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Wake-up call Carter pushes poor playoff play aside
Posted: Monday April 24, 2000 11:03 PM
TORONTO (AP) -- Vince Carter uncharacteristically awoke before his alarm clock went off Monday, determined to put his awful playoff debut behind him. "I was up early and that's not like me. I was just sitting in bed saying, `All right, it's a new day,'" said the Toronto Raptors star, who made just 3-of-20 field-goal attempts in Sunday's 92-88 loss to the New York Knicks. "I knew I had to come to practice and watch film, and bring up that memory, but I said to myself: `It's a new day.'" Teammate Antonio Davis said Carter and Tracy McGrady were unusually vocal during the morning film session, which is usually dominated by comments from the veterans. "For once, we had some of the young guys say a lot," Davis said. "The young guys were really talking and observing. With all the talent they have, if they can correct their mistakes and correct ours, we'll be fine." Toronto coach Butch Carter said Vince Carter took his performance hard, becoming unusually quiet during the flight home as teammates tried to console him. Davis told to Carter forget the pressure of being the game's newest sensation. "The league and the media have put him in a position where if he doesn't perform well he's going to feel bad, but we're not putting him in that position," Davis said. "I'm not going to let him put his head down because he's done too much for me, and for this team. For him to have one bad shooting night is not going to disrupt this team." Charles Oakley, Carter's mentor, stressed to Carter that he played decent defense and that there were four games left in the series. Game 2 is Wednesday night. "They picked me up," Carter said. "They didn't let me get down on myself, or let me throw things."
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