For the first couple of years of his career, there were several ways to describe Andray Blatche. Among the most humorous and accurate may have been consistently inconsistent or a talented tease who appeared to have all the tools, but never put it all together.

But on Saturday, coming off the bench, Blatche finally put it all together and had a career day with 30 points to go along with six rebounds as the Wizards blew away the New Jersey Nets 123-104.

“He played really well. He played within himself,” Wizards coach Flip Saunders said. “ I think it was one of those nights where he really felt it. He got the ball in the post, which is what I liked.

While Blatche has had several great games over his short career only to disappear on the stat sheet the next night, he has consistently been a major contributor for the Wizards off the bench this season.

Through three games, the Wizards former second round pick has been a model of consistency and has seemed to turn the corner. This season Blache has averaged 21 points and 6.3 rebounds, easily shattering his career averages of 6.9 points and 4.4 rebounds.

“He’s been playing fabulous since (Antawn Jamison) went down,” point guard Gilbert Arenas said. “ He’s been waiting for this for four five years now. He finally decided this year was the year. He’s been working and it’s showing.”

Blatche approached this season with a sense of urgency and a concerted effort to take the next step after being stuck in neutral for several seasons. On media day new was a major theme with him and it resonated with his new braces and a new jersey number, dropping his 32 jersey to seven, which has deeper meaning for Blatche.

“Seven means seven days of hard work in the gym,” Blatche said on media day.

For Blatche the game has finally seemed to slow down for him and if Blatche can continue to evolve without taking a step back, he may be the final piece to a Wizards deep playoff run, Arenas’ health aside.

“I have always said when you become really good offensively – and you can look at Gil – it is almost like you are doing your moves in slow motion around the basket,” Saunders said. “…His moves were very methodical and he read the defense. He has worked hard in the offseason and he has worked hard during the season and he is reaping the rewards of his hard work. As a player you have to understand that every game is a building block. I hope he continues to give us that consistency offensively but more importantly defensively.”