Vince Carter Is a Different Man At Camp This Year
VCAt Nets training camp last year, there was something not quite right about watching Vince Carter. He had that face, an unmistakable look at all times, like he just didn’t give a shit. He wore a loose-fitting long-sleeve shirt under his No. 15 jersey, which made him look like he was dressed to watch Vince Carter play in some sort of outdoor basketball game. Though he still made some ridiculous shots, he looked lethargic at best, and as if he didn’t care at worst.
“A dirty, closely-guarded secret was that Vince floated through camp last year - not because he had just signed the new contract, but because he and his savvy veteran teammates thought they could pace themselves,” writes Dave D’Alessandro. “Oops.”
But in the first days of practice this year, VC isn’t coasting. In fact, he’s actually gunning to be the number one performer in camp.
“He’s had a very good camp. In terms of wins he’s right up there towards the top. He may have even taken the lead today, either him or Devin.”
By wins, he means where his team comes out in scrimmages and other competitions. Somebody charts each individual’s “record,” and Carter is on top.
The question is, what has motivated Carter to shift gears? Is it that Carter wants to prove that he can carry the scoring burden without Richard Jefferson? Is it that he’s finally healthy? Whatever the reason, when Carter is driven to succeed, he’s as tough as anyone in the League.
Source: Star Ledger
October 2nd, 2008 at 9:03 am
smity far away says:
we will see…
October 2nd, 2008 at 9:03 am
justice says:
ah shyyyyyt the east is back baby!! if we can just get the contract back to nbc…
October 2nd, 2008 at 9:07 am
Dagomar says:
Yeah we don’t hear this at the beginning of every year about Vince . . . wait till the losses start piling up.
October 2nd, 2008 at 9:07 am
heartbreaker85 says:
when vc’s on his game, he’s up there with tmac and kobe in terms of being a well rounded basketball player on offense (lebron still has to work on some things, wade turns the ball over a lot and melo is paul pierce 2 before the championship).
i think that he’ll revert back to his old self when they lose games. the ‘coasting’ began with the nets simply because jkidd was the man who called the shots and vc played off of him.
October 2nd, 2008 at 9:08 am
Dagomar says:
By the way, returning TV coverage to NBC would be the best league decision since hyping MJ. Roundball Rock was the shit.
October 2nd, 2008 at 9:21 am
YOUNGFED says:
Melo is much better than Pierce
October 2nd, 2008 at 9:28 am
Jah says:
*crosses my fingers and hopes this isn’t some BS*
October 2nd, 2008 at 9:42 am
lccclh says:
we will see
October 2nd, 2008 at 9:44 am
deeds says:
YAWN
Vince is garbage, his team is going nowhere.
October 2nd, 2008 at 9:48 am
smity far away says:
@ Youngfed
whoa…slow down. melo is Not much better than pierce…pierce is a much better all around player ( i think) and he is also making the most of himself…(with carmelo’s talent people expect him to be much more than he is and their expectations of him aren’t unrealistic at all…) Tell Carmelo to score 21 points in a fourth quarter playoff game…before you crown him as being better than paul…
October 2nd, 2008 at 9:51 am
smity far away says:
@lccclh
yup…we will see…
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:06 am
Big V says:
Half man, half a training camp.
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:18 am
it aint easy being green says:
lets not rush into “vince being the man” quite yet. a couple of losses and he’ll give up, cuz he’s a bitch and has no heart.
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:21 am
it aint easy being green says:
as far as youngfed’s comments on peirce, i think smitty hit it right on the head
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:22 am
that's whats up says:
half man, half knee cartilage left
we’ll see…..
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:23 am
that's whats up says:
I’ve never liked Melo’. He don’t do shit but score.
There’s 200 other mutha-fukka’s that can score, but that don’t make your team better
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:23 am
Yoooo says:
Name one thing Melo can’t do that Pierce can? And don’t say win a chip, cuz it took 2 other HOF’s for him to do that. Melo has carried that franchise since the day he put the Jersey on. Rookie who took the sorry ass Nuggets to the playoffs in the WEST. Stop suckin this guy.
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:23 am
Michorizo says:
Wow. Sounds like Vince is serious this year. “Somebody charts each individual’s “record,” and Carter is on top.” … And who else is on the team that is giving Carter competition … Yi?
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:30 am
josh tha roc says:
truth took his sorry team to the conference finals(Toine’ days)….Melo never past the first round.
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:37 am
turambur says:
One thing Pierce can do that Melo can’t (won’t)? Play defense.
With Melo it’s not a matter of talent, becuase he CAN do anything on the court that he sets his mind to. It’s matter of desire, he doesn’t WANT to play D.
There is no excuse for that.
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:39 am
justice says:
Melo is right there with pierce in terms of raw talent, but pierce gives a far better effort on both ends of the floor,he does a better job of seeing the court and getting teammates involved, and his footwork is way better than melo’s too. but if u were to compare them both at the same times in there career melo is further ahead, but right now pierce has it…melo is just a lazy son of a bitch on d.
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:50 am
smity far away says:
@turambur and justice- true. true.
I wonder, if melo would have been drafted by detroit and played under larry brown back then, could he possibly be a better player today (with defense and giving his all) or is it just his personality to play the way he does…also, that being said, i’d take him for heinrich, deng and anybody else not named gordon, rose, thomas or gray, or sefalosha…or noah…
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:58 am
Desrat says:
Name one thing PP can do that melo can’t? Easy, play D. That alone makes him a much better player.
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:12 am
PWeezy says:
Vanessa Carter need i say more…look for trade demands mid season or leaking to media his team is crap and he needs help to carry the team
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:14 am
that's whats up says:
@23
PP can look down on his finger and see a big-ass blinged-out championship ring
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:28 am
Breakn Ankles 09' says:
Pierce just starting playing decent d-fense when KG got there….
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:29 am
Breakn Ankles 09' says:
I would take Melo over Pierce everyday….
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:37 am
BxBaller says:
Na we’ll see how Vickie Carter holds up for half a season, then he be coasting once again.
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:37 am
Big Sia says:
Honestly Dime..
Sometimes you are so fucking stupid
Finally healthy??? He’s player 76+ games for the last 3 years…. and 72 games the year before that.
Plus, anyone who watched nets games last year KNOWS VC was dominant after j kidd left. Averaged like 29 in the last 15 games.
Fuck Melo
Fuck Pierce
MVP Season, 27-6-6 coming up bitches.
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:54 am
tbone says:
on stats alone, i would take pierce over melo.
Paul Pierce fg 46.4% ft 84.3% 3’s 1.79 pts 19.63 rb 5.1 ast 4.5 stl 1.26 blk 0.45 to 2.76
Carmelo Anthony fg 49.2% ft 78.6% 3’s .75 pts 25.7 rb 7.4 ast 3.3 stl 1.27 blk .51 to 3.29
you can argue that it’s close, but it’s not all about scoring.
October 2nd, 2008 at 12:37 pm
kennypayne says:
white chocalate already retired, olokandi is out of the league and jamison became the better tar heel, paul pierce #11 the best pro outta the bunch
who woulda thought
October 2nd, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Ansonious says:
Vinsanity is the reason I started watching the NBA(when he was a rookie,) remember that playoff series in the early 2000’s when it was the Allen Iverson show vs the Vince Carter show that was best playoff series that year in my opinion, a young Vince, A.I. in his prime, both teams riding on their franchise players that was some exciting ball to watch, but the best game I saw that year was when A.I. destroyed the Lakers single handed in game 1 of the finals. Sucks they went on to lose the next four games to the lake show. None the less if Vince is going to be a leader for once that should be interesting and I for one look foward to hopefully seeing Vince actually giving a fuck. @ dime that picture of Swift is truly what kids nightmares are made of Peace!
October 2nd, 2008 at 12:57 pm
nick says:
for everyone saying melo doesn’t play defense and pierce does, the nuggets were ranked 9th in defense last yr and 11th in offensive efficency. The pace that they play at is and was there problem.
Pierce also has rondo and kg to hide some short comings, but for sure pierce puts more effort into playing defense.
Oh and if vince is truly on his game the nets could make some noise.
October 2nd, 2008 at 1:15 pm
peter says:
vince carter, please… i’ll believe it when i see it.
October 2nd, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Eduardo says:
Big Sia I’m with you, this ‘ll be Vince’s year,I’m just waiting to see him go down the court slowly, just observing and then some nasty crossover and bammmmm monster dunk a.k.a. brand new poster.
Just kidding,every player has it’s own value at this level but Vince is one of those guys who was born with basketball on every single muscle, sometimes he is just not inspired and his game needs a lot of inspiration.In bad moments,great moments, Vinsanity is one of my favorite players,his early years were just insaaaane,I hope he is back better than ever.
I’m out like Dwight Howard hitting jump shots.
October 2nd, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Homeless J says:
maybe Bruce Ratner told Vince he’d give him a Klondike bar if he tried hard in practice.
WHAT WOULD YOU DO FOR A KLONDIKE BAR?
October 3rd, 2008 at 1:04 am
Mike C says:
I would really like to see VC go all out this year and become the player that everyone thought he can be. I always thought that, in his early years, he was the next evolution of MJ, when Kobe was just the remix. I’m predicting that he will return to superstar status this season.
October 3rd, 2008 at 5:19 am
Jo says:
Vince is still the Man.
http://www.squidoo.com/jumplikevince