Quotes, Notes, and Links: Bobcats 103 Hawks 83

Gameflow

Highlights

Joe Johnson:

"I don't know when we all of a sudden just really became a selfish team. Now everybody wants to go one-on-one. It's me, me, me. It's crazy, man. Everybody who touches it wants to score. I really think guys on this team don't know their roles, so it's killing us. And it's going to continue to kill us. Ain't no way this team is 20-some points better than us. It can't continue to go like this."

Name	Minutes	Usage Rate	Usage Rate 08-09
Johnson	220	27.1	26.6
Crawford	171	24.4	24.3 (Flip Murray)
Josh Smith	183	21.4	22.6
Pachulia	87	20.9	16.3
Teague	65	18.2	N/A
Joe Smith	63	17.6	N/A
Horford	201	17.3	16.4
Bibby	175	15.7	20.6
Williams	178	14.5	18.2
Evans	90	14.3	14.2

Source: Basketball-Reference.com (08-09 season)

Joe Johnson's usage rate is up slightly over last year. So is Al Horford's. The other three starters have seen their usage rates decline in the first six games. Mike Bibby and Marvin Williams have seen their usage rates decline significantly. Jamal Crawford's usage rate is essentially identical to Flip Murray's.

So, either Joe Johnson is genuinely of the opinion that the team's 8th, 9th, and 10th men are "killing" the team with 10 to 14 minutes a game of roughly league average production or he's far too emotional after losses to speak rationally to media. The former is unconvincing on the face of it and the latter is unsettling* as, even in a best-case scenario, this team is going to lose at least 30 games.

*Even more unsettling when one considers his final sentence. You're 4-2, Joe. You've played four of six games on the road. Things are going pretty damn well and if there are any nagging worries, they're about the team's defense not the offense.

Flip Murray:

"[Mike Woodson] said he wanted me to come there but management never said it. Management never reached out to me during the summer."

Gerald Wallace, the young season's leading rebounder:

"I can't make a shot so I might as well rebound."

It's easier to manage when you win, but that's a good post-game quote: funny and simultaneously proud and self-effacing.

At Queen City Hoops, Brett recaps the game by the numbers.