Pat Riley: Whiteside Has "Zo-Like Capabilities"
By Josh Baumgard
Hassan Whiteside had been a terror in the month of January before spraining his ankle on Tuesday against the Thunder, averaging 12.1 points, 8.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks in just 21.4 minutes. His production has been impactful and team president Pat Riley is not stunned by the big man's early success.
"I'm not really surprised," Riley said. "I remember when we had him here three years ago, there's a big difference in his body, his behavior, his maturity from what he was then and who he is now as a man.
"He might have been 230 pounds at the time. Now he's grown. The testosterone has kicked in. He's like 270 pounds. He's more mature. He's hungry."
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Whiteside has played 20 minutes or more in just six games this season, so it's justifiable to simmer expectations and slow down the feeding frenzy of this Hassanity. Riley feels they need to "give him 20 to 30 games of 20 to 30 minutes a game" to see if there's a level of consistency with his development but it's also becoming increasingly more difficult not to keep chugging the Hassan Kool-Aid, even while he's out. Coaching a plethora of all-time great big men, Riley couldn't help from striking a marvelling comparison, one that will sit well with Heat fans.
"Like finding lightning in a bottle, but I'm not going to overplay it," Riley said. "He does have Zo-like capabilities in shot blocking and being able to finish at the rim."
The Heat president isn't crazy to note the similarities in those two aspects of Whiteside's game. He blows the NBA away in blocks per 48 minutes (6.2) and is a staggering 73 percent around the rim (mostly due to an onslaught of dunks), nearly 20 percent above the league average. Mourning, a current Heat executive, was a two-time defensive player of the year for Miami and was never coy about throwing down a savage dunk on an opponent's forehead.
Making a consistent impact this season requires Whiteside staying on the court. He could miss his second game in a row tonight (game-time decision) when the Heat host the Pacers. There's no such thing as good timing in regards to injuries, but Whiteside went down at an especially brutal time for the Heat, right when the team strung together multiple quality outings. He brings a different energy to the team on both ends-- the Heat outscore teams by three points per 100 possessions with him out there, which leads the active roster.
A big man gifted in both defending and assaulting the rim increases the margin for error for everyone around him. Miami's defensive efficiency has finally been climbing out of the uncharacteristic gutter, and while it can't all be attributed to Hassan and his 21-minute average in January, dismissing him as a key factor would be foolish.
Miami's postseason hopes are fluttering. With teams on the outside of the playoff picture starting to get hot, like Charlotte and Detroit, there's no guarantee this Heat team is a lock for the playoffs after four consecutive trips to the NBA Finals.
They will need every potential weapon going forward, especially the seven-foot lightning in a bottle who happens to share some similarities with a Miami Heat legend.
Follow Josh on Twitter @JoshBaumgard
