<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">LAS VEGAS -- Andray Blatche's daydreams have scars. Sometimes when he gets in and out of a car, he feels a little twinge of remembrance. Before he falls asleep, that September early morning nightmare finds its way into his thoughts. He now finds himself instinctively looking around more, especially over his shoulder in dark hallways and streets. The Wizards' young prospect is a different player at this version of the Vegas Summer League, but he's also a much different person. Just before training camp started last season, Blatche and teammate Peter Ramos were driving around Washington at 6 a.m. after a night of partying. At a stop, men in masks and guns approached their luxury SUV in an attempted carjacking. One fired into the vehicle, striking Blatche in the wrist and chest. A few inches off and the bullet would've struck his heart. Instead, it just killed his innocence. "Stuff like that changes you, it has changed me every day," Blatche said after his Wizards closed summer league with a loss to the Knicks on Thursday. "I have learned from it. I have to act like I'm 75 years old in every situation." Blatche will never be mistaken for a senior citizen; he's still a youthful-looking 19. But his emotional education has been in rhythm with his basketball maturation. The shooting caused last June's second-round pick to miss all of training camp and he was behind for much of the rest of the way, getting just token time in 29 games, averaging just 2.2 points. The whole experience matured him, though, and it showed the last 10 days at UNLV. It is easy to see why some compared the 6-foot-11 and wildly athletic Blatche to Kevin Garnett when he was rising to prep stardom in Syracuse, N.Y. Playing in Vegas alongside another long, lean athlete in Oleksiy Pecherov, the Wizards' first-round draft pick who averaged 12.3 points in five games, Blatche was technically playing power forward. But he's just as comfortable catching the ball on the wing and dribble-driving like a classic swingman. He's also just as likely to pull down a rebound and bring the ball up the court and start the offense himself. Plus he's been working hard recently on his post moves, which he showed in an array of pump fakes and drop steps in averaging 16 points and 6.2 rebounds in Vegas. "We'll play him at center, too," said Wizards assistant coach Wes Unseld Jr. "He still needs a lot of work on the defensive end, but he's showing some flashes. He's got a lot of tools and can play a lot of positions, that makes him a real asset for us." The Wizards are optimistic Blatche can crack their rotation this season, especially after he actually gets to take part in a training camp. There's plenty of rawness left; sometimes he turns the ball over in bunches and loses control of either the ball or his body. But it appears there will be a different Andray Blatche reporting for duty this fall. </div> Source
cant wait to see this kid play. Hopefully he turns into a garnett esque player. You cant have too many of those.
I've loved this kid since we drafted him, and I think he'll have some sort of an impact this year, a role player impact. He grew up a lot that night he was shot, I'm glad it cleared his head. Some people, when put into situations like that, who survive, think they're invincible and they'll put themselves in the same situation. I can't wait til this kid hits his peak. He'll be a mix of Garnett and Rashard Lewis.
