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Is Andray Blatche the right one for Gilas?


Reports have already confirmed that Gilas Pilipinas Head Coach Chot Reyes has already abandoned his pursuit of Denver Nuggets’ injured slotman Javale McGee as one of the new naturalized cagers for the squad following the announcement that the former University of Nevada, Reno stalwart will have surgery to repair a stress fracture on his left leg. McGee will miss the rest of the National Basketball Association (NBA) regular season and his future with the franchise has now been thrown into a flux.

The Philippine national basketball team that will be competing in the upcoming FIBA World Cup in Seville, Spain could have used a seven foot defensive ace like McGee. Despite him being the butt of jokes by Shaquille O’Neal in his very popular “Shaqtin’ A Fool”, the 26-year-old from Flint, Michigan has averaged almost two blocks per game in his seven years in the NBA and—if he did go on to suit up for Gilas—you could call him the Filipino version of Spain’s Serge Ibaka; a Congo native who was granted citizenship papers by the Spanish government and has been an integral part of the Spaniards’ success over the last few years.

Following the Philippines’ heartbreaking fourth place finish in the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship in Wuhan—a qualifier for the 2012 London Olympics—the Gilas program was handed over to Reyes and the courtship of McGee began. It was later alleged, though, that the former 2008 first round pick by the Washington Wizards was charging an incredulous amount to don the national colors and the program stuck with Douthit as its lone naturalized player.

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After the new Gilas selection captured the silver medal in the 2013 edition of the tournament in Manila (which allowed the team to qualify for Spain), McGee’s name once again popped up but this time with a more substance as his was one of two names that have been submitted by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) to the Philippine congress as candidates for naturalization—and join Douthit--now 33--on the contingent.

With the new development on McGee’s health, however, the second name submitted now takes precedence: Andray Blatche—or Young Seymour, his famed “half-Filipino” alter ego.

Is he really worth the congressional green light or is he as volatile and unpredictable as his colorful immediate past and his recent use of “selected” words would paint him to be?

First, let’s look at what he has achieved over his basketball career.

Blatche is only 27 years old but has played in the NBA for eight seasons already after being drafted by the Washington Wizards as the 49th pick in the 2005 Draft out of South Kent School in Connecticut—a high school draftee. He missed training camp in his rookie year due to an off-court mishap, but still managed to play a handful of games. Blatche found himself spending more time playing for the Roanoke Dazzle in the NBA’s Developmental League (D-League) as his lack of collegiate experience hindered his early growth as a legitimate NBA cager, but the potential was there.

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The next season, he filled in admirably for the Wizards in their quest to plug holes left by injured centers Etan Thomas and Michael Ruffin. His career and playing time swelled steadily over the next few seasons until he erupted for a career campaign during the 2010-11 season averaging 16.8 PPG, 8.2 RPG and 1.5 SPG in almost 34 MPG for Washington. He found himself in a Brooklyn Nets uniform to begin the 2012-13 season and has actually become an integral factor in the squad’s modest success thus far with norms of 11.7 PPG, 5.7 RPG and 1.0 SPG and has also recorded numerous occasions in the Net’s starting line-up.

While his star may be on the rise, many can’t help but look back at some of the turbulence he’s weathered in such a short span of time.

Blatche’s “off-court mishap” indicated above happened about three months after the Wizards drafted him; when he was the victim of a carjacking incident that saw he and his mother, Angela Oliver, get shot. Oliver—who was shot in the chest—survived, but the injuries to Blatche made him miss the entire training camp process for Washington.

But just a couple of years after that incident, Blatche was charged with sexual solicitation for attempting to pick up an undercover police officer. The charges were eventually dropped after he took a day-long seminar for men who seek prostitutes.

He was involved in the Gilbert Arenas “gun” scandal and was also caught speeding, driving with a suspended licence and accused of reckless driving not long after the Logan Circle case. His infamous Christmas Day altercation in 2010 outside a popular night club with McGee had them both suspended for "conduct detrimental to the team: and he was also fined $15,000 for an "obscene gesture" right on this season's tip-off week during Brooklyn's tiff against the Miami Heat.

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Now he’s looking forward to joining Gilas’ determined mission of making a mark in the international basketball scene with such inspiring comments like:

“Basically just go over there and…just win...just play hoop, whatever, I don’t know.” Slam Magazine

“After one of our games, my best friend, he told me, he said, ‘such and such, and such and such said this and that. Are you interested?’ I said, ‘I’ll go.’” Long Island Newsday

“I’m not too sure about anything about it. They brought it to my attention, and I was like, ‘Yeah, that sounds cool.’”The New York Times

“Yeah, well, that’ll help me get ready for training camp and the season.”Long Island Newsday

Gilas sacrificed a lot to earn their slot in Spain. It was through hard work, commitment and insatiable desire that those twelve warriors got the job done. Douthit has shown his loyalty and passion for Philippine basketball since he arrived in late 2009. Although he’s not being replaced in the roster, he might have his hands full with Blatche and his uncertain demeanor towards representing the country in what is supposed to be its most important sortie as a hoops nation.

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I’m quite sure Blatche’s basketball talents are without question—I have him in two of my eight NBA Fantasy teams. And I don’t know him enough—I don’t know him at all—to question his professionalism, but those random comments are quite ominous. Sure, we could use a 6’11” presence to help us gain entry into the second round and maybe even further than that. But is House Bill #3783 being used on a person whose heart is in the right place?

Reyes has met him and I'm sure he's got the team's interests on top of his priority list. Maybe if Blatche/Seymour comes up with something to say that could merit a positive vibe among Filipinos, then the whole tone could gradually change. We have until May 30 to get it done.

We’ve also seen a few would-be aspirants for naturalization squander their opportunities as they saw it fit to reap the benefits of being a “king” in a basketball crazy nation and in the end—because of their avarice—got their walking papers instead of that document proclaiming them as one of our own. Many of you know about those I refer to here.

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Gilas is serious. Is Blatche (going to be) on the same page?

Follow Noel Zarate on Twitter (@NoelZarate) and email sportztackle@yahoo.com