Has Hassan Whiteside restored your faith in him yet?
Ebrahim: Looking at the stats, I was definitely considering saying yes to this. After all, he started the preseason with a 20-point and 13-rebound double-double, and followed it up with a 14-point and 15-rebound double-double. But what I noticed looking at the stats, is that his play actually got worse throughout the preseason… Does this mean that opponents have been holding back their starters until the later games? Or did he dominate the starters already and Spoelstra just dialled back his usage? He’s played roughly the same amount of minutes each game, so there has to be more to the story. While his rebounding stayed roughly the same, his shooting declined rapidly and his assists continue to remain non-existent. The good thing is that he’s only taken two 3-pointers so far, especially when he had all the fans worried that he would be shooting from all over the place after this offseason.
Rahming: Whiteside has restored my faith in his skillset and mindset coming into this season. But, what I’m not sure about is whether he will get what he desires from Spoelstra. Whiteside truly wants a get out of jail free card. His skill is great, but he wants to be allowed to stay on the floor and work through his mistakes. Whiteside is a volume player who takes a second to warm up in game and get going. Being yanked off the floor after every mishap, actually damages his ability to recover, thus pushing him further into the sunken place. When he looks around the league and sees guys like Joel Embiid, Andre Drummond, JaVale McGee, and DeAndre Jordan, who seem to be able to stay on the court despite missed free throws, defensive errors, missed shots, and in some cases foul trouble, it makes him question why he can’t get that level of treatment. It’s clear he’s the best center on the roster. Let him live a little, even if he fouls out some games.