After watching Andray Blatche labor through the past nine games and struggle to contribute, Wizards Coach Randy Wittman announced on Tuesday that he would shut down the 6-foot-11 forward until he is in better condition. Blatche missed more than a month with a strained left calf but has averaged just 5.1 points on 37.7 percent shooting and 3.3 rebounds in about 16 minutes since he returned.
“We thought we could maybe try to play him into shape once he got back,” Wittman said. “After looking at it, it’s unfair for me to put him in that position. and I think what we’re going to do, we’re going to probably not play him for a while, get him on a program here, where he can really go after it from a conditioning standpoint to get himself back into shape. It’s not fair for me to do that to the kid.”
Blatche was able to get a massive contract after putting up big scoring and rebounding totals after taking over Antawn Jamison’s starting spot at the end of the 2009-10 season, but that contract has looked worse every day since it was signed. Even when Blatche is “in shape,” he plays horrible defense, has poor shot selection, doesn’t take care of the ball or pass it well, and doesn’t play with a lot of energy. As Lee notes in his column, Blatche still has 3 years and $23 million left on his contract after this season. The Wizards had better hope that this benching helps Blatche, because it’s almost impossible to imagine any other team taking Blatche off the Wizards’ hands any time soon.
