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Vince Carter Needs To Play Better To Play More

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Vince Carter has seen his minutes drop over the last three games as Suns coach Gentry has shown that he's no longer willing to play Vince simply based on career history. Gentry wants Carter to play well and if he does he will give him minutes. If he doesn't....well, we've seen what happens.

"Sometimes he defers, and we don't need him to defer. He's got to be our guy, and he can only be our guy if he's in there. I've got to make sure he's out there in the game," Gentry said. He told Carter the Suns traded their leading scorer (Jason Richardson) for him and they need him to fill that role.

Carter still thinks he can give the team more and called himself "average" right now and says he will do better. While Gentry wants him to be aggressive, Carter says he's just trying to fit into the flow of the offense.

"The ways Steve (Nash) creates for this team, I feel personally that I need to knock down open shots. It's a new situation for me as far as having open shots without having to worry about the double team. I think that's me turning the corner right there being able to knock down open shots."

Carter has played under 20 minutes in the last three games for the Suns and scored a total of 19 points in those outings. He was benched for the fourth quarter in the last two games.