For the first half of the season, Vince Carter was one of the most disappointing players in the league. In the latest chapter of a career that’s sadly become synonymous with disappointment, Carter has underperformed badly in Orlando.
On paper, replacing Hedo Turkoglu with Carter didn’t look like a bad idea. On the court, however, VC has been a disaster. Vince is shooting under 40% from the field, and he’s only averaging 2.8 assists per game. Vince’s PER is currently at 15.79, which is significantly worse than his previous career low of 18.93.
Vince has struggled from everywhere on the floor this season, but most of his problems have come from his inability to get baskets at the rim. Even though Vince was once one of the most electrifying high-flyers in the history of the league, he’s had serious trouble when he’d tried to attack the basket this season.
Vince is only averaging 1.8 dunks or layups per game this season, down from 2.3 conversions at the rim per game a year ago. The really bad news for the Magic is that this appears to be the continuation of a trend. Since the 2006-07 season, Vince’s makes at the rim per game have steadily decreased from 3.8 to 3.1 to 2.3 to 1.8. Worst of all, Vince’s percentage at the rim has been terrible, as he’s now making less than half of his attempts at the basket. For a long time, Vince’s head was perceived to be the only thing holding him back from greatness; now his body seems to be letting him down.
Carter’s 48-point explosion against the Hornets on Monday night has given Magic fans hope that Vince will be able to turn it around after all. For Magic fans, the most heartening thing about Vince’s performance shouldn’t be how many points Carter scored, but how he got them. During the Magic’s fourth-quarter comeback, Carter was on fire from the outside. Carter hit two tough mid-range jumpers and three three-pointers in the fourth quarter of Monday’s game, scoring 13 points on eight shots from outside the paint. Many of those jumpers were contested shots off the dribble with a very high degree of difficulty, classic superstar shots. The highlights show just how dialed in Vince was in that fourth quarter, and how he’s still capable of taking over a game when he’s firing on all cylinders.
What the highlights won’t preserve is that before his amazing fourth quarter, Carter got himself going by taking the ball to the rim time and time again. According to HoopData, Carter went 9-11 on shots at the rim, with 8 of those makes coming in the first three quarters. Vince only took 5 shots from midrange the entire game, preferring to to his damage from inside the paint and beyond the arc. Vince won the game by making tough shots, but he put the Magic in position to win by creating easy ones. Not only was Carter’s big night what the Magic needed to win the game, but it may serve as a blueprint for how he can be effective over the rest of the season.