VC a Cancer?

[devilalum]

I got this off Valley of Suns web site this morning. A guy posted in response to an article.

Josh Hansen // Today at 2:13 am (5 hours ago)
Hey guys–love the site. I wanted to write you a little note to let you know a few things I saw tonight in Denver. I sat right behind the Suns bench in the first row. Here are a couple of observations (not rants)
1. Sitting courside I was amazed as to how Vince was not part of the team at all tonight. During tv timeouts he was talking to opposing players. While Nash and Gortat (more on him later) were trying to motivate the team, Carter was not a part of it. As Vince went in to do his pregame ritual with the chalk on the sidelines, Channing came along and ran his hands along the chalk breaking Vince’s routine. Carter stood there and glared at him and then shook his head and cursed at him. When Vince got “hurt” in the 3rd quarter he asked to get taken out and put on quite a show. Gentry did not even look at him or talk to him until he missed a couple shots and decided not to play defense–then he went out–no words there. The thing that upset me the most, and even my six year old noticed, was during the technical situation with Dragic, Vince came over to us and looked at the TV screen by the seat–he mocked Goran… not good. I wonder on a team that is suppose to be built on chemistry if there is a problem here. You cannot tell on TV, but when you essentially sit on the Suns bench as a fan you notice little things.
2. Gortat on the other hand was wonderful. Even down 30 he was cheering and encouraging the scrubs during game play and timeouts. He paid special attention all game to Pietrus. (As one would expect.) The poor guy was very upset he was not playing. Gortat may not have earned the right to be a leader yet, but I think he is well on his way.
There were several other things I noticed as well, but I will stop here. My and my family love the Suns and will continue to follow them no matter what. Tonight was fun (b/c of the great seats) even though the game was not. And also–the perspective one gets sitting right with them is more than one could ever get from watching them on TV and even reading the blogs (no offense of course.) I feel as though I now understand the “chemistry matters” mantra of last year.
Keep up the good work guys! Great write up! Lets get New Jersey and turn the corner!

 

[devilalum]

I doubt Sarver will trade VC. The Suns could probably get something for him because of his buyout but they'd have to forward the $3 mil and I find it hard to see that happening.

 

[jagu]

I can care less if he is a cancer or not because he'll be a distant memory soon and that expiring contract is always awesome! Nice post by that guy and thanks for sharing it here devilalum.

 

[devilalum]

This trade reminds me of the Barkley deal. When the Suns sent Chuck to Houston it didn't seem like we got a huge talent reduction but the chemistry went in the toilet and the Suns started off the season losing about 20 in a row.

Players rarely like being traded from a winner to a loser. I think Gortat is happy to be out of Howard's shadow but VC is probably just pissed.

 

[Griffin]

That doesn't sound good. I thought that maybe under Nash's and Hill's influence Carter would become a good teammate, but I guess losing brings out the worst in everyone.

As for potential trades, there's still the option of swapping Carter for an expiring big like Murphy or Dalembert. If Murphy can still play (hard to tell from the DNP's) then he could definitely help at PF. But yeah, the Suns would have to pay the $3M in the trade, so that doesn't seem likely.

 

[devilalum]

That doesn't sound good. I thought that maybe under Nash's and Hill's influence Carter would become a good teammate, but I guess losing brings out the worst in everyone.

As for potential trades, there's still the option of swapping Carter for an expiring big like Murphy or Dalembert. If Murphy can still play (hard to tell from the DNP's) then he could definitely help at PF. But yeah, the Suns would have to pay the $3M in the trade, so that doesn't seem likely.

They might forward the $3 mil in a trade to unload Carter. After all the Suns will have to pay him $4 mil to buy him out at the end of the season. I just bet anything Sarver would push to try and trade him without sending the $3 mil along in the deal.

 

[AfroSuns]

I have always thought this about Vince, i never liked him and his "loser" mentality. I always get the impression he is "all about me" type of guy, as long as i get mine.
I hope they get rid of him soon.

 

[desertdawg]

Carter is one of the only cats out there that is really ballin. I don't like the guy, but it would be even worse if we didn't have him. Yes, even worse.

 

[Cheesebeef]

dude's been a cancer on every team he's ever played on. why wouldn't he be one here as well?

 

[Bert]

I have heard the exact same thing from folks who have season tix near the suns bench, they said VC is a jerk and is always off on his own or talking to opposing team players.

Just another fun thing to deal with in this joy of a season.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Carter is one of the only cats out there that is really ballin. I don't like the guy, but it would be even worse if we didn't have him. Yes, even worse.

Unless you're watching Gomer Pyle reruns, I have no idea which Carter you're talking about. The Vince Carter I see is hardly "ballin". Often, when he takes the court, the team takes a dive. I've seen him refuse to make the obvious pass MANY times in his short stay and I doubt that is sitting well with his teammates. The only positive I've seen from him is he seemed to be very supportive of the two guys that came over with him (at least at first he was, haven't noticed lately).

Steve

 

[desertdawg]

Unless you're watching Gomer Pyle reruns, I have no idea which Carter you're talking about. The Vince Carter I see is hardly "ballin". Often, when he takes the court, the team takes a dive. I've seen him refuse to make the obvious pass MANY times in his short stay and I doubt that is sitting well with his teammates. The only positive I've seen from him is he seemed to be very supportive of the two guys that came over with him (at least at first he was, haven't noticed lately).

Steve

Carter has been ok, he isn't on my buddy list so I don't know about all that. I never wanted him here, past his prime and smells of Iverson. But he has definitely been one of our better players in our gruesome decline. I don't like him but I would be yelling at mofos too if I landed here and everybody played so streaky.
Players on this team are a mystery, they look good one second, the next...
FO, GM, and the coach switch have everything to do with it.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Carter has been ok, he isn't on my buddy list so I don't know about all that. I never wanted him here, past his prime and smells of Iverson. But he has definitely been one of our better players in our gruesome decline. I don't like him but I would be yelling at mofos too if I landed here and everybody played so streaky.
Players on this team are a mystery, they look good one second, the next...
FO, GM, and the coach switch have everything to do with it.

Well, you picked a good night to stick up for him. He played pretty well tonight.

Steve

 

[Budden]

As far as the Frye interaction, if this team had won 8 of their last 10 games, I imagine Carter would've reacted differently to that kind of thing. But this team has lost 8 of its last 10 games, and now is not the time to be fooling around with a jump-shooter's pre-game routine. Plus, you can kind of tell that Frye is sort of a dork, so even though I'm sure he was just kidding around, if he wasn't such a nerd he probably would've known Vince was in a zone (or maybe just in a bad mood). And in any case, that crap is just annoying.

From what I've always seen of Vince Carter, he seems like a good guy. People often point to that John Thompson interview after he was traded from Toronto and he said that, "looking back, there were probably times where he could've tried harder" and they say, "Man, Carter's lazy, doesn't care about winning, blah blah." After watching that interview, I just didn't have that reaction. It seemed to me like VC was reflecting on an up-and-down experience in Toronto, where he went from looking like he might become the next Michael Jordan to looking more like the next Penny Hardaway, and he was just trying to be honest. If you ask that same question to Lebron James, he'd respond "Nah, I mean, we know that you guys in the media be tryin' to set us guys up," (nervous courtesy laughs from the reporter) "especially us superstars like myself and.. other guys too.. but I just continued to work on my greatness and hoped it would help get my teammates to raise their games a little, for whatever reason that didn't happen and now I move on. No regrets." Personally, I prefer to hear a guy who is willing to do some introspection, who has the humility to admit there were things he could've done better and who has the respect for one of the greatest college coaches of all time to try to be honest.

And if he was mocking Dragic behind his back, that's awesome! Because it means that maybe he's been perusing these message boards and taking after the majority of posters here who do the exact same thing everyday. If so: whaddup Vince? Great game tonight vs. the Nets!

 

[jibikao]

VC is a cancer. He hasn't stepped up when the team really needs him for a very very long time. His Toronto day is sooooooo long gone. He is not even that old. How come he hasn't improved at all? Look at Kobe.

 

[BC867]

VC is a cancer. He hasn't stepped up when the team really needs him for a very very long time. His Toronto day is sooooooo long gone. He is not even that old. How come he hasn't improved at all? Look at Kobe.

Once again, he scored most of his points in the first half.

But, to be fair, tonight vs. the Nets, he spent the 4th quarter and overtime playing Forward with Nash and Dragic on the court.

I am glad to see Dragic building confidence. He really hustled on defense tonight.

 

[jibikao]

Once again, he scored most of his points in the first half.

But, to be fair, tonight vs. the Nets, he spent the 4th quarter and overtime playing Forward with Nash and Dragic on the court.

I am glad to see Dragic building confidence. He really hustled on defense tonight.

I am not just talking about tonight. I am talking about Carter in general. I just really don't like him as a "star". I never understand why so many people liked him. He is really not that good. He is great at dunking and that's it.

 

[sunsfan88]

Trade his arse to Philly for Iggy. Throw in fillers to make the $$$ work.

 

[Chaplin]

I am not just talking about tonight. I am talking about Carter in general. I just really don't like him as a "star". I never understand why so many people liked him. He is really not that good. He is great at dunking and that's it.

Hmm, his points tonight weren't all dunks. In fact, was the alley oop in the first quarter his ONLY dunk?

 

[SirStefan32]

Trade his arse to Philly for Iggy. Throw in fillers to make the $$$ work.

Are you serious? Do you know what Iggy's contract looks like?

 

[Chaplin]

Are you serious? Do you know what Iggy's contract looks like?

Just stop it. He doesn't care what contracts look like.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Just stop it. He doesn't care what contracts look like.

Not just that, but he considers Iggy a superstar and thinks Carter plus fillers will be enough. How about Carter, fillers and at least 2 first round picks and I'm not sure that even that's enough. The last I heard, they are willing to listen to serious offers but they're not interested in just dumping his contract. He's a very good player but his biggest flaw is that the only thing superstar about him is his salary.

Steve

 

[sunsfan88]

It doesnt matter if he's a superstar. We need another scorer alongside Nash.

And yea Iggy makes a lot of $$$...

But guess what? If you want good players, you have to pay good for them too. I thought Suns fans would have learned this by now after the Amare thing...

 

[JCSunsfan]

The problem HAS to be Carter. The two we traded away outside of Richardson were non-contributors at best.

Trade Carter for what we can get out of him, and sign Richardson back this summer.

 

[slinslin]

The problem HAS to be Carter. The two we traded away outside of Richardson were non-contributors at best.

Trade Carter for what we can get out of him, and sign Richardson back this summer.

Better to let Carter expire and go unless we can rip off some team desperate to make room under the cap by taking on contracts in exchange for lottery picks.

Also doesn't make sense to pay a lot of money for J-Rich when we rebuild and he is getting old too.