One time Ray Allen got hurt and Flip Murray was a league leader in scoring... just sayin. I mean I haven't seen the guy play this year and most of you guys would be lying if you said you had.
Well he came out of high school maybe he is just starting to find himself on the court. The Wizards got some good young talent, I'm interested to see what they do in the off-season. Will they really bring Gilbert Arenas back?
After the deadline I immediately traded for Blatche in my fantasy league. Didn't even think twice, the guy is dominant when he gets starter minutes.
Saw this article from Wilbon in today's Washington Post about Blatche. He makes mention of some ex-Rockets. Andray Blatche and Greivis Vasquez have rehabilitated their images with stretches of incredible basketball By Michael Wilbon Wednesday, March 3, 2010; D07 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/02/AR2010030203865_pf.html It's difficult to imagine two basketball players changing perceptions about who they are as quickly and as dramatically as the Wizards' Andray Blatche and Maryland's Greivis Vasquez are now. Only two weeks ago Blatche was seen, even by some of the people managing him and playing with him, as a straight-up knucklehead, a fifth-year player who couldn't be bothered with the weight room, was difficult to coach and might be beyond salvaging here in Washington. Vasquez, when the ACC season began in earnest eight weeks ago, was seen as talented but unreliable, a huge asset to the Terrapins some nights, a total liability others. He could, his critics said, win a game or lose one almost by himself, and Maryland couldn't be a real postseason threat if Vasquez was the team's best player. How thoroughly things have flipped. Blatche, virtually overnight, has turned into Kevin Garnett, averaging 26.6 points, 11.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game since Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood were traded, opening up minutes, shots, rebounds and a massive opportunity to jump-start his career. Vasquez, second in scoring and first in assists in the ACC, ought to be the favorite to win the league's player-of-the-year award. And more important, he leads Maryland into Wednesday night's game against Duke with a share of first place on the line. Let me go no further before disclosing I was skeptical of Vasquez and totally dismissive of Blatche. I was never as down on Vasquez as a lot of folks, scouts included, because he was clearly a work in progress, a kid who thought enough of growing and learning that he passed on turning pro last summer to return to Maryland for his senior year. A college kid who thinks something through that thoroughly can't be a know-it-all, even though some thought he acted like one. Thing is, it's one thing to improve; it's another thing entirely to excel in so many different areas of the game in the ACC. Vasquez is the first ACC player ever to record 2,000 points, 700 assists and 600 rebounds in his career, and he could have double-digit games remaining in his senior season. "Ever" in the ACC is a long, long time (not like Conference USA or even the Big East) and covers some of the greatest players in the history of college basketball. I know that numbers often don't measure impact, but they do say something about a player's ability and consistency. Last week in an online chat someone asked if Vasquez could finish his career as one of the five best players in Maryland history and I quickly said 'no way.' Maryland, from Tom McMillen and Len Elmore to Buck Williams and Len Bias to Joe Smith, Walt Williams and Juan Dixon, has had a lot of great players. I'm not sure I even had Vasquez in Maryland's top 20. But . . . it's not often college players throw up a triple-double, which Vasquez did Feb. 21 (35 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists), becoming only the third Maryland player to do so. It's not often a college player puts up 25 points in a half, which he did against Virginia. And it's not often a college player goes on the road in a conference game and puts up 41, as he did at Virginia Tech the other night in a double-OT victory. If Vasquez has a big March, I'm reserving the right to change my mind about him being one of Maryland's top five to 10 players ever. We see college players blossom all the time, those who still feel they can learn something between high school and NBA stardom. What's more rare is an NBA player breaking out five years into his career after such a disappointing history, which brings me back to Blatche. Remember, the Wizards suspended Blatche on Jan. 11 for being a knucklehead, for not doing what was asked of him in games or between them. One of my favorite lines about Blatche came from a teammate, who told me this summer, "This kid has been in the league [four] years and all he's done is get older." Blatche, another teammate told me, couldn't find the weight room with a GPS. He was a more skilled version of Kwame Brown. And Blatche, like Brown, didn't get it. He thought management was picking on him, that he was misunderstood and not appreciated. To the undying credit of the coaching staffs, going back to Eddie Jordan and Ed Tapscott, the men paid to coach Blatche worked with him despite their frustration. Sam Cassel, who surely has a future as a head coach some day, taught Blatche a couple of Hakeem Olajuwon's up-and-under moves, which Blatche could pick up quickly because he does have good hands, quick feet and an instinctive feel for the game. When the Wizards unloaded Haywood, Butler and Jamison in trades, Coach Flip Saunders himself took Blatche and JaVale McGee onto the practice court and put the kiddies through one-on-one post drills. When the dust cleared from the trades, Blatche looked over his shoulder and didn't see Butler, Jamison or Butler. Blatche is now the senior member of the Wizards. No more excuses about no playing time being available, no shots or rebounds being available. And I'll say this for the kid: He's made not just the most of it; he's in the process of changing his career because of it. Yes, it's only seven games and we need to see a lot bigger sample size after four years of underachieving. But we also have to look at what Blatche can do over a stretch of games. The Wizards coaches and executives very quietly hoped he would jump from a nine points and five rebounds per game kind of player to, say, 16 and 7 or 17 and 8. But look at what he's done in points and rebounds since the trade: 33 and 13 (vs. Minnesota), 18-11 (vs. playoff-bound Denver), 24-6 (against playoff-bound Toronto), 25-11 (vs. playoff-bound Chicago), 24-8 (against a terrific Memphis frontcourt), 26-18 (vs. New York) and 36-15 (vs. New Jersey). With the chance to play, Blatche is finally doing what the team has asked him to do for awhile. Word is he's in the weight room regularly, is practicing harder, trying on the defensive end. In the victory over the Nets the other night, Blatche became the first Washington player to have 15 baskets and 15 rebounds in a game since Tom Gugliotta did it for the Bullets in November of 1992. In that same game he became the first player this season to post numbers of at least 36 points, 15 rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocked shots in one game. Nobody had done it in a Bullets/Wizards uniform since Elvin Hayes 35 years ago. The pouting is over because Blatche doesn't have to worry that Wizards management, including the team's trainers, only worries about the star players. Hell, he is the star player. Yes, it's preposterous that Blatche thought that in the first place, but this is what talented kids, especially those who jump straight to the NBA from high school, think about when they don't immediately get all the minutes and shots they want. Simply, Blatche didn't know how to be a professional basketball player, which is to be blamed largely on the NBA for ever having allowed kids to make the jump in the first place. But all that seems so unnecessary to talk about now. With making the playoffs not an option and the team starting over from scratch, it's intriguing to follow a 23-year-old who is 6-foot-11 with this skill set. It's like finding a free agent in your own locker room. One player who can fill up a stat sheet makes an inordinate difference in basketball. Whatever we thought of Blatche, and of Vasquez for that matter, it's not just fair to reassess, it's mandatory.
Count me a skeptic on how long Blatche can keep this up. Even if he finishes this season strong, I'll still have some doubts. I say there is a good chance he will revert back to old form. What this all proves is he is actually talented and can be very productive when he puts his mind to it.
who would u have rather traded for at the deadline? a guy of Martins caliber or a relative unknown and taking back unwanted garbage from the wiz? NOONE saw this kinda production coming from Blatche, hindsight is 20/20 dude and besides that he probably doesnt fit our style im sure Morey knows that and this wouldve halted our efforts to try and get Bosh this offseason
At the time, Blatche actually could've been shipped out for very little. He was considered incorrigible and a waste of 260 pounds without any backers to stay. I'd imagine he could've easily been apart of 3-4 way deal with Knicks and Kings. I also disagree a little on no one saw him doing much. Over the last few years, he has actually done well in most games he has alot of playing time. Also, the guy is much cheaper than Jefferies, and is probably going to be far better pro than Armstrong or Hill ever will be.
If it's of any note, during a beginning stretch of the season when he was given these same amount of minutes he revealed a similar type of productivity. I have to agree with you on that statement however, if he can keep himself in line, than he has a chance to be special.
Blatche is another talented player that doesn't have his head screwed on straight. The NBA is chock full of those type players. Plenty o' game but no heart and brain. That's good for a box score line but not much help for a W.
You familiar with Chris Wilcox? This is who I think of when watching Blatche. There was a time in Wilcox's career when he looked to have the potential of being a 20/10 guy but it turned out he was a lazy, undedicated slob. What's between the ears is just as important as potential and I see Blatche going that way too. I think Wilcox had as much ability as Blatche.
The Wiz need to capitalize on Blatche's great stretch of play down the stretch (assuming he keeps it up). They've got to sell high on him as soon as they can. They can probably get something decent for him because of his low contract numbers and high ceiling. Of course the Wiz will end up getting too excited about him and try to build their team around this guy...
Even if we traded for him he wouldn't put up those numbers anyways cause he would play under Scola Hayes and Anderson. Yes he's putting up monster numbers, but look at his team. They have no one else.
LIES!! Flip never avg more than 12pts with Seattle . Flip never started more than 18 games with Seattle.
No. There was a stretch of games when he was averaging around 18-20 per game. He never averaged more than 12 per game because Allen came back from injury and he didn't play that many minutes.
Blatche takes more fadeaway jumpers then anyone else in the league... he's having a good stretch of games... he'll come back to earth. Alot of players could put those numbers up if they had nothing to care about other then GETTING HIS.
