Everywhere I turn, someone is tearing into Vince Carter.  They decry his lack of heart.  They impugn his character.  They question his toughness.  They even claim that Toronto is a better team without him.

And I wonder what the hell they're talking about.

True, the Raptors have won nine straight games without Carter.  Ball movement has improved, but more importantly the team is defending with passion and rebounding with authority.  But the nine-game win streak, nice as it's been, isn't all it's been touted to be.

The combined record of Toronto's last nine opponents is 283-411.  That's a winning percentage of .408.  They've beaten Cleveland, a slumping Washington with a one-legged Michael Jordan, sliding Miami, Atlanta, Philadelphia missing Allen Iverson, Chicago twice, an Indiana team doing it's best to give away the final playoff spot, and Charlotte.

It's no knock on Toronto that they've beaten a collection of bad teams and a good team without their best player.  And, that was a good win over the Hornets.  But with or without Carter they should've won each of those games.

Over the past few seasons, the Raptors have done a pretty good job collecting talented basketball players.  Alvin Williams, Antonio Davis, and Morris Peterson are all solid.  Keon Clark ? skinny legs and all ? is blossoming into a quality big man.  Why Lenny Wilkins hasn't found more playing time for Clark is a mystery.  Jerome Williams lives up to his Junkyard Dog nickname, and Hakeem Olajuwon is old and creaky, but can still contribute when he's feeling good.

On top of all that, the Raptors possess one of the NBA's luminous stars.  Carter has transcendent athletic ability and terrific basketball skills.  But questions about his heart and toughness abound.

And herein lies the logical disconnect.  Prior to their current winning streak, the Raptors were mired in a horrific stretch.  They lost 13 in a row and 17 of 18.  Carter missed the first seven of those losses with a serious leg injury, then returned for the eighth.  Even though he was obviously hurting he played because he wanted to help his team break the losing skid.

Playing on one leg, he couldn't do it and when the season looked lost he went back to the injured list for needed surgery.  Yet he still took criticism for not doing more.

As Toronto began winning without him, the complaining grew louder and made even less sense.  A man so often knocked for lacking toughness was now getting ripped for playing hurt.  Criticized for lacking the desire to win, detractors went after him for being too competitive.

Know what?  Almost all of it is garbage.

Toronto is not a better team without Carter.  Smart Raptor fans know that the team is playing better because the players aren't standing around waiting for Carter to do something, and because they've had a series of no-account opponents.  If Toronto hopes to contend for a championship in the next few seasons, they'll need Carter to do it.

Carter is not a perfect player.  As brilliant as he's been, he can be even better.  He should take the ball to the hoop more often.  But that can be a tough argument to make considering he shoots a high percentage from three-point land.

He should play with more defensive intensity.  But let's remember: few great wing scorers were also great defenders.  Carter is not Jordan ? no one ever will be.  Even Jordan took seven seasons to win his first championship.

The fact is that Carter is a young superstar who despite his high level of play the past few seasons can improve.  Any team would be happy to hitch themselves to Carter and ride his contributions for the next decade.

Toronto shouldn't be foolish enough to deal him, however.  The team's struggles were more because of poor chemistry than Carter's failures.  They'd be wise to exercise patience with the group they have.  The foundation is sound, but sometimes it takes awhile for the talent to coalesce into a cohesive unit.

That process may finally be starting to reach critical mass, and when Carter returns the Raptors will be a very dangerous team.  I hope all those scornful words taste good when Carter makes his critics eat them.