Wendell Carter Jr. didn't mince words after the Bulls fell to the Atlanta Hawks 124-104 in a season opener that didn't feel as close as the final score.
“We just didn’t come to play as a team," Carter said. "I wouldn’t necessarily call it a wake up call. It’s reality. S--t, we gotta come and play, and we didn’t come to play on both ends.
"Lot of us got inside of our own heads, including myself, worrying about the stuff that happened rather than worrying about the moment. Just kind of speaking for myself, I’ve just got to do better, just doing what I do best. I just talked to my teammates, apologized for my effort that I showed tonight, and I will be better for my team.’’
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Carter ended the night with six points, six rebounds, two assists and three turnovers in 26 minutes of action. He connected on two of his five shots, but missed both 3-point attempts, bringing his mark in the latter category to 1-for-18 since the start of the preseason.
“That’s something I’ve always struggled with my whole career since I started playing basketball. When I work on a certain craft for a very long time, to see that ball just not fall, bounce around the rim, in and outs, I tend to get down on myself," Carter said. "I told (Bulls head) coach (Billy Donovan) I will better at it, especially with him giving me the green light... I’ve gotta be able to take those shots, make or miss, and still come back and play defense on the other end, no matter what’s going on in the offensive end.’’
The Bulls put forth a crumbly effort on the defensive side, allowing the Hawks to shoot better than 50 percent from the floor and 40 percent from 3 and own the interior, scoring 50 paint points on 25-for-37 shooting (67.6 percent). All of those marks were considerably higher before garbage time took hold early, with Atlanta building as much as a 40-point lead midway through the third quarter.
As someone who's said he expects himself to anchor this team's defense, Carter took ownership over such an effort and responsibility for spurring a bounceback. That's why he apologized to teammates after the contest.
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