5:57pm: The Heat have fined Hassan Whiteside for what they deem “comments detrimental to the team,” an ESPN report states.
9:00am: Frustrated all season by reduced playing time, Heat center Hassan Whiteside launched a tirade against the coaching staff after Saturday’s overtime loss to the Nets, relays Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.
Whiteside played just 20 minutes in the 53-minute game and didn’t get off the bench in the fourth quarter and overtime as the team was using a small-ball lineup to match up with Brooklyn.
“It’s annoying,” he said to reporters. “We shouldn’t. Why are we matching up? We’ve got one of the best centers in the league. Why are we matching up? A lot of teams don’t have a good center. They are going to use their strengths. … There are a lot of teams that can use a center.”
“I don’t know if it’s because I’m on a minutes restriction,” he said. “The minutes have been like that all year. It’s really frustrating. It’s been frustrating. It’s tough. I don’t know, man. It’s crazy. I don’t understand it.”
When asked if the reduced minutes made him doubt if he has a future in Miami, Whiteside responded, “I don’t know. Maybe,” before a Heat public relations official ended the interview.
Whiteside has one year left on his contract at $25.4MM, then can opt out of a $27MM salary next summer. Jackson notes that if he does opt out, the Heat would have to unload another significant salary to be competitive in a star-studded free agent market. He adds that Whiteside’s comments may make Miami’s front office more likely to consider trading him before that option year arrives.
This specific example isn’t very meaningful to me, as 2nd game back from injury normally could represent a game with limited playing time. Whoever I was unaware of the season long trend of his reduced minutes and I agree with him that it doesn’t make a lot of sense. I get that his throw shooting makes him a liability in clutch time, but still an ideal small-ball lineup can consist of 4 spacers/shooters and a lumbering center still.
Something isn’t quite adding up for one of these sides. Either Whiteside is overreacting (and he has indeed missed 30 games) or the Heat are mishandling him
However*
free throw shooting**
jeez
He’s overreacting. I’m a heat fan and I’ve watched most the games in the past 3-4 years. Whiteside is pathetic because he cries about everything when it doesn’t go his way.
Sounds like he’s a heat fan
in the 3rd quarter of this game the heat were getting out scored it was likely the switch to small ball that allowed them to stay in the game and outscore the nets in the 4th and allow them to get into overtime, and they only lost by 1 so this game really was about gameflow not whiteside. If this is true in this game it might also be true in other games as well. I would assume all one dimensional centers have seen reduced time league wide with how the game is played now. I don’t see this reality being specific to Whiteside.
If I were him, I’d opt in. No one else is going to give him 27M for 1 season. Maybe work on a 3pter, helped Lopez and Gasols.
I’ve supported Whiteside before, but this grows on me. He’s been injured most of the year, the team is a virtual lock for the playoffs where a healthy heat team can prove upsetters through the playoffs and he’s calling out minutes issues. Stop being a b****, support your team, and keep conditioned for the real games.
The problem is the writing is on the wall for the Heat to simply move on to Olynyk and Bam for big men in the future. I’m not sure if Whiteside is going to be a part of the Heat’s long-term plans.
Another overpaid Diva,,,waa waa, wish I had the kind of money he has coming from my employer, I’d just sit there and do as the coaching staff says and bank the paycheck, but be ready when called upon.
Big money comes with big ego. It’s easier from an outside perspective, but a lot of these players want to be he man.
$%&@ Whiteside. I’ve been saying I hoped he’d get traded for multiple years now. He doesn’t pay attention to any of the important details. He doesn’t play pick and roll defense. He doesn’t help the helper. He doesn’t pass the ball at all, and is a black hole in the post, where he is terrible, and a turnover machine. He is a selfish stat chaser, and that isn’t the type of player I want on the Miami Heat. Unfortunately, I don’t see anybody that would pay him at that price
I’ll also add that he literally stops playing, and not just sometimes. He will pout when he doesn’t get what he wants. He doesn’t even seem happy for his teammates success. I’ve even seen him get upset after someone else scored. If he doesn’t get the ball 1 time, he isn’t playing defense for 4 or 5 possessions, and then when he gets the ball, there is no chance he passes it
Just watched Atlanta Hawks today and they played muscala/Collins, plumlee & dedmon and had all of them out on the wing(5 our offense). Unfortunately the game is changing my friend(Whiteside) and teams aren’t looking to post up because that hasn’t been the winning formula for the past 3-4 years in the finals. Unless a team dethrones the warriors with an inside game I dont see the game going back to like it was with Shaq, Duncan , Hakeem etc.
And Whiteside is garbage in the post
i actually dont understand why more teams dont do that. instead of resting players on the second game of the back to back, have them play limited minutes
Could be wrong, but I would imagine teams do manage their players’ minutes differently for back-to-backs. It might not be a significant drop in minutes, but teams probably cut their stars’ minutes by a bit in one, or even both, games (and thus get a little more minutes from their bench). While I doubt teams gameplan like this, its also possible that some games on the end of a back-to-back are thought of as likely losses since they might be coming at the end of a long road trip or string of games in close succession. If that’s the case, the team might be willing to give their starters the quick hook if things start slow/bad.