Vince Carter: The Resolution (2008-2009 Season Recap)

Absolutely incredible vid. I would just download it and watch as a whole. Its that good..

by derekk on Jul 11, 2009 4:16 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

The guy who put that together has skills!

Watched all 3 parts, (Pt. 3 is the trade to Orlando) and it really got me pumped up for next season. I recommend watching the whole series. Thanks for posting!

by Stan in a Van (Down by the River) on Jul 11, 2009 5:35 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Great!!

If that doesn’t get you excited about VC, nothing will!! Really starting to get excited about this upcoming year!!

by bumper64 on Jul 11, 2009 5:39 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I keep hearing the wince Carter thing and I just dont get it. Of all the superstars in the league there are only 5 players in the last 5 years that have missed less games than Vince(even LBJ, Kobe and TURK have missed more).Take a look at this offseason trades O’neal 102 games, Jefferson 79 games, Vince 16, out of those 3 Vince is the only one you will read anything about being “frail” or “not much left in tank” or “will he make it through another season”?BOLLOCKS! This guy is an IRONMAN compared to most of the stars in the league!

They say he cant win. Well,there are a lot of peaple who think that the Lakers would’nt make it to the finals without Phil Jackson, Has Vince ever had a coach qualified to win a championship? NO, NO and HELL NO!

Well, he will now.He will have all the pieces he needs and we will too.Of all the top SG’s in the league there is not a better fit for this team than Vince Carter.

by D-RAK on Jul 13, 2009 9:32 AM EDT reply actions 2 recs

Not the coach.....

Although Vince has had the unfortunate experience of playing under Sam Mitchell, coaching has never been the primary problem with the teams Vince has been on. He was under the great Lenny Wilkins (HOF ‘98) for a few years. Also, Lawrence Frank is relentless in his preparation and does and knows how to get the most out of his player’s talents.

I think a bigger issue (pardon the pun) is that the best center Vince has ever played with is a 34-year-old Antonio Davis. He’s always been the best post player on his team, and at 6’5.5", thats not good.

by ben_gleicher on Jul 15, 2009 3:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

VC knows he has the best supporting cast he's been with, ever, in his career.

I'm the other guy at Third Quarter Collapse, with a Twitter account.

"Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgement." - Michael Corleone

by erivera7 on Jul 18, 2009 6:42 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

+1

by Souwantmyname on Jul 13, 2009 1:03 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

i second that emotion....

Just one man's opinion...

....."running mac games as if your name was Scott Skiles".....

by hwyatt3 on Jul 13, 2009 9:54 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Great video, thanks for sharing.

I'm the other guy at Third Quarter Collapse, with a Twitter account.

"Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgement." - Michael Corleone

by erivera7 on Jul 14, 2009 1:28 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Great stuff.

Of course, a highlight reel — especially a highlight reel that’s this well edited — is going to make a lot of players look good, but this guy still looks really good. I’m ready for Vince — I expect a lot from him.

Yeah, and we broke your damn shot clock too.

by 3.3seconds on Jul 16, 2009 2:31 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, I can't wait to see what Carter brings to the table.

I'm the other guy at Third Quarter Collapse, with a Twitter account.

"Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgement." - Michael Corleone

by erivera7 on Jul 18, 2009 6:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

John Hollinger

I’m amazed at how many people think Turkoglu is better than Vince Carter. Sorry, but there’s no way. Carter is a better shooter, better scorer, better rebounder, better defender and, believe it or not, had a better Pure Point Rating than Turk last season. Nobody saw him because the Nets were terrible, but he had an All-Star caliber season. This is a massive upgrade.

by D-RAK on Jul 16, 2009 5:44 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I don't think anyone is denying that Carter is better than Turkoglu.

.. people are just curious, from what I’ve heard and seen, about the intangibles factor.

I'm the other guy at Third Quarter Collapse, with a Twitter account.

"Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgement." - Michael Corleone

by erivera7 on Jul 18, 2009 6:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Some people--not necessarily here, but elsewhere--seriously believe Turk is a better player than Carter.

Third Quarter Collapse: An Orlando Magic blog at SB Nation | Brandon Bass: "I just play hard."

by Ben Q Rock on Jul 18, 2009 7:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

yeah.....i have to blow a rasberry at that notion........

Just one man's opinion...

....."running mac games as if your name was Scott Skiles"....

by hwyatt3 on Jul 19, 2009 1:35 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well, those people are terribly uninformed.

I'm the other guy at Third Quarter Collapse, with a Twitter account.

"Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgement." - Michael Corleone

by erivera7 on Jul 20, 2009 9:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Along the same lines, I've heard people say Courtney Lee will be better than Vince this year or next.

Third Quarter Collapse: An Orlando Magic blog at SB Nation | Brandon Bass: "I just play hard."

by Ben Q Rock on Jul 21, 2009 1:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's nonsense,and those are the same people

They somehow fell in love with previous Magic roster. I liked them big time,but I also welcome the changes,as long as they are making us better.
It’s debatable,sure,but I believe these changes made one better Orlando Magic.
Of course,time will tell.

by Dzogi on Jul 22, 2009 9:36 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Vince vs Hedo

First off, this is a highlight reel. I wouldn’t get to excited over this. I’m sure this same individual could make a highlight reel of JJ redick and you’d think the guy was MJ.

I think the problem everyone has with Vince is also the reason why everyone thinks so highly of Michael, Magic, Kobe, Bird, Pippen, Shaq, et al. It’s the “it” factor. It’s taking the team and putting them on your shoulders. It is the killer instinct, the confidence that your team will not lose, the confidence that it is game 7, tied with 2 seconds to go —give me the ball and we’ll win. Vince Carter has been on some great teams. Over his career, with his potential, how come this kid has NEVER won? Even thinking back, i could swear that I remember him making it to the NBA finals with the Nets and getting swept —i did some research and i was wrong. The Nets went to the finals BEFOR Vince got there. After Vince got there, the Nets had never got past the SECOND round! The SECOND round, in the east no less which up until recently was by far the worst side of the league.

And even this year, the year of this highlight reel. He has one of the BEST point guards in the entire league on his team. With the potential you guys claims that he has —never even make it to the playoffs. Cannot beat out the Pistons/Bulls/etc to get a playoff birth?

That’s the problem with Vince. He is a loser. He loses at things. Until he can WIN something, and i mean ANYTHING. Just make it to the Eastern Conference finals, or better yet, make it to the finals. With your talent, playing along side of Jason Kidd (in his prime, when he was one of the best PGs this league has ever seen), playing along side of another great player in Richard Jefferson, this guy did NOTHING. The second round, are you kidding me? Take into consideration that BEFORE Vince, the Nets made it to the finals, and were running deep into the playoffs yearly. With the addition of VC, they cannot even get pasted the second round?

If you’re giving someone this much praise, you must look at what they do when the games count. What do they do in the playoffs. VC is a great regular season player. He is the best dunker/high flyer i’ve ever seen. But if you want RESPECT, you must WIN. And VC has never won. That’s why he has been branded as a loser —a guy who is good at losing. If he can change that with the Magic, then i will give him his due. Until that time, VC will remain a loser with great potential, in my book.

by plyka on Jul 19, 2009 2:30 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Please, check your facts before you make ridiculous statements.

On the “it” factor:

First, Vince has never been afraid to take the last shot and year after year is statistically proven to be one of the top clutch players in the NBA. Second, the Nets teams that made the Finals were GREAT teams with much better personnel, but they were not the teams that Carter played on. It was then that Kidd was in his prime, they had KVH, and a beast of a player named Kenyon Martin. Not the one you see on the Nuggets, a far superior player who could literally guard positions 1-5 and wasn’t trashed with knee injuries. I could on with their supporting cast of Kittles, a healthy Collins, almost-sixth man Lucious Harris etc.

When Vince Carter came to the Nets, they had already lost most of their Finals roster. In their place were players who shouldn’t have been in the NBA. Eric Williams. Jabari Brown. Billy Thomas. Get the picture?

But the unexpected happened. Vince Carter somehow led this band of misfits to the playoffs on averages of 28 PPG, 6 RPG, and 5 APG, on 46%FG, 43%3PT.

So yes, those players on the Finals Nets teams were good, but they were NOT the players that Vince Carter got to play with. The best he got was an aging, disgruntled Kidd, and a Richard Jefferson who forgot how to play defense. Every season the Nets Front Office mistakenly drafted poorly and signed aging veterans. It wasn’t until last season that the Nets put together a spectacular draft (Brook Lopez, Ryan Anderson, Chris Douglas-Roberts), and made good, productive signings (Keyon Dooling, Jarvis Hayes). But with such a young team, he still led his team to within a few games of the playoffs, when the Nets were predicted to be last in the conference.

Devin Harris as one of the BEST point guards:

Don’t get me wrong, I love Devin Harris. Increasing his scoring by almost 10 PPG, he vaulted his status to a top tier PG almost overnight. But he left his trademark defense in Dallas and the team suffered for it. He will eventually learn how to play both sides of the ball well, but it was too much to expect for his first full season with the Nets. If you want to argue that the Nets had better rosters than the Bulls (ROY Rose) and the Pistons (Championship players), then go right ahead but you’ll see how wrong you are.

Vince is a loser:

Jason Kidd was not in his prime, he was where Carter is now, an aging superstar. Also Jason Kidd did not want to be in New Jersey and it showed in his play. Richard Jefferson was good on offense, yes, but not a “great player”. And how many times has it been shown that you NEED a big man to win and go far in the playoffs. New Jersey is the perfect example of a guard oriented team that cannot go far. But they are not alone.

Really, how far has Kobe gone without a premier big man. No Shaq, no Gasol, no championships, plain and simple.

“A guy who is good at losing.” Wow, give me a break.

by thermodynamic on Jul 19, 2009 5:23 AM EDT up reply actions 3 recs

+1 SHAKE & BAKE!
Give Vince Phil and Shaq and there is a three peat in there some where

by D-RAK on Jul 19, 2009 8:35 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Only 3?

Put Vince with Shaq and you’ll never have the ego or chemistry issues, together they would’ve competed for 4+.

by ben_gleicher on Jul 19, 2009 12:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Im pretty sure we are OK with the definition of a HIGHLIGHT mix plyka... And Im not so happy you have to post these debates in a thread about a highlight vid. I think we are in our right to be excited having VC in this specific fanpost.

by derekk on Jul 23, 2009 7:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

thermodynamic

You wrote: “Please, check your facts before you make ridiculous statements.”

Then you went on and didn’t correct 1 fact from my post. The only “corrections” you made were differences of opinion.

Here are the FACTS as I outlined them.

1) Vince Carter has NEVER made it past the 2nd round of the playoffs.

This is a FACT. No correction necessary here.

2) The Nets made it to the NBA finals in 2002 and 2003. They traded for VC in 2004.

This is a FACT. I’m not blaming VC for the Nets failure afterwards.
However, I find it humorous that you agree that in 02 and 03 Kidd was one of the best PGs this game has ever seen, and then after they get VC, 1 year after going to the finals back to back, Kidd all of a sudden becomes a washed up grandpa.

3) VC played with Kidd and Jefferson. Three great players. Yet again, they CANNOT get passed the 2nd round of hte playoffs with this squad.

These are again, FACTS. Except for my opinion of “great players” which is an opinion.

4) VC has never won anything in his life of any significance.
This again, is a FACT.

My entire point is very simple —VC is a loser and loses things. You claim that he is clutch. Well, it’s nice to be clutch in the regular season. But what matters is being clutch in the playoffs. Over his entire career, it is ridiculous to say that he has never been on good teams. He was on the NETS which went to the finals twice, the prior 2 years before he got there. Were they the same team as the finals teams? Of course NOT that’s why they were ousted so early in the playoffs. But the fact is, if he was such a GREAT player, then he should have made this Nets team better than it was.

I understand that since now VC is a magic, you must “defend his honor.” But you cannot argue with FACTS. The facts are the facts —-VC has never won anything of significance. With all that potential the best you can come up with is he won some regular season games. This just proves my point: until VC wins something significant, he will be recognized as a LOSER with POTENTIAL. If the magic win it all next year i will change my tune and say: finally VC can lay claim to winning something. Until then, any unbiased observer must recognize the FACT that VC has never won anything and is a loser.

by plyka_b on Jul 19, 2009 9:24 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Lets look at this.

I never said he made it past the second round. I corrected you on why he didn’t. You were in bewilderment of why coming to a Nets Finals team, Vince couldn’t make it back to the Finals. I pointed out that it’s painfully obvious—he didn’t come to a Nets Finals team. He came to a team that was blown up and had RJ suffer a season ending injury.

The only significant Nets remaining were Jason Kidd and Jason Collins. Although a superb positional defender, Collin’s physical ability was quickly deteriorating. Also Kidd had just come off a playoff series where he had played through heavy injury. I am not talking about a sore back—his knee was basically bone-on-bone. He went on to have microfracture surgery soon after the playoffs ended. Although he never lost his passing and rebounding ability, he lost his ability to play defense against point guards and quick shooting guards.

I never said Kidd was a washed up grandpa. I said that after the 2004 Finals, he was not the same player. A great player yes, but not the same. He ended up frustrated with the team and left on bad terms, skipping a game due to a fake “migraine”, and only playing well in front of potential trade suitors.

You say Vince, Kidd, and RJ never made it past the second round together. Again, I don’t dispute this, but the reasons why they didn’t. And again, it is obvious. Beyond those 3, the team had no talent, and an aging and worthless bench. Nenad Krstic was the only bright spot, but he also ended up having a season ending knee injury and was never the same. He later was forced to play in Europe.

Let me reiterate, you need a talented TEAM of players 1-10 to win a championship, and you especially need a talented big man. The Nets teams that Vince Carter were on (and just in case you forget [again], NOT the Finals Nets teams), had neither of these qualities.

As much of a “winner” Kobe is, he cannot do it alone. No one can.

I cannot correct the broad statements you have made about Vince being a “loser” and his teams never winning a championship because you are using erroneous reasons to support them. What I am doing, and have done, is correct the reasons behind those sweeping generalizations.

If you like, you can brand any non-championship winning player as a “loser”. I guess every Magic player and 95% of NBA players are by that definition.

Or, you could instead, not berate your own team’s players even before the season has started and be excited that, yes, perhaps this will be the season where they will all finally win a championship.

by thermodynamic on Jul 19, 2009 10:43 PM EDT up reply actions 2 recs

thermo, correction

You wrote:
" you could instead, not berate your own team’s players even before the season has started and be excited that, yes, perhaps this will be the season where they will all finally win a championship"

I"m actually a big lakers fan, not a magic fan. I just come to this blog because it is very active and i am still dying for my daily fix of basketball after last season. I usually do not even care about basketball at this time —i hate baseball, but Wimbledon was great. I’m still a little pumped up over the season the lakers had so that’s why i’m here. Don’t get me wrong, i actually like the magic more than the average team. I live in Seattle so i watched Rashard since he was like 18, and Dwight is actually one of my favorite personalities in the NBA.

I absolutely agree with you that the Nets team after Vince got there was not the Nets team that went to the finals twice before VC. I’m just saying that this was a dominant team in the East. You would expect that once VC got there in 04, that he would have made some runs deep in the playoffs with a team that went to the finals pre-VC. Of course they had injuries, every team does. Last year two of our starters (from the lakers) were injured and did not play in the playoffs —Ariza and Bynum. This year your teams all-star leader and point-guard, Jameer was out. But both teams still made it to the finals. Injuries happen with teams, that just the name of the game. But the truly great players find a way to win. If Kobe or Dwight or Wade or Shaq or Lebron or even Dirk – if these guys were in VC’s position for his entire career with the same teams that VC had, i assure you that at least 1 year and most likely on numerous occasions they would take their teams deep into the playoffs, potentially to the finals and winning it all.

And over VC entire career, he has never made it past the 2nd round of the playoffs. This is very telling. This year the guy doesn’t even make it to the playoffs. I remember from 05-08, Kobe led the lakers to the playoffs all but 1 year. These were truly horrible teams! PG Kareem Rush (no longer even plays in the nba) was our starter, Kwame Brown was the starting center (sucks royally), Deavon George was our 6 man, Chris Mihm was also starting. Horrible horrible teams, yet Kobe still managed to make it to the playoffs.

I’m just saying that you can say VC is the best dunker in NBA history. You can say that he has loads of talent. But what you cannot say is that he is a winner. Because he has never won. I’m not saying that he didn’t win 1 year —i’m saying over his entire career! Even other notable stars that never won a ring like Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Shawn Kemp, Gary Payton (i’m not counting his Miami ring because he barely played), Karl Malone, John Stockton, etc. These guys never won a ring, but at least they made it to the finals. At least you can call these guys WINNERS because even though they didn’t win it all, they were in contention. You could count on them to make deep playoff runs. Not every year, but at least SOME years.

VC is not a leader. He is not a winner. He will never be a team’s heart and soul. That’s why he can never be thought of as an great. That’s why no one can think of this guy as a winner. Unless he changes that. Unless he wins.

by plyka on Jul 20, 2009 3:54 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Corrections:

“You would expect that once VC got there in 04, that he would have made some runs deep in the playoffs with a team that went to the finals pre-VC. Of course they had injuries, every team does.”

The New Jersey Nets team that went to the Finals in 02-03 had a total of 5 different starting lineups, and 2 of them were for 3 games combined. That means they played 79 games with 3 lineups (one was swapping out Mutombo for Collins, the other was swapping Harris and Kittles). Jason Kidd started 80 games, and Kenyon Martin started 77. In 03-04, they lost Mutombo – and the Semi-Finals to Detroit. That team had 4 1000+ point scorers – Jefferson, Martin, Kittles, and Kidd. In 04-05, New Jersey picked up VC. They also lost Martin, Kittles, Jefferson (to injuries), Rodney Rogers, and Lucious Harris. Every one of their top scorers except Kidd was gone. That team had 1 1000+ point scorer – Vince Carter. Jason Kidd’s scoring and assist rate both declined, and there were enough injuries that the team had sixteen different starting lineups. This year’s Lakers? Seven.

“These were truly horrible teams! PG Kareem Rush (no longer even plays in the nba) was our starter, Kwame Brown was the starting center (sucks royally), Deavon George was our 6 man, Chris Mihm was also starting.”

Kareem Rush started a total of 15 games with Los Angeles. Gary Payton was the starting PG for that team, starting 72 games. Kwame Brown started 91 games over 3 seasons. Other players started at his positions more than he did. Personally, I’d rather have Chris Mihm than VC’s centers of Nenad Krstic and Jason Collins.

“Even other notable stars that never won a ring like Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Shawn Kemp, Gary Payton (i’m not counting his Miami ring because he barely played), Karl Malone, John Stockton, etc. These guys never won a ring, but at least they made it to the finals…You could count on them to make deep playoff runs. Not every year, but at least SOME years.”

Barkley made it once with Dan Majerle, after not managing to do it with Dr. J and Moses Malone in Philly. Ewing made the Finals once, and that was with John Starks and Charles Oakley. Shawn Kemp made the Finals once, with Gary Payton, Hersey Hawkins, and Detlef Schrempf. Malone and Stockton made it twice, with Hornacek. Yeah, those guys made it once or twice, and every single one had something in common – a great small and a great big working together. VC’s never had a great big.

"When you make your final stand
I'll be right there
I'll never leave
And all I ask of you is
Believe"

by The Dark on Jul 20, 2009 11:35 AM EDT up reply actions 2 recs

Thank you Dark.

You were able to say what I’ve been saying in a much more recognizable way. Excellent post. Using “number of 1000+ point scorers” is a nice way to describe how efficient the Nets were in the Finals.

by thermodynamic on Jul 21, 2009 12:44 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Nice posts guys. I understand plyka’s posts that VC was never a winner and I agree to a certain point, but plyka makes alot of mistakes and doesnt contradict some of our arguments. I just don’t understand his overall argument though either because
1) It’s all about the teams and what they can do, and there’s no doubt Vince Carter is an upgrade on Hedo Turkoglu and an excellent playoff performer. His playoff averages are eerily similar to Kobes as I said before, not to say he is anywhere near Kobe’s level of winning, but goes to show Vince is going to help us ALOT. He is not by himself, he has a team. He is like a part of a core of Dwight, Lewis, Nelson. Remember Lewis can drop 34 on a Finals Lakers team, a healthy Nelson drops 26 on average on Lakers last season while playing clutch, Dwight was well contained but at the expense of doubles and not improving his offense. On D Dwight can get 9 blocks against a Finals Lakers team and maybe more another day easy to see. Vince has a real team, and going back to him individually, his clutch stats suggest he is up there with the elite. Once again, Vince is not a winner, nor a loser in my mind. And nor does it even matter anyway making your posts such a waste of typing space. Its about the teams! And these guys above showed how bad they were for Vince, and how come you can never debate against big men argument?

by derekk on Jul 23, 2009 7:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs