Andray Blatche - Resurgence Thread ( Merged )

[yungal07]

Wilbon with scathing comments on Blatche in today's WP Chat:

"Blatche, and I'm glad you asked, is a loser. Is he highly and diversely skilled? Yes. But anybody who cares so much about his own triple-double possibilities that he would beg other people to let him have a rebound...that guy is a loser. He doesn't care about winning; he cares about how he looks, how many shots and rebounds and assists he gets."

"I had two of the best players in the NBA tell me other the last month that Blatche is poison and if they Wizards try to build around him they're insane. I belive those players...And that doesn't include the other scouts and coaches who've said similar things."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2010/04/06/DI2010040603072.html

Now, I think this is way over the top. Blatche is both immature and clearly not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but Dennis Rodman played a key role on plenty of championship teams. Blatche still needs to grow up and get stronger but he's playing hard and unselfishly and he's making a big difference. He does need an Antawn Jamison-type in the locker room though.

Holy crap! And I thought I was the only one in DC aside from the sport junkies who actually felt this way.

Needless to say...I agree. I wouldn't say he's poison - that's a bit overblown...but I'd agree that he's a loser.

I wonder if hands is going to put Wilbon on ignore too.

[Shanghai Kid]

I love Blatche as much as anybody, but his triple double debacle was probably one of the most obvious examples in NBA history of a player caring too much about his stats.

I think Blatche will be a good piece for the team, but I don't see him as a franchise player by any stretch or him being 'the guy' to build around. He's shown some character flaws that don't really reflect leadership.

"He's young", but that's really no excuse when you consider how many years he's been in the NBA. I don't ever remember a young Gilbert Arenas caring about his numbers at the end of the games during his first year here. You have plenty of mature 20-25 year old players in the NBA who actually have less experience than Blatche but don't do those things.

Just my two cents.

[queridiculo]

Wilbon's instincts and track record are such that it would be more worrisome if he actually liked Dray.

I'm suddenly reminded of the summer when he dubbed the entire Grizzlies roster 'a bunch of losers' and took AI's side in their dispute.

Actually, he then suggested that Cleveland should sign AI.

It almost seems as if Wilbon doesn't really give a **** anymore. The dude just wings it out there and is in way over his head with his multitude of engagements.

[GoneShammGone]

I love Blatche as much as anybody, but his triple double debacle was probably one of the most obvious examples in NBA history of a player caring too much about his stats.

I think Blatche will be a good piece for the team, but I don't see him as a franchise player by any stretch or him being 'the guy' to build around. He's shown some character flaws that don't really reflect leadership.

"He's young", but that's really no excuse when you consider how many years he's been in the NBA. I don't ever remember a young Gilbert Arenas caring about his numbers at the end of the games during his first year here. You have plenty of mature 20-25 year old players in the NBA who actually have less experience than Blatche but don't do those things.

Just my two cents.

Yeah, I was really embarrassed for Dray during the whole triple double fiasco. I knew he was going to get killed in the press for it, but also, it just screamed "immaturity" to me. Blatche is still at a stage where he lacks self-esteem and is craving acceptance and recognition.

People mature at their own pace, no excuses necessary. The relevant question is whether he is likely to continue to grow emotionally, or is he always going to be a stat-padding knucklehead? He's been in the league five years, but he hardly played and was never challenged for the first two. Sometimes people have to be given responsibility to learn how to handle responsibility. This year is the first year he's been relied upon as a major focus of the team's offense and I've seen signs this that he is making progress: the second Celtics game/ his mea culpa after the Flip benching. Is it impossible for a guy to continue to grow up after five years in the league? The career arcs of Jermaine Oneal and Dennis Rodman indicate that there is still reason to be optimistic about Dray.

[nate33]

There is no question that Blatche is not currently fit to lead a team to a championship. He definitely has not made winning a priority over individual achievement. But that doesn't change the fact that he's a very good player with the tools to become a star-caliber player. If he continues to work hard on his game (even for the wrong reasons), he'll be a key component to a winning team. He just won't be the leader.

And his lack of maturity is not a permanent condition. I fully expect Blatche at age 28 to have his priorities in much better order than does Blatche at age 23. I don't think he'll ever turn into a hyper-competitive winner like Kevin Garnett or Michael Jordan, but I fully expect he'll develop more professionalism over time.

[miller31time]

I love Blatche as much as anybody, but his triple double debacle was probably one of the most obvious examples in NBA history of a player caring too much about his stats.

I think Blatche will be a good piece for the team, but I don't see him as a franchise player by any stretch or him being 'the guy' to build around. He's shown some character flaws that don't really reflect leadership.

"He's young", but that's really no excuse when you consider how many years he's been in the NBA. I don't ever remember a young Gilbert Arenas caring about his numbers at the end of the games during his first year here. You have plenty of mature 20-25 year old players in the NBA who actually have less experience than Blatche but don't do those things.

Just my two cents.

Nicely said. I agree. Watching it was one of those head-shaking moments.

Funny thing is that Blatche's "Ricky Davis" moment was either the 1st or 2nd most embarrassing play on SportsCenter's "Not Top-10 List".

[verbal8]

Wilbon's instincts and track record are such that it would be more worrisome if he actually liked Dray.

I'm suddenly reminded of the summer when he dubbed the entire Grizzlies roster 'a bunch of losers' and took AI's side in their dispute.

Actually, he then suggested that Cleveland should sign AI.

It almost seems as if Wilbon doesn't really give a **** anymore. The dude just wings it out there and is in way over his head with his multitude of engagements.

He express his views well, but they don't seem to be based on much insight or analysis. I think he has gone from a Newspaper guy bringing a deep analysis to a talk show format to a guy who is basically bringing talk show level analysis to columns and chats.

[bullitz]

Immaturity aside. Does going for a triple double (something big men rarely achieve) mean that he is a stat-monger after the season he's endured? I mean in a lost season when winning ceases to matter and the outcome of a particular game is well determined is it that crazy that a guy would go after a minor personal achievement. I think the Saunders/Blatche blow-out was a symptom of a difficult season that was supposed/expected to turn out much better than it did. In the profession of professional sports, losing creates a lot of tension in the work-place. And this was not Ricky Davisesque throwing the ball at your own basket type antics.

Further, I still consider myself a young man years after graduating from college. There are things I still do that reek of immaturity. That's because, well, yeah I am not yet as mature as I should hope to be when I'm say 50. All of this to say, we sometimes hold athletes to an impossible standard of growth and maturation that is impossible to realize given their age and the fact that they make a living playing a game (which probably further hinders the growth process). Years in a profession does not always equal maturity, nor does age as can be evidenced any random day through natural observation. There are also different ways of showing maturity but that's another argument.

Then we point to MJ etc. etc. as having the requisite maturity. Nope, they just displayed their immaturity in different ways that didn't always/ever make it to the Sports section. IMHO Blatche is okay and will be okay. Trade him at your own peril computer GM's.

[cdouglas]

I can't stand it when someone tries to label someone they know nothing about! Especially those who knows NOTHING about the Wizards!!

[doclinkin]

Eh. The only aspect of the trip-doub incident that was at all questionable to me was the idea that he may have asked Yi to let him get one off the free throw. Okay in that case: mf-er if you want a rebound, go get your damn rebound. Take it. Ain't no pretty please about it. It's your ball go get it.

Other than that, hell, I want him trying for a triple every damn night. As a big on offense he only gets the ball if someone feeds it to him or if he snatches an offensive board. It's a different situation than if he were a ball-dominant guard, freezing out his teammates and stifling offense. He's not even doing the coast to coast dribble he used to run. Fact is as a Big it would be near impossible to 'selfishly' post 13 dimes. If he gets a triple every night we're probably winning those games. That means he accounts for a minimum 30 points of offense by himself (10 pts, 10 assists for 2 points each) and deprives the opponent of 10 potential possessions. At minimum. Shxt. He wanted the swagger rights of a triple from a Big. Who wouldn't? If he could pull that kind of game out commonly -- hell, I'd be swaggering on his behalf. This whole damn board would.

Ultimately: We won the game. Get over it.

Dray is improving by leaps and bounds, even in maturity. Occasionally he makes a goofy decision, not the brightest bulb in the box, maybe, I dunno. But nowadays he often says the right things and is definitely making positive strides. Improving. The same can not be said for Wilbon, who used to be a pretty good writer, but now I can't remember the last time he wrote something I agreed with. Especially about basketball, and triple that when it comes to any local team.

[montestewart]

Wilbon with scathing comments on Blatche in today's WP Chat:

"[blah blah blah]"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2010/04/06/DI2010040603072.html

[Blatche] still needs to grow up and get stronger but he's playing hard and unselfishly and he's making a big difference. He does need an Antawn Jamison-type in the locker room though.

Blatche's increased reliance on the ever more distant jumper and his avoidance of physical contact tells me he watched a little too much Jamison on the court.

Considering Blatche, Arenas, McGee, Young (a talented and immature quartet; if we're lucky, it'll be a quintet w/ Cousins) the Wizards could use a more in-your-face, vocal leader on the court and in the locker room, one who's won it all (or come close) and one who plays ball at both ends the right way. Who's out there that might fill that need and also fill a 12th-on-the-bench, 3rd-in-the-depth chart need? And certainly, I wouldn't stop at one.

As for Wilbon, his favorite school is Northwestern, a school in the midwest, in northeastern Illinois, north of Chicago, near the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan; apparently he cannot tell what is and what is not, since there's nothing northwestern about Northwestern. Like the sound of a cough, Wilbon is a hack. He's like a psychic storyteller, blathering his tall tales and out-on-a-limb predictions, taking moral stances and encouraging bold courses of action; he exhibits no retrospective sense of his own BS. He does have a nice smile, and he might be a perfectly fine dinner companion.

[hands11]

Didn't Wilbon also kill Brendan Haywood every chance he got? Dude has an interesting personality but knows nothing about basketball.

Really makes you wonder how someone like him gets a job in sports.

He has to be there for the soul purpose of feeding red meat to negative bandwagoners.

Well, we are wrapping it up.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/s ... yerId=2746

People will come back years from now and look at Drays 2009-2010 line and see that he made consistent progress year over year but they will miss what really happened unless they access the game log.

Last 5 games running average

Min 36.6
FG 44-98 3P 2-5 FT 18-27
STL 0.6 Blk 0.8
TO 4.2
PF 2.8
OR 2.0 DR 6.0 TR 8.0
Ast 3.6
Pts 21.6

He toyed with a triple double three times in April. Dray is a solid piece to the puzzle. Nice game for a PF.

[Hoopalotta]

Alright, caught my eye on the front page of Bullets Forever....





Oh man, look at how badly Songaila is beat right there, he hasn't even turned his head or anything! He looks like he thinks he's in the end-zone and expecting a pass from Drew Brees.

What was he doing, denying the left? Right in front of the Hornets Bench too. Looks like the coaches have quicker reaction time with their "Doh!-face" than D-Song does with his feet.

[pancakes3]

it actually looks like he's funneling him baseline, which is a deathwish against big men who can dribble.

jumping in late on the triple double discussion, but i don't see it as a big deal. closing seconds, 1 board away from 20G's (guessing) in bonus money during a lost season. I'd probably go so far as to bribe Yi for a rebound. it's all about the benjamins. i didn't think ricky davis's stunt was a big deal either. IT'S JUST A GAME! putting these guys to a bushido-like code of honor is ridiculous. of course, this is coming from a guy who routinely stole TP from bathrooms in college.

[Ruzious]

Hilarious picture. Poor Song is showing his coaches the proper defensive stance. They're all thinking - Yes, that's good Song, but uh... you can turn around now.

I understand down-playing Dre's tripdubdebacle, but I'm a believer in bad kharma, and doing that is a kharmakilla. I think that had a major effect of Rickey Davis' career - He had all the ability in the world - and just a mediocre career. Bad kharma, bad body language, bad rep, bad this, bad that... his intangibles are off the charts negative. Luckily, he's young enough that he can turn that all around.

[yungal07]

Hilarious picture. Poor Song is showing his coaches the proper defensive stance. They're all thinking - Yes, that's good Song, but uh... you can turn around now.

I understand down-playing Dre's tripdubdebacle, but I'm a believer in bad kharma, and doing that is a kharmakilla. I think that had a major effect of Rickey Davis' career - He had all the ability in the world - and just a mediocre career. Bad kharma, bad body language, bad rep, bad this, bad that... his intangibles are off the charts negative. Luckily, he's young enough that he can turn that all around.

LOL. This is the most on-point statement regarding Blatche ever.

[nate33]

Here are the top 24 PF's who have played at least 2000 minutes, ranked by PER. I've also included Blatche's numbers for the 2nd half of the seaon only.

Code: Select all

Player           PTS  REB  AST  STL  BLK   TO  TS%  PER  MIN
bosh,chris      24.0 10.8  2.4  0.6  1.0  2.4 .592 25.0 36.1
nowitzki,dirk   25.0  7.7  2.7  0.9  1.0  1.8 .578 23.0 37.5
gasol,pau       18.3 11.3  3.4  0.6  1.7  2.2 .593 22.8 37.0
stoudemire,amar 23.1  8.9  1.0  0.6  1.0  2.6 .615 22.5 34.6
boozer,carlos   19.5 11.2  3.2  1.1  0.5  2.7 .599 21.1 34.2
randolph,zach   20.8 11.7  1.8  1.0  0.4  2.1 .546 21.0 37.7
smith,josh      15.7  8.7  4.2  1.6  2.1  2.4 .536 21.0 35.5
blatche,andray  19.7  7.6  3.0  1.3  0.8  2.9 .530 19.5 33.6
garnett,kevin   14.3  7.3  2.7  1.0  0.8  1.5 .569 19.4 29.9
landry,carl     16.8  5.9  0.8  0.7  0.8  1.7 .600 19.2 30.8
west,david      19.0  7.5  3.0  0.9  0.7  2.1 .560 19.0 36.4
aldridge,lamarc 17.9  8.0  2.1  0.9  0.6  1.3 .535 18.4 37.4
murphy,troy     14.6 10.2  2.1  1.0  0.5  1.4 .585 18.1 32.6
scola,luis      16.2  8.6  2.1  0.8  0.3  2.0 .550 17.3 32.6
harrington,al   17.7  5.6  1.5  0.9  0.3  1.8 .546 16.8 30.4
jamison,antawn  18.7  8.4  1.3  1.1  0.3  1.4 .529 16.8 36.5
millsap,paul    11.6  6.8  1.6  0.8  1.2  1.4 .573 16.5 27.7
beasley,michael 14.8  6.4  1.3  1.0  0.6  1.7 .505 16.2 29.8
odom,lamar      10.8  9.8  3.3  0.9  0.7  1.8 .533 15.9 31.5
brand,elton     13.1  6.1  1.4  1.1  1.1  1.7 .518 15.7 30.2
haslem,udonis    9.9  8.1  0.7  0.4  0.3  1.0 .538 14.6 28.0
thompson,jason  12.5  8.5  1.7  0.5  1.0  1.9 .518 14.6 31.4
jerebko,jonas    9.3  6.0  0.7  1.0  0.4  1.0 .545 14.1 27.9
lewis,rashard   14.1  4.4  1.5  1.1  0.4  1.5 .573 13.9 32.8
diaw,boris      11.3  5.2  4.0  0.7  0.7  2.2 .552 12.7 35.4

Here are the numbers on a pace-adjusted per-36 basis:

Code: Select all

Player           PTS  REB  AST  STL  BLK   TO eFG%  TS%  PER
bosh,chris      23.8 10.7  2.3  0.6  1.0  2.4 .522 .592 25.0
nowitzki,dirk   24.1  7.4  2.6  0.8  0.9  1.8 .498 .578 23.0
gasol,pau       17.7 10.9  3.2  0.5  1.7  2.1 .536 .593 22.8
stoudemire,amar 23.2  9.0  1.0  0.6  1.0  2.6 .557 .615 22.5
boozer,carlos   20.0 11.5  3.3  1.1  0.5  2.8 .562 .599 21.1
randolph,zach   19.5 11.0  1.7  0.9  0.4  2.0 .494 .546 21.0
smith,josh      16.4  9.1  4.4  1.7  2.2  2.6 .505 .536 21.0
blatche,andray  21.1  8.1  3.2  1.4  0.8  3.1 .496 .530 19.5
garnett,kevin   17.5  8.9  3.3  1.2  1.0  1.8 .521 .569 19.4
landry,carl     19.4  6.7  1.0  0.8  0.9  2.0 .537 .600 19.2
west,david      19.0  7.4  2.9  0.9  0.7  2.1 .508 .560 19.0
aldridge,lamarc 18.2  8.2  2.1  0.9  0.6  1.4 .497 .535 18.4
murphy,troy     15.5 10.9  2.2  1.1  0.5  1.5 .551 .585 18.1
scola,luis      17.7  9.4  2.3  0.8  0.3  2.2 .514 .550 17.3
harrington,al   20.8  6.6  1.8  1.0  0.4  2.2 .503 .546 16.8
jamison,antawn  18.6  8.4  1.3  1.1  0.3  1.4 .502 .529 16.8
millsap,paul    14.7  8.6  2.0  1.0  1.5  1.8 .538 .573 16.5
beasley,michael 18.6  8.0  1.6  1.3  0.8  2.1 .463 .505 16.2
odom,lamar      12.2 11.1  3.7  1.0  0.8  2.1 .502 .533 15.9
brand,elton     15.9  7.3  1.8  1.3  1.3  2.1 .480 .518 15.7
haslem,udonis   13.2 10.8  0.9  0.5  0.4  1.3 .494 .538 14.6
thompson,jason  14.2  9.6  1.9  0.6  1.1  2.1 .473 .518 14.6
jerebko,jonas   12.6  8.1  1.0  1.3  0.5  1.4 .511 .545 14.1
lewis,rashard   15.4  4.8  1.6  1.2  0.4  1.6 .539 .573 13.9
diaw,boris      11.7  5.4  4.1  0.8  0.7  2.2 .525 .552 12.7

[verbal8]

Here are the top 24 PF's who have played at least 2000 minutes, ranked by PER. I've also included Blatche's numbers for the 2nd half of the seaon only.

Code: Select all

Player           PTS  REB  AST  STL  BLK   TO  TS%  PER  MIN
blatche,andray  19.7  7.6  3.0  1.3  0.8  2.9 .530 19.5 33.6
garnett,kevin   14.3  7.3  2.7  1.0  0.8  1.5 .569 19.4 29.9
landry,carl     16.8  5.9  0.8  0.7  0.8  1.7 .600 19.2 30.8
west,david      19.0  7.5  3.0  0.9  0.7  2.1 .560 19.0 36.4


I think David West maybe a good comparison for Blatche. Obviously given the age difference and contracts Blatche is quite a bit more valuable. I think of David West as a scrappy overachiever and Blathe as a bit of a talented underachiever. However there production is very similar. West has basically been producing at this level for 5 years.

[nate33]

Blatche's numbers are similar to Lamarcus Aldridge's except Blatche manages to get off more shots in the same period of time. Their shooting percentages, rebounds and blocks are practically identical. (Blatche gets more assists with a proportional increase in turnovers.)

[dobrojim]

did not peruse the tables very long but Rash Lewis at a below avg per, ouch.

I always felt he was overpaid but man.