<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Moments after completing his first practice with the Washington Wizards' summer league team on July 3, Andray Blatche stood in front of MCI Center wearing an expression common to people making their first visit to the nation's capital. "Excuse me, do you know where this hotel is?" Blatche asked a security guard. "I think I came in on the other side but I'm not really sure what direction I came from." As Blatche tried to find his bearings, two attractive young women strolled past, took notice of Blatche's 6-foot-11 frame and made the obvious correlation. "Are you one of the Wizards?" one of the women asked as her friend giggled. "You're tall." Blatche broke into a shy grin, offered a polite "yes," and continued trying to figure out exactly where he was. Since the Wizards selected him out of high school in the second round of the NBA draft in June, life has presented one new experience after another for Blatche, who celebrates his 19th birthday today. Blatche's first NBA summer has included his first visit to Washington; his first practice on the MCI Center game floor, under the watch of Wizards President of Basketball Operations Ernie Grunfeld and Coach Eddie Jordan; six games in the Las Vegas summer league, where he faced NBA-caliber competition for the first time; and a visit to New York, where he posed for his first basketball card. Blatche also recently completed a second trip to Las Vegas, where he joined about 70 NBA players for a skills camp. "Things have been happening real fast," Blatche said recently from his home in Syracuse, N.Y. "It's been nice to get a little time off and just chill a little bit because it was pretty intense with summer league and camp." Blatche kicked things off with an impressive performance in Las Vegas, where he averaged 9.5 points and 6.5 rebounds while shooting 43.1 percent from the field in six summer league games. Grunfeld and Jordan were impressed with Blatche's ability to swing between shooting guard, small forward and power forward while quickly picking up the nuances of the offense. His teammates were surprised at the way he stepped on the court and blended in with more experienced and, in some cases, more physically developed players.</div> Source
I'm real high on Andre, he has nice all-round skills, and is also an athletic player. I think he's one of thsoe guys that will be a lot better than the position he was picked.
I'm also very high on Blatche. He's very talented, and if he matures as expected he can be a really good player for the Wizards.
Blatche's interesting,i'd have liked the Warriors to draft him,but he slipped past. He's gotta get tougher but has skills and runs well
I've liked Blatche since I heard about him around draft time, I think he can be a great player if he puts his mind to it and gets the chance. Behind Haywood, Jamison, Jeffries, Thomas, Ruffin, Ramos and possibly Fuller will he get playing time? NBA.com has him listed as 6'11" and 235 lbs.
I wouldnt' say he's behind Ramos though. He probaly won't spend much time at center, probably none (Blatche that is) and right now he's probably better than Ramos anyways. That's just my opinon on Ramos, but i think he'll need to develope a little more before they give him serious playing time anyways. He definately has a lot of talent and natural athleticism and a real nice size. He has a chance to be real good.
Yeah, in summer league he played anywhere from 2-gaurd to powerforward, thats how much versatility he has.
His game reminds me a lot of Rashard Lewis. Blatche has a very nice outside shot. If he can develop a post game and discipline himself to play inside more, he will be a steal for the Wizards.
