Andray Blatche - Resurgence Thread ( Merged )

NbdyBeatsTheWiz · Post #341 » by **NbdyBeatsTheWiz** » Fri Mar 19, 2010 12:43 pm

Maybe he's going for broke again like he did on his rookie contract when he had to sleep in the Verizon Center. I hope he doesn't pan out like the Antoine Walkers, Evander Holyfields, and Mike Tysons of the world who manage to blow millions upon millions and go bankrupt. More money doesn't solve not knowing how to use it. So far- add that to the list Miller already expounded on- he's shown he's not a shrewd businessman in the least.

If only he could see the lovefest that's been going on in this board for him, he's definitely not underappreciated in these parts!

verbal8 · Post #342 » by **verbal8** » Fri Mar 19, 2010 1:14 pm

One thing that is frustrating about the season, is the perimeter players are not capitalizing on the attention that Blatche draws defensively. Despite not having their various limitations, Miller, Foye and Nick Young are good shooters. What I don't understand is how none of them have been able to capitalize on Blatche's success and the attention he draws defensively.
I have been following the Wizards mostly in the box scores. Is it a case where teams are playing Blatche straight up and living with him dropping 20+/8+ and making the rest of the Wizards try to beat them?

Post #343 » by **nate33** » Fri Mar 19, 2010 1:40 pm

verbal8 wrote:One thing that is frustrating about the season, is the perimeter players are not capitalizing on the attention that Blatche draws defensively. Despite not having their various limitations, Miller, Foye and Nick Young are good shooters. What I don't understand is how none of them have been able to capitalize on Blatche's success and the attention he draws defensively.
I have been following the Wizards mostly in the box scores. Is it a case where teams are playing Blatche straight up and living with him dropping 20+/8+ and making the rest of the Wizards try to beat them?

Absolutely not.

Blatche is drawing double teams nearly every time he touches the ball. What usually happens is that the ball gets kicked out to Miller, and instead of shooting, Miller pump fakes, drives and then kicks it out to somebody else who isn't open enough to get the shot off. If Miller would just shoot the ball, things would go a lot better.

Post #344 » by **Ruzious** » Fri Mar 19, 2010 3:31 pm

nate33 wrote:
verbal8 wrote:One thing that is frustrating about the season, is the perimeter players are not capitalizing on the attention that Blatche draws defensively. Despite not having their various limitations, Miller, Foye and Nick Young are good shooters. What I don't understand is how none of them have been able to capitalize on Blatche's success and the attention he draws defensively.
I have been following the Wizards mostly in the box scores. Is it a case where teams are playing Blatche straight up and living with him dropping 20+/8+ and making the rest of the Wizards try to beat them?

Absolutely not.

Blatche is drawing double teams nearly every time he touches the ball. What usually happens is that the ball gets kicked out to Miller, and instead of shooting, Miller pump fakes, drives and then kicks it out to somebody else who isn't open enough to get the shot off. If Miller would just shoot the ball, things would go a lot better.

Maybe it's just me, but I haven't seen Miller pass up the wide open shots that everyone says he has. I think the proble is that the Wiz are playing some people who don't have to be guarded closely - like Boykins, Ross, Oberto, Singleton... making it easy to double-team Blatche.

hands11 · Post #345 » by **hands11** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 1:41 pm

Well Dray seems to be learning how to handle the double team which was next on his list of to does. His turn overs are back down to about 2 a game and most games he is getting about 4 assists.

Hard to tell how much of his last two poor shooting games is due to the ankle and how much is mental from his recent interview. Time will tell.

But what I have next on Drays list of to does is simple. LEARN TO GET TO THE LINE MORE.

Most effective/efficient scorers get to the line a ton. Dray has to many game where he gets there 4 times or less. And way to many games of 2 attempts and even a Goose egg.

Dominate players get to the line in double digits on a regular basis and this makes them have a huge impact on the game. I would be happy to see Dray getting there on average 7-8 times a game. But that is probably going to mean taking more of a pounding unless he can be slick. Drays game is more about avoiding contract with tricky moves so many be can lean to get tricky fouls. He is going to have to learn to get the contact and play off of it. Getting teams to foul you a lot has a huge impact on the game as you send them to the bench and get them to play softer D against your team when they are out there in foul trouble.

This is what Dray need to get better at with what is left of the season if he wants to be a top shelf player.

DaRealHibachi · Post #346 » by **DaRealHibachi** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 3:02 pm

You do know there's only 3 guys in the NBA getting FTA's in the double digits every game...??? (Bron, Wade & Howard)

Also, 8 FTA's per game for Dray is waaaaaay to much at this point... Even at his peak I can't even imagine him going to the line over 5, really...

Bosh is the only PF in the league that averages over 8 a game this year... Amaré and Dirk follow with 7.5 and 7.4 respectively, and they all have the refs respect...

Dray still has a long way to go, and by watching his play style, I see 5 being his ceiling like KG & AJ...

dlts20 · Post #347 » by **dlts20** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 3:14 pm

My thing is that I dont believe you can look at everything in black & white. I think every team, system, and situation is different. I dont think you can look at Blatche and say that he cant draw fouls. I think most of it right now is due to the system and the guys around him. Like Im watching the Knicks and Gallo is drawing a ton of fouls but you can tell he's in this wide open system where he's slicing, on the break alot, and so on. Blatche doesnt get any of that. He only basically catches it in one or 2 spots all game every game and its always in the halfcourt while the D is always shifted towards him. You just arent going to draw alot of fouls like that. Next year I think he will get more with Gil on the floor but I also think the system is just too halfcourt at times.

Like Amare is explosive but replace him with Blatche right now in this halfcourt game where he only gets the ball in like 2 spots and has to do everything one on one with nothing easy. I dont think he scorers nearly as much or gets to the line but if you put Blatche on the Suns in that wide open up & down system with Nash then I think he scores a ton and gets fouled alot

hands11 · Post #348 » by **hands11** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 5:14 pm

DaRealHibachi wrote:You do know there's only 3 guys in the NBA getting FTA's in the double digits every game...??? (Bron, Wade & Howard)

Also, 8 FTA's per game for Dray is waaaaaay to much at this point... Even at his peak I can't even imagine him going to the line over 5, really...

Bosh is the only PF in the league that averages over 8 a game this year... Amaré and Dirk follow with 7.5 and 7.4 respectively, and they all have the refs respect...

Dray still has a long way to go, and by watching his play style, I see 5 being his ceiling like KG & AJ...

Here is what I said.

"Dominate players get to the line in double digits on a regular basis and this makes them have a huge impact on the game. I would be happy to see Dray getting there on average 7-8 times a game. "

There are 14 players getting 7 or more on average and 33 averaging 5 or more.

Dray is averaging 2.4 attempts per game and 3.9 in the last 10 games.

KG had a bunch of years from 5.5 to 6.7

So yes, I would be happy to see him get there 7-8 times but there are lots of numbers between 3.9 and 7 that I would be happier to see. 5.0 - 5.5 would be great but I wouldn't call it a ceiling. Not if he is going to be what he looks like he is going to be.

But with his current style of almost avoiding the contact, it will a challenge for him unless he learns to play off the contact a little better. That was one of my concerns.

Induveca · Post #349 » by **Induveca** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 9:54 pm

Ok I've seen many of Blatche's solid games over the past few weeks.

Hate to rain on everyone's parade, but we've dropped 11 in a row. These are Al Jefferson type numbers on the T-Wolves alongside Foye and Miller (ahem).

Yes he has finally shown talent, but nothing to really get excited about outside of fantasy league numbers yet. If he does this next year alongside Arenas (or whoever we sign), and we actually win a few games then I'm a happy camper. Right now his numbers are leading to nothing but losses.

ZonkertheBrainless · Post #350 » by **ZonkertheBrainless** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 9:56 pm

Wait, how many playoff quality starters do we have on this team? Yeah, Blatche's number are total garbage. Let's get Ruffin in here instead. Each of those statistics... MEANS... SOMETHING!!! Quality over quantity baby!

hands11 · Post #351 » by **hands11** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 1:07 am

Just turned on the tube and a replay of the game is on.

Buck just commented on a move Dray did and said the move reminded him a little bit of THE PURL.

Phil goes.. wooo woooo. That's a big compliment coming from you. LOL

Dray has had a couple of off games but lets not forget how amazing this kid has been playing. Its only been like twenty games. And in that time he has had to learn how to deal with all the double teams. Sure, he could lower his production but... he could also keep getting better.

He doesn't even have someone to really pull the load with him right now.

Its been a long hard stretch of games and now he and the team are coming back East. But still only 3 home game and 4 away... Who does this scheduling ?

Donkey McDonkerton · Post #352 » by **Donkey McDonkerton** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 12:45 pm

Induveca wrote:Ok I've seen many of Blatche's solid games over the past few weeks.

Hate to rain on everyone's parade, but we've dropped 11 in a row. These are Al Jefferson type numbers on the T-Wolves alongside Foye and Miller (ahem).

Yes he has finally shown talent, but nothing to really get excited about outside of fantasy league numbers yet. If he does this next year alongside Arenas (or whoever we sign), and we actually win a few games then I'm a happy camper. Right now his numbers are leading to nothing but losses.

That's silly.

The heat arent that good with Wade and a few better players

Kobe (before Gasol) missed the playoffs with Caron and Lamar.

KG couldnt take his team anywhere

Blatche is putting up solid numbers and has absolutely nobody to really help him. He has some solid role players like Miller, Thronton etc, but not even a legit 2nd option. We were pretty good with Howard and Blatche.

dlts20 · Post #353 » by **dlts20** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:00 pm

BTW, has anyone ever seen this vid of Blatche in HS? I thought it was pretty cool

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gAjjwki ... re=related

Chocolate City Jordanaire · Post #354 » by **Chocolate City Jordanaire** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:08 pm

Andray didn't need any college ball. He was highly skilled in HS.

WizarDynasty · Post #355 » by **WizarDynasty** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 7:55 am

Blatche and arenas finally get to payback the entire nba for letting both of them slip to the second round. Arenas and !latche should punish all the 30 teams that didn't draft them.

Bickerstaff · Post #356 » by **Bickerstaff** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 11:41 am

Chocolate City Jordanaire wrote:Andray didn't need any college ball. He was highly skilled in HS.

No, but maybe he could have used some college education.

Bickerstaff · Post #357 » by **Bickerstaff** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 11:42 am

WizarDynasty wrote:Blatche and arenas finally get to payback the entire nba for letting both of them slip to the second round. Arenas and !latche should punish all the 30 teams that didn't draft them.

29

dlts20 · Post #358 » by **dlts20** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 12:16 pm

Why dont you guys wait until you hear both sides of the story? It could be that Blatche has a bad ankle but gets benched for not getting back quick enough when you know he's hurt, after he's been carrying the team? He might just be sick of Flip.

Dont automatically take Flip's side. He's been a jerk alot this year and I think Blatche is tired of it. Blatche loves to play and put up big numbers so I have a hard time believeing that he's just going to lose it for no real reason. Wait until we here his side. Blatche is probably also upset that guys like Jamison were the worst defenders and biggest ball hogs in the league but never get benched and always get praised yet Flip constantly rips on Dray, takes KG's side over him, and now this.

==============================

Here is what a Wiz fan who was at the game said:

I was at the game and here is what I saw: The exchange between Flip and 'Dray happened during a timeout. As the other coaches waited for Flip to join them, Flip was talking with 'Dray and obviously telling him that he wanted him to do something other than what 'Dray was doing. 'Dray appeared to be trying to explain why whatever Flip wanted done was either not possible, or at least difficult. They finished the discussion. It didn't apear to have ever become heated. Flip joined the coaches; 'Dray joined his teammates. When the timeout ended, 'Dray went back onto the court. A few minutes later he was replaced by Singleton. I can't believe that Flip would have allowed 'Dray to go back into the game after the timeout if 'Dray had told him he didn't want to play during their discussion. After 'Dray came out of the game, I didn't see any other coaches approach 'Dray, but that's not to say that that didn't happen.

A couple of things:

As a coach I can't imagine a player telling me that he didn't want to play, and my players were amateurs. I certainly can't imagine a professional basketball player saying that he doesn't want to play. Of course he wants to play. It's what he does. It's how he earns his living. He "played" basketball most of his life and now someone is paying him big $ to do what he always wanted to do. The issue is not that he doesn't want to play, it's that he doesn't feel that he can play the way the coach wants him to play. However, someone has to be in charge of those 12-15 super athletes with the big egos. That someone is the coach. So, regardless of what actually transpired, the player is wrong, and the player is the loser. The coach has the bully pulpit. If 'Dray is smart, we'll never hear his side of it.

More importantly: a good coach would not be discipling his team by calling-out players to the press (which Flip does all the time), or by making his point during a game (yanking guys after single mistakes). Those are the types of issues that are addressed and resolved during practice or, at least, when the team is not playing, but certainly not during a game. It appears to me that Flip's ego is greater than the sum of the parts of the entire teams' ego. He said that 'Dray let his teammates down. I say that Flip let the entire organization, team, and loyal fan base down with a monumental display of ego in his attempt to demonstrate that he is in charge.

I've been critical of Flip for a few months now for being, IMHO, devoid of any creative offensive schemes. I believe that he tries to mold the players into his offensive scheme rather than developing (as he said he would) an offense that places the players in the best position to succeed. I believe that Flip has demonstrated that he is technically inadequate. I don't care that he has been coaching for 15 years. Fifteen years of making the same mistakes doesn't make you any good at what you're doing. There are very good reasons why coaches are replaced. Flip's behavior tonight could be counted among those reasons.

Post #359 » by **WizStorm** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 12:46 pm

Seriously, you had to repost that 3 times in 3 different threads? It's not like this board is very active right now.

cavsfan_osiris · Post #360 » by **cavsfan_osiris** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 1:24 pm

Things will never be right with Flip and Blatche again. Never, ever. It's not surprising it came to this after the infamous Celtics game.

I believe Flip Saunders couldn't care less if the Wiz fired him. He might even welcome it. Flip's somewhat of a renegade coach right now. I'm not saying he did anything wrong, but he's obviously not concerned about the long term consequences of his actions.