WASHINGTON D.C. -- Andray Blatche will miss 3-5 weeks after suffering a strained left calf in the Washington Wizards' 102-99 win over the Charlotte Bobcats, coach Randy Wittman told the media on Monday prior to the team's game against the Chicago Bulls.
"He's probably looking at, after the doctors looked at an MRI, maybe 3-5 weeks with a strain," Wittman said. "He tweaked it pretty good in Charlotte, and obviously there's a lot of bleeding in there, which leads to the inflammation in the calf. We've got to get that out of there first, and then we'll have a better idea what we're looking at."
That now explains why Hamady Ndiaye was called up to the team. In the meantime, Jan Vesely will likely continue to start, and Trevor Booker and Kevin Seraphin will probably get more playing time.
"We're going to have to have other people continue to step up, as Vesely's done, as Book's done. Kevin's had some good stints. We just need to continue to do what we're doing," Wittman said. "I'm not too worried about who's going to provide the scoring. As long as we keep playing together the way we have, that'll take care of itself."
John Wall acknowledged that it's "tough to lose somebody like [Blatche]" and said they may need to change the offense a bit with Vesely or Booker in the lineup.
"We're not trying to put them in the same situation as Dray is where he's shooting a 19-foot jump shot," he said. "You try to get them closer to the basket where you penetrate and find guys at the free-throw line area where they feel more comfortable."
I asked Wall if not having Blatche's ability to shoot from the perimeter will hurt the Wizards' spacing, and Wall said it wouldn't.
"It's not going to hurt spacing because you roll them into space. Now, you don't have somebody popping for jump shots. You have somebody who can roll and you can find them with a pocket pass. It can be tough, but sometimes, it can be easy. You just have to go with the flow of the game."