Andray Blatche - Resurgence Thread ( Merged )

Hoopalotta · Post #681 » by **Hoopalotta** » Fri May 6, 2011 12:10 pm

He does at least look nice and lean in that video.

DaRealHibachi · Post #682 » by **DaRealHibachi** » Fri May 6, 2011 12:17 pm

Props to Dray for putting in extra work this off-season...

Dray needs to understand that people will find extra things to hate him for, simply b/c he has made questionable decisions in the past... If he feels that people hate on him too much, prove them wrong, simple as that...

If he wants to post all his clubbing/sex/porn/whatever stuff on Twitter, that his choice... Just consider the backlash you might receive for it...

Nivek · Post #683 » by **Nivek** » Fri May 6, 2011 1:21 pm

I'm glad to see Blatche working out. Though I will say it amused me to see him doing an exercise related to shooting.

JonathanJoseph · Post #684 » by **JonathanJoseph** » Mon May 9, 2011 9:17 pm

nate33 wrote:My biggest issue is that this is still evidence that he hasn't really matured yet. It's not so much that he's throwing the party that bugs me, it's just that he'll be 25 years old this August and has basically partied non-stop since turning 21 (and probably before that). One would hope that he would outgrow this by now.

He's like that cliche guy in your college fraternity who parties every single night and you always find him passed out somewhere by morning. He's fun to hang out with, but you know deep down he's not going to amount to much in life. Most serious students can manage to dial back the partying to just Friday and Saturday night - at least by the time they're 23 years old.

I still partied like a rock star at 25. Might have something to do with the fact that I had been living in New Orleans, but nonetheless. Plenty of immature 25 year olds and I'm certain Zach Randolph was one of them.

JonathanJoseph · Post #685 » by **JonathanJoseph** » Mon May 9, 2011 9:19 pm

This is an example of something that no one would know anything about if it weren't for Twitter/New Media. If you want to call out NBA players for inappropriate sex-related activities you'd have to include at least 90% of the league.

DMVleGeND · Post #686 » by **DMVleGeND** » Mon May 9, 2011 9:36 pm

JonathanJoseph wrote:This is an example of something that no one would know anything about if it weren't for Twitter/New Media. If you want to call out NBA players for inappropriate sex-related activities you'd have to include at least 90% of the league.

theboomking · Post #687 » by **theboomking** » Tue May 10, 2011 1:37 pm

JonathanJoseph wrote:This is an example of something that no one would know anything about if it weren't for Twitter/New Media. If you want to call out NBA players for inappropriate sex-related activities you'd have to include at least 90% of the league.

That is exactly the point. Everybody is doing it, but Andray is ****ing stupid enough to tweet about it. The tweet is the crime, not the lap dance. It's like Andray is completely oblivious to the way fans and the league perceive him, and is immune to any kind of self examination.

The stupidity and blatant self seeking involved is symptomatic of the same thing that leads Andray to dribble behind his back, take stupid shots, and fail to improve his body over his 6 years in the league.

I don't think Andray will ever be a winner, unless he is dragged kicking and screaming by more determined, mature players.

Post #688 » by **nate33** » Tue May 10, 2011 2:07 pm

JonathanJoseph wrote:This is an example of something that no one would know anything about if it weren't for Twitter/New Media. If you want to call out NBA players for inappropriate sex-related activities you'd have to include at least 90% of the league.

This is a fair point. How many great players of yore also partied to morning on most nights? I don't know. Perhaps many did and we didn't know about it.

That said, the New Media applies to everyone, not just Blatche. If Blatche's behavoir is fairly typical, why don't we hear much about other current NBA players? Or are they singling out Blatche because of his track record?

Nivek · Post #689 » by **Nivek** » Tue May 10, 2011 3:35 pm

nate33 wrote:
JonathanJoseph wrote:This is an example of something that no one would know anything about if it weren't for Twitter/New Media. If you want to call out NBA players for inappropriate sex-related activities you'd have to include at least 90% of the league.

This is a fair point. How many great players of yore also partied to morning on most nights? I don't know. Perhaps many did and we didn't know about it.

That said, the New Media applies to everyone, not just Blatche. If Blatche's behavoir is fairly typical, why don't we hear much about other current NBA players? Or are they singling out Blatche because of his track record?

Magic Johnson chased women. Wilt chased women. Lots of guys did. But, the issue isn't about whether great players partied until morning 7 days a week. The issue is the potentially great players who were less than they could have been because they partied until morning or otherwise didn't take proper care of themselves. More specifically, the issue is that Blatche isn't a great player despite possessing the size, coordination and skills that suggest he could be.

Why not? Two primary things -- 1) his mind -- more specifically, his on-court decision making. When to shoot. What kind of shot. When to pass. When to dribble. What kind of pass. Defensive awareness. Game/situational awareness. And 2) his body -- strength, speed, leaping ability, quickness, endurance.

Why are these things holding him back? Well, maybe it has something to do with "good times" to excess. Maybe if he drank less alcohol and got proper rest, he'd be better able to work hard in the weight room and the practice floor. Maybe he'd get better results, get stronger, become better able to play hard and well throughout a long season. And, maybe if he spent some time studying game films, his on-court decision-making would improve, he'd become more efficient and productive.

I don't care if great players of yore -- or even right now -- can party all night and day and still be great players. Blatche ain't a great player. If he can become a great player by going to the clubs every night and setting up lap dance parties, fine. Hasn't worked for him so far. But, I guess it's only been 6 years. Maybe he just needs more time.

DaRealHibachi · Post #690 » by **DaRealHibachi** » Tue May 10, 2011 10:13 pm

Leonsis on Dray's "Lap Dance Party" on "The Mike Wise Show";

"The Wizards being associated with that is unacceptable. We made sure we got that taken down. We're not happy with that, and neither is he. The way those things tend to happen are not well understood. Sometimes celebrities get an appearance fee, and someone goes and markets them. Andray is a very gifted player, and we know this is a very important summer for him. He needs to come back and be in unbelievable shape with unbelievable determination, because he needs to prove he's a really, really good player and that he can win. He gets it. The proof will be in the pudding, but he understands it."

Dray's ass is on the line... If this won't make him step up his game full-time, he's gonna get traded for sure... Good call by Ted on calling him out though...

http://www.bulletsforever.com/2011/5/10 ... e#comments

Post #691 » by **LyricalRico** » Tue May 10, 2011 10:25 pm

Just be prepared for a lot more of this during the lockout. Dray left to his own devices is a disaster waiting to happen. They should make every effort to trade him on draft night.

I think I mentioned this in another thread, but look at the slideshow of the new unis on the Wiz site. The only guys in the slideshow are Wall, Crawford, McGee, and Booker. Out of 24 or 26 slides, only 4 guys. That tells me that everybody else could potentially be gone. Hopefully that will be true with Blatche.

20MexicanosIn1Van · Post #692 » by **20MexicanosIn1Van** » Wed May 11, 2011 4:14 am

LyricalRico wrote:I think I mentioned this in another thread, but look at the slideshow of the new unis on the Wiz site. The only guys in the slideshow are Wall, Crawford, McGee, and Booker. Out of 24 or 26 slides, only 4 guys. That tells me that everybody else could potentially be gone. Hopefully that will be true with Blatche.

I hope the only reason Nick Young wasn't there was because he's a free agent and it's not a guarantee that he's coming back.

verbal8 · Post #693 » by **verbal8** » Wed May 11, 2011 11:01 am

LyricalRico wrote:I think I mentioned this in another thread, but look at the slideshow of the new unis on the Wiz site. The only guys in the slideshow are Wall, Crawford, McGee, and Booker. Out of 24 or 26 slides, only 4 guys. That tells me that everybody else could potentially be gone. Hopefully that will be true with Blatche.

The Wizards only have 7 guys with guaranteed contracts. Seraphin is still a project at this point, so not including him makes sense. Lewis will likely be gone at the trade deadline or next season. Based on Leonsis' comment, I think whether Blatche is in the Wizards future is up to Blatche.

Post #694 » by **nate33** » Wed May 11, 2011 4:39 pm

LyricalRico wrote:I think I mentioned this in another thread, but look at the slideshow of the new unis on the Wiz site. The only guys in the slideshow are Wall, Crawford, McGee, and Booker. Out of 24 or 26 slides, only 4 guys. That tells me that everybody else could potentially be gone. Hopefully that will be true with Blatche.

Lewis just got traded here and probably has a life in Orlando that he's either going back to or in the process of moving it here. He's also aware that he's a short-timer who will either be traded by the Trade Deadline or bought out next summer (after what might be a lockout non-season). It makes sense that he isn't here right now.

The only players on this team that can be reasonably sure to stick around for the next two years or more are Wall, Crawford, Booker, Seraphin, McGee and Blatche. Seraphin is probably at home overseas.

That just leaves five. Four of those five were there. Only Blatche was not. I don't know if it's worth reading into. Maybe it's just that there's a 20% chance that one of the five wouldn't be available for various reasons and Blatche happened to be that guy.

Wizards2Lottery · Post #695 » by **Wizards2Lottery** » Wed May 11, 2011 4:42 pm

Nick has a better chance of being on this team in the foreseeable future than Baltche.

theboomking · Post #696 » by **theboomking** » Wed May 11, 2011 5:05 pm

Wizards2Lottery wrote:Nick has a better chance of being on this team in the foreseeable future than Baltche.

One would hope. I think the club overvalues Crawford though. Crawford hit some big shots, but was terribly inefficient, hitting on less than 40 percent of his shots. I hope his presence doesn't dissuade us from retaining Young, or pursuing upgrades.

Post #697 » by **Ruzious** » Wed May 11, 2011 5:30 pm

DaRealHibachi wrote:Leonsis on Dray's "Lap Dance Party" on "The Mike Wise Show";

"The Wizards being associated with that is unacceptable. We made sure we got that taken down. We're not happy with that, and neither is he. The way those things tend to happen are not well understood. Sometimes celebrities get an appearance fee, and someone goes and markets them. Andray is a very gifted player, and we know this is a very important summer for him. He needs to come back and be in unbelievable shape with unbelievable determination, because he needs to prove he's a really, really good player and that he can win. He gets it. The proof will be in the pudding, but he understands it."

Dray's ass is on the line... If this won't make him step up his game full-time, he's gonna get traded for sure... Good call by Ted on calling him out though...

http://www.bulletsforever.com/2011/5/10 ... e#comments

What a great response by the owner. Instead of ignoring it and hoping it'll go away - like most owners would do - he uses it as a way to emphasize in no uncertain terms what's expected of Andray. There's no in-between where it'll be accepted if he's in okay shape. Blatche knows he has to be in - by far - the best shape of his life, or he will be deemed a public embarrasment in the NBA world. Ted turned a negative into an opportunity well used.

dandridge 10 · Post #698 » by **dandridge 10** » Wed May 11, 2011 5:32 pm

theboomking wrote:
Wizards2Lottery wrote:Nick has a better chance of being on this team in the foreseeable future than Baltche.

One would hope. I think the club overvalues Crawford though. Crawford hit some big shots, but was terribly inefficient, hitting on less than 40 percent of his shots. I hope his presence doesn't dissuade us from retaining Young, or pursuing upgrades.

Yes, Crawford FG percentage was nothing to write home about, but you fail to mention he was only a ROOKIE and he already appears to be a better rebounder and passer than Young. I also like Crawford's demeanor more than Young. With that said, I wouldn't mind us keeping both if Young's price tag is not too high.

Post #699 » by **LyricalRico** » Wed May 11, 2011 5:41 pm

Ruzious wrote:There's no in-between where it'll be accepted if he's in okay shape. Blatche knows he has to be in - by far - the best shape of his life, or he will be deemed a public embarrasment in the NBA world.

Which is also why I advocate moving him as soon as possible before he has the chance to embarrass himself any further and thus put even more downward pressure on his value.

theboomking · Post #700 » by **theboomking** » Wed May 11, 2011 5:56 pm

dandridge 10 wrote:
theboomking wrote:
Wizards2Lottery wrote:Nick has a better chance of being on this team in the foreseeable future than Baltche.

One would hope. I think the club overvalues Crawford though. Crawford hit some big shots, but was terribly inefficient, hitting on less than 40 percent of his shots. I hope his presence doesn't dissuade us from retaining Young, or pursuing upgrades.

Yes, Crawford FG percentage was nothing to write home about, but you fail to mention he was only a ROOKIE and he already appears to be a better rebounder and passer than Young. I also like Crawford's demeanor more than Young. With that said, I wouldn't mind us keeping both if Young's price tag is not too high.

Don't get me wrong, I like Crawford. I'm just not in love with the guy. He isn't a very good defender, and doesn't seem like he has the physical tools to ever be a plus defender. I agree that Crawford is a much better passer than Young. I'm not sure if he's a better rebounder. Young seemed to rebound at a decent rate as the year went on.

I think Crawford could be a good scorer off the bench on a championship team. Ideally, even with Crawford, we could still use an elite wing player, whether that player is a 2 or a 3.

I forgot to mention that I am in complete agreement with you about Crawford having a much more mature and competitive demeanor than NY. I like a lot of what NY brings, but based on his demeanor/apparent mentality, I doubt Nick will ever reach his ceiling.

In any case, I feel like I'm hijacking the Blatche thread. How high a draft pick do you guys think we could get for Blatche in a trade?