He did it again!!!

[raptor15]

Haha, guess what?

Mr. Vince Carter got injured today, in practise:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news/ap/200 ... arter.html

lol, if he was a horse, he'd be shot by now!

[bishibashiboy]

WEEEEEEEAK!!!
i don't know who fits the name of mr. glass better...him or marcus camby

[Clinton]

We will never see the Vince Carter we saw in the first few years of his career again. He will never be the same again. He's just gonna be jacking up threes when he gets back.

[Andrew]

I'm usually reluctant to use the word never when it comes to sports (mainly because of the high chance I'll be utterly wrong ), but Carter seems to have Grant Hill/Penny Hardaway syndrome - a few years of being a shining star, before injuries make him sit for most of the season - and even when he does return, his explosiveness has been taken away by his injuries.

I'd like to know the reason for all these young guys being injury prone. Is it poor conditioning? Rougher play? Or are shoe companies making sneakers that look great but are unsuitable for a sport like basketball?

[tony-x]

Or are shoe companies making sneakers that look great but are unsuitable for a sport like basketball?

actually the sneakers VC wears are among the best performance basketball shoes available on the market...

[Andrew]

Well, that rules out that possibility for Vince Carter then. Probably just bad luck I guess.

[raptor15]

We will never see the Vince Carter we saw in the first few years of his career again. He will never be the same again. He's just gonna be jacking up threes when he gets back.

Your right here. He's been jacking up 3s for the last 2 1/2 years now. Ever since his first injury...

This year was supposed to be his "breakout" season...but since he's made of glass, it's ending up worse then any of his so far (probably in a month or 2, he'll have a season ending injury)... It's not something to predict anymore. It's bound to happen!

[TheBob]

Woah slow down guys. The whole injury thing is being blown way out of proportion. First of all he's only had one real injury his entire life and that was jumper's knee. The jumper's knee seems to be gone for the moment. Btw I noticed that no one bothered to point out that Carter injured his right knee in a fluke collision with a teamate. The right knee is not the one he's had trouble with so there's no need for concern here. He's out two weeks with a bruised knee, not a big deal. As for the other thing stated, if you guys had seen him since his return you'd know that he hasn't been affected by his injury like penny has been.

[bishibashiboy]

i'm prolly just biased..but it seems like it's always a "2 week" thing for him..didn't he just come back last week from a 2 week absence or something?..or was it 4...?

[MrGrinch33]

Woah slow down guys. The whole injury thing is being blown way out of proportion. First of all he's only had one real injury his entire life and that was jumper's knee. The jumper's knee seems to be gone for the moment. Btw I noticed that no one bothered to point out that Carter injured his right knee in a fluke collision with a teamate. The right knee is not the one he's had trouble with so there's no need for concern here. He's out two weeks with a bruised knee, not a big deal. As for the other thing stated, if you guys had seen him since his return you'd know that he hasn't been affected by his injury like penny has been.

Usually, that's what happens. When you suffer an injury and you start to heal from it, it's the opposite limb that gets hurt from overcompensating. It happened to Jordan last year, it's probably the main reason why Danny Manning blew both ACLs..same thing with Hardaway's chronic problems since the 97 season and I bet that's what's wrong with Vince Carter.

It happened to me twice and I can tell you that it sucks bigtime. I overused one leg and it led to a broken leg via a stress fracture. Once that healed, it didn't feel quite the same, the leg felt week so I used it less than the other. Then the other knee gave out with bruised cartilage in it.

If you don't take the time to get over an injury both physically and mentally, you set yourself up for another one....and another after that.

[TheBob]

Good post MrGrinch33, I didn't even think about that possibility. Maybe I shouldn't be so optimistic about the entire thing.

[raptor15]

My suggestions to Vince:

Have both knees surgically repaired.
Sit out the next 2 seasons.

That way, his chances of fully healing are up 10%!!! 8)

[TheBob]

Please tell me you're not a raptors fan.

[d3vilm4n]

Bet they wish they'd kept Jamison now

Too bad for vince, although i think this will leave an opening for some new players to stand up

[raptor15]

I'm not a Raptors fan. I am (barely now) a Vince fan, but he's really got on my nerves of late. This soap opera of Vince's knees is getting a little too far...

He used to be great! He was one of the elite players in the NBA...but now he's turned himself into a 3 shooting, injury prone, Penny Hardaway Version 2.0! So, criticism is what he mostly deserves...I still like him (somehow), but I'm going to criticise him until he picks up his act (I'm not speaking of his injuries here, it's his play).

You, being a Vince fan, must understand he's playing very aweful!?! (when he plays)

[TheBob]

Do you watch raptors games regularly? Because if you do then you've seen that he's playing a much more team orientated game this season trying to get his teamates invloved and playing touhg D.

[raptor15]

That's good then. That's 1 step in the right direction. I hope he continues to play hard defense (one of his major flaws). But he cannot play soft on offense. Shooting 7 3s is bad. But when he hits only 1 of them, that's ridiculus! He has been tossing 3s ever since he "returned", and it's getting a little sick.

I remember back in the 99-00 season, Vince would score most points posting up players. That isn't his way now, is it?! It's firing 3s?

Anyways, I really hope Vince returns someday to his old form. But, it doesn't look like it will happen anytime soon...

[.]

Vince Carter the next Jordan??????
next Penny Hardaway

[TheBob]

Raptors 15, have you ever watched Vince Carter play or are you just repeating what you hear from other people?

He has been tossing 3s ever since he "returned", and it's getting a little sick.

Would it surprise you to know that since 1999 his three point attempts per game have consistently been going down?

I remember back in the 99-00 season, Vince would score most points posting up players.

Wrong, Vince has never had much of a post game, at least he doesn't use it often. Vince has always scored the majority of his points from jumpshots and slashing to the hoop. Very rarely does he post up.

That isn't his way now, is it?! It's firing 3s?

I bet you, like many other people are on the Paul Pierce bandwagon right? Well guess what? Everyone criticizes Vince for shooting too many threes but PIerce is averaging more three point attempts per game than Vince has EVER averaged in ANY of his nba seasons. Not only that but Pierce is shooting a pathetic 26% from behind the arc. So where's the criticism for Pierce?

All this hating towards Vince is because he's been injured alot recently. If he were healthy and the Raptors were winning no one would care how many threes he takes or how often he drives to the rim.

[Andrew]

My original post probably made it sound like I was hating, but that wasn't my intention. I think it's unfortunate that Vince, like a few other young players, is enduring injury plagued seasons so early in his career. It certainly isn't his fault and I'm sure that these injury woes are frustrating for him. It's a shame to see how his injuries have seemingly taken away some of his explosiveness.

[Matt]

one thing that i think contributes to Vince 'firing 3's is that he hit 40% of his 3's in 2000/01(?) and that kind of mentally gives him the confidence to shoot

[MrGrinch33]

The sad thing is that injuries hurt a game like Vince's the most. If you're a jumpshooter and you get hurt, well you can still hit jumpshots. What you can't do is take it to the rim every time because you've got the memory of an injury still stuck in the back of your head.

The real question is whether or not this is gonna force Vince to change his game. Penny Hardaway never got over it and now all he does is shoot jumpshots. Grant Hill looks like he has gotten over it and his game looks the same as it did before, slashing to the hoop and giving you a little bit of everything.

Jumpshooters don't lead the league in scoring. Scorers do. Taking it to the rack, getting to the free throw line and putting pressure on the defense. Vince Carter can't help the Raptors if he turns into a shooter. Then he becomes a roleplayer, not the go-to guy he's capable of being.

And don't mention Larry Bird with his 29.9 ppg average and 2nd in league scoring as an example of a jumpshooter leading the league. That guy was always among the leaders in free throw attempts and percentage.

[Boyk]

one thing that i think contributes to Vince 'firing 3's is that he hit 40% of his 3's in 2000/01(?) and that kind of mentally gives him the confidence to shoot

hey matt is that you, one of the regulars in the posting franchises for live 2002???
if it you, howz it goin and have u got 2003 yet??

[raptor15]

I bet you, like many other people are on the Paul Pierce bandwagon right? Well guess what? Everyone criticizes Vince for shooting too many threes but PIerce is averaging more three point attempts per game than Vince has EVER averaged in ANY of his nba seasons. Not only that but Pierce is shooting a pathetic 26% from behind the arc. So where's the criticism for Pierce?

Um, no. I don't like Paul Pierce much. He shoots too many 3s...

I dont' really care if you think I'm a bad Vince fan. Straight facts:

1: He's getting injured too much
2: He's shooting too many JUMPSHOTS and THREE POINTERS
3: He's rarely talking it strong to the hoop

To prove my point, his first injury was back in 2000-2001 season. He injured his knee... he played the rest of the season, mostly. That's the year the Raptors went to the playoffs, and Vince got 50 points, after hitting 8 *cough* three pointers in the 1st half. (I'm not sure, but this game might have put it in his head to shoot 3s all the time, even when your not hitting)

2001-2002 season, he gets injured 3 times. The last putting him out for the season, and getting surgery.

You know this year's story. Injuries!

Would it surprise you to know that since 1999 his three point attempts per game have consistently been going down?

Um, lol, I don't know why you said that.

3 Point Field Goals made, and attempted, per game average:
1998-1999: 0.4-1.3
1999-2000: 1.2-2.9
2000-2001: 2.2-5.3
2001-2002: 2.0-5.2
2002-2003: 1.4-4.5

The last 3 years are WAY high, as I said "the last 2 1/2 years". I don't care if it's gone down a bit. Compare it to his 1st and 2nd years (the good ones). He's FIRING 3 POINTERS! And on all those 3 years, he's been injured at least once!

Final statement (theBob, please read):

Now I know, you wanna justfiy Vince. I used to be like that. It's no use.... Let Vince do that with his play OK? If he's going to prove to me (and everyone) that's he's for real, he's gonna have to do it on the floor! Your not going to change me...

[TheBob]

You're right. I doubt I will change your mind about it and some of your criticisms are valid. However, it is completely rediculous to dislike a player because he has gotten injured in the past few years. Also, I don't know if you play basketball, but if you do then you know that against a player like Carter (someone athletic who can get to the basket) you have to play off them so they don't get to the basket and get to the free throw line. That being said, he has to take at least some jumpshots to keep the defense honest and he can hit the trey as his 39% 3 point percentage indicates. There's also another tidbit of information aswell that you havn't thought about, if you look at his stats his points per game got into the twenties once he developed his 3 point shot.

98/99 29% 18.3ppg
99/00 40% 25.7ppg
00/01 41% 27.6ppg
01/02 39% 24.7ppg

This just shows that his jumpshot is a vital part of his arsenal in order to keep defenses honest. Just remember that the last few years he has been playing with injuries. Maybe if healthy a few more of his jumpshots are falling, the D has to get tighter on him and he drives more. It really is unfair on Vince to criticize his play while injured. However, it is your prerogative. Might I suggest you change your name though if you really don't like him as a player?