Andray Blatche Out of Shape?

After Monday night's win against the Washington Wizards, Andray Blatche had to answer some post game questions about his conditioning after a night where he recorded a double-double.

P.J. Carlesimo

"Dray was the only one I felt bad about (playing a lot of minutes). And frankly, he needs conditioning,” Carlesimo said “So I thought it was okay. He needs some conditioning and he obviously wants to play against (the Wizards) because he played there. … We thought Dray was going good and the conditioning is good for him.”

Blatche

“It’s surprising when you play 37 minutes compared to playing 12,” he said. “It did catch me off guard. When you play 12 minutes, and then you go out there for 37 minutes, it caught me a little bit.”

Blatche's response may be an excuse and he needs to be in top shape but  he does have a point.  In addition,  Avery Johnson saw that he was ready to contribute to the Nets during the off-season so does he really need conditioning? Maybe we are looking into this way too much but I honestly couldn't tell if he was out of shape. This is something that should have been kept in the locker room but Blatche should just play.

On a positive note, Andray Blatche averaged 22 points and 11 rebounds when playing 40 minutes or more this season. When he plays his regular "12" minutes a game, he averages 10 and 5 but he is an backup and the second unit features more scores than pass first play-makers. The playoffs start Saturday and the Nets will need Blatche to be consistent and smart. Hopefully he uses this as motivation similar to Reggie Evans.

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