If they are as great and athletic as you claim, if 35fters are layups, then they should be shooting better than 34-45% from the field on a given night. Even 6ft Kevin Johnson could put the ball in at a more respectable clip.
i think as others have mentioned, his court vision isn't nearly on the same level as someone like t-mac. carter is a fantastic talent and he can take over any game any time, but if he doesn't have it that night, what else can he do? not much. looking back to the rockets game earlier this season when battier smothered him, he basically contributed nothing. tracy would have had 10+ assists.
The wins and losses just aren't that big a deal to him. Sad but true. It's why Jason Kidd has soured on him over the last few months. Evan
It seems like it all started going downhill for Carter,when he decided to attend his graduation and miss part of the game
Even though Vince, T-Mac and Kobe are roughly the same height, T-Mac and Kobe seem to be infinitely better at defense, handling the ball and court vision than VC. VC is definitely a human highlight reel, even now, but he's not as explosive as he used to be, he's never been great at lateral movement and his ball handling skills limit him somewhat (the same difference between greats like Nique and Dr. J and someone like Jordan. If healthy, T-Mac and Kobe can control the whole game (passing, rebounding, defense all while dropping 35-50). VC has great games and is a great player but they're not at the same level.
He isn't soft at all IMO. Ive seen some Nets games recently and he gets to the rack and the FT line consistantly. He took 13 FTA last night. What an amazing game and shot by Vince to win it.
The reason he is not great is because one single person can contain him. If you put a single person on Tmac, Wade, Kobe, and even Melo, they will torch you for 50.
Mostly agree. Wade is the far superior player, the only thing Carter has on Wade is more range on his jumpshot. I'll expand among scoring swingmen/perimeter players: Wade > Kobe = Lebron -Wade is the best playmaker and most relentless half court player among them, Wade gets most steals, assists and blocks of elite swingmen too. Lebron and Kobe have different strengths--Lebron more of a team leader and all around physical presence(rebounds, steals) and Kobe a much more refined half court player and #2 behind Wade in efficiency among elite swingmen. I'll call them equal, certainly great, great players. Kobe & Lebron > Arenas = AI -Both Arenas and AI are more like SGs than PGs, and a great perimeter scorers, thus I'll include them in this discussion. I could be underselling Gilbert--he could be with Kobe and Lebron, but he needs to continue to do it and I wonder if Washington's tempo inflates him just a little. Arenas & AI > Tmac --It is certainly debatable whether AI is ahead of Tmac. But AI right now is a lot more efficient scoring (1.32PPS to 1.19), is #2 in assists behind Wade among scorers, and plays the heaviest minutes of all (and 43 to 35.8 for Tmac, who plays the lightest). I think the time they are both on the same court Tmac is the better overall player, but the fact AI conditioning/health is better compensates. The bottom line is Tmac can't give you the minutes any of the guys above can give you and his scoring efficiency is down. Tmac > Carter --Tmac just has a much bigger overall impact. Enough better defensively and in distribution/playmaking to have him solidly ahead of Carter. Carter does have an edge right now in shooting, but that is about it. Carter > other contenders Other contenders--Redd, Allen and Joe Johnson. Redd is scoring very efficiently, only behind Wade and Kobe. You could actually make a case for him over Carter. But I wouldn't just yet. Allen and Joe Johnson could be in the mix to in this upper 2nd tier. Melo would also be in the debate right below Kobe and Lebron if he were considered, but unlike the rest he never plays guard and I didn't consider him. Other tidbits: Roland Rankings (82games) (considers +/- and minutes played) DW 15.5 GA 13.6 LJ 12.6 MR 11.1 TM 10.3 KB 9.7 AI 7.6 (Phily) VC 7.6 CA 7.2 (Melo) RA 7.0 JJ 5.5 FTA (IMO a good indicator of a relentless player who finds ways to score when the offense bogs down or shots are not falling, and yes somewhat of an indicator of a softer player who settles for Js which guys like Carter and Allen do a lot) DW 11.2 AI 10.1 KB 9.3 GA 9.1 LJ 9.0 CA 9.0 MR 8.8 TM 6.3 RA 5.9 VC 5.6 JJ 5.2 Minuntes playes: (factors conditioning, health and style of play) AI 43 LJ 41 GA 41 JJ 41 MR 40 RA 40 KB 39 DW 39 VC 38 CA 38 TM 36 PPS (points per shot, offensive efficiency) DW 1.44 KB 1.42 MR 1.40 GA 1.34 LJ 1.33 AI 1.32 RA 1.31 VC 1.30 CA 1.30 JJ 1.27 TM 1.19
The look on Jazz fans and Jazz players after that shot, priceless. I watched the end of that game on league pass. It was great to see Utah and Denver go down like that, and really didn't think Utah would lose because the rest of the Nets were sucking bad.
i agree with a lot of your posts, but not this one. wade is not better than or equal to kobe. kobe is superior fundamentally and is a threat from all over the court. you can not stop the guy. he's just the best overall player right now. mcgrady should not be ranked below arenas and AI either, he's up there with Kobe and LeBron and Wade. McGrady (lately), like kobe, is a threat from anywhere, passes right on the mark, defends, rebounds, and always makes the best decision based on any given circumstance. the only time he hasn't played like this was last year when he was plagued by that back condition, and early this season. other than that, he's been unstoppable. he's just an overall better player than arenas or AI, at least in IMO
I would definitely not say AI is better than Tmac. Arenas, LBJ, and Kobe are possibly but not AI. A factor you did not consider is size which is a HUGE factor. Having a 6'8 long Tmac is a lot better than a diminutive AI. Also, AI isnt half the rebounder or playmaker that Tmac is. I think Tmac's stats this year might be a little deflated also because of his very slow start in the beginning of the year and the fact that he is playing 2nd fiddle to Yao.
Before McGrady, Spanoulis was the Vince Carter of Greece. On the serious note, Carter back during the 2000 Olympics on the world stage was pretty much the team's go-to man. I still remember him hitting a last second go-ahead shot when that still considered "Dream Team" was on the verge of getting beat for the first time with NBA players. (The same Olympics with his dunk on Weiss, and coached by Rudy T). Thats the Carter after the dunk title and at the height of Vince-anity. (Yes Young fans, this kind came 1st) Carter has all the offensive skill set to be top scorer in the league with Kobe, Iverson and Carmelo of this year. He plays too much on style and showmanship though at times. Like he's doing all these moves and making them look pretty cuz he saw it on TV once. There is a softness to his game and a bit of "mama's boy" about him. Not gonna say he's a straight out p-ssy but he's closer to softy label then being considered a gritty and determined player. Still a better leader than Chris Webber though Overall I still consider him a great player and think rehabbing from injuries not being in the spotlight and a few image issues have taken a toll on how's he's looked at more than his actual gameplay. Francis and Marbury would LOVE to have his numbers (Btw, where's Paul Pierce in the swingmen/perimeter player comparisons?)
On AI versus Tmac. As I noted I think when both are on the same court Tmac is the better player. But when you weight that AI is playing the heaviest minutes of all the above and Tmac is logging the lightest of all the above, I made a claim AI has a slightly larger impact. But I take no issue with claims that Tmac is better. On Wade versus Kobe. Kobe may be more individually skilled and probably would take him 1 on 1, but in the context of team NBA basketball, Wade simply has more impact, is more relentless, brings out more from his teammates, and personally saves his team from more losses than turn into wins. Never was it more obvious than last playoffs when he took a very undermanded team (outside of him) versus the Pistons and Mavs and carried his team to a championship like no other guard since Jordan has. Wade this year is also better statistically when you look at the big picture (consider assists, defense, offensive efficiency, Roland rankings, etc). Kobe or Lebron, not sure the order in total impact, is fighting for #2 and #3 in my book.
Vince Carter = Dominique Wilkins great scorer, not a winner VC will have to piggyback on someone else to win a ring
