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Sounds like too much ego is going to waste another talent.
WASHINGTON -- It's the last thing a bad team on a long losing streak needs -- a tantrum and a boycott from a young player who was just starting to put up some good numbers.
Andray Blatche was benched after the first 7½ minutes of the Washington Wizards' 95-86 overtime loss to the Charlotte Bobcats on Tuesday night.
Coach Flip Saunders said Blatche didn't want to listen when the coach tried to talk to him about playing better defense.
"He didn't want to hear it," Saunders said. "I told him, 'If you don't come and talk, if you don't want to be coached, you're not going to play.' We had coaches go up to him three different times, they said he didn't want to play. Fifteen years, never seen anything like it.
"He can be [mad] at me, whatever, but you never leave your teammates out to dry like that. Not when you've lost 11 games in a row and you've got a chance to win a game. Uncalled-for. We'll deal with it," Saunders said.
Asked if Blatche will play in Wednesday night's game at Indiana, Saunders said: "I would doubt it. I don't know, but I would doubt it."
Blatche was not made available for comment. He had left the Wizards' locker room by the time it was opened to reporters.
Blatche had become the team's go-to scorer following the suspension of Gilbert Arenas and the deals that sent Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood elsewhere before the trade deadline last month. Inconsistent, often undisciplined and slow to mature over his first 4½ NBA seasons, Blatche moved into the starting lineup by default and had been averaging 23.2 points and 9.4 rebounds since the All-Star break. Washington, however, has lost 12 straight.
Ironically, his spat came on the day the Wizards issued a flier touting Blatche as a candidate for the league's most improved player.
"You know what I'm disappointed in?" Saunders said. "I'm disappointed that since we've started him, he gets 60 percent of the offense run through him. Coaches aren't wrong, no matter what. When a coach wants to teach you something, and you think you're above that, because you've played 16 games, good games? I had Kevin Garnett, that guy you could say one thing, he's up there, 'What do you want, Coach? I want to get better every time.' He never copped that type of at ude. That's ridiculous, it really is."
Saunders also said Blatche has lost the credibility of his teammates.
"Dray's still a young player, and he'll go through things like that," guard Nick Young said. "It's a disappointing situation from both ends. We really could've used Dray tonight. I told him, 'You're playing well -- you don't want to mess it up.' ... You've got to man up sometimes."
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5023170
Sounds like too much ego is going to waste another talent.
Saunders had to put up with a ton of from guys like Sheed, now Blatche. He can't command respect for . LOL defense.
"Blatche refuses to play defense" would be a better le, I suppose.
Flip Saunders just alienating players he's supposed to alienate.
How can people even side on Blatche on this one? Coach is right with this one. Blatche.
The kid has been playing well lately, but that doesn't mean he can afford to not listen to his coaches. This might just ruin his promising career
Killed me in fantasy tonight...
Sucks to hear, because he's too damn talented to be acting like that. He's been playing out of his mind.
what a f*cking PUNK! never read an article quite like that. can't say I'm surprised, though.
to bail out on his teammates like that...
Heartbreak.
Wizards have another ego player.
Arenas who?
wow total move!
It's not Saunders it's Blatche being a little . Pippen snubbed Phil Jackson the same way. That was Pippen being a crybaby, not because Phil Jackson doesn't command respect.
What a nut got
Multi-million dollar talent.
Two cent brain.
Blatche is an ass. But I can see how you would get a laugh attack if Flip Saunders, of all people, wanted to teach you how to play better defense.
What a ing , he's getting paid millions of $ to play a game he loves. I'd do it for a fraction of what he earns.
I'm really disappointed
I was a huge fan before that incident
It goes to show you how "fame" can inflate someone's ego
I mean it has been. what, a few months?
Huh? Why? Is a guy who has coached a few top-5 defensive teams in the NBA and coached one of the greatest defensive players ever in Garnett not qualified to coach defense? That's odd. More, I'm pretty sure Saunders was qualified to coach Blatche defensively even before coaching a single NBA game. His CBA teams were known for being very good defensively.
Players should get pay cuts/be fired for refusing to obey orders. STFU and do your job.
Thank you, John Hollinger.
Think that might have had a little to do with it?and coached one of the greatest defensive players ever in Garnett
welcome to my world, this week the wiz have a 4 games schedule, I don't give a of what are the issues between Blatche and Sanders, play the kid tomorrow Sanders !
I don't get the impression he loves the game.
Flip had a very good defensive team in Minnesota and Detroit. He's not Mike D'Antoni.
QFT. 16 games god to his head. What a punk ass.
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