Andray Blatche gets booed again in Wizards’ loss to Nuggets

Washington Wizards forward Andray Blatche heard boos for a second straight game from the Verizon Center crowd, and looking at the final box score from the 108-104 loss to Denver, it appeared fans’ displeasure was warranted.

Blatche missed all seven of his field goal attempts and committed five personal fouls and three turnovers in 26 minutes. If it weren’t for a pair of free throws in the first half, he would have gone scoreless for the game.

Still, Wizards Coach Flip Saunders pointed out in his postgame news conference that Blatche’s plus-minus rating was a plus-4. Then he proceeded to defend the most polarizing player on the roster.

“Even though he didn’t score, the team performed better when he was on the court tonight,” Saunders said. “He’s struggling right now, but he is a part of who we are, and the guys are building him up to come back, and I’m sure we’ll see that on Sunday” against Boston.

Blatche bid a hasty retreat from the locker room following the game, but teammates such as John Wall echoed their coach’s comments even after disgruntled fans continued their verbal assault throughout the game.

One fan screamed, “Oh no, don’t give it to him,” when Blatche touched the ball. Another yelled comparisons to Kwame Brown, the Wizards’ failed No. 1 overall pick that still haunts many of the club’s faithful.

“It’s tough, man. It’s tough playing through that situation,” Wall said of Blatche getting booed. “We as teammates, we’re going to keep telling him to take those shots.”

Blatche didn’t seem to be as flustered with the jeers on Wednesday night, when he scored 12 points and had 10 rebounds, four assists and two steals in a 105-102 win against Oklahoma City.

Afer that game, Blatche admitted he heard the taunts but played through the widespread disapproval.

“Booing is not going to help somebody play better. I know that,” Saunders said. “It’s showing displeasure, but I don’t think all of sudden if you’re booing, he’s going to go out and get 20 points and 15 rebounds because we’re booing. If that was the case, everyone would do it.”

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Wizards’ Andray Blatche on getting booed, playing hurt

Andray Blatche was excited to return to the starting lineup for the first time in five games – until he heard fans at Verizon Center react to hearing his height (6 feet 11), position (power forward), school (South Kent Prep) and name announced during pregame introductions. His picture came across the huge HD screen and boos filled the arena.

Do you really want to hurt me? (Nick Wass - AP) “I was ready to put my head down,” Blatche said. “but Roger [Mason Jr.] came to me and a couple of players came to me and said, ‘Just go out and play your game.’ That’s what I tried to do. I just tried to block it out.”

Blatche has been jeered all season whenever he made a mistake or took an errant jumper, but never before he took off his warm-ups. The boos stunned and rattled him, making him reluctant – or rather, afraid – to shoot or touch the ball in the first quarter.

He committed a turnover on a terrible attempt at a crossover dribble and heard more boos as Trevor Booker went to the scorer’s table to enter the game in the first period. He was eager to leave – but Coach Flip Saunders sent Booker in to replace JaVale McGee, so Blatche had to endure more boos.

“I know the boos hurt. We’ve got to rally with him and have his back,” Nick Young said.

Blatche is reluctant to admit that the negative response hurt him, especially when he is playing with an injured right shoulder that isn’t close to being healed. When he met with a shoulder specialist last week, Blatche was disappointed to hear that he needed an extensive rehabilitation, but he decided to sit out two games and come back even though he risks making it worse.

“There is a chance, but it’s about sacrificing for the better, helping the team out,” Blatche said. “I came back earlier than expected to help my team out. I fought through it. From the beginning of the season. I decided to play through the pain more.”

In the past two games, Blatche has focused on rebounding and making a more concerted effort on defense, though the latter has still yielded uneven results. He totaled 23 points and 22 rebounds against Houston and Oklahoma City.

After the Wizards defeated the Thunder on Wednesday, Saunders pulled aside Blatche to encourage him and let him know that he appreciated his efforts. “I gave him credit,” Saunders said. “It’s tough when you come into a situation and you don’t get a great response from the crowd and you start out and you don’t play maybe as well as you’d like to, but he kept on fighting and he kept on doing the little things and played very much team basketball.”

Blatche said Saunders told him: “I fought through it, that was good. I could’ve easily got down on myself. But I kept a strong mind-set. He said sometimes, people might not see that you’re doing a good job. But we know as coaches what you’re doing, so continue to help the team.”

Saunders also told Blatche to take an open shot if he gets them. “I told him I passed them up because what was going on out there and I didn’t want to go into a deeper hole and hear some more,” Blatche said of the boos.

Blatche doesn’t know when or if he’ll get the fans on his side, but he is focused on trying to win two games in a row. “I feel it’s something that we definitely have to build on,” Blatche said. “Beating the best team in the league, we can actually use and have a swagger or confidence playing Denver. We go out and beat Denver, it’s a chance for us to turn this whole season around. It’s all about having confidence in one another and having that type of swagger.”

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