Thursday, October 28, 1999
Carter confident
with Heat despite
rash of turnovers
The former Hawaii star
By Pat Bigold
still has a good shot at making
the NBA team's roster
Star-BulletinFormer Rainbow Anthony Carter seemed almost a lock to win a spot with the Miami Heat as Tim Hardaway's top backup at point guard after the team's first three exhibition games.
But a spate of turnovers in his final four exhibitions has diminished any guarantee Carter will beat out veteran Rex Walters.
The good news for Carter is that the Heat plan to keep three point guards, and the fourth point guard in camp, Corey Brewer, has been waived.
Miami opens Tuesday at home against the Detroit Pistons.
"Right now, I don't know which way we will go as far as who would come off the bench first behind Tim Hardaway," said Heat assistant coach Stan Van Gundy in a phone interview from Miami yesterday.
But Walters, a two-time All-Big Eight selection at Kansas, has been less productive than Carter in the exhibition season.
There has been speculation that head coach Pat Riley might look around the league for another veteran point guard due to the disappointing play lately of Carter and Walters. But Van Gundy said he would be surprised if the Heat went into the season with anyone other than those two as Hardaway's backups.
"We haven't given up on either of those guys," said Van Gundy. "We would like to see more solid play but we're not unhappy. We anticipated some ups and downs in the learning process."
Carter said he's never been worried.
"I've been feeling confident since the day I came into training camp," he said.
"That's the way you have to look at it. I think I've been a Heat since day one."
Carter's free-agent contract called for $100,000 up front and a chance to earn the full rookie minimum of $301,875 if he was still with the club one day into the season.
Carter impressed everyone with a 15-point, seven-rebound, four-assist performance in a start against Orlando and a 6-point, six-assist, four-steal effort against Atlanta in his first two exhibitions on U.S. soil.
He also played exceptionally for the Heat in a game in Israel.
But that all changed.
"He's now got more turnovers than assists in the preseason," said Van Gundy.
"But they were turnovers that were all preventable. It's not like he can't see the floor or can't make plays. While we're concerned, we think it's just a matter of learning and becoming more comfortable in the offense."
In a victory over Golden State, he and starter Tim Hardaway combined for 11 turnovers.
In Tuesday's exhibition finale, a victory over Orlando, he had four turnovers to two assists.
"To tell you the truth, I'm still feeling confident," said Carter. "I'm still learning but overall I think I'm still playing pretty good. As long as I stay focused, everything will fall in place."
Van Gundy said the size of the Miami playbook could be a factor in Carter's turnovers.
"I think what's happened is we've put in a lot of offense, and he's had a lot to learn and his head is kind of spinning," he said.
"So Anthony had some trouble turning the ball over the last four games. It's a concern but I think it's all going to come around. Point guard is the toughest position to play, and being a rookie is tough. Being a rookie point guard on a team that runs a lot of offense is not easy."
Van Gundy, who is in charge of ongoing development of young perimeter players, said Carter has had no trouble learning the offense.
"He has proven he can really push the ball on the break, proven that he can really penetrate," he said.
"What we need him to concentrate on now is nothing other than running our half-court offense. Not worrying about penetration or making plays."
Carter said he has benefited from the rule prohibiting hand-checking below the free-throw line. "I can get to the hole whenever because they can't hand-check no more," he said. "That's been a big advantage to a lot of quick point guards."
Carter said it's a luxury to work with 6-foot-10 center Alonzo Mourning, who averaged 20.1 points per game.
"It's a great feeling with him, because you don't have to worry about anything," said Carter. "All you have to do is get the ball into him and you're gonna get a foul or a basket."
Mourning can also make a guard feel more comfortable on defense. He was the NBA blocked shots leader and earned defensive player of the year honors.
Van Gundy said that while many players like Carter struggle offensively, they give up defensively.
"But he (Carter) has been good defensively," he said. "The other night, he came off the bench and made four turnovers but we played even while he was on the floor. Big part of that was because he made several good defensive plays to make up for the turnovers."
The Heat have one more cut before Tuesday.
