Andray Blatche - Resurgence Thread ( Merged )

[NbdyBeatsTheWiz]

i don't want to bury him under the bus without knowing it all, but chances are we never will. blatche isn't the only athlete this applies to, but he needs to pull his head out of his arse and realize he's getting paid millions to PLAY A GAME. have 12 straight losses hurt your psyche, maybe bruised your ego? try going 12 months without a job like way too many Americans have. most people would kill to wake up before you ever will and go to work making a small fraction of your salary. and you don't feel like going back onto a basketball court? what you do is a privilege. go talk to Arenas for a while about how much of a privilege it is and what it's like to go without it.

there's my diatribe that will never be read by anyone it applies to, but logging onto my email on Yahoo only to see Blatche's face as a headline after this kind of season was ridiculous...

be a man. go talk to flip. stop being passive and talking to the media. (ironically the same could apply to flip.... freaking MAN UP and talk to each other you ninnys)

[Dat2U]

Yes, I do not have any idea what precisely occurred CCJ, but I'm not providing anyone with a pass when the entire roster and coaching staff has conspired to produce some truly abominable basketball over the course of the year. I'm certainly not toasting Flip for the histrionics on his part that have characterized this season. I don't care how frustrating it's been for him to have to helm our trash barge (extremely I'm sure) and I don't loose sleep at night as I imagine he might over what this year is doing to his reputation and his ability to find another job should he part ways with this one. I'm even very fond of Andray, insofar as a fan can be fond of a player without knowing him and while he's part of a dirty dozen tasked with the desperate mission to attempt to convince that fan to never want to watch basketball again. That's why I'm coming down on Andray here, because I care about Andray and I want to see the guy accomplish something in a Wizards uniform.

And you know what, maybe Andray is in the relative right here. Maybe he had no intention whatsoever to do anything but everything he could to follow Flip's instructions and is genuinely mystified by Flip's indignation. Maybe he wanted to get in that game and be a part of that loss yesterday and it hurt him that Flip did not share that desire. Maybe five hundred years from now when we build an all-knowing all-powerful supercomputer to reveal to us the mysteries of the universe it will inform us that the biggest son of a bitch in the history of creation was Flip Saunders on the night of Tuesday, March 23, 2010. I must reiterate, I don't give a **** about Flip Saunders. As far as I'm concerned at the end of the year we can see him off with a firm handshake and a tattoo of the team's record across the forehead and that'd be swell. But I do care about Andray, and I want him to be a good player, and he's closer than he's ever been, closer than I expected he'd be when the Wizards traded Antawn Jamison.

And what I'm seeing right now is from Andray is bush league as hell. Flip should not have come crying to the media with his various woes but again, if I were Flip Saunders secret Santa I'd be chewing ten **** bucks worth of gum when I looked the man in the eyes and told him I didn't have the cash to buy a gift; you get the idea. Andray could have stepped up and earned some respect, which is apparently a pretty big deal for him, and kept it in house, talked with Flip, worked things out, been the professional. Instead we're running play-by-play for a dick waving contest. Yeah, I'm sure it rankled Andray's pride to have to hear Flip kvetching about him to anyone who'd listen, but there ain't no escalator to the high road. I will certainly say that from what has been attributed to Andray he comes off better here than Flip, but that's not the better I want when I want better from Blatche. If Andray is tired of dealing with Flip I want him to be the bigger man until Flip's so small he disappears. I don't want to hear about what fraction of the problem Andray thinks he's responsible for, that's a number that's going to get bigger every time Andray mentions it.

HOF post.

[hands11]

Why does everyone act like Coaches are cool? I hated some of my Coaches in HS and I wish I could tell them to get the hell out my face. Sometimes, the players dont like the coach and its genuine. Its not that the player is bad. We may start to hear that all the players have a problem with him, just like they started to do in Detroit. I heard him & Billups use to fight about stuff alot

It really doesn't matter if you like your coaches or not. All that matters is you respect them as authority figures and follow their instructions.

I have been back and forth on Flip. Some good stuff and some bad stuff from Flip. Better then EFJ. But this is the same guy who left Miller out on the court with a injured shoulder only to see him injure it even worse.

Dray had an injured ankle. He had been playing really well before that. Balls out. Best player since the break. Flip wanted him back on D ? Cut the kid some slack already. How do you screw that up in a blink of an eye. And Flip, get off KGs nuts. I'm sick of him rubbing KG in Drays face publicly. How about building the kid up an little and giving him some props for how well he has been playing and the good work he put in last summer ?

I'm not one to see things in black and white. Sometimes saying stuff to the press can be useful but doing it to much is not. A coach like Gibbs one almost never would say anything publicly. All you would get was.. to many turnover..we didn't fight hard enough..maybe a compliment to a player who stood out in a positive way..and blame the rest on his own coaching and all of it one TEAM. Gibbs would yank a player from the game if he fumbled but a football team a little different. Lots more players and lots less cameras in their faces. We barely have enough to field a team. And it would take a ton for Gibbs to change out his QB. He would have his back forever.

I think Flip is way out of line. Post game comments should have been more like. Dray's ankle is still bothering him so he wasn't able to play at the speed we needed him to so we decided to let him rest another game. Full truth or not, he would have bought time to work it out with Dray behind the seen, not out in public. He would have time to think about his side. Maybe he was wrong. If not and Dray was, you give the kid some cover to figure that out on his own and maybe grow.

Doing what Flip did publicly is a loose loose. Dray is put in a corner and looks like a jerk regardless of the true story. Remember how this played out with Haywood and EJ. Well, EJ was the idiot, not Haywood. And doing it like this, Flip looks like a jerk and alienates his players. ie. Detroit. And dragging KGs name out and rubbing Dray's face in it is totally unprofessional. There in lies the irony. Flip is publicly pointing out how unprofessional Dray was by be unprofessional himself.

Flip, let me introduce you to a little thing called a mirror. You might want to spend a little time in front of it once in a while. If Flip wants to be an NBA coach again, I don't think he is doing himself any favors. Det.. Now This. Twitch needs to chill on the public bashing crap.

[miller31time]

Yes, I do not have any idea what precisely occurred CCJ, but I'm not providing anyone with a pass when the entire roster and coaching staff has conspired to produce some truly abominable basketball over the course of the year. I'm certainly not toasting Flip for the histrionics on his part that have characterized this season. I don't care how frustrating it's been for him to have to helm our trash barge (extremely I'm sure) and I don't loose sleep at night as I imagine he might over what this year is doing to his reputation and his ability to find another job should he part ways with this one. I'm even very fond of Andray, insofar as a fan can be fond of a player without knowing him and while he's part of a dirty dozen tasked with the desperate mission to attempt to convince that fan to never want to watch basketball again. That's why I'm coming down on Andray here, because I care about Andray and I want to see the guy accomplish something in a Wizards uniform.

And you know what, maybe Andray is in the relative right here. Maybe he had no intention whatsoever to do anything but everything he could to follow Flip's instructions and is genuinely mystified by Flip's indignation. Maybe he wanted to get in that game and be a part of that loss yesterday and it hurt him that Flip did not share that desire. Maybe five hundred years from now when we build an all-knowing all-powerful supercomputer to reveal to us the mysteries of the universe it will inform us that the biggest son of a bitch in the history of creation was Flip Saunders on the night of Tuesday, March 23, 2010. I must reiterate, I don't give a **** about Flip Saunders. As far as I'm concerned at the end of the year we can see him off with a firm handshake and a tattoo of the team's record across the forehead and that'd be swell. But I do care about Andray, and I want him to be a good player, and he's closer than he's ever been, closer than I expected he'd be when the Wizards traded Antawn Jamison.

And what I'm seeing right now is from Andray is bush league as hell. Flip should not have come crying to the media with his various woes but again, if I were Flip Saunders secret Santa I'd be chewing ten **** bucks worth of gum when I looked the man in the eyes and told him I didn't have the cash to buy a gift; you get the idea. Andray could have stepped up and earned some respect, which is apparently a pretty big deal for him, and kept it in house, talked with Flip, worked things out, been the professional. Instead we're running play-by-play for a dick waving contest. Yeah, I'm sure it rankled Andray's pride to have to hear Flip kvetching about him to anyone who'd listen, but there ain't no escalator to the high road. I will certainly say that from what has been attributed to Andray he comes off better here than Flip, but that's not the better I want when I want better from Blatche. If Andray is tired of dealing with Flip I want him to be the bigger man until Flip's so small he disappears. I don't want to hear about what fraction of the problem Andray thinks he's responsible for, that's a number that's going to get bigger every time Andray mentions it.

You probably get tired of hearing this but, excellent post.

[hands11]

Why does everyone act like Coaches are cool? I hated some of my Coaches in HS and I wish I could tell them to get the hell out my face. Sometimes, the players dont like the coach and its genuine. Its not that the player is bad. We may start to hear that all the players have a problem with him, just like they started to do in Detroit. I heard him & Billups use to fight about stuff alot

It really doesn't matter if you like your coaches or not. All that matters is you respect them as authority figures and follow their instructions.

While I agree with that in general, respect is a two way street. You get it by giving it. Sometimes to you have to snap a little to get someone attention, but not in front of others. And it's incumbent on the more mature person who knows better to act more mature and lead the immature to maturity. Flip, IMO, isn't acting all that mature so he has little ground to stand on and point at others.

[hands11]

Flip definitely wants to be fired...thats the only thing i can get out of this.

I think that is highly unlikely and Flip would know that so the truth shouldn't be hidden behind that curtain.

If Flip really wants out, his best chance is to work something out with the new owner. I would imagine walking away from his contract would be a good place to start.

It's more likely Flip is Flipping out - again. Dude doesn't know how to handle this loosing and he has a track record for alienating his players anyway. Dray pushed his button and he Flipped. He doesn't respect Dray and Dray doesn't respect him. He feels he has earned the right to be respected because of his record/title and Dray feel he deserved the right to be respected also.

Something to be worked out behind closed door, not in front of a mic or a team.

A little story about how this has worked out in my own life.
I was with a lady with kids for about 2 years and one was a boy 12 years old. He was momma boy. She let act up like a boy will to a mother with no man around. As time went on, she wanted me to get more involved in influencing things. I was reluctant at first saying, I haven't been around long enough to earn enough respect that they would want to listen to me. Sorry, but while we can talk about what to do with you and it's going to have to come from you right now. But after a year or so passed and I had been around, I started to become more of the family unit. FYI, I didn't live with them so took more time. Anyway, you start to feel like you have done enough, you have listened, etc. Well one day the now 13 year old boy was out of line. I asked him to come here, I wanted to talk to him. Of course he was slow to come messing around on the computer.. I didnt like that.. then when I was talking to him he was doing all that stuff they do, he interrupted..etc. But I had seen this movie to many times before and some combination of events lead to me to snapping at him and raising my voice. I lost my cool.

So he is upstairs talking with him mother. He was upset. I had a few minutes to myself to think it over and cool down. I didn't like how he acted. I thought he was in the wrong and that is what made me snap. But me snapping wasn't right either. That was my character flaw. So I got out my mental mirror and played back something that guides me in times like this. CLEAN YOUR SIDE OF THE STREET. I doesn't matter what anyone else does. Keep your own street clean.

So I walked up stairs and they were in her bedroom talking. They immediately stopped as I walked in. He looked up at me with a some what blank look. I simply looked him in the eyes and said.

I apologize for raising my voice at you like that. That wasn't a very mature way of handling that situation and I hope you can forgive me. I was wrong to do that. I know better.

His face went from blank to a huge smile and he even let out a it little laugh. I didn't mention what he did wrong, that wasn't important. What was important is that he got to see a grown man own his side of the street and do something about it. And I hope that he takes that lesson with him in life. I believe I gained more of his respect that day by doing that even though I could have taken the position that he was disrespecting me first and that I had earned better. I had done things for them and been there for them. None of that matter to him. I needed to earn his respect separately. I could have hoped that he came to me and said he was sorry, but that would be expecting the less mature to act like the more mature. I was the adult. It was my job to act like one and lead the way by example.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

i don't want to bury him under the bus without knowing it all, but chances are we never will. blatche isn't the only athlete this applies to, but he needs to pull his head out of his arse and realize he's getting paid millions to PLAY A GAME. have 12 straight losses hurt your psyche, maybe bruised your ego? try going 12 months without a job like way too many Americans have. most people would kill to wake up before you ever will and go to work making a small fraction of your salary. and you don't feel like going back onto a basketball court? what you do is a privilege. go talk to Arenas for a while about how much of a privilege it is and what it's like to go without it.

there's my diatribe that will never be read by anyone it applies to, but logging onto my email on Yahoo only to see Blatche's face as a headline after this kind of season was ridiculous...

be a man. go talk to flip. stop being passive and talking to the media. (ironically the same could apply to flip.... freaking MAN UP and talk to each other you ninnys)

Flip's face should be there, too.

Coaches don't receive the blame. Players do.

[Twinkie defense]

Blatche wants an apology?

[Hoopalotta]

Blatche wants an apology?

Honestly, Flip has made an arse of himself.

He inflated this incident beyond reason like the gargantuan vinyl knockers on a waif-hipped blow-up doll.

Nothing good was going to come of this once he decided to go Joe Pesci in that presser. Nothing. His entire intentions were to publicly humiliate Blatche over what should have been a non-event. In the midst of a twelve game losing streak, Blatche doesn't 'respond constructively' as he's walking by Flip after being pulled. That's the trigger? Come on, man. After that, the driving force of the incident seems to be Flip's pride, imagination and inability to communicate.

If it were just one instance, our bags would still be boiling within the tea-pot of solidarity, but this is the second Personal-Shots-at-Blatche-presser in eleven games, the first of which was, by most accounts, ill-timed. But as is, the pot done Flipped over and Momma's nice linens got a stain.

I never bought into the other criticisms of the coaches, like the rotation issues or the broken-offense issues, but I don't care how tidy the overall bent of the coaching philosophy is, if Flip is going to pitch a carnival tent in his pressers every ten games, strike down the strongman-hammer and lambaste his guys in personal terms, the whole thing is guaranteed to come undone. GARE-UN-TEED.

Sure, maybe Blatche goes off a bit with "they're disrespecting me", but it's hard to listen to Flip and see him as intending anything other than to disrespect 'Dray. And yes, it would be nice if 'Dray could tap his inner-Bhutanese-acolyte and bend as if a green bamboo-shoot in the typhoon, but the fact is that there have been a lot of elite level ball-players over the years who might not have responded any better than 'Dray has here.

I don't know, but it seems like Flip is driving a lot of destructive conflict of late, and it's the sort that never ends well.

[closg00]

Flip wants to "break" Andray, Nick, & JaVale psychologically, that's what it looks like.

[closg00]

Wow! Cruise the various sports sites, the AB/Flip "misunderstanding" is front page news and all of them have the story wrong.

[Hoopalotta]

Wow! Cruise the various sports sites, the AB/Flip "misunderstanding" is front page news and all of them have the story wrong.

Totally inevitable and a fine lesson as to why we shouldn't wash our dirty drawers in the public pool.

[Backbreaker!]

So apparently Blatche came out on the Wise interview and admits that both assistants did in fact approach him and ask him to play, basically admitting he lied... So they start him!?! Naughty children should be punished, not rewarded.

[Hoopalotta]

So apparently Blatche came out on the Wise interview and admits that both assistants did in fact approach him and ask him to play, basically admitting he lied... So they start him!?! Naughty children should be punished, not rewarded.

Actually, that's not what happened at all and well illustrates the stupidity of a head coach airing all this crap out in his post game presser.

[Backbreaker!]

So apparently Blatche came out on the Wise interview and admits that both assistants did in fact approach him and ask him to play, basically admitting he lied... So they start him!?! Naughty children should be punished, not rewarded.

Actually, that's not what happened at all and well illustrates the stupidity of a head coach airing all this crap out in his post game presser.

That's what I heard on 106.7 this morning.

EDIT: Ok I'm finally getting a chance to listen to the Wise interview: http://1067thefandc.radio.com/2010/03/24/the-mike-wise-show-podcast-3-24-10/#more-8596 "I take 25% responsibility" - AB

Yeah, my bad. He definitely does not admit to saying he didn't want to play to assistants in this interview. I wonder what the Junkies were talking about then.

[closg00]

^^^^
Glad you came back to clear this up Backbreaker. Unfortunately, the headlines blazing across every sports site is that Andray Blatche refused to play; they all have the story wrong including idiot Michael Wilbon's Post article.

btw Does this org have a manager?

[NbdyBeatsTheWiz]

i don't want to bury him under the bus without knowing it all, but chances are we never will. blatche isn't the only athlete this applies to, but he needs to pull his head out of his arse and realize he's getting paid millions to PLAY A GAME. have 12 straight losses hurt your psyche, maybe bruised your ego? try going 12 months without a job like way too many Americans have. most people would kill to wake up before you ever will and go to work making a small fraction of your salary. and you don't feel like going back onto a basketball court? what you do is a privilege. go talk to Arenas for a while about how much of a privilege it is and what it's like to go without it.

there's my diatribe that will never be read by anyone it applies to, but logging onto my email on Yahoo only to see Blatche's face as a headline after this kind of season was ridiculous...

be a man. go talk to flip. stop being passive and talking to the media. (ironically the same could apply to flip.... freaking MAN UP and talk to each other you ninnys)

Flip's face should be there, too.

Coaches don't receive the blame. Players do.

Yeah it should. I'm pretty sure, however, that the writers at Yahoo use nothing more than google and Sportscenter to write their articles, so it doesn't surprise me that all they did was quote Flip once and call it a day.

Again, being passive and being a man don't mix. Especially in a man's sport. They act hard talking to the media, but all that shows me is they're too small a man to talk to each other, risk a confrontation, and actually get this resolved.

[Zonkerbl]

I think Blatche unintentionally had a legitimate point with Flip airing it all out publicly, which is probably why he got to start.

Flip's point was that Blatche was being pouty and childish and the complete opposite of what Flip expects from a professional. His body language said he didn't want to play, as evidenced by his refusal/laziness in joining team huddles. So Blatche was wrong, wrong, wrong. But Flip communicated it 1) in a completely unclear manner and 2) to the press instead of Blatche.

So Blatche and EG and Flip got together. I imagine the conversation went something like this:
Flip: "Blatche said he didn't want to play."
Blatche: "That's not true! I never 'said" I didn't want to play."
Flip: "You pouted on the end of the bench and wouldn't join team huddles. That's what I meant."
EG: "Blatche, you were wrong. Do you understand what Flip was trying to say to you now? This is unacceptable."
Blatche: "But what about Flip throwing me under the bus in front of the media?"
EG: "Flip, this is the second time this season you've thrown Blatche under the bus in front of the media. I want to give you the flexibility you need to motivate your players, but look at the media frenzy this has caused. It's hurting the organization. So I'm going to draw a line here -- you may do whatever you need to do to motivate your players, except throw them under the bus publicly. Now, about suspending Blatche -- if this had been handled internally, we could have handled it the same way we did earlier. But since you took it public, Flip, I'm not going to do it this time, because it's just going to add to the bad blood. Blatche, in exchange for not suspending you, I want you to shut your fricking trap. Next time you give an interview on 106.7 and make my organization look bad by badmouthing your coach, I'm suspending you for a month. Do you understand?"

[cdouglas]

Saunders talks too much! He should know better than to go to the media about this. With all the mess that's going on with this franchise, this is the last thing they need to add to the list. I have to agree with the postee, who said Saunders wants out. Good riddance, get him outta here! I wish the Pollins would hurry and sale this team to Leonsis. Things that must be addressed during the offseason;

New Coach
Change the name of the team
Change everything about this team that is cursed.

[Ruzious]

Bad things happen on the way to a franchise record losing streak. But Flip really does look bad by the sheer fact that - if he didn't suspend Blatche, what was Flip talking about. He must have mis-read the situation. So now he should at least give the public an update. At least say - it was a misunderstanding. By playing him, it makes Flip look awfully foolish and seems to exonerate Dray.