Andray Blatche Quit on His Team

Blatche added to the Wizards’ many issues last night, when he got into a spat with head coach Flip Saunders. Bullets Forever takes a look: “Flip Saunders’ decision to bench Andray Blatche for the majority of tonight’s game stemmed from a disagreement in which Blatche said he didn’t want to play after Saunders took him to task for not getting back on defense, the coach told reporters after the game. Saunders said he took Blatche out of the game for not getting back in a transition sequence, forcing Mike Miller to pick up Blatche’s man. Blatche took issue to Saunders’ treatment, after which Saunders said if he didn’t want to be coached, he wouldn’t play. According to Saunders, Blatche said he didn’t want to play and repeated the phrase when assistant coaches approached him three different times. ‘In my fifteen years [of coaching], I’ve never seen anything like it,’ Saunders said. ‘I’m more disappointed in him that I’ve ever been with a player in my coaching career.’ Blatche had left the locker room by the time reporters came in. When asked whether Blatche would play in tomorrow’s game against the Pacers, Saunders said ‘I would doubt it right now. I don’t know, but I would doubt it,’ adding that Blatche will certainly be disciplined. It’s unclear which play Saunders is referencing, but it occurred early in the first quarter. Blatche was visibly absent from team huddles the rest of the game, often staring into the stands instead of into the huddle.”