I saw the replay this morning and I think Carter is way out of line saying that bowen purposely tried to hurt him. I think Carter is a crybaby. Up to that point he was unstoppable but to think that bowen purposely go out and hurt a star player is utterly stupid. Carter is going to be the next grant hill who lives on the IR.
I liked Barkley's nickname for VC. Instead of "Half-Man / Half-Amazing," Chuckster tossed out "Half-Man / Half-a-season."
There is no way to know for sure whether Bowen did this on purpose unless you were there. However, a few points; A) This is very out of character for Carter, who usually is so closed mouthed that reporters are accustomed to his answering questions with a shrug if what he has to say is negative. Usually he avoids any controversial statemtents. B) Bowen is known for this, not so much intentionally hurting someone, but cooling off hot players by 'making them play on shaky pins', ie making them worry the next time they go up for a shot where they'll come down. Many 'aggressive defenders' do similar...when people talk about 'hard nosed, pull no punches defense', this is the kind of thing they're talking about. Most casual fans know little about the gamesmanship that goes on. DOubt he was trying to hurt him seriously, but it's quite consistent to believe that his foot wasn't there by accident. C) I, too, have seen the replay several times. I have no idea why you don't think it backs up Carter's claim. Carter goes up. Bowen, who was not even in contact with Carter half turns and moves his foot a step away from his body so that it is directly under Carter. Carter did not go forward on his shot, he went directly up and down. Bowen put his foot in the only area Carter could come down. And this isn't his first game or anything, he knows all about what shooters will and won't do; it's instinctive. WHy else does he move his foot in such a fashion? He wasn't about to block out; they're at the 3 pt line. He wasn't responding to a lack of pressure, he wasn't in contact with Carter. It wasn't momentum; he had been standing, facing. Remember, these guys face opponenets thousands of times a year taking jumpers; they know where they are in relation to the other players. It's not like under the rim, concentrating on the ball, everyone's feet just going wherever they might. That is common. This is isolated, on the perimieter, Carter goes way up for the shot, and Bowen who, for some reason, didn't even leave his feet to contest the shot instead steps directly under where he knows Carter will be coming down. Underpining, shaking his pins, etc. It's an old, cheap trick. Carter had been red-hot, and the Spurs were down 9. That's when and where cheap tricks usually take place. And the retitcent Carter, who people have been pleading to no avail to take techs, etc. to try and bring attention to his crappy ref treatment actually speaks out about it...when he said nothing when Oakley insulted him and his mother...when he said nothing when Jordan repeatedly and with no provocation criticized him in the press...who said nothing when T-Mac was making public his displeasure at Carter's shadow as a reason he left Toronto...suddenly he chooses this about which to voice a controversial opinion? And you think this is him being a cry babay? He has come down on people's feet before...in traffic...and missed significant time, but never, ever pointed a finger. Why now? And against a guy known for doing this kind of thing...a coincidence? And in a game where he was torching this noted defender...coincidence?
I have thought Carter was somewhat soft for quite a while, but he's been really playing tought the last year or so. He's not soft when it comes to injuries, he's soft when it comes to pain. Grimaces several times a game. But if you take a look at all of his inuries, they have all been caused by very understandable circumstances. Yesterday, for examples, he came down straight on Bowen's foot, and his ankle hit the floor before his foot did. That's gonna injure you, irrespective of your machismo. And when it comes to playing with inury, Carter has on 2 seperate occassions played significant time on a knee that required surgery, in an attempt to keep his team winning. I wouldn't call that soft. Prior to his injury 2 seasons ago, he had never, ever been hurt before in his basketball career. What has happened, to a degree, is that you have a player who is so muscular and naturally big, yet who spends a great deal of time well off the ground, that he tends to come down to earth many times a game with significant force. This increases the odds that he'll get hurt. And he has a low pain threshold, based on his facial expressions all the time. But when it comes to playing with injury, or it being the result of ticky tack instances, it's just not the case. Not so much now, but he has been prone to be whiney, prone to caring too much what others think, he hasn't given consistent effort on the defensive end, etc. I am not blind to his faults; it's just that 'injury' related softness is not among them. Pain softness is, but that's not relevent here.
I get paid practically nothing, too. No, seriously,I have been, among my friends here in Toronto, one of Carter's biggest critics. I prefered McGrady when he was here, and predicted he would be better, all around, which was greeted with a lot of muffled guffaws at the time. I only defend Carter now because the criticism of him has become even more blind and automatic as was the praise of hm originally.
I really don't think Carter is soft and think he gets a bad rap like Francis does. And just like Francis, he occasionally does something to feed the fire like missing a team flight for the Superbowl, or going to your graduation before game seven of a playoff series.
A) His team didn;t say he couldn't go. HE said that if his coach had said he couldn't go, he wouldn't have. B) When so doing, he was saying education is his priority...which, if you look, not even all that closely, is also what the NBA says anyone's should be. Any other player would have been praised for it, assuming that A) He didnlt miss anything, B) His coach was ok with it, and C) He played a good game. All of those were true.
If you want to go to the graduation, stay in school four years. And secondly, his teamates were clearly not happy with his decision.
This is not the first time someone has called out Bowen. Recently Ray Allen called him out for his dirty tactics. I suppose you can call it sour grapes but on the other hand, if there is smoke there probably is fire.
So has Kobe, and I think T-Mac. I missed the threads where these three were called cry babies for saying as much. COuldn;t be that Carter gets automatically bashed by some, could it?
Bowen: Intent to Harm izzj What I find amazing about Bowen is that all of his "accidents" happen to the opp osing team's stars: 1. Wally Szczerbiak (kick to the face) 2. Kobe Bryant (a. tripped to the floor; b. undercut by Bowen on jumper like VC) 3. Ray Allen (repeated elbows to the midsection) 4. Vince Carter (undercut on jumper) Look, if you've ever played a sport, you know that the follow-through is an impo rtant part of keeping a fluid stroke. Bowen intentionally placed his feet under Carter to disrupt that follow-through. But that is very dangerous, as it's the e quivalent of a big man being undercut beneath the basket. I'm pretty sick of watching that non-talent injure other players. I think Stu Ja ckson and Stern should fine and suspend Bowen, and stop swallowing their whistle s. Write to the league, and let them know how you feel about that cheap shot art ist jeopardizing the careers of the league's best players: http://funimg1.pchome.com.tw/img_upload/SPORTS/i/0/20030701_i0n6o0k2i_155752.gif
Dude calm down, I'm actually just playing devil's advocate. I agree that Carter gets a bum rap also, but for you to be claiming that you were on the fence about Francis till Superbowl gate and now you've made a decision that he is selfish, yet at the same time continuously defend Carter, just rings a bit Hollow.
How? As I said, Carter said he's acquiesce to his coach's request. If JVG had said " No prob." to Francis' request, while it was less altruistically motivated than graduation, I would have little problem with it. It was the very fact that his coach said not to, and he said " I'll do what I want for me, not what my coach says." that makes it a selfish decision.
He said she said, they said, we said, blah blah freakin blah, Francis has had one freakin incident with a coach in 5 seasons and you are supposedly off the fence with him as if you ever were really, but you constantly defending Carter rings Hollow.
I agree that I wasn't previously on the fence regarding Francis...I supported him. Any one of my many threads to that effect, such as " In Defense of Francis", written about a week before the Super Bowl, or the previously ironically entitled " The Trouble With Stevie" in which I outline in detail the difficulty that the transformation of game and role being asked of him was being overlooked by his critis, and that there were many signs that he was making remearkable progress, etc. The fact that you think my claim is false, in spite of the fact that it should be obvious that I was 'on his side' previous to the SB says a lot about your objectivity on this subject. As with Carter, I base my comments on their actions.
