WASHINGTON, D.C. -- With Andray Blatche's calf injury set to sideline him for 3-5 weeks, the Washington Wizards will need a pair of young forwards to step in and fill the void. First-round draft pick Jan Vesely, who has been starting in Blatche's place the last two games, and 2010 first-round pick Trevor Booker, who played well against the Charlotte Bobcats on Saturday, will get the majority of the power forward minutes with Blatche sidelined.
"We're going to have to have other people continue to step up, as Vesely's done, as Book's done. Kevin [Seraphin] had some good stints. We just need to continue to do what we're doing," coach Randy 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."
Point guard John Wall echoed Wittman's sentiments that the loss will be tough to overcome, but said having Booker or Vesely in the lineup may help in other ways.
"[Blatche's absence] is 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," Wall said. "It can be tough, but sometimes, it can be easy. You just have to go with the flow of the game."
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