I still can't wrap my brain around the fact that this time last year, this dude was waived by a D-League team. Just ridiculous that a guy went from D-League to what looks like one of the top defensive centers in the NBA in just under a year. He's averaging 4 blocks a game and a 26 PER at the moment. He's for real.
He was considered a head case I think. But yeah his rise from a year ago is amazing. Too bad he plays for the heat. I still hate Miami.
You could see this coming when he was at RGV. Dude was ready. Just needed a second chance. Too bad we didn't sign him. He was there for the taking.
Wouldn't have blossomed to this extent if he were here, competing with Dwight, D-Mo, and Cappela. It sucks for the Rockets but being traded and eventually joining the Heat was the best thing to ever happen to Whiteside. Now he is about to get paid. Happy for him.
Will be interesting to see who pays Whiteside and how much they give him. He's been great on a minimum salary deal. And he's earned some money. But I don't think I'd be willing to extend him a max contract offer if I were a GM. Just don't trust what he'd do if he had that kind of money. I think I'd probably be comfortable offering him Tyson Chandler money. I'd think somebody is going to offer him the max or at least close to the max (90% or so). But I wouldn't be comfortable signing him to a deal that large.
He's getting the max, which will be risky. He's talented, but very very immature. No telling what he will do when he gets paid.
Agree with that. Whiteside was producing at RGV in limited time. Enough for a minimum contract look. But they held his attitude against him. I wouldnt trust him with max money. He's still cut from the Andrew Bynum Larry Sanders "i'm big so I guess pay me for that" cloth.
He got it with 9 minutes remaining and Miami only has 74 pts. Wonder if that a record for triple double on the lowest team points.
Those blocks aren't completely empty stats, but it's worth mentioning that a guy like Mozgov (and quite a few others) who averages 1.2 bpg is a better rim protector than Whiteside.
While I get the general idea of your post, is the statement actually true? I am pretty sure White is a better rim protector than Mozgov.
I think it is. Hassan is simply contesting everything, and is often out of position to get the defensive board when he doesn't get the block, or gets pump-faked and then opponents score easy points. OPP FG% stat also back that up:
Yep the percentage is still pretty good, just shows that his fundamentals aren't that good and that he's relying on blocked shots entirely, because whenever he doesn't block the shots it's almost guaranteed points for the opponents. So if you're a high IQ player and you have some pump fakes in your arsenal it's very easy to beat Whiteside's rim protection.
Yeah, even with his flaws, still worth the 20 per year coming his way. His defensive plus minus this year is 5.6, which is pretty much in the sick range. to put that in perspective, Dwight Howard's best season was +5. Hakeem's best seasons were at around +6.
Yep, I'm not saying he doesn't make an impact, there's obviously much more to defense than just rim protection. There's rotations, PnR defense, 1v1 defense etc. I was just saying that people shouldn't overhype his block numbers too much, since they are somewhat similar to Kevin Love's rebounding.
