Quotes, Notes, and Links: Atlanta Hawks 96 Toronto Raptors 78

Recap

Gameflow

Highlights

Jay Triano:

"DeMar (DeRozan) got outplayed by Joe Johnson. Jose (Calderon) got outplayed by Mike Bibby. Andrea (Bargnani) got outplayed by Josh Smith. Sonny (Weems) got outplayed by Marvin Williams. Joey (Dorsey) got outplayed by Al Horford.

I’m not picking on our starters for getting outplayed. Amir (Johnson) didn’t outplay anybody on their bench, either. Leandro (Barbosa) didn’t. They beat us, every single position, every single guy."

Larry Drew on Josh Smith's triple-double:

"It just seemed like he was all over the floor. When he plays like that and plays under control, he is such a force. His defensive game, he was all over the place, rebounding the basketball, helping defensively and talking. Just a super overall game."

All this despite Smith wasting six offensive possessions on jump shots. He made two of them.

If you curious as to why I've made little mention of Smith's triple-double over the course of two posts concerning this game, well, I'll let Smith explain:

"When it was coming down to it, I was like 'Man, I'm not going to get it.' We ran a couple of plays for me to try and get the assist."

Today's (yesterday's) Atlanta Hawks energy update comes courtesy of Coach Drew:

"I was a little concerned with our energy, whether we would have our legs. We started the game with good intensity."

Marvin Williams on his knee:

"I am starting to get my confidence back in it. There are still some things that still bother me. Coach is doing a good job with slowing me down and letting me sit out in practice. I feel more explosive out there. When I first got it banged, I didn’t feel explosive at all. These last couple games I’ve been getting to the line because I feel more comfortable pushing off. I still feel pain but I am starting to feel better each day."

More from Williams:

"I think sometimes other people panic more than we do. We just can’t get too highs on the highs and too low on the lows. We started off 6-0, obviously we are going to hit some rough spots. The one thing about this team is we stay together."

Josh Smith, undercutting Williams completely:

"What we have been doing these last three games is something special."

Be sure to include the schedule-makers when passing at the rings to commemorate this 3-0 stretch against the Wizards, Knicks, and Raptors.

Lest anyone think Larry Drew is unique among NBA coaches in overreacting to hypothetical foul trouble, I present Jay Triano explaining why Joey Dorsey, rather than Amir Johnson, started for the Raptors:

"We knew that Amir was going to play the majority of minutes (and if) Amir picks up two fouls right away (as a starter), which he’s prone to do, then he has to sit out for the whole half and I can’t even get into rotations."

That reasoning contains what the kids might call "lots of fail."

The Human Highlight Blog on Mike Bibby:

I'm going to give the Bibster love because, as much as I like to give Horford nods for his industrious work, I love that when the Hawks want to free up Al, Joe, or Josh to go to the hoop, it's Mike that sets the hard screens to get them there.