Andray Blatche - Resurgence Thread ( Merged )

[keynote]

Reply excerpted from the Hawks game thread:

One of the things for Dray's homework list for the summer should be learning to draw fouls.

Fact is this aspect of his game will improve as he continues to build muscle, though...

Weight room dominance is the prescription...If Dray shows footwork and power, finishes with authority, then refs assume well he's never out of control, and if he lost the ball, well someone must have done something untoward and unseen. Whistle. And one.

Exactly right on all counts. It's the finish strong - and stick your butt out strategery. And the weight lifting....He's got to be physically and mentally tougher than that - just part of the growing up process.

I think many of us on RealGM would agree that these should be areas of emphasis for Blatche's offseason regimen.

Now, let's hear Blatche's area of emphasis, courtesy of NBA Insider:

Based on his production at the end of the season, Blatche is likely to take another leap next season and he already knows what areas he has to improve upon.

"I'm going to work on my jump shot more," Blatche said. "Gilbert [Arenas] is going to be back, he's going to bring a lot of attention to him. I'm going to have to hit some shots and improve my range."

[no D in Hibachi]

I think many of us on RealGM would agree that these should be areas of emphasis for Blatche's offseason regimen.

Now, let's hear Blatche's area of emphasis, courtesy of NBA Insider:

Based on his production at the end of the season, Blatche is likely to take another leap next season and he already knows what areas he has to improve upon.

"I'm going to work on my jump shot more," Blatche said. "Gilbert [Arenas] is going to be back, he's going to bring a lot of attention to him. I'm going to have to hit some shots and improve my range."

Hopefully by range he doesn't mean "3 point shot." He's been taking an awful lot of 3's lately. Last thing we need is for our lone post presence, and a very good one at that, jackin threes. It's like Rasheed all over. He was a top 5, probably top 3, post player in his prime but he was jacking 3's like crazy. Worthless.

[go'stags]

To be fair, he didn't say he wasn't going to lift weight. Reports are that he has already been working more since the trade. I think (hope?) he knows he also needs to get stronger.

[Hoopalotta]

During the Boston game, I was listening to the Beantown feed and Tommy Heinson was saying something about there already being a plan for Blatche to spend some time this summer at Duke going against veteran guys. Something like that.

Take it for what it's worth, Tommy might have been drunk by that point.

[keynote]

Now, let's hear Blatche's area of emphasis, courtesy of NBA Insider:

Based on his production at the end of the season, Blatche is likely to take another leap next season and he already knows what areas he has to improve upon.

"I'm going to work on my jump shot more," Blatche said. "Gilbert [Arenas] is going to be back, he's going to bring a lot of attention to him. I'm going to have to hit some shots and improve my range."

Hopefully by range he doesn't mean "3 point shot." He's been taking an awful lot of 3's lately. Last thing we need is for our lone post presence, and a very good one at that, jackin threes. It's like Rasheed all over. He was a top 5, probably top 3, post player in his prime but he was jacking 3's like crazy. Worthless.

Actually, I think Blatche is trying to model himself to be more like Dirk than Sheed. Sheed takes spot up threes, but other than that, he's most comfortable shooting fadeaways from the block. Blatche has been trying to do more operating with his back the basket from the high post, shooting 18 ft turnarounds a la Dirk. Once Dirk developed that part of his game, he stopped taking as many threes.

Now, I agree with most of you that I'd prefer to see Blatche operate from the inside out, but I don't have a problem if he develops a Dirk-like automatic fading 18 footer. As we've seen of late, it's harder to double a 7 footer at the elbow or foul line extended than it is to double him on the block. Last year, I wouldn't have thought such a move was within his reach; now, I'm starting to think he can add that tool to his skill set.

[keynote]

During the Boston game, I was listening to the Beantown feed and Tommy Heinson was saying something about there already being a plan for Blatche to spend some time this summer at Duke going against veteran guys. Something like that.

Take it for what it's worth, Tommy might have been drunk by that point.

Duke? That's...random. What's the connection? I could see Syracuse (Blatche's hometown), or one of the DC-area teams. Or maybe I could see him linking up with Haywood and heading to UNC. But Duke?

[hands11]

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/wizard ... rdsinsider

Dray For MIP

In 30 games since the all-star break, Blatche is averaging 22.1 points, 8.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists and has recorded 12 double-doubles over that span.

Blatche faces some stiff competition for the award, Houston's Aaron Brooks, Minnesota's Corey Brewer, Atlanta's Josh Smith, Milwaukee's Andrew Bogut, Memphis' Marc Gasol, Charlotte's Gerald Wallace, the Los Angeles Clippers' Chris Kaman and New Jersey's Brook Lopez have all gotten better this season - and they have been able to put up those numbers over the course of the full season.

[hands11]

Blatche is likely to take another leap next season and he already knows what areas he has to improve upon.

"I'm going to work on my jump shot more," Blatche said. "Gilbert [Arenas] is going to be back, he's going to bring a lot of attention to him. I'm going to have to hit some shots and improve my range."

[miller31time]

Not to say his jump-shot couldn't use some work, but what he needs to spend the most time on (as has been mentioned before) is playing the post and creating contact leading to free throws. Understood his game is more finesse but just because you're a finesse player doesn't mean you should avoid contact as Blatche has a tendency to do.

That, continuing to improve defensively and some mental maturity and he'll be ready to go next season.

[nate33]

I really hate his fadeaway jumper. It always looks like a forced shot, even when it goes in. I really wish Blatche would work on a jump hook - something where he goes straight up or leans into the basket, rather than fading away.

I don't have any problems with him continuing to work on his 18-foot jumper though. His shot is already pretty good, but there's nothing wrong with making it better. He gets more looks from the key area and the foul line extended than he gets from anywhere else on the floor. He may as well focus on the type of shot he sees most often in games.

[no D in Hibachi]

Blatche is unnecessarily receiving an incredible amount of hate on the general boards. Posters have vehemently argued that Noah and Beasley are vastly superior to Blatche and that it’s not even close. Personally I think that's bunk and the masses have gone on an all out assault of our surging star. Reasoning with the posters on the message boards is mindless, so while this post doesn’t really contribute much to anyone, I feel a certain degree of obligation as a die-hard Wiz fans to emphasize the marvelous development of Blatche’s game and state his second half surge isn’t a flash in the pan. Next year, when teamed with a high lotto pick, a returned Arenas, a FA acquisition, and a more seasoned McGee, the masses will be eating crow as Blatche helps the Wizards win games and is a key contributor in the progress of the team.

[hands11]

Not to say his jump-shot couldn't use some work, but what he needs to spend the most time on (as has been mentioned before) is playing the post and creating contact leading to free throws. Understood his game is more finesse but just because you're a finesse player doesn't mean you should avoid contact as Blatche has a tendency to do.

That, continuing to improve defensively and some mental maturity and he'll be ready to go next season.

I started posting about his FT numbers and what worried me about him increasing them so time about.

Working on your J is always a nice thing to do. While he nails them a lot, I think he wants to become Dirkish from outside.


Ok, after this last game, I think Dray just broke 14 pts a game for the year. A new high.

[hands11]

Blatche is unnecessarily receiving an incredible amount of hate on the general boards. Posters have vehemently argued that Noah and Beasley are vastly superior to Blatche and that it’s not even close. Personally I think that's bunk and the masses have gone on an all out assault of our surging star. Reasoning with the posters on the message boards is mindless, so while this post doesn’t really contribute much to anyone, I feel a certain degree of obligation as a die-hard Wiz fans to emphasize the marvelous development of Blatche’s game and state his second half surge isn’t a flash in the pan. Next year, when teamed with a high lotto pick, a returned Arenas, a FA acquisition, and a more seasoned McGee, the masses will be eating crow as Blatche helps the Wizards win games and is a key contributor in the progress of the team.

As big a Dray fan as I have been, I don't think Dray is going to post these monster numbers unless the offense is run through him, which I think it should be as it is now.

Gil should be the SG that Dray passes out to.
Livingston should be the player setting it up and posting from time to time.
The "center" that we draft should be doing everything the Fabio cant.

If the offense stays the same then Dray will continue to rock. If the offense is run through Gil, then Dray drops to about 14-17 pts a game.

[Kanyewest]

I kind of want Blatche to be underrated so the Wizards don't have to pay him as much when he becomes a free agent!

Seriously though, guys like Beasley and Noah have a higher national profile because

a) what they have done in college- (Noah winning two national championships and Beasley being a top notch freshman at Kansas State). Blatche would have a lot more fans in his corner if he had gone to college. People are still associating Noah as a "winner" even though he hasn't done it yet in the NBA

b) Miami and Chicago have a much higher national profile than the Wizards. They have studs like Rose and Wade which garners them a much larger following. People would be paying a lot more attention to what Blatche was doing if Gilbert Arenas was playing alongside of him. Two of those teams are in the playoff hunt. The Wizards are in a ping pong ball tank hunt.

C) Not to mention that Wade and Rose make their teammates better. For instance, Noah gets a significant amount of his offensive rebounds due to the penetration of one Derrick Rose. What about Wade attracting double and triple teams which creates space for Beasley.

D) The whole Flip Saunders fiasco has hurt Blatche's reputation.

Right now, Blatche is a better player than all both IMO. But Beasley is even younger than Blatche so it wouldn't surprise me if he passes Blatche- although I would have concerns about Beasley such as since he can't guard small forwards or power forwards. And he also has some off court issues like Blatche IIRC.

[JonathanJoseph]

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.

[hands11]

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.

When isn't he way over the top. That's his job i guess. Meat for the sky is falling doom n gloommers.

[Hoopalotta]

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.

[Zonkerbl]

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

[BigA]

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.

Right, few commentators are as consistently wrong as Wilbon, so this is encouraging.

[Kanyewest]

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.

I still have the Washington Post article somewhere where Wilbon talks about how resigning Juwan Howard was a franchise saving move.