This kids mental makeup must have been really, really bad coming out of college. How do you go from getting cut by Rio Grande Valley, and pretty much the rest of the D-League, to getting cut from a team in Lebanon, to then randomly being a double/double big man in the NBA? That's not physical or skill related. That shows there was some serious mentality/maturity issues with Hassan as a person. Let's see what happens with how he handles NBA success now. Breaking through in the NBA is one thing, handling success in the NBA is a whole other thing. I still stand by Morey here that it was a good move to draft Patrick Patterson over Whiteside (a move that many here were very angry about a few years ago), and I think it was a smart move to not sign him this offseason to backup Dwight. Id rather give more minutes & TRUST to Capela.
Hassan Whiteside played a grand total of 308 minutes through 29 games for the Vipers. That's a grand total of around 11 minutes a game. As you well know Whiteside was acquired by RGV and had to play behind Vernon Macklin, Tim Ohlbrecht, Donatas Motiejunas, and Terrence Jones, the last two who were Rockets players with NBA players. So...bottom line was Whiteside got scraps while playing at RGV. He got mop-up minutes. I don't know if he even started a single game and if he did he probably only started one or two as an injury replacement for one of the other 2 guys who were already entrenched starters down there. And at that time we were developing both Ohlbrecht and Macklin and were considering both of them for future NBA contracts. We later gave Ohlbrecht a contract and made him a Rocket. (EDIT: Now that I think about it I think he did get one or two starts and when he did he exploded for like 20/20 with close to 10 block or something insane like that.) So he didn't get much of a shot with the Vipers. As far as him not caring.....I don't think that's the case. Dude works out like a dog. He wants to succeed. But if you'll notice how he plays...even now in Miami...he doesn't get up and down quickly enough. He lopes up and down the floor. He's consistently the last one down offensively and 99% of the time he trails his defensive responsibility back down the floor in defensive transition. Dude STILL looks like he don't give a ... out there. A couple factors here: 1. If you can't tell by now he ain't the brightest bulb in the drawer. He'll never win an award for basketball iq. He's a slow thinker and mostly reactionary. Watch him on the defensive glass. He'll rebound the ball, throw the outlet and stand there and watch what happens after that, thinking there's going to be a break. Not until it is obvious that the offense is going to set up does he decide to put it in gear and lope down and set a pick. None of that has changed between when he was in RGV and before he was in RGV and NOW! That's all the same about his game. Dude has a slow processor. No way around it. 2. Hassan is so big that his loping appears to be slower than it is. He's covering a lot of ground with those strides. And it appears he sure could run a lot faster. But perhaps he just doesn't have that gear. Kareem never had a fast gear even when he put his head down and went for it (which was about 2 possessions a season mind you). And Thabeet for sure has no speed besides tractor no matter what he does. I don't think you can ultimately judge bigs like Hassan and Thabeet and others based on whether or not it appears they are hustling or not. It should be obvious by now that he's a hard worker. He's in great shape physically. I think he's put on around 30-40 pounds of muscle since he was drafted. That's one long and big giant right there. And here's what he's got that you just can't teach or get from the heart either: He's got athleticism mixed with a 9'6" standing reach. And that is why he is going to continue to succeed now at the NBA level. That dude can pick quarters off the top of the backboard off a 2 feet stationary leap with no running start. His massive reach combined with his athleticism MAKES HIM AN NBA PLAYER. We're not talking about a 6'9" dude with 7'6" arms and a standing reach of 9'. We're talking 9'6" of standing reach combined with athleticism. Just to be clear about him, I DO NOT think that Whiteside will ever be a great player in the NBA. He won't be a superstar. He won't be a star. But he will have a nice, long career in the NBA as a backup/part time starter in the league. He'll be much more productive than the vast majority of backup bigs in the league. Because he has grown into his massive body and because he has played with professional players enough that he's figured out how to play the game somewhat. He'll never be great because he doesn't process fast enough and he has some terrible habits that he may never break such as watching the ball. But when you compare him to undersized guys like Joey Dorsey or big guys with no athleticism and no skills like Thabeet, or with skilled guys that aren't athletic like Al Jefferson....Whiteside will give all of them trouble because of his combination of basketball skills and athleticism. And.....he may get overpaid this summer. Wouldn't surprise me a bit if some dorky team gave him the full MLE (or more) to get him to sign with him. I wouldn't want my team to do that. However...I did bellow long and hard for my team to give Whiteside the contract he eventually received from Miami because I knew whichever team finally gave him a second chance after he had gained so much muscle weight and experience would discover what I could already see. But ....... my team chose Joey Dorsey instead. And Dorsey hustles more than Whiteside........
