Miami Heat: Hassan Whiteside Continues Rolling Off Bench
The Miami Heat and Hassan Whiteside are both experiencing great results since the decision to move Whiteside to the second unit.
The Miami Heat made a decision in early February that made a lot of people scratch their heads. Head coach Erik Spoelstra decided that he would have center Hassan Whiteside come off the bench, deciding to insert Amar’e Stoudemire into the starting lineup next to Chris Bosh.
At the time it seemed like it could cause problems. Whiteside, who has had some maturity issues, could have taken the move as a demotion of sorts, which could cause him to lose focus and concentrate more on the role change than performance on the court. But, the results were good in the early going and have not stopped coming.
The move to the second unit seems to have made something click for Whiteside, as he has been a monster on the court since the move. He is playing identical amount of minutes as a starter and off the bench at 29.8 per game, but he is receiving more chances and his stat lines are reflecting it.
While in the starting lineup, Whiteside was more often than not the fifth option. With Dwyane Wade and Goran Dragic in the backcourt, and Luol Deng and Bosh in the front court, Whiteside would often get lost offensively. They did not run many plays for him, as Whiteside scored most of his points on put-backs and offensive rebounds.
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He averaged only 8.5 shots per game, but off the bench he has an increased offensive role.
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With the second unit, Whiteside is averaging 10.3 shots per game and 16.4 points per game. The increase in scoring has also been impacted by Whiteside’s improvement at the foul line.
In the starting lineup, and throughout his career previously, Whiteside was a putrid free throw shooter; he was making only 53.7 percent as a starter this season, and made 44.4 percent and 50 percent in his previous seasons.
But, off the bench this season, Whiteside has upped his free throw shooting to a respectable 77.2 percent. That not only helps his own stat line, but Spoelstra can trust him to finish games as he is no longer a liability at the line.
Unlike players like DeAndre Jordan and Andre Drummond, who have to come off the court because of the intentional foul rules, Whiteside makes teams pay for that strategy now at the line.
Whiteside has 15 games of 20 or more points scored this season, including the career-high 27 he dropped on the Brooklyn Nets Monday night. Of those 15 games, seven have come since he has been moved to the second unit, as he is more of a focal point and is making the most of his increased opportunities.
While moving a player in line for a max contract to the bench seems illogical, it has worked out for Whiteside and the Heat. He has only cemented himself as a player worthy of a max contract this offseason, while the Heat continue to win games and move closer to locking themselves into a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
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Expect the Heat to continue deploying Whiteside with the second unit as the results have been excellent thus far and he has shown no signs of slowing down on either end of the court.