003 (he signed with Houston), is trying to convince the New Orleans Hornets to take a deal that won't cost the Nets any players.


If Jason Kidd

believes the events of the past two days affect his future in New Jersey, it's news to him.

"Where am I going? Let me know," he said. "(Rumors are) always going to be there. That's the nature of the business. I have to play and try to help this team win ballgames. If that puts me in the rumor mill to get traded, that's part of it. If we get on a roll and start winning games, that will disappear. Maybe."


Chauncey Billups

reiterated last night that his flagrant foul on Richard Jefferson was "nothing intentional. ... When he got the ball I couldn't really stop and he kind of jumped back into me," the Pistons point guard told ESPN2. He added that Jefferson's "dirty play" accusation was a result of the Nets forward being "emotional right now, getting that bad news. He's been having an All-Star year. ... But like I said, to put that on me, I think it is unfair. ... He knows I'm not a dirty player."


Brian Scalabrine

visited noted physical therapist Ming Chew in New York yesterday, and will join the team today in Houston. His hamstring gets stronger daily, so he is likely to attempt a full practice tomorrow and play Saturday at Dallas.