Forward missing time to get in better shape While the Wizards get prepared to have Nene in the lineup for the first time when they travel to New Jersey (15-32) on Wednesday, the team has decided to shelve Andray Blatche for the foreseeable future to allow him to improve his conditioning.
After Blatche missed the entire month of February with a left calf injury, Wizards coach Randy Wittman had hoped he would be able play his way back into shape. Instead, Blatche has played less than 16 minutes per game, averaged just 5.1 points and 3.3 rebounds off the bench over nine contests in March, less than half of the 10.8 points and 6.9 rebounds he put up in January. It’s a third of the career-high 16.8 points he averaged last season.
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“After looking at it, it’s unfair for me to put him in that position,” Wittman said. “I think what we’re going to do is we’re going to probably not play him for a while, get him on a program where he can really go after it from a conditioning standpoint to get himself in shape. It’s not fair for me to do that to the kid.”
| Up Next | ||||
| Wizards at Nets | ||||
| When » | Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. | |||
| Where » | Prudential Center, | Newark, N.J. | ||
| TV » | CSN | |||
Blatche has also been relentlessly booed by home fans at Verizon Center, and the Wizards (10-34) tried unsuccessfully to deal him away at last week’s trade deadline. The acquisitions of Nene and Brian Cook, along with the improved play of Kevin Seraphin, have helped decrease the urgency to keep Blatche in the lineup.
Washington also hasn’t had Rashard Lewis available since before the All-Star break due to soreness in his left knee. Lewis has had a pair of synvisc injections in his knee to help alleviate the pain.
Wittman said the addition of Nene will allow the Wizards to play inside out and give the team some experience from a veteran who has been to the playoffs.
“We got these new guys here anyway,” Wittman said. “We’re going to look at these guys. We’ve got bodies. It’s an opportunity for us to have Dray really concentrate on his conditioning, getting his weight where it needs to be and seeing where that leads.”
Blatche, who is not expected to travel on the road but will be at home games, did not participate in a full-court scrimmage during practice at Verizon Center on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Nene showed some of his moves, efficiently backing down and slipping by Seraphin for a layup. He also helped create a driving lane for Wall and used his veteran savvy to get a technical foul called on Seraphin for encroaching on an inbounds pass under the basket.
“I think it’ll be good, a low post presence we can have,” Wizards point guard John Wall said. “I hit a couple people in the head making the baseline cut, they’re not use to getting the pass. But I think he can do a great job of helping out defensively and offensively. We just got to get him adjusted to the offense.”
