Washington Wizards: 6 Ways Andray Blatche Can Take His Game to the Next Level

Though the NBA is in the thick of a lockout, having already cancelled the first month of the season, players can still work on their game in preparation for the eventual return to regular work.

The Washington Wizards have a lot of youth on their team, but they need their more experienced players to step up.

Andray Blatche in particular needs to show his continued growth, as well as silence the persistent and ardent critics in the NBA.

John Wall may be the franchise player for the Wizards, but Blatche may be the key to bringing the team together. He has six years of experience and has improved statistically each year since being drafted in 2005. The Wizards need him to take his game to the next level, and here are some things he needs to do to accomplish that.

Be Aggressive

Last season, Andray Blatche struggled through injuries and seemed lost on offense, and it led to a productive but disappointing first full season as a starter.

Perhaps it was the injuries, or perhaps it was a reflection of his own focus, but Blatche became enamored with his range and stopped attacking the basket.

Blatche's success on offense would be greater if he didn't just put the ball on the floor, but made decisive moves to the basket against less physically gifted defenders.

It wasn't until he became the full-time starter that Blatche began resting too much on his shot instead of driving to the basket, but it is a habit that has halted his development. There were times last season where it looked like Blatche had reached his peak as a player, but he just needs to get back to basics.

Not that he should remove the newer dimensions of his game, but he should incorporate more of what he has shown he can do to round his game out.

Be Unselfish

Last season, Blatche averaged a career-high 2.2 assists per game, discarding teamwork for his own statistical gain. That isn't to say Blatche is a ball hog, but he is a veritable black hole on offense.

Blatche saw his field goal percentage drop as his shots per game increased, and his regard for the structure of Flip Saunders' offense decrease.

John Wall is the conduit through which the Wizards offense will run for many years to come. Blatche is one of the potential targets for Wall, but that doesn't not mean that Blatche himself is not or can not be a conduit himself. If he's being pressured at the top of the key, he needs to turn and kick out to Wall, Nick Young, or what ever guard is closest.

A lot of teams are willing to respect Blatche's ability to sink shots away from the basket, but they know that he's unlikely to give it up with a hand in his face. If Blatche can learn to trust teammates and look for them on offense, teams will be forced to respect him as a passer as much as a scorer.

Post Up

If you pay close attention to Blatche's early days as the start for the Wizards, you see that he is capable of scoring int he post just as much as he is capable of sinking baseline jumpers. In his first full season as the starter, he grew overly comfortable in settling for jump shots, especially contested and off-balance jump shots.

Blatche needs to get back to his early days of scrapping in the post, using his length and developed strength to impose his will on typically smaller power forwards defending him.

Though he is nowhere near as talented as Kevin Garnett, Blatche has the length to pull the same turn-and-dunk move that KG made a career out of in Minnesota. At 260 lbs., Blatche has plenty of weight to throw around, and would likely benefit from returning to what made him so successful coming off the bench early in his career.

Play Defense

Since becoming the full-time starting power forward at the end of the 2009-2010 season, Blatche has not been the same defender he was when he came off the bench. In 2007-2008, he averaged 1.4 blocks per game compared to 0.8 blocks per game last season.

Though he missed 18 games due to injury last season, it was abundantly clear that Blatche had no interest in defense.

It may be tempting to point to his 1.5 steals per game as evidence to the contrary, but Blatche rarely hustles back on defense and had good plays from teammates bounce into his hands. He needs to use his length to extend his arms, clogging passing lanes and pestering shooters.

Be a Leader

Andray Blatche is not the oldest player on the Wizards roster, but he is the longest tenured player. He has been a Wizard for all six of his NBA seasons, and seen a lot or players come and go around him.

Blatche needs to overcome his past immaturity and assert himself as a leader for the increasingly younger Wizards roster.

There is nothing that says you have to be old to be a mentor, and Blatche could be a good model for his teammates. His early career was marked by run-ins with the law, and heavy criticism of his potential versus his production. He has kept his nose relatively clean in the last three years, and dedicated himself to getting in shape before the start training camp.

He displayed flashes of his potential as a leader over the final eight games of last season, drawing praise from Saunders while averaging 23.6 points and 10.3 rebounds per game.

Hustle

The biggest knock on Blatche for most of his career is his lack of hustle. He has relied heavily on his physical attributes and left the hard work aspect that comes with the NBA by the wayside.

In the past two seasons, Blatche has worked hard during the offseason, but has yet to look completely involved during the season.

To be blunt, Blatche tends to get lazy when he gets frustrated at either end of the floor, and he makes no effort to hide it.

In the first year under Flip Saunders, Blatche saw himself go from sixth man to starter after Antawn Jamison was traded midseason. He responded with big performances on the glass and on the scoreboard over the final 32 games of the 2009-2010 season.

Just when the questions of his hustle began to fade, he was benched by Saunders for settling too many shots and not getting back on defense.

Blatche, like every other player in the NBA, needs to work at both ends of the floor.