Briefly, I think it'd be appropriate to wish a happy 33rd birthday to Orlando Magic guard Vince Carter.
He hasn't had the best season to date, by anyone's standards, least of all his own. He's on pace to set career-lows in every shooting metric except for free-throws, and he's challenging career-lows in points and assists per minute. After his magnificent 21-point, 5-rebound, 3-assist outing against the Charlotte Bobcats last week, it occurred to me that such a line was what we might have reasonably expected him to average for the entire season.
Not to pile on Carter, or anything. He's certainly had his moments, and he's too good a shooter to continue misfiring at this rate. Worst case scenario: he finishes under 40% from the field this season, but returns to the mean next year and posts big numbers. Call me crazy, but I just can't imagine the poor shooting this year being anything other than a fluke.
Many happy returns, Vince.