andray blatche

Minus the Big Belly, Blatche is still a Good Fit for the Philippines | Why he is important

Andray Blatche Worst Games  + Gilas Pilipinas Great Games = Still a Good Fit

Dray Blatche, Thank you for helping us win against Japan and Taiwan – Filipino Fans

The fact is we could have not won the two games without Andray Blatche. 
Yes, Andray Blatche is not his best versions in the last two games and frankly, we were disappointed to see big boy Andray Blatche not keeping up with the team and catching some heavy breathing during the game. He was out of shape and it is one of the main reasons why his performance sucks, but why is he still important to the team and why would we have not won without him?
Coach Chot Reyes still believes in  Andray Blache and so should we. 



Dray Blatche doing other things

Against Japan, He played 33 minutes, scored 13 points on 4/11(36%) shooting. He also attempted 6 three-pointers and made 2 of them. Not exactly a great offensive line but he contributed 12 big rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks.


Against Taiwan, he was even worse, he only scored a measly 6 points on a (2/9) 22% FG percentage. He also attempted 5 three-pointers and made none but he again out muscled everyone else and grabbed a total of 14 rebounds, dished out 3 assists and had 5 blocked shots.

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Blatche was not his best version in the last two games and just to further emphasize how bad it was for our naturalized player, we give you the most glaring stats you will hate to see from any players. Blatche got 6 turnovers each game, that’s a total of 12 turnovers for both games.

The Good in the Bad, Dray is a fit when he is fit

With the holidays just around the corner, it may be difficult to lose that weight, especially with all of the upcoming parties ahead but we hope Andray Blatche would be in good basketball condition come February 2018, for a game against the tough Australia and a rematch against Japan.
Blatche, in one way, accomplished his mission and that’s to help the Philippine team win games. He contributed in other aspects and made things happen on the defensive side for the Gilas Pilipinas who badly needed a guy of his stature. His blocks and rebounds are critical to the game and it was certainly a valuable contribution and a deciding factor in the game. Against bigger Australians, Andray Blatche needs to get fit and we hope he will come February.

Scrutinizing Dray: 5 Alarming Reasons Why We Should Worry About Andray Blatche

Huffing and Puffing Andray Blatche Underperformed in Japan 

Unconditioned Andray Blatche is still better than any big man we have in the Gilas Pilipinas roster and maybe in all of FIBA Asia teams front court. There’s no doubt that the 6’11 and 31-year-old former NBA player has talent. He is one of the few players who can play inside and outside, but lately, his body conditioning maybe holding him back.
In the game against Japan, he was huffing and puffing for air as he tries to catch up on the fast-paced game. Don’t get us wrong, Blatche was still dominant in a way as he showed flashes of his skills on both ends of the court. He scored a total of 13 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, dished out 5 assists and blocked three shots. Overall, it’s a good performance if you are a local player but Andray Blatche is expected to do a lot more.
Andray Blatche and the Gilas Pilipinas escaped with the win against the resilient Japanese, so we should all celebrate but there are just a number of reasons why we should be worried especially with Andray Blatche.

5 Alarming Reasons Why We Should Worry About Andray Blatche

1. Low Field Goal Percentage – at (4/11) 36% FG, Andray Blatche did not shoot well against Japan. He attempted more shots from the outside than leveraging his size and get some points inside. He attempted 5 total shots inside the arc and made just two of them. This is not the kind of scoring output we need from a naturalized player.

2. Free Throw Woes – (3/7) 42.9%, With no one guarding you, a free throw should have been easier to hit but Andray Blatche missed 4 of them as he becomes the only Gilas Player to shoot below 50% from the charity line. With everyone else shooting well from the line, Blatche dragged the team’s free throw percentage to 72%.

3. Zero Offensive Rebound – With Andray Blatche roaming outside the arc on offense, there simply little to no chance that he would get an offensive rebound, in fact, he did not get any against Japan. His counterpart, on the other hand, Brown, got 6 of them. Offensive rebounds are very important as it provides the team with a second opportunity to score.
4. Six Turnovers – Sloppy Dray! Of course, he gets to hold the ball in most possessions and in some cases, he even acts as a point guard. It may be a strategy but Blatche has not taken care of the ball well against Japan. He has the highest turnovers of the game with 6.
5. Big Belly Blatche – Yes we can all argue that he is still good but no one can argue that he is in bad shape. He could have been better only if he weighed a bit lighter. With his big belly very much visible, he dragged himself on most occasions while gasping for air. This is one of the factors why his overall performance suffered.

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Conclusion:  Andray Blatche can’t get back into shape in just two days. There is just no way he could shed that many pounds but while he isn’t the same Blatche we had during the World Cup physically, he is still the same Blatche inside and his skills and familiarity with the team will play a big role in the coming game.
With the game against Taiwan just two days away, Andray Blatche needs to pace himself inside the court. We know that he will be getting 30+ minutes again and we are hoping that he would assert himself more inside offensively and just have the point guards bring the ball up, so he could save his energy for bigger things.

Andray Blatche is Finally Back in the Philippines to Play for Gilas

Andray Blatche will play for the Philippines.

Relax, we have our naturalized import

Gilas Team Manager Butch Antonio post a photo on Instagram showing the arrival of the much awaited Andray Blatche.
Five days after his expected arrival, Andray Blatche showed up in the Philippines as he is once again expected to lead the Gilas Pilipinas to the World Cup. The Philippines has been practicing without Andray Blatche and he will immediately get to work before they depart for Japan on Tuesday.

Andray Blatche was again tapped by the Philippines after recent import picked Isaiah Austin underperformed to expectation. Andray Blatche who is currently under contract with a Chinese team will play a couple of games for the Philippines before returning back to China.
Gilas will face Japan on the 24th of November in Japan and will fly back to the Philippines to face Taiwan on the 27th at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The cloud of speculation and uncertainty just cleared out with Andray Blatche returning to the Philippines.
A post shared by Butch Antonio (@butch_antonio) on Nov 18, 2017 at 9:37am PST

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Naturalized Filipino Andray Blatche to Play in the FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2017 but for Team China, Why?

Andray Blatche will play for China in the  FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2017

Naturalized Filipino Andray Blatche
Team Philippines has been awarded the wildcard spot for the upcoming  FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2017 which will be held on September 22 to 30 in China.
The nation of basketball certainly was elated with the news as once again Filipino basketball fans will unite to cheer for pride and country. Recently being crowned the Southeast Asian champion in SEA Games, the Philippine will conquer China to challenge the rest of Asia.
The Philippine team is yet to identify the roster of the team that will represent the tournament and it won’t be easy especially since top players are currently playing for their mother teams in the on going Philippine Basketball Governors Cup conference.
The Philippine is in a whole lot of trouble especially that we heard that the teams that are part of the tournament are championship teams in their own countries.

Let’s Just Get Andray Blatche

Last FIBA Asia Cup in Lebanon, Andray Blatche was not able to play for the Philippines citing security concern. Surely, he would be available this time as there are no current security threat in Chenzhou, China.
Behold, China got to Andray Blatche first and instead of playing for the Philippines he will go against the Philippines and will play for team China. The defending champion China Kashgar will get the service of the former NBA player.


China Kashgar 13-man national pool for FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2017 

Abudurexiti Abudushalamu
Darius Adams
Andray Blatche
He Jingjia
Li Gen
Makan Kelanbaike
Sidikejiang Kamiran
Sun Mingyang
Sun Tonglin
Tang Caiyu
Wang Zirui
Xirelijiang Mugedaer
Yu Changdong

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Clarkson and Blatche Joins Gilas Training

Jordan Clarkson showed his support for Gilas Pilipinas as he joined naturalized import Andray Blatche train with the team in their closed-door session at the Kerry’s Gym inside the Shangri-La Hotel.

Lakers star Jordan Clarkson joins Gilas training despite not being in the 24-man pool

In a press conference by Nike before the close-door practice, Clarkson still strongly expresses his eagerness in representing the country on the court despite not being included to the 24-man pool submitted to FIBA. However, Clarkson is confident and believes that the team can get the job done and get a ticket to Rio.


Andray Blatche rests as coach Tab Baldwin explains some of the plays.

Andray Blatche walks off the court after Gilas practice

Meanwhile, Andray Blatche looks better and a lighter during their Saturday practice unlike when he showed up out of shape before the FIBA Asia Championship last year. Despite looking overweight, he remained as an important piece in the silver medal finish last year. Andray still joined the practice Saturday afternoon despite arriving in the morning which shows his determination in bringing the Gilas in Rio Olympics.

Gilas closed-door session at the Kerry Sports gym, Shangri-la Hotel