Miami Heat Roundtable: What’s the deal with Wayne Ellington?

And is there anything Hassan Whiteside can do, to better fit in with the team’s current system?

Eyrich: Hassan Whiteside is a rebounding machine. Unfortunately, a lot of those rebounds are normally stolen from other teammates for no reason. He also racks up a fair amount of blocks, but he seeks them so much that the rest of his defense struggles because of it. As a 7-footer, he can’t be as big of a defensive liability as he has been. If he can clean it up on that end, his padded stats won’t be as empty and the team would benefit dramatically.

Campbell: It was refreshing seeing Whiteside on the court late in the fourth quarter, in the 101-99 win over the Houston Rockets  on Thursday. He was engaged, grabbing a few rebounds and even making some free throws. The big man can still contribute and be a factor on the court. What can he do to fit though? He still needs to shoot better and move around more on the floor, especially if his man is pulling him from the paint to the 3-point line, since let’s be honest, most centers still aren’t shooting 3’s. If they doesn’t improve, there’s really nothing else he can do. Bam Adebayo is steadily improving himself and is much younger than Whiteside. Therefore, I still expect Adebayo to get the bulk of minutes, late in games.

Johnson: Honestly? Grin and bear it. Whiteside got benched during the Houston game because Adebayo was a better defensive fit to guard Clint Capela. Such is the case of being 7-feet tall in the NBA in 2018. I doubt Spoelstra is doing it maliciously, so Whiteside needs to seize each moment he can, and do his best to cheer on Miami when he is out.

Rahming: Sure. But will he? Don’t be fooled. Spoelstra hasn’t played Adebayo exclusively when he wants to run zone, but you can tell Whiteside isn’t very comfortable in it because he knows his limitations and so do his teammates. Instead of taking 3-pointers, Whiteside should’ve been working on shuffling his feet on defense so he can have a better chance at setting in front of his defender when the time comes, as well as his defensive stance so that he’s not foul prone while defining the drive. He’s often seen standing around in no-mans land when he’s not directly involved in the action, and he telegraphs this by shrugging his shoulders and looking around to his teammates. A few weeks ago, someone on Twitter pointed out to me that Whiteside sets weak screens so I started to pay attention. Since that day, I’ve maybe seen him set one legit screen that the ball handler can actually use and get his defender stuck on. It pains me to say this, but Whiteside might fall into a category of bigs that I label ’big for nothing’. At his size, he should be making sure to get to the ball handler quick, while planting his feet with all his weight. He’s got to be able to take contact too. And make a free throw. For someone that talks so much game, it’s not a good look.

Merry Christmas Eve eve.