The Magic Believe in Carter, Why Don't You?

[fanatic313]

By Brian Schmitz

9:56 p.m. EST, February 1, 2010
E-mail Print Share Text Size

The Orlando Magic said they have no plans to bench Vince Carter a day after the eight-time all-star's mystifying slump apparently hit rock bottom.

Carter scored a season-low two points and — in a recurring trend — wasn't called upon to play the pivotal fourth quarter in a narrow 91-86 win on Sunday against the Detroit Pistons.

General Manager Otis Smith and coach Stan Van Gundy said Monday that the possibility of benching Carter — even for a while — has not been broached.

"I don't know if (benching Carter) would help or hurt, but I don't see that being the case at all," Smith said. "It isn't an issue with us."

Van Gundy said he can't sit Carter if the team intends to meet their stated goal of winning a title.

"I have not even thought about that," Van Gundy said. "I never say never, but I think that for us to be serious contenders, we need Vince to be at a high level and we don't get there by sitting him down.

"I'm still very hopeful that the (Feb. 12-15 all-star) break will help him and help his frame of mind."

Smith and Van Gundy said they are both concerned about Carter's confidence.

Carter's continued lack of production could be more of an issue if starting point guard Jameer Nelson and reserve small forward Mickael Pietrus are unavailable to play tonight against the Milwaukee Bucks at Amway Arena.

Nelson (hyperextended left knee) and Pietrus (sprained right ankle) sustained minor injuries against the Pistons and are listed day-to-day, but Smith said he expects neither player to miss any time.

As for Carter, January was a month to forget. He averaged 8.7 points per game and shot 28.4 percent in 14 games, scoring 10 points or less 10 times. He missed three games because of a sprained left shoulder, which is still hampering his play.

Carter was averaging a team-leading 19.1 points heading into January, but is at 15.6 now. He is shooting a career-low 38 percent.

Carter appeared to have rebounded during a recent stretch, scoring 11, 21 and 15 points on 18-of-38 shooting. But in his last three games, he has looked tentative, scoring six, six and two points and shooting 5-of-27.

"I'm not overly concerned about Vince Carter as everyone else is," Smith said. "I'd like him to make a shot or two just to help his head. I have confidence in Vince. You root for the guy. At some point, we're going to need him."

Pulling Carter out of the lineup would nearly require a franchise board meeting. His acquisition last summer was seen as the bold move which would take the Magic over the postseason hump.

Rather than bench him and handle the fall-out, what Van Gundy has done is drastically limit Carter's minutes, especially in the fourth quarter.

Vince might not have been banished, but he has vanished.

Here's a stunning statistic: Carter, acquired from the New Jersey Nets to be the go-to guy, has played just one minute and twenty-five seconds in the fourth quarters of the last three games.

That's 85 seconds.

Sunday night, against the Pistons, Carter didn't play in the fourth period, period. He was replaced by J.J. Redick with 7:49 remaining in the third — and didn't return.

In two of the Magic's biggest games last week, against Eastern Conference rivals Atlanta and Boston, he played 18 seconds of the final period against the Hawks (to be fair, it was a blow-out) and only 1:07 of the fourth in a comeback against the Celtics.

"For me, it's been rather simple," Van Gundy said. "We're playing better with the other people on the floor if you think about the last three fourth quarters."

Van Gundy concedes that Carter "hasn't been playing well." But he also said he has stayed with other second-unit players or groups of second-unit players who are clicking.

Smith said Carter is still adjusting to his new team and playing with Dwight Howard. He said the strength of the Magic is their depth and that he never intended for Carter to "carry the whole load.

"I didn't bring Vince Carter here to score 25 points a night. What you have to do is guard him every night and when you guard him, somebody else is open," Smith said. "I don't care if we have 12 guys averaging 10 points a night. It's not centered around one guy. We're doing what we have to do to win basketball games."

Read Brian Schmitz's blog at OrlandoSentinel.com and e-mail him at bschmitz@orlandosentinel.com.
Copyright © 2010, Orlando Sentinel

[gr8ness00]

I understand SVG's point about it not being centered around one guy, but when one guy isn't pulling his weight on either end of the floor, isn't he a liabilty? Especially when his backup is coming in and being much more efficient. If Stan's hoping Vince can just play through this slump, he may be in for a long wait.

[mully]

If you are Stan or Otis what can you say? You have to say that you know Vince is in a slump and he will come back to his level of play and just hope its sooner than later. Like Stan said if this team is championship level Vince is a big part of that.

As fans its obvious that Vince isnt the old Vince right now. Will he ever get back there? Who knows but I'd rather he pass the ball right now than force up those crazy shots. Or sit on the bench and cheer.

[bizort]

Actions speaker louder than words in these situations. It is not advantageous for Van Gundy to slam Carter in the newspaper since that wouldn't do anything for either guy.