Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel reports:
 |
Thirty-seven games into the season, the Magic (25-12) are still trying to adjust to [Vince] Carter — and Carter to them.
Sometimes, teammates stand around and watch Carter play. Sometimes, they defer to him unnecessarily or Carter defers to them unnecessarily.
“It’s different. We weren’t used to playing like that last year … Turk [ Hedo Turkoglu] had the ball, Jameer [Nelson] had it. It was pretty balanced at the end of every game. Everybody got about the same amount of shots,” forward Rashard Lewis said.
And now?
“Vince is the type of player who needs the ball in his hands. He dominates the ball sometimes. That’s how he became Vince Carter,” Lewis continued. “We got to adjust to that, learn how to play with him dominating the ball.
“We’re still adjusting to it, but he’s not going anywhere. He’s our teammate.”
Personally, I don’t think the magic should have made any changes. They got to the finals last year for a reason and they could repeat if they wanted. I just think adding someone like Vince Carter may interfere with a repeat because he is somewhat of a ball hog. To top it off Vince isn’t even in his prime anymore. Think about it, the magic have the most dominant center in the NBA in Dwight Howard, 3 banger Rashard Lewis, Jameer Nelson, Hedo Turkoglu and the up and coming Michael Peutris. Why change any of that?