By Bryan Gutierrez, Mavs.com Vintage Vince Carter is in full effect DALLAS — Vince Carter has been another example of the Mavericks making the most of what they had to work with during this offseason. Carter was released by the Phoenix Suns during the offseason. The Suns owed the swingman $18 million for this year, unless they waived him within 72 hours of the beginning of the free agent period. By waiving him in the time window, the Suns only owed him $4 million during this season. The Mavericks quickly jumped on the opportunity to acquire the 35-year-old player. They went on to sign him for the $3 million mini-midlevel exception, the most the team could offer a player as they are a team that is over the salary cap. The eight-time All-Star, whose last All-Star appearance came in 2007, has found his groove within the Mavericks system. Carter might have been a victim of previous reputation, but the swingman has been nothing but impressive with his early performance with the Mavericks, no matter if it is starting games and coming off the bench. “He makes good things happen for us offensively and defensively he’s been pretty solid,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “He’s a major weapon for us, a big part of what we’re doing.” He was a big part of the 101-100 overtime victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday night. The 21 points in the game against the Spurs marked a new season-high for Carter, an accomplishment that really didn’t mean much to him. He was more concerned about another number – the score. “It doesn’t matter about points,” Carter said. “The team won.” The fact that he doesn’t care about his point total shows that he has bought in to the team’s mindset of playing with the big picture in mind. Carter followed up his performance against the Spurs with another 21-point scoring performance against the Suns in a 124-99 victory on Monday night. That marked the first time since March 14 and 16 of last season where Carter had consecutive 20-plus point scoring performances. He is now averaging 15.2 points on 55.8 percent shooting over his last five games. The five-game span does include his five-game layoff due a sprained right foot he suffered at the end of the game against the Los Angeles Lakers. The numbers before and after the layoff show that Carter did a lot of work during his rehab process to ensure he could come right back and hit the ground running. “From the very beginning, he’s been a guy that’s done it by the book and not taking any shortcuts,” Carlisle explained. “He’s doing it the hard way and that’ s tough.” Carter is still known for his game on the offensive end of the floor, even at age 35, but he has held his own on the defensive end of the floor. He has seen stretches where he has had to guard players such as Kevin Durant, Ben Gordon and other explosive guards. Those teams are trying to exploit the matchup by forcing Carter to run all over the floor and handle the responsibility. To his credit, Carter has stepped up to the challenge and been a solid contributor. When Carter is on the floor, the Mavericks hold opponents to 93.90 points per 100 possessions in fourth quarters and 74.90 points per 100 possessions in clutch situations. Most surprising is that opponents can’t buy easy buckets against a lineup with Carter on the floor. Per 100 Possessions, opponents on average score 20.22 points in transition versus the team. The number drops to a team-best 15.62 when Carter is on the floor, 17.21 in fourth quarters and 9.99 in the clutch. “He understands it because he’s been in similar systems throughout his career,” Carlisle said. “He understands the importance of accountability. He’s smart and he recognizes situations.” The accountability, intelligence and understanding of the situation have put him in a spot which can help the cause for him as well as the team. Carter is chasing his first championship in his career. With 13 years of experience, Carter recognizes that he’s entered the final stretch of his career. He’s trying to do everything he can to help the Mavericks and show he wants to make good on the partially guaranteed options for the last two years of the deal he signed with the team. If things don’t find a way to work for the Mavericks, he’s still using the opportunity to show the rest of the league that he still can be a positive contributor to a team that has championship aspirations. The swingman has done a great job providing the Mavericks with the availability to have a bigger guard post up opposing guards on the block. He’ s been able to go against smaller defenders and react to however the defense responds. If they collapse on him, his ability to find the open man and deliver the ball really opens things up for his teammates. “He’s been great. You can post him some,” Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki said when describing Carter’s ability to exploit matchups. “He’s got a matchup on any [shooting guard] in this league.” Carter has been able to be effective in that set, as well as working off screen and rolls. Nowitzki also believes that Carter hasn’t lost a step as a shooter. “He’s still a great threat on just spotting up everywhere on the floor,” Nowitzki said. “He’s been playing phenomenal and looking good since he came back.” His ability to mix in penetration with spot-up shooting really adds a strong scoring punch to the roster. Another part of Carter’s body of work has been ability to be vocal and supportive to his new teammates. While Lamar Odom has been working on getting in a groove with the Mavericks, Carter has been in his ear and helping him by motivating him. The ability to step up in that situation as a supportive teammate is not shocking revelation to his coach. “It doesn’t surprise me. Vince is an experienced guy,” Carlisle explained. “He’s a charismatic guy. He’s a terrific person. He’s upbeat and energetic, so it doesn’t surprise me.” The numbers are showing that Carter is getting in a groove, and he believes he ’s finding his groove. “I’m starting to feel comfortable,” Carter explained. “I take pride in trying to learn the offense and learn a couple of positions. It’s getting easier and easier, feeling more comfortable.” His numbers are comparable as a starter and a player coming off the bench. The Mavericks run the same kind of sets for him in both situations, so that makes easier for Carter to just be himself. For him, it’s just about finding a way to help the team out. “With a team like this, I just try to make plays and be aggressive early,” Carter stated. “I want to get us going and see what happens from there.” Carter has stated on multiple occasions that getting to witness last season’ s Mavericks roster collect their championship rings has only made his determination that much stronger. Even before the ring ceremony, he has emerged as one of the biggest bright spots on the team. He’s quickly become a major impact player in the rotation. Carter averaged 13.5 points per game on 42 percent shooting for the Suns after being acquired in a trade with the Orlando Magic, along with Marcin Gortat, for Jason Richardson and Hedo Turkoglu in December of last season. Ultimately, the Suns paid him more money to go away than the Mavericks are currently paying him to play for them. That has lit a fire under him. He is a man on a mission. Vince Carter is fitting in and doing so in a big, big way. http://0rz.tw/F1KW7 麻烦强人翻一下吧^^ --

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