Bench Hill/Carter

[Frank Lee]

I think you overstate Vince's ego. From all that has been mentioned about him, it does not seem to be a factor in his play. It's more desire and commitment issue . He can read the writing on the wall.

The 'playing for a contract' theory, just hasn't applied to Carter. It seems now, his only value is contractual. I think he can help this team on the court....sporadically. And the opportunity to trade him remains open until the option declaration day.

Personally, I believe it was decided by the FO to give Vince maximum burn in order to establish his value, not only to us but league wide. If he would have excelled with this opportunity, his value goes up. But he has just been 'Half man, Half Oh-so-average' and he can do that with the second unit.

Is there any coincidence that Pietrus is getting a lot more PT? For all we know, we could have seen the last of VC as a Sun.

[Wannabe MEP]

Frank, I agree about Carter's ego. I think he's seriously misunderstood. I think he has an intense, contemplative, quiet personality, which can come across as arrogant. I think that's also part of why he has trouble with the media; he doesn't easily, naturally portray himself, and people falsely assume too much.

I think he's slow to adapt to changing situations, not because he's not trying, but because he doesn't just get in there and naturally react like some players. He slowly analyzes and processes things, and little-by-little figures out how he can best help his team. Watch him: he looks like he's always thinking. It's personality.

Defensively: he's so much better than people think he is. He's incredibly smart about position. He's no stat whore on defense, which confuses people. What he does is the most important part of playing good defense: he makes it difficult for the other team to get in good position for easy shots. He doesn't get blocks or steal, but he makes the other team take inefficient shots.

Offensively: I think he'll keep improving with this team's style, but right now he's a ball-stopper. He catches the ball, sizes up the situation, and thinks about what he's going to do. He's gotten conflicting messages his whole life: "You take too many bad shots" and "You're our star: you need to score more!" He listens to that stuff and contemplates and doesn't play free, and it's definitely happening here in Phoenix.

I think we should play him with the second unit because it doesn't matter if he's a ball-stopper with them, and his overall play will help that unit. I think both units would ultimately improve.

[JohnVancouver]

Frank, I agree about Carter's ego. I think he's seriously misunderstood. I think he has an intense, contemplative, quiet personality, which can come across as arrogant. I think that's also part of why he has trouble with the media; he doesn't easily, naturally portray himself, and people falsely assume too much.

I think he's slow to adapt to changing situations, not because he's not trying, but because he doesn't just get in there and naturally react like some players. He slowly analyzes and processes things, and little-by-little figures out how he can best help his team. Watch him: he looks like he's always thinking. It's personality.

Defensively: he's so much better than people think he is. He's incredibly smart about position. He's no stat whore on defense, which confuses people. What he does is the most important part of playing good defense: he makes it difficult for the other team to get in good position for easy shots. He doesn't get blocks or steal, but he makes the other team take inefficient shots.

Offensively: I think he'll keep improving with this team's style, but right now he's a ball-stopper. He catches the ball, sizes up the situation, and thinks about what he's going to do. He's gotten conflicting messages his whole life: "You take too many bad shots" and "You're our star: you need to score more!" He listens to that stuff and contemplates and doesn't play free, and it's definitely happening here in Phoenix.

I think we should play him with the second unit because it doesn't matter if he's a ball-stopper with them, and his overall play will help that unit. I think both units would ultimately improve.

You need to be writing a column, friend

[chillinlikeavillain]

Frank, I agree about Carter's ego. I think he's seriously misunderstood. I think he has an intense, contemplative, quiet personality, which can come across as arrogant. I think that's also part of why he has trouble with the media; he doesn't easily, naturally portray himself, and people falsely assume too much.

I think he's slow to adapt to changing situations, not because he's not trying, but because he doesn't just get in there and naturally react like some players. He slowly analyzes and processes things, and little-by-little figures out how he can best help his team. Watch him: he looks like he's always thinking. It's personality.

Defensively: he's so much better than people think he is. He's incredibly smart about position. He's no stat whore on defense, which confuses people. What he does is the most important part of playing good defense: he makes it difficult for the other team to get in good position for easy shots. He doesn't get blocks or steal, but he makes the other team take inefficient shots.

Offensively: I think he'll keep improving with this team's style, but right now he's a ball-stopper. He catches the ball, sizes up the situation, and thinks about what he's going to do. He's gotten conflicting messages his whole life: "You take too many bad shots" and "You're our star: you need to score more!" He listens to that stuff and contemplates and doesn't play free, and it's definitely happening here in Phoenix.

I think we should play him with the second unit because it doesn't matter if he's a ball-stopper with them, and his overall play will help that unit. I think both units would ultimately improve.

You need to be writing a column, friend

Unbelievable post. I'm amazed you've picked up on so much about his personality from a quarter of a season of watching him.

With that being said, I think moving to the second unit is ideal, as long as it doesn't hurt his confidence even more. It needs to be a "Vince, we need you to be our Ginobili/Terry/Crawford", not a "Vince, we think Pietrus/Dudley is a better fit with our starters" type of deal. The thing is, the media will spin a Vince move to the bench into "Vince is done". He's had the harshest media bias out of ANY player in the NBA the past 7-8 years, and I really think it gets to him, even if he pretends it doesn't.

[Frank Lee]

Los Soles es un brujo local

[DRK]

lol. Looks like Sherk has been trumped.

[Wannabe MEP]

You need to be writing a column, friend

I'd LOVE to.

Any recommendations for a wannabe writer??