hey wiz fans, i need some insight

[NewWolvesOrder]

I posted a trade on wolves board including blatche, comparing him to poor man's kg, but got responses saying poor man's stro in return maybe some of you can put more insight in that thread over there,
thanks.

[miller31time]

He's not a poor man's Garnett.

He's a homeless, unmotivated man's Garnett. But a poor man's Stromile Swift? That's ridiculous. He's having a better season this year and probably had a better season last year than Stro could ever dream of.

[LyricalRico]

Yeah, Blatche>>>Stro but he's nowhere near Kevin Garnett and never will be. Blatche is a guy who can give you average numbers as a starting PF (10-12ppg, 5-6rpg) so he does have value and I think he can even improve on that if he got the proper coaching.

[nate33]

Poor man's Garnett is about right. He certainly isn't anywhere near as good as Garnett, but his type of game is really very similar, except Blatche isn't as physical. Like Garnett, Blatche has a well-rounded game but isn't a go-to scorer. In spurts, he has shown above-average skills for a PF in nearly every facet of the game: rebounding, passing, shooting, posting up, handling, defense, you name it. His problem is that he is so damn inconsistent, and he doesn't work hard enough in the weight room or the film room.

The best thing Blatche has going for him is that he signed a really cheap, long-term contract. Any other player whose actual talent so far exceeds his current production would be hated by now. But with Blatche, the Wizards have the luxury of keeping him on the bench, playing him when he produces, and sitting him when he doesn't. Basically, he's an above-average backup big man who can start in a pinch; yet he is paid like a 10 mpg role player.

The good news is that he is just 22 and younger than everybody on the team except McGee and Crittenton. It's still possible that he'll mature out of the "knucklehead phase" of his life and finally develop some more professionalism.

[CrankyTodd]

He's absolutely nothing like Stro. As others have mentioned he's quite skilled in all facets of the game, and at various times flashes well above average passing, shooting, rebounding, etc. The problem is that right now he's a lazy kid who doesn't have any competitive fire, discipline, or work ethic. He's the basketball equivalent of a five-tool player in baseball who happens to be a knucklehead, although he does lack above average hops.

Some nights you think he'll easily develop into a quality starting 4/5, and some nights you think he'll be playing in Turkey in a few years.

[daSwami]

You don't want Blatche, he sucks. The guy you should really be targeting is Etan Thomas.

[no D in Hibachi]

[quote="CrankyTodd"]He's absolutely nothing like Stro. As others have mentioned he's quite skilled in all facets of the game, and at various times flashes well above average passing, shooting, rebounding, etc. The problem is that right now he's a lazy kid who doesn't have any competitive fire, discipline, or work ethic. He's the basketball equivalent of a five-tool player in baseball who happens to be a knucklehead, although he does lack above average hops.

Some nights you think he'll easily develop into a quality starting 4/5, and some nights you think he'll be playing in Turkey in a few years.[/quote]

I disagree with this comment. This season Blatche has shown me two things 1) He is consistently productive when given consistent minute; i.e. he will post a line of up 10-14pts, 4-8rbs, 2-3asts, and 1-2bks night in, night out, and 2) he will occasionally play one game out of ten, or 6 minutes out of a game where he is unquestionably the best player on the floor, and shows the versatility to positively impact every aspect of the game. His game is nothing like Sto's, not in the least.

I've determined that Blatche doesn't that the mental toughness to push himself to the point where he is consistently is the best player on the floor, but he could prove me wrong. Either way he's only 22 and at this point is a slightly-below average starting PF in the league and one of the top big men reserves in the league, capable of adequately backing up the 4 or 5.

Everything about Blatche is positive to me. His contract, skill-set, potential and youth. I might be in the minority here, but I don't see him as a fill-in type player in a trade. I won't say that he's untradable, but I'd need to be blown away to consider trading Blatche.

[LyricalRico]

You don't want Blatche, he sucks. The guy you should really be targeting is Etan Thomas.

[Dat2U]

Poor man's Garnett is about right. He certainly isn't anywhere near as good as Garnett, but his type of game is really very similar, except Blatche isn't as physical. Like Garnett, Blatche has a well-rounded game but isn't a go-to scorer. In spurts, he has shown above-average skills for a PF in nearly every facet of the game: rebounding, passing, shooting, posting up, handling, defense, you name it. His problem is that he is so damn inconsistent, and he doesn't work hard enough in the weight room or the film room.

The best thing Blatche has going for him is that he signed a really cheap, long-term contract. Any other player whose actual talent so far exceeds his current production would be hated by now. But with Blatche, the Wizards have the luxury of keeping him on the bench, playing him when he produces, and sitting him when he doesn't. Basically, he's an above-average backup big man who can start in a pinch; yet he is paid like a 10 mpg role player.

The good news is that he is just 22 and younger than everybody on the team except McGee and Crittenton. It's still possible that he'll mature out of the "knucklehead phase" of his life and finally develop some more professionalism.

Well said Nate. That's a damn good scouting report on him. The best thing going for him is that he's only 22. Unfortunately, probably the best thing going for him in two years will be the fact he'll be 24. I'm not looking to use him to dump salary however. He's just too big & talented to do that. However, I wouldn't hesitate to trade him as part of a package for a star.

[RickRoll_inDC]

Sure, Blatche is a very very poor man's garnett. But Garnett belongs to a very very rich man. Blatche COULD become very good and very similar to Garnett, but he just doesn't have the work ethic to be anything great.

[MJG]

Say it was possible to rate all aspects of a player's game (passing, post-up moves, man defense, etc) on a 1-10 scale. On any given night, Blatche can fall anywhere between 1-10 in each area. Some nights he will look like a superstar, some he'll look like an complete wreck, most will fall somewhere in between. Over a large sampling of games, each area of his game would probably average out in the 4-6 range. Garnett, on the flip side, would fall between say 7-10 on any given night and would average 8-9. Similar games, similar skillsets - Garnett is just way, way more consistent in using his at the maximum level (as to why that is, that doesn't really matter; that's the end result regardless).

So, yes, I think the whole "poor man's Garnett" description for Blatche is a fairly accurate one. If someone finds that description ridiculous, they either aren't familiar with Blatche's game, or they simply have a different definition of the "poor man's X" than I do.

[McGeeNArenas]

KG would be a multi-millionaire

AD would be working for 7.50 an hour

that sounds about right as far as poor man rich man comparisons go

[Ruzious]

Sorry, I can't go along with the poor-man's Garnett comparison. Garnett's greatness starts with defense and rebounding, and while Blatche has the tools to be a very good defender, he has been for the most part - an awful defender and mediocre rebounder. Offensively, yeah - I can see enough stylistic similarites to call him a very poor man's KG, but overall - no. It'd almost be like calling Critter a poor man's Jason Kidd.