Vince Carter Quotes (136 Quotes)

I think people are going to like my new shoes. I like them. I had a lot of success with the one last year, but this year's shoe is going to be a little different, but at the same time it's going to be a little spin-off on last year's shoe.

I was trying to deny him as long as possible, at least eight of the 13 seconds, just to make it a tougher shot and push him out as far as I could. I just wanted to keep my hands up and make it a tough shot.

We play at a high level at home, and I hope we can continue to do that and carry that on the road. It seems like on the road we always dig ourselves a hole and have to fight out of it.

Maybe it came off as a chip, it was just focus. I wanted to get my first win here. They brought me here not to just win 49 games but to win playoff games. That was my goal. It was important for me to come out and just be Vince.

I'm just trying to be aggressive, trying to do whatever I can to win. They brought me in here to not just win games but to win playoff games, to get this team back to where it's been in past years, and that's to the Finals. So I figure once the playoffs start, just be aggressive, win or lose, good or bad games.

That's definitely number one. The atmosphere, the emotion, the hostility in the arena It was a fun game.

We thought we were a pretty good team and we could go far. We were one shot away from going to the conference finals that year, but unfortunately the guy who took the shot missed it.

You don't know what to expect. The only way you can really understand it is just being in it.

We always felt (catching Miami) was a possibility. But we have to take care of our jobs and just win. If we just win, everything will fall into place.

We didn't care that Chauncey hadn't scored. We know that it doesn't matter if he has no points or 30 points, he can take over any game at the end.

We know it's there. He just has to find out how to become a pro, and incorporate his game and learn the way he should play night after night. He'll get there. I really believe that.

We had Jefferson going well. I didn't have a problem sitting back and just watching. At the same time, coach wanted me to stay aggressive, and we kept getting good shots. That's how we work. If things aren't working individually, we know where each other are going to be.

I can't say enough about what he does for our team. He handles the ball, can go to the basket, great shot, and always shows up in the big games.

I hope he doesn't get discouraged because internally we know he's been the key. We know that he's definitely been the backbone as far as being consistent and solid throughout.

It's going to bother me for the rest of the night.

His ability was always there. I think with the confidence it's just made him flourish. He's going to get what he deserves.

I just play. The goal is to come out and set the tone for the team and be efficient. We have so many weapons, I just try to get us started offensively and then be patient.

We're definitely more experienced and more athletic. And, we have guys who can shoot the ball. Now it's going to make teams have to make a decision because we have guys one through five who can shoot.

I used to block field goals in junior high, so I just pulled out that technique. In a situation like that, you always want to get a hand on the ball, but mainly you just want to disrupt the pass however you can.

I just think people should be able to express themselves.

We didn't want Yao to dominate down low, but we wanted to make it as tough on him as possible. If Yao was going to get his shots, we didn't want the other guys to go off. I thought, overall, we did a good job.

It was brought to our attention what we weren't doing right in the first half. We stepped up our defense, started attacking and just put the pressure on them.

Because of his height and some of the things he can do. I don't know if many people have seen some things he can do. But if he can make his dunks, he can make his way to the final.

Our goal is to attack the basket and put the onus on the referees to make the calls. We weren't hitting our jump shots outside, so we had to be effective some other way.

Those guys have had a hell of a year. Allen's playing well, D-Wade has been phenomenal. I have no problem.

Raptors star Vince Carter, whose sore left knee will prevent him from defending his title in the Dunk Contest, said he spent zero time last year preparing for the competition. In fact, he said he got the idea for his spectacular clinching dunk -- in which he hung on the rim by his elbow -- in a dream. Two nights before the contest it just came to me in a dream, ... Swear to God, I had never done it before. I just got the idea right there.

I'll probably go regardless. If I don't make it, I'll go. It'll be interesting and exciting.

I've been trying too hard instead of just playing basketball. I need to just go out there and relax and play.

I call him 'Pretty Ricky,' ... I like him because he's one of those guys, he plays hard. If you pull him aside and try to help him, he's willing to learn. He's very attentive and he asks questions. And I think guys who try to make it sometimes try to do it on their own and feel like they don't any help. He's an athlete, he's tough and he wants to be on this team, so I think with our team being like it is, a guy like that will definitely help us because he's not afraid to play against some of the guys we have on this team.

He came out here, and everybody wanted to go at him, because he had a big target on him. He had the big contract and everything, so everybody wanted to go test this guy out.

We're just consistent right now, playing hard, grinding it out. Whatever kind of basketball needs to be played on any given night, we're playing it.

I just wanted to push him out as far as I could and just stay down. He's good at that pump fake and drawing the foul late in the game. So I wanted to keep my hands up and make it a tough shot. If he makes it, he makes it.

My first dunk was actually in sixth grade.

I was able to get in the lane and make things happen. Coach (Lawrence Frank) did a good job of putting me in different positions to succeed.

It wasn't really a chip (on my shoulder), just focus. I wanted to get my first win. They brought me here not to win 49 (regular-season) games, but to win playoff games.

We made them take tough shots. We got the rebound and kind of got into transition, tried to get as many easy buckets and make it tough for them, and take them out of their comfort zone.

I play some fighting games, but mostly I just play sports.

The only bad thing about it is that younger kids now, whose minds are easily warped, they are going to think, 'Oh I am going to go out there and do it,' instead of having the team concept first. I just hope that kids and young guys understand that yeah, special guys can do that.

We want to play team defense, regardless (of what Iverson does). A.I. can get his points. The priority is to win the game.

It's important to us to find time to rest. There's not much practice time and it's go, go, go. We want to push hard early.

We're trying to protect home, continue our streak. I think getting caught up in the whole rivalry thing, it can hurt us as far as not coming out and playing our best basketball.

Going through rebuilding is always tough, I don't care where you are or who you are, it is always tough. It is important for those guys to stick together and stay positive if that is possible.

All of these people are struggling, but it's a little harder when you have three kids and they're young. If you get one athlete, one artist, to help out one family, it's good.

I play to win. I had the opportunity at the end. I blew it. I blew the opportunity. I hate that I had to miss those for us to end our streak. It's going to make me want to come out and play harder tomorrow. Missing that free throw hurt the most. If I made that, it would have been a tie game, and I might not have had to worry about that jumper.

I used to block field goals in junior high. Seriously. Check the technique out.

A big basket was needed. If we don't make it, it would give them the opportunity to tie or cut it to one. I just wanted to be patient and take what I could get.

I certainly thought I was going to get the call. There was a lot of contact on that play. At least two guys hit me.

He's just confident. Any player that plays with confidence can help his game tremendously.

We are trying to peak at the right time and go into the playoffs with a lot of confidence. I could care less who we play.

He's open to suggestions. I guess it (Jefferson on Bosh) sounded good, so he went with it and it worked. That's what he is -- anytime you have a question or an idea you can bounce it off of him and of course he makes the last call.