It’s really hard to blame a loss on one guy, but here I am going to do it: Hassan Whiteside let the Miami Heat down against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Guys make mistakes and don’t show the effort that they should at times, so it isn’t as though this is is an unforgivable sin. But I think my point stands.
Whiteside, up until this point, has been a force in the NBA. He has averaged crazy numbers that only Dwight Howard has averaged, especially on rebounds and blocked shots.
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That is why during the Thunder and Heat game, I was disappointed to see Whiteside being thrown around so much. He wasn’t able to stay with the more agile Enes Kanter, who had 27 points and 12 rebounds. When Kanter is throwing around Shaquille O’Neal numbers, you know it isn’t going to be a good night for your team.
A lot of people don’t know this, but Kanter is probably one of the best rim protectors in the NBA. So if you couple a great offensive game with his wonderful defensive skills then you’re going to probably win.
For Whiteside though, it seemed as though he wasn’t engaged. And at this point, the Heat try to run plays through him. He only collected six rebounds. This is the same guy who once had 14 rebounds in one quarter against the Dallas Mavericks.
And I don’t think Kanter has a special knack for getting rebounds over Whiteside, because Whiteside got those 14 rebounds in one quarter over Tyson Chandler, who is as tall and athletic as anybody. Whiteside has to be aggressive against guys like Kanter, because those are the types of guys he will meet in the playoffs.
Unfortunately, the Thunder are somewhat of an Achilles heel to the Heat because of their up and down pace. Miami doesn’t have the youth and athleticism anymore to stay with a team like that. That is what makes them so scary in the playoffs, assuming that they are able to sneak in.
The Heat were out rebounded 52-40 in yesterday’s game, and were out-rebounded on the offensive side 22-12. Also, the Thunder racked up 56 points in the paint over against Miami’s 40. All of that is attributable to Whiteside’s performance.
Yes, this is a team game, so I am not putting all the weight on him. Just the parts that were up to him, like rim protection and rebounding. And those things have been his role for a while, so it isn’t as though I am asking something out of the blue.
The bench didn’t do well at all either, shooting 11-for-34 from the field. So one can easily blame them if one felt like it. But the bench not playing well is why they are on the bench. It is possible for the bench not to play well. It isn’t a good thing if your starters didn’t play well. And Whiteside, Dwyane Wade and Luol Deng didn’t play well at all. The Heat have a big game coming up against the Milwaukee Bucks, and they need to come out aggressive.
The playoffs are on the line.
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