The Amazingly Sucky Andray Blatche Thread

[dobrojim]

def epic Mosca

hof ending by Fish

[WizarDynasty]

a person normally get chips when they win a battle, just because you create a dent in an opponents armor doesn't mean you have the kill or defeat. you have to know how take advantage of the dent. Blatche creates a dent in the other teams', team defense when a help defender has to double blatche. blatche has created a dent but he can't beat the help defender. blatche was the first level of the attack, the second level or the attack is the pass blatche makes to exploit the weakness from the help defender, that would be the second level of the offense. Whoever blatche makes a pass to should have an advantage because of the hole that Blatche created from the double team. So the second level of our team cashes in the chips that Blatche earned from beating his man. Sometimes the other teams defense is so good at switching that are able to get to recover and stop the second level of our offense, so whoever blatche passed to forces the team sacrifice again to guard him and thus a third pass is made, that would be the third level of our offense--that third level cashes in the chips that blatche initially created from beating his man. you see how it works?
Our offense isn't disciplined or doesn't have enough basketball iq to cash chips in at the third level which is directly related to flip. WE normally waste it because we don't know how to take advantage of holes that we create in a defense..or usually we have wide open players that can hit a jump shot in the past--in chicago game it was definitely rashard lewis--0-5 and Blatche not being able to excute an athletic hop step with his left hand after beating his man which is why he shot so poorly. Also he can't use his body to shield of a defender well which is why he is getting blocked at rim so much.

[fishercob]

Don't like the booing and shrug at all the hate. I think Dray can get it together and do just fine.

[dobrojim]

agree with that

It takes a lot to get me to boo the 'zards

there have been times when I've been tempted to
wear a brown paper bag over my head though.

[WizarDynasty]

i think blatche has pretty small hands for a big man. He doesn't have constantly tries dunking it with both hands which is why he easily gets blocked. Most bigs go up with one hand use the other hand to fend of the defender from blocking their shot.

[Wizardspride]

That's one of the biggest differences from the Blatche of last season. Last season he was aggressive, taking the ball to the rim, and finishing strong. He was also playing above average defense and blocking everything that McGee wasn't.

Now? He's getting pushed around, he's settling for jumpers the way he was under EJ, and he's playing below the rim even when he gets in the paint.

Sounds like you're describing someone who is playing injured.

[JWizmentality]

Blatche you suck! Your a horrible basketball player and your contract is a felony! Get off my team you waste of bench space!

[MF23]

Hello I'm Kyle Lowry and I'm estatic the Wizards believe in you. I'm going to rebound over you at a critical point in the game. I'm glad the Wizards believed in your second half of last season. Thanks for the win.

[MF23]

Seriously, Blatche was pushed all over the court during the 4th qtr versus HOU. Adleman thought so lowly of Blatche that he left Hill and Scola on the Bench during the 4th.

[Guy986]

Seriously, Blatche was pushed all over the court during the 4th qtr versus HOU. Adleman thought so lowly of Blatche that he left Hill and Scola on the Bench during the 4th.

Nah Chuck hayes is the Rockets best post defender. Adelman always put him in the game to defend scoring bigs like Duncan/Bynum/Bogut/Howard.

Hill and Scola are below average defenders.

[MF23]

Guy986, I'll concede it worked on an out of shape Blatche. The Rockets are .500 and if what you said is true than I can see why Hayes shut him down. Boozer and Thomas pushed Blatche all over a few games ago.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Blatche played 43 minutes. Javale played 23, none in the fourth. Booker 2. Seraphin was a DNP-CD.

Blatche had 14 rebounds. Noone on Houston had more than 8.

As I didn't do anything but read the box score, draw your own conclusions and note I didn't come to argue.

[Halcyon]

Andray is a tough player to judge because of how this roster is now, his supposed "ceiling" (something like the last half of last year), combined with his health + out of shap-ness.

Ok, we know this guy has pretty good talent for a big-guy. We saw some flashes of it last year, though not so much this year. He's basically a 7ft tall big with some average-guard skills, which is an advantage to have in a bigger player in some situations. However, the fact remains that this guy is not a reliable player by any stretch of the imagination. We just have to realize that on a good team, he's a backup PF. Not a starter.

Now since we want to build a good team, and since most good teams have a reliable, go-to scorer down in the post, what do we do? My feeling is that Blatche is looking more and more like a guy who cannot do that, ever. So the question becomes, do we keep him or deal him away? If we try to deal him away, can we actually get any value for Blatche, or would we be stuck with another questionable player who is more than likely bench fodder on a championship team? Probably the latter.

The next question becomes, does he bring us value? I say yes, he does. #1 reason, he is signed to a manageable contract for a bigman. Bigmen are routinely overpaid in the league, and he is actually being paid, probably what he is worth. #2, he can play both big positions if necessary, and is above average is at least a few categories of the game. Above average jump shot, above average passing ability, ability to beat a decent number of bigs off the dribble. I think that's enough to keep him as a backup PF. In a league where bigmen are necessary, he is not a bad player to have.

The PF of the future is not on this roster right now, or in the pros. But that doesn't mean we should dump Blatche for mediocre shots in the dark. If we are dealing him, I want a bigman who has the potential to start right away if necessary, albeit with some flaws. At the very least that guy can go back to the bench if we get lucky enough to draft a good PF.

[WizarDynasty]

Andray is a tough player to judge because of how this roster is now, his supposed "ceiling" (something like the last half of last year), combined with his health + out of shap-ness.

Ok, we know this guy has pretty good talent for a big-guy. We saw some flashes of it last year, though not so much this year. He's basically a 7ft tall big with some average-guard skills, which is an advantage to have in a bigger player in some situations. However, the fact remains that this guy is not a reliable player by any stretch of the imagination. We just have to realize that on a good team, he's a backup PF. Not a starter.

Now since we want to build a good team, and since most good teams have a reliable, go-to scorer down in the post, what do we do? My feeling is that Blatche is looking more and more like a guy who cannot do that, ever. So the question becomes, do we keep him or deal him away? If we try to deal him away, can we actually get any value for Blatche, or would we be stuck with another questionable player who is more than likely bench fodder on a championship team? Probably the latter.

The next question becomes, does he bring us value? I say yes, he does. #1 reason, he is signed to a manageable contract for a bigman. Bigmen are routinely overpaid in the league, and he is actually being paid, probably what he is worth. #2, he can play both big positions if necessary, and is above average is at least a few categories of the game. Above average jump shot, above average passing ability, ability to beat a decent number of bigs off the dribble. I think that's enough to keep him as a backup PF. In a league where bigmen are necessary, he is not a bad player to have.

The PF of the future is not on this roster right now, or in the pros. But that doesn't mean we should dump Blatche for mediocre shots in the dark. If we are dealing him, I want a bigman who has the potential to start right away if necessary, albeit with some flaws. At the very least that guy can go back to the bench if we get lucky enough to draft a good PF.

totally agree. he is a bench player but definitely not a number one option. His biggest weakness is that he doesn't have strength to establish post position and he doesn't have explosiveness to finish in traffic which is what you have to do if your a face up player.
I think we are better off developing McGee's post game because he has a reliable shot that we can rely on during clutch time if it is refined, his sweeping hook shot if refine is a high percentage shot and pretty much unguardable.
Blatche's go to shot are a fade away, and driving left baseline reverse layup. Team intentionally given that reverse layup during the first three quarters and have a help defender waiting to block it when the game is on the line. My problem with Blatche is that he doesn't have high percentage go to moves because he lacks strength in the post and he lacks any explosion to help him finish in traffic.

[nate33]

I think Blatche has the skillset to be a starting caliber player. He's not a #1 option or a #2 option, but I think he can be a legit starter. When motivated, he's a solid defender and rebounder. Offensively, he's got a very good jumper which can stretch the defense, and he has the ability to drive to the basket against slower players. He can be a rich man's Udonis Haslem or Kurt Thomas.

What I don't understand is what happened to his post game. Last year, he victimized anybody smaller than him in the post. He was better as a PF because he was typically guarded by a smaller player. Now, it seems that smaller players can stop him in the post, so he's better off playing center and taking opposing centers out on the perimeter. (His PER at PF is just 12.9. His PER at C is 19.5!) If that continues to be the case, then maybe we're better off with Blatche bulking up and playing center full time.

[tontoz]

Blatche needs to realize that when facing a tough defender it probably isn't a good idea to stick the ball right in front of him, begging to get stripped. Six turnovers is ridiculous.

At least he didn't dribble between his legs all the time last night.

[WizarDynasty]

the problem with blatche is that he has basic guards skills. his dribble is mediocre for a guard but exceptional for a powerforward.
In order for him to be effective, he has to develop outstanding dribble skills of a guard since he doesn't have elite athleticism to finish.
His biggest problem with his dribble is that he dribble the ball weigh to high. you have to make your self small on the perimeter and big in the paint. His dribble should always be bouncing below the knee and blatche should be low to the ground. if you watch blatche his dribble is way up by his waste which is why its easy to steal the ball from him. if he kept his dribble bounce to below his knees on each bounce with the ball always bouncing by his heel he wouldn't get the ball stolen. His already extremely skilled because he is able to dribble with his left hand tightly on the baseline even though he is right handed. he has to get his left hand dribble so good that he can dribble like a point guard in order bang his body against a defender out on the perimeter and not get his dribble poked away. He's got work on forcing his defender to change his momentum out on teh perimeter.


blatche i have to admit has an awesome left handle for a right handed powerforward...but in order to make up for his lack of explosivness, he's got to make his left hand dribble even more fluid and lower to the ground so that he can protect the ball better. The higher the dribble the easier it is to steal..also he has to learn to sprint with the ball bouncing on the ground at the heel of his foot even as he sprints instead of the ball bouncing way out in front of him.


If he gets this skill down, i definitely think he moves from 6th man to starting caliber dominant powerforward...with all star potential. To be able to have point guard like handle with your left hand definitely makes you and all star so Blatche needs to be able to sprint with a dribble that comes below his knees. that means he is going to have to lower his stance out on the perimeter which will give him more balance.

[iWitness]

Hello. I joined this board primarily to reply to this thread. I don't think Blatche is "amazingly sucky"--and I think it's really foolish to make him into a whipping boy for the Wizards' many problems. As CCJ points out, Blatche's line in the box score says it all. What's obvious from watching the actual games is that Saunders leaves him in way too long--over and over Blatche fades and makes mistakes in the 4th Q. But when he's out--injured or suspended, then you really see the impact on the team. But that doesn't stop people from blaming all the Wizards' ills on him--as if he's the captain, the oldest veteran, the designated star, or the most highly-paid player on it. Of which he is none of the above.

It's all too easy to make scapegoats of players when the team is young, poorly assembled, and rebuilding. Some might even say poorly managed and/or coached. But we don't need any more scapegoats this terrible season, not with Arenas still firing missiles at the team locker room all the way from Orlando. I say it's time for all real Wizards/Bullets fans to unite behind the team and be loyal to those players who work hard night in and night out to earn the occasional win. Just like they all did last night in Houston. No miracle trades are going to save this season. Firing the coach won't get us in the playoffs. The only joy we fans can have is to watch the effort and the occasional stellar play. And I've seen both from Blatche.

[Ruzious]

I think Blatche has the skillset to be a starting caliber player. He's not a #1 option or a #2 option, but I think he can be a legit starter. When motivated, he's a solid defender and rebounder. Offensively, he's got a very good jumper which can stretch the defense, and he has the ability to drive to the basket against slower players. He can be a rich man's Udonis Haslem or Kurt Thomas.

What I don't understand is what happened to his post game. Last year, he victimized anybody smaller than him in the post. He was better as a PF because he was typically guarded by a smaller player. Now, it seems that smaller players can stop him in the post, so he's better off playing center and taking opposing centers out on the perimeter. (His PER at PF is just 12.9. His PER at C is 19.5!) If that continues to be the case, then maybe we're better off with Blatche bulking up and playing center full time.

Blatche did victimize Hayes a few times down low - going baseline with reverse layups, but he was just awful down the stretch - turning the ball over and shooting 2 airballs. I think he was trying - he just didn't have any energy. Again, I think it comes down to poor conditioning. If he was in the shape he was last season, he'd be doing a lot better.

[WizarDynasty]

if blatche was able to keep his dribble low, he would be able to finish on the left side of the basket for higher percentage shot.
He takes the baseline because the defenders are trying to force him to his weak hand, he then surprises him with his left handed ability but hayes was able to knock him off balance after blatche beat him on the baseline. If blatch had a lower center of gravity, due to being able to maintain a low dribble while driving the baseline, he would have easily been able to draw the foul shooting on the left side of the basket since he already had hayes beat.
Anytime a player is driving on the baseline, he already has his defender beat. Hayes just used his body to knock Blatche off balance.

Until blatche gets his center of gravity and left hand dribble tighter, he is going to work alot harder than he has too even though he has his man beat using his left hand. blatche's drive on the left baseline should be so powerful that no one can knock him off his angle to the basket. We should never see blatche attempting an opposite side of the rim scoop shot, he should have had Hayes fouled out.

blatche has the skill set to really get another teams bigs in foul trouble which would completely change the dynamic of the game and actually allow him to conserve alot more energy since bigs in foul trouble play alot less aggressive defense. it's in blatche's interest to rack up fouls on the guy guarding him. Blatche has to work on forcing his defender to foul him so blatantly that the ref has to call the whistle. Getting a defender prime post defender in foul trouble because he doesn't have quick enough feet to guard a perimeter post up---an a rare talent that most p/f's dont have---really forces his defender to play him less aggressively when he decides to actually post up during the clutch moments of the game in the 4th quarter.

This is the mentality that Flip should be instructing Blatche on but we don't see blatche's game design to get a post player into foul trouble-in the first 3 quarters so that blatche can get easier points on the block in 4th quarter when it counts--shooting a high percentage.

As of now, blatche is our only big with a game that continously get a great post defender in foul trouble because most strong post defenders---like hayes--can't guard on teh perimeter--especially against a player with spins moves and low dribble out on the perimeter. blatche has to work on keeping all of his dribble moves out on the perimeter--with a low bounce height meaning below the knee. When he does a spin dribble with his left, the ball should never bounce above his knee which means he has a lot of work to do but if gets there, he will be unguardable out on the perimeter especially against powerforwards.
So when blatche post up out on the perimeter, he should have his back to the his defender forcing the defender to use their elbow and with his back to his defender he should be maintain a low dribble that is never bounces above his knee. I watch Blatche now and the ball always bounces above his knees--if he gets it below his knees he could do all type so damage..all he would need to do is keep a low dribble while forcing his defender to support blatche's full 260 lb and then with a sudden jerk and spin, blatche is by his man and defense has to collapse. that should be the basis of every one our plays, but because blatche can't maintain a low dribble with his back to his defender, he has to face up out on the perimeter. We need blatche to keep a low post up dribble way out in the perimeter and force a powerforward to have to use their strength and soon as blatche they are supporting blatche body weight..while blatche is maintain a low fluid dribble he can decide at anytime to spin and force the defense to collapse and that's the start of a ten second play. It sad that we don't do this during clutch.

it all starts with blatche ability to maintain a below the knee dribble with a defender pushing against his back out on the perimeter