Bernucca: Wanna keep Wall? Dump Blatche

Andray Blatche is a knucklehead, and the Wizards better get rid of him if they want to keep John Wall.

It is becoming next to impossible to prevent NBA superstars from flying the coop. They want to play in more attractive big markets. They want to play alongside other superstars. They want to win championships. And of course, they want to get paid.

What they don’t want is to be stuck with a lottery-bound team. They don’t want to share a locker room with players who care more about MINs and FGAs than Ws and Ls. And they don’t want to have to answer questions from the media about why their teammates were fighting in public or blasting the coach on Twitter.

That’s where Wall is right now – stuck on a loser, sharing a shower with Blatche, whose latest display of immaturity could capsize another Wizards season just hours after it began.

The nation’s capital has its allure, but it’s not exactly a hot NBA destination, and here’s why: The Wizards have won one playoff series since 1982. In that span, they never have won more than 45 games. Over the past three seasons, they are 68-178 — the worst record in the Eastern Conference.

Off the court has been even worse, with Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton doing their rendition of “Pistols at Dawn” and Blatche squaring off with JaVale McGee in a nightclub – on Christmas Eve, no less.

Wall already has plenty of reasons to flee when his rookie contract expires in 2015. This week, Blatche gave him another, turning into a “nit-Twit.”

After Washington wasted a 21-point lead Monday in a season-opening loss to New Jersey, coach Flip Saunders – who has been treated like a carpet by players in his last two stops – called out his team for trying to win the game with individual, selfish play.

“In our league, you can’t do it, unless you’re one of the elite players,” Saunders said. “We don’t have anyone that’s at that elite status right now.”

Wall, who gets it, reaffirmed his coach’s words, saying, “We have nobody on our team that’s that great.” Blatche, who doesn’t get it, took Saunders’ words personally. He fired back through the media, then reportedly sat and sulked for 30 minutes in front of his locker.

You would think that would have been a thorough venting of Blatche’s spleen. But when he got home, he took to Twitter, writing, “I may have had a bad game but that’s cause I need the ball in the post not taking jump shots all game.”

The next day at practice, Saunders spoke with Blatche, who this time was smart enough to avoid reporters. But he couldn’t keep his fingers off the keyboard, tweeting, “Every body need to shut up I didn’t call out my coach or team mates I said I had a bad game need it n the post instead of jump shots.”

The responses to these tweets from followers were, in a word, direct. Here’s some of the better ones:

• your selfish and awful on defense, also take to many jumpers. stop tweeting dumb stuff
• your attitude is pathetic. Don’t bitch on twitter about where you are getting the ball, talk to your coach & team in private
• don’t make excuses and act like a victim, u have the ability
• you should only be allowed to touch the ball every other possession…and oh yeah dont ever shoot it again please
• New year, same Wiz

That last tweet should be particularly galling to owner Ted Leonsis, whose team began this season with a campaign slogan entitled “New Traditions.” The hope was to turn the page on the team’s embarrassments of recent years and build for the future with a core of young, talented players.

That core features 10 players 25 or younger, plus scoring guard Nick Young, who’s all of 26. Championship contenders have started with less.

The core includes Wall, a certain All-Star who has a chance to be special if he develops consistency in his jump shot. But it also includes Blatche, 25, a tantalizing talent in his seventh season who should know better by now.

But he doesn’t, and that’s why the Wizards have to find a taker for him. Because right now, the fan base is already grumbling, “Not this crap again.”

Wall is eligible for an extension in less than two years. The Wizards won’t have any winning to sell him on, so they will have to show him they are serious about getting there. And they can start by clearing the decks of a knucklehead like Blatche, who desperately needs a locker stall between Kurt Thomas and Udonis Haslem.

Some team will want his 16 points and eight rebounds. Some coach will see his size and skill as a perfect fit. Some GM will have an ego big enough to believe he can “fix” him.

They will ignore his perpetual immaturity, which covers everything from his overblown opinion of his own game to his lack of respect for authority. They will hope that he still has time to develop unselfishness, a desire to defend and a commitment to winning.

And Blatche just might. Hey, people can change. But the Wizards can’t afford to wait for him any longer.

TRIVIA: Four active players have won an NCAA title and an NBA championship. Who are they? Answer below.

THE END OF CIVILIZATION AS WE KNOW IT: According to CNBC, Manny Harris could not compete for a roster spot in Cleveland’s training camp because he had severe freezer burn on his right foot suffered in November by wearing wet socks into a Cryon-X machine, which simulates an ice bath by dropping temperatures to minus-166 degrees.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Phoenix Suns president Lon Babby – in a news release – discussing the team’s decision to buy out the contract of forward Mickael Pietrus:

“There’s an expression that, ‘All’s well that ends well.’ In this case, all’s well that ends.”

LINE OF THE WEEK: LeBron James, Miami at Dallas, Dec. 25: 36 minutes, 11-19 FGs, 15-19 FTs, 10 rebounds, six assists, two blocks, two steals, 37 points in a 105-94 win. This is what folks were looking for last June, LeBron.

LINE OF THE WEAK: Jermaine O’Neal, Boston at Miami, Dec. 27: 22 minutes, 0-1 FGs, 0-0 FTs, one rebound, four fouls, one turnover, zero points in a 115-107 loss. O’Neal was outscored by Joel Anthony, not a good sign when your frontcourt already was missing Paul Pierce and Jeff Green.

TRILLION WATCH: There is an early leader in the clubhouse as Suns forward Josh Childress did a six-minute impersonation of a statue in Wednesday’s home loss to Philadelphia. We will be tracking this all season, hoping for someone to surpass perhaps the greatest trillion in NBA history, which came during the NBA Finals.

GAME OF THE WEEK: Portland at Oklahoma City, Jan. 3. The Trail Blazers have shown a desire to run more in the early going. But do they want to get in a road track meet with the Thunder, one of the better fast-break teams in the league?

GAME OF THE WEAK: New Jersey at Cleveland, Jan. 1. As if your head wasn’t hurting enough already on New Year’s Day. …

Should the Dallas Mavericks be worried about their slow start?

History says no. The present may say otherwise.

Dallas does not do quick starts. Over the last six seasons, the Mavericks have won four of their first five games just once. They began 3-2 in the 2005-06 season, when they won 60 games and reached the NBA Finals for the first time. The following season, they dropped their first four games but still rattled off a 67-15 mark.

In the 2008-09 campaign, they lost seven of their first nine but still managed to squeeze out 50 wins and a playoff series victory. And en route to 57 wins and their first title last season, they got off to a pedestrian 3-2 start. So dismissing Dallas after it has played 3 percent of its schedule would be a bit rash.

However, no team has looked worse in its first two games than the Mavericks. They have hosted Miami and Denver, and in both games they have been remarkably uncompetitive, trailing by as many as 33 points.

That’s somewhat of an issue when your team name is preceded by the modifier “defending champions” – which coach Rick Carlisle believes is part of the problem.

“Every team we’re playing is going to be a good team, in some way, in some part, it’s just because (we’re) defending champions,” he said. “You see this time and time again. … We’ve got to understand that this effort is going to come at us every night from everybody. They’re going to be lined up. That’s just how it goes.”

Carlisle was not making excuses. After both losses, he accepted a heaping portion of the blame, saying nice stuff like “it’s on me more than anybody” and “I’ve got to do a better job coaching” and “I’ve got a lot of work to do.” But the players know what’s up.

“We look old and slow and out of shape,” Dirk Nowitzki admitted.

“We’re not comfortable with each other on both ends of the floor,” Shawn Marion said.

The big offseason acquisitions have looked awful. Vince Carter is averaging just 8.0 points per game and there are whispers that he is finished. Lamar Odom is averaging 5.0 points and has as many ejections as assists (one).

Brendan Haywood is clearly not Tyson Chandler, managing just 17 minutes per game and forcing the Mavs to go small. Roddy Beaubois is not J.J. Barea, unable to provide a change of pace in limited minutes. And Dallas misses the collective toughness of Chandler, Barea and DeShawn Stevenson, evidenced by the 110 ppg it has allowed.

“The biggest thing, we’ve got to rebuild trust defensively,” Carlisle said. “We’ve lost a lot.”

Carlisle is aware he doesn’t have the same team as last season. The problem is he doesn’t know what he has yet. With players coming and going during a training camp cut in half, it has been hard for this group to mesh.

“We’re going to have to forge an identity with this team; it’s a different team,” the coach said. “That’s work, and it’s going to take honesty, and it’s not going to be easy.”

On the surface, the Mavericks appear to be deep and flexible. Any team bringing Odom and Jason Terry off the bench has talent, and Nowitzki, Marion, Odom and newcomer Delonte West can all play two positions.

But you can only play five players, and Dallas’ best lineup probably is Kidd, Terry, Marion, Odom and Nowitzki, a unit that will have no trouble generating points. At the other end, though, it is slow at the 1 and 3 spots and undersized at the 2, 4 and 5.

Through the first two games, Dallas was outrebounded by 30, committed 36 turnovers and allowed Miami and Denver to shoot nearly 50 percent. A season ago, its numbers in those categories were in or near the top third of the league.

TWO MINUTES: When the Grizzlies traded Greivis Vasquez to the Hornets, they made point guard Mike Conley virtually indispensable because he is backed up by Jeremy Pargo and rookie Josh Selby. In the first minute of Wednesday’s loss vs. Oklahoma City, Conley twisted his ankle. Pargo stepped in nicely with 15 points, seven assists and two steals in 37 minutes, and Selby was not awful. But Memphis can’t be serious about contending without Conley. … Here’s a couple of remnants from Christmas. In the second half vs. the Lakers, the Bulls made six of their first 41 shots – then made six of their last seven to win. “We stole that (bleep),” Brian Scalabrine said afterward. And the Thunder’s Kevin Durant was 6-of-11 from the line, marking just the second time in his career he has missed five free throws in a game. He was 8-of-13 from the stripe at Sacramento on Feb. 12, 2011. … There are a ton of guys in this league who are “my-turn” players – guys who haven’t had a touch or a shot in a while, so they launch one the next time the ball finds them. Raptors coach Dwane Casey is trying to outlaw that approach in his offense. “This is not a democracy offensively,” Casey said after a season-opening win. “We want to make sure we get the ball where we want it to go. This is not a my-turn game. It’s not a rec league game. We want to make sure our offensive players who are closers get the basketball.” … A total of 17 teams kept the maximum 15 players on their rosters, with seven retaining the minimum 13. Perhaps the most surprising roster inclusions were a trio all drafted at least 10 years ago who played a combined seven games last season. The Hawks kept Jerry Stackhouse, one of just three players still active from the 1995 draft. The Magic kept Larry Hughes, part of the 1998 class who sat out last season and has not been the same since playing through plantar fasciaitis in the 2007 Finals. And the Jazz kept 2001 draftee Jamaal Tinsley, who has played just 38 games the last three seasons. Stackhouse and Tinsley have played garbage minutes, while Hughes has yet to play. In a season where depth could be an issue, using a roster spot on an aging, unproductive veteran seems strange. … The Nets have four players named Williams on their roster – Deron, Shelden, Shawne and Jordan. In their home opener vs. Atlanta, they were opposed by Marvin Williams. And playing the national anthem for that game was former Yankee Bernie Williams. … On Tuesday, Minnesota’s Kevin Love registered his fifth career 30-20 game. Love is two games into his fourth season. The active leader with six is Tim Duncan, who is in his 15th season. Also with five are Kevin Garnett (17th season) and Dwight Howard (eighth season).

Trivia Answer: Richard Hamilton, Nazr Mohammed, Jason Terry, Corey Brewer. … Happy 58th Birthday, Chubby Cox. … A safe, healthy and happy 2012 to all of our readers. This site doesn’t happen without you.

Chris Bernucca is a regular contributor to SheridanHoops.com. His column appears every Thursday. You can follow him on Twitter.

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