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Coach Randy Wittman isn’t sure if there is anything that he can do to help Andray Blatche ease his way onto the floor during games at Verizon Center. When Wittman sent Blatche to the scorer’s table to check in for JaVale McGee in the first quarter of the Wizards’ loss to Golden State, Blatche was serenaded with boos and was obviously shaken by the response.
He put Blatche in during a timeout in the third quarter, fans didn’t boo him until he touched the ball. But Blatche was ineffective, no matter how he was inserted.
Wittman said all that he can really do is push him to keep fighting through the jeers. “I talk to him every day. I’m just trying to encourage him. His play is going to get up there. It’s getting better. Sitting out that long, he wasn’t going to come back and be the Dray of old, and we knew that, he knew that, and it’s tough. Hey, that’s a tough situation, and I’ve just got to encourage him as much as I can and he’s doing some good things while he’s on the floor, from a defensive standpoint, rebounding. His offense, he’s got no legs right now, and if have no legs, you’re going to struggle scoring the ball. I think that’s what everybody is just kind of looking at right now, but I’ve just got to be there to encourage him.”
— Reported by Michael Lee of the Washington Post (Blog)
