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 vs. Celtics: Open thread for Game 16

The Wizards will conclude their four-game homestand against Boston. The Celtics have won the first two meetings, but they will be without all-star point guard Rajon Rondo, who will miss his second game in a row with right wrist injury. Avery Bradley – who actually was rated ahead of John Wall in high school – will get the start.

Andray Blatche has been booed the past two home games. He played through the jeers in the Wizards victory over Oklahoma City but was cleary affected on Friday in the loss to Denver, as he finshed 0-7 with five fouls and three turnovers. Coach Flip Saunders said he spoke with Blatche about the negative reaction.

“I told him, ‘You’re in a situation where you’ve lost some trust with the fans,’ “ Saunders said. “As a team, we can help too. Winning cures a lot of those things.”

When asked if was better to bring Blatche off the bench rather allow him to get booed during introductions, Saunders said he would put the best five players on the court based on matchups and productivity.

“He’s a big boy. He can deal with it,” Saunders said. “We’re not going to make a decision on whether he starts or not based on fan reaction.”

Discuss these topics and more in the comments below. You can also join the conversation on Twitter with Michael Lee (@MrMichaelLee).

Tipoff: 1 p.m. TV: Comcast SportsNet; Radio:106.7 (WJFK FM).

Check out a live box score for today’s game here.

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Wizards, NBA kick off Chinese New Year celebration

With their arena located in the heart of Chinatown, the Washington Wizards are set to take part in the NBA’s inaugural celebration of Chinese New Year beginning on Sunday with their game against Boston at Verizon Center.

The game will be broadcast live in China on CCTV, which along with other Chinese networks has partnered with the league as it seeks to expand its reach into the world’s most populous country at the start of the lunar calendar’s Year of the Dragon.

The Wizards are one of two teams (Golden State is the other) that will feature in-arena activities honoring Chinese culture. Some of the activities include calligraphy, table tennis and tai chi demonstrations as well as a performance from the Wong People Chinese Lion Dancers.

“The goal is to give back to our fans in a fun and meaningful way through exciting live games, customized programming, special player greetings and a variety of fan events in China and the U.S.,” Heidi Ueberroth, the NBA’s president of international development, wrote in an e-mail. “It is a program that we would certainly like to continue and expand upon in the coming years.”

Players from Washington and Boston will wear specially designed Chinese New Year shooting shirts, and former Bullets great Bob Dandridge along with Chinese officials are scheduled to participate in the waking of the lions ceremony. Dandridge was part of the 1978 Bullets championship that visited China in 1979 with a delegation that included then-owner Abe Pollin.

China is the NBA’s No. 1 market outside the United States, according to the league, which estimates more than 300 million Chinese play the basketball. More than 1,300 NBA games were shown in China last season.

The league also is promoting basketball development in China with the first NBA training school. The CBA Dongguan Basketball School in the country ages 12 to 17. Those students receive tutelage from a former NBA coach as well as an NBA curriculum. The NBA additionally is in the third year of a joint coaching program with the Chinese Basketball Association to develop coaches in China.

The NBA received a huge bump in China when Yao Ming was a rookie in 2002-03. Ming retired, though, and is pursuing other interests after playing just five games last season, and the league is searching for a new Chinese superstar around which it can market to the country.

“Yao was a transformational player and unbelievable ambassador for the game,” Ueberroth wrote. “He helped build a bridge between our two countries which in many ways paved the way for this type of event.”

Chinese basketball fans were hoping Yi Jianlian would emerge as the next standout player from China, but the No. 6 overall pick by Milwaukee in 2000-08 has been slow to develop. The 7-foot Yi spent last season with in Washington, where he was a fan favorite, and has played in four games this season with Dallas.

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JaVale McGee joins Gheorghe Muresan on Wizards’ franchise list

JaVale McGee, meet Gheorghe Muresan.

I got two, what about you? (Streeter Lecka - GETTY IMAGES) In the nearly 15 years since Muresan played his last game for the Washington Bullets, the franchise has had five players record games with at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks, but none had ever done it multiple games in the same calendar month – until McGee joined Muresan on Saturday in that exclusive company.

McGee notched 22 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots in the Wizards’ 102-99 win over the Charlotte Bobcats. Exactly two weeks earlier, McGee had 23 points, 18 rebounds and five blocks in a loss to Philadelphia. Muresan had three 20-10-5 games in March 1996.

Chris Webber is the only other Wizard since 1997 with at least two 20-10-5 games in the same season. Jahidi White had two such games in the same calendar year in 2000. Andray Blatche and Antawn Jamison both accomplished the feat once.

McGee and Memphis center Marc Gasol are the only players in the NBA with 20-10-5 games this season, and both have done it twice. McGee has done it three times in the past two seasons – including a 28- point, 18-rebound, 5-block game against Golden State – and the only players to claim that accomplishment are all-star big men Dwight Howard and Amare Stoudemire. Stoudemire did it four times last seasons and Howard did it three times.

McGee has seven double-doubles this season and has recorded at least 10 rebounds in his past three games. He leads the NBA with 63 blocked shots.

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Smaller lineup has generated big production for Wizards

(Jonathan Newton - WASHINGTON POST) The Washington Wizards have played some of their best basketball this season with a smaller, quicker lineup featuring John Wall at point guard, Jordan Crawford at shooting guard and Nick Young sliding to small forward.

Expect to see that trio on the court quite a bit in Friday night’s game against Denver, which prefers to get out in transition with Andre Miller and Ty Lawson pushing the ball. The Nuggets (10-5) are the second highest scoring team in the league, averaging 104.4 points per game.

During Wednesday’s 105-102 victory over Oklahoma City, which has the best record in the NBA, Coach Flip Saunders went with Wall, Crawford and Young down the stretch, and they all contributed to Washington’s second win this season.

“We’ve gone small a lot,” Saunders said. “We’ve played Nick and Jordan and John together, and those guys have all been very effective playing together in the fourth quarter.”

Young was particularly strong in the second half against the Thunder, making all five of his three-pointers after the break and scoring 22 of his 24 points.

Young also played Thunder All-Star forward Kevin Durant about as well as could be expected in the fourth quarter, helping to limit the reigning scoring champion to eight points in the period.

“I’m back, baby, I’m back,” Young said before Friday morning’s shootaround at Verizon Center. “So just look out for tonight.”

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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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