Miami Heat Makes and Misses: Whiteside struggles, others surge

Miss: Hassan Whiteside

There’s no doubt it was a tough stretch for the Heat’s big man, who continues to work his way back from a knee injury. Whiteside was puzzling for most of the week, struggling to find any consistent effort and rendered unplayable late in games, in favor of the more versatile Kelly Olynyk and James Johnson.

Whiteside’s problems stemmed from a number of factors, the most troubling of such appears to simply be a lack of effort and focus.

This is a simple read, if Whiteside weren’t fixated on watching the ball. He isn’t in a pick and roll situation and has no responsibility to the ball. Meanwhile, his true responsibility Enes Kanter slips behind him and is able to get open for an easy basket. Whiteside simply cannot recover in time.

There’s no reason for Whiteside to get caught in this situation, and this isn’t the first time he’s had a very obvious mental lapse on the defensive end this season.

Overall, the Heat are still better defensively with him on the floor than off (Defensive Rating of 101.7 on, versus 106.5 off). But offensively, over the last three games, the Heat were worse during Whiteside’s 66 minutes; notching an offensive rating of 108.5 with the center on the floor, compared to 113.6 off. More concerning than the numbers too, was the idea that Whiteside couldn’t stay on the floor late in games, with most of his damage coming in the early periods.

Through three games, Whiteside logged just eight and a half minutes in the fourth quarter and overtime.

Much will be made about Whiteside’s value to the team at the moment, especially if his metrics continue to trend in a direction that further proves the Heat are better off with him on the bench. The reality is the center could still be injured, or still working himself back into shape, making this something to keep an eye on as we enter the dog days of the season.