NJ Nets: Carter's Quandary by Dave D'Alessandro Wednesday August 06, 2008, 1:24 PM William Perlman/The Star-Ledger What, him worry? There were 75 campers in Vince Carter's gym today, which is a convenient development, because it gives him an early idea of what it's like to be surrounded by children. He's even willing to stretch the analogy: "The big old kid," he called himself. "It's one of those things, and I accept it with open arms." An open mind, anyway. That's good. He's going to need it, with more than half the roster consisting of strangers, and seven of their 15 guys with two years of experience or fewer. "I never questioned what they're doing, and I definitely wanted to be here," VC said. "It's the way it goes. It's the business of basketball. Sometimes guys get moved who didn't want to, and sometimes guys are thrown into a deal. All those different types of things happen. "You have to accept it and I'm going to make the best of it. This is my opportunity to step up and be a leader on and off the court." You expected him to say anything different? His ankle is fine, he said - he's dunking again. By camp, he should be ready to push himself. Beyond that, it has yet to be determined what he's pushing himself toward. We know this much, however: It's going to have to be like Toronto all over again - at least early in the year - with more than his share of 12-for-28 nights. He doesn't disagree. Not with that "28" part, anyway. "I don't mind," Carter said. "We're just going to do our best to bring the ability out of each player and get what we can. I think we're going to expect a lot more from Devin and from our new guys. Everybody who's here is going to have to do more. It's not like, 'Oh you're a rookie, you're a second-year guy, you didn't play much last year.' No, our focus now is to give us a little more. Find it from somewhere and hopefully that mentality will push us farther than everyone might expect us to go." * * * * * Other issues for VC: # On the 2010 Agenda: "I can't worry about that. To get to 2010 we have to play two years in between that and we have to win games. To worry about that is ridiculous. We have a team now and we're trying to win. That will take care of itself when it's time. # On what he knows about Yi Jianlian: "I did see him dunk on Sean Williams at Milwaukee. I do remember that. Ask Sean." # On the knowledge that he isn't going to play for a title anytime soon: "We may not, but you got to start somewhere. Of course you want to play for a championship team. Everyone wants to play on a championship team. So our mentality is to come out and play like champions and play like we're playing to win a championship. Not, 'Oh we have a new team, people aren't expecting us to do well.' No, let's come out and say, 'Hey this team was put together because they believed in what we all bring to the table, but we have to gel together and make it happen.' We all have something to prove. And I think it's an opportunity for those guys who weren't starters or didn't play big minutes somewhere else -- or were shafted or whatever the situation may be -- to come here and write their own story." # On his relief that it wasn't him that was jettisoned to Milwaukee or somewhere else: "You just never know. You sit back and wait and you always say, 'I hope they don't call and say I'm the one who's being moved.' You never know. You figured some changes are going to be made. You hear and read what's been said and you sit back and wait." * * * * * The crab-crawl around Vince didn't exactly start off on the right note, by the way. TV Guy: How about the changes that have been made? "Let's talk about the camp first." TV Guy: OK, how about the camp? "What about it?" * * * * * The NBA schedules are out, and the Nets are going to have to grow up in a hurry. They have 22 back-to-back sets (the Knicks, by comparison, have only 18), and 15 of them are of the home/road or road/home variety, which isn't much fun. The good news: It won't take long for them to have that welcome home parade for Marcus Williams. Golden State is the opponent for the Izod Center home opener on Nov. 1. J-Kidd comes in on Dec. 19th and RJ's first return is Feb. 3rd. You can see the entire schedule here. Link
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'># On what he knows about Yi Jianlian: "I did see him dunk on Sean Williams at Milwaukee. I do remember that. Ask Sean."</div> <div><object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/eOzjo27nFMc&"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/eOzjo27nFMc&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350" /></embed></object></div> The rebuttal: <div><object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/507rwnGTMfQ&"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/507rwnGTMfQ&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350" /></embed></object></div>
. So our mentality is to come out and play like champions and play like we're playing to win a championship. Not, 'Oh we have a new team, people aren't expecting us to do well.' No, let's come out and say, 'Hey this team was put together because they believed in what we all bring to the table, but we have to gel together and make it happen.' We all have something to prove. And I think it's an opportunity for those guys who weren't starters or didn't play big minutes somewhere else -- or were shafted or whatever the situation may be -- to come here and write their own story." That's precisely the type of attitude the Sixers had last year, the Hawks had last year against the Celtics. That's the type of attitude you want with this team.
It's great to hear VC talking positively about the upcoming season. Gives me some hope for the playoffs.
www.netsdaily.com http://www.nj.com/nets/index.ssf/2008/08/n...quandary_2.html <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>"I never questioned what they're [Front Office] doing, and I definitely wanted to be here," VC said. "It's the way it goes. It's the business of basketball. Sometimes guys get moved who didn't want to, and sometimes guys are thrown into a deal. All those different types of things happen.</div> <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>On the knowledge that he isn't going to play for a title anytime soon: "We may not, but you got to start somewhere. Of course you want to play for a championship team. Everyone wants to play on a championship team. So our mentality is to come out and play like champions and play like we're playing to win a championship. Not, 'Oh we have a new team, people aren't expecting us to do well.' No, let's come out and say, 'Hey this team was put together because they believed in what we all bring to the table, but we have to gel together and make it happen.' We all have something to prove. And I think it's an opportunity for those guys who weren't starters or didn't play big minutes somewhere else -- or were shafted or whatever the situation may be -- to come here and write their own story."</div> <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>"I don't mind," Carter said. "We're just going to do our best to bring the ability out of each player and get what we can. I think we're going to expect a lot more from Devin and from our new guys. Everybody who's here is going to have to do more. It's not like, 'Oh you're a rookie, you're a second-year guy, you didn't play much last year.' No, our focus now is to give us a little more. Find it from somewhere and hopefully that mentality will push us farther than everyone might expect us to go."</div> <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>On what he knows about Yi Jianlian: "I did see him dunk on Sean Williams at Milwaukee. I do remember that. Ask Sean."</div> <div><object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/eOzjo27nFMc&"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/eOzjo27nFMc&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350" /></embed></object></div> But does VC remember this? (Thanks Jigga!) <div><object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/507rwnGTMfQ&"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/507rwnGTMfQ&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350" /></embed></object></div> http://njmg.typepad.com/zzone/2008/08/welcome-back-ca.html <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>“No, I’m good,” he said. “Every year, regardless of if it’s the same team or a new team, there’s always a new challenge. It’s always something to really see how you handle a particular situation. This is something new. It’s a new team. From what I understand they’re putting in a new offense. We’re going to start fresh and hopefully good things will come out of it.”</div> A new offense? Interesting.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (GMJigga @ Aug 6 2008, 02:50 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Anyone want to guess what kind of new offense we'll run this year?</div> The one thing I've heard is that it will be predicated on a lot of drives to the hoop and kick outs. I would assume there is also a pick n' roll component.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (GMJigga @ Aug 6 2008, 02:50 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Anyone want to guess what kind of new offense we'll run this year?</div> I hope it's something like what we did with Nads when he was healthy. Except we use Yi instead.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (pegs @ Aug 6 2008, 02:15 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (GMJigga @ Aug 6 2008, 02:50 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Anyone want to guess what kind of new offense we'll run this year?</div> I hope it's something like what we did with Nads when he was healthy. Except we use Yi instead. </div> I think that would work with Brook too, if he really does have that type of range.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (kdub @ Aug 6 2008, 03:19 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (pegs @ Aug 6 2008, 02:15 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (GMJigga @ Aug 6 2008, 02:50 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Anyone want to guess what kind of new offense we'll run this year?</div> I hope it's something like what we did with Nads when he was healthy. Except we use Yi instead. </div> I think that would work with Brook too, if he really does have that type of range. </div> I don't think he has that type of range. His shooting percentage in college draws me to that conclusion. I'm not really sure, though. Ryan would be good, too, though. He can shoot the lights out, maybe even pop out for a 3 once in a while. I could see him being a hell of a lot better than Boki, that's for sure.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (pegs @ Aug 6 2008, 03:22 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (kdub @ Aug 6 2008, 03:19 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (pegs @ Aug 6 2008, 02:15 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (GMJigga @ Aug 6 2008, 02:50 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Anyone want to guess what kind of new offense we'll run this year?</div> I hope it's something like what we did with Nads when he was healthy. Except we use Yi instead. </div> I think that would work with Brook too, if he really does have that type of range. </div> I don't think he has that type of range. His shooting percentage in college draws me to that conclusion. I'm not really sure, though. Ryan would be good, too, though. He can shoot the lights out, maybe even pop out for a 3 once in a while. I could see him being a hell of a lot better than Boki, that's for sure. </div> I can see an occasional lineup with Yi at the 5 and Anderson at the 4.
i hope Yi has a breakout year... he should be able too... he has what it takes... hope hes mentally ready
