I have not, this is true, but each time I've watched Carter over the past couple years, I see him taking more jumpers than what he used to. Even if he does take it to the hoop more than he had been, I'll still take Manu because I still think he's got an overall better game.
Manu is more injury prone, he isn't a better shooter, he isn't a better defender...I probably would've picked Manu last year, but this year it's definitely Vince. He's efficient, he drives a lot, he plays great defense (he shut down Kobe against the Lakers), he finds his teammates, he's shooting well...can't really say a bad word about him. Sure, he has his off nights, but overall he's having his best run since the 2nd half of the 04/05 season IMO and he's taking a lot of pressure off Harris.
I don't think we can really assess this at this point since Manu has only played a few games and is working back in to game shape. Give him a couple weeks to work off the rust, and this would be a much more fair assessment. As for Manu being injury prone....uhh...he's been mostly healthy his entire career. The most games he's missed in a season was 17...then he had 13 missed games as a rookie. He's played 74 or more games 4 of 6 seasons. Can you really blame him for breaking down though? He's playing in the playoffs every year, plus playing for the Argentina national team, he hardly gets a break, which isn't good for the body. And doesn't injury prone and Vince go hand in hand almost? 7 missed in 00-01...22 missed the next year...39 the year after that...9 the year after that. He's been mostly healthy recently, but to call him less injury prone isn't fair, again, because he, like Manu, has had his fair share of injuries.
I don't blame Manu, it isn't his fault obviously. And yes, VC was injury prone; key word was. He has barely missed any games since joining the Nets 4 years ago. Manu IS injury prone right now, because of the reasons you pointed out. I'm not judging Manu, I'm just saying that it'll be hard for him to be better than VC, the way VC is playing right now.
It's close and I like both players. But I'll also go with Carter. If you ask most people, they'll tell you that Carter is washed up, he's old. What they are not really realizing is that Carter is actually YOUNGER than Manu. And while Manu still relies on his explosiveness and aggressiveness to be successful, Carter has started adjusting to his age a few years ago. I really like Ginobili, but as much as it hurts me to say it, he's getting old.
