Hassan Whiteside dunks against the Los Angeles Clippers
by Andrew Powell | Miami SPORTS & Lifestyle
HASSANITY!!!!
The
craze that’s took over Miami and South Florida!
After
LeBron James left for Cleveland back in July, a lot of HEAT fans were left hurt
and disappointed. After four straight NBA Finals and two NBA championships, the
crash that Miami fans experienced after such a high was something that seemed
may take awhile to get over. Yes, the HEAT still had Dwyane Wade and Chris
Bosh, but everybody knew the automatic NBA berths were over.
LeBron’s
gone. No more big three. And Miami was forced to move on.
The cover of the Sun Sentinel when LeBron James left Miami to go back to Cleveland
Most
expectations from people, including myself, had Miami between a 3-5 seed this
season because of the returns of two All-Stars and the signing of Luol Deng and
other key players, but the HEAT started out with inconsistent play full of
injuries, chemistry issues due to switching up the lineup every night, no defense
nor rim protection, and were suffering from the LeBron effect. Then you had the
23 point lead over the Philadelphia 76ers that was blown that lead to another
loss. It brought Miami’s record to a total of 13-16 for the season.
Then
something miraculous happened.
A seven footer, a rare commodity that’s always being looked for in the NBA, slips through the cracks and into the hands of the Miami HEAT.
And not just any seven footer.
An all-around seven footer that is athletic, defensive, and dunks every ball that is passed to him. Sunday in the Bulls game, the HEAT had made a shot and Chicago passed across the court that lead to what was supposed to be an easy layup. Whiteside transitions down the court, not what seven footers do, and blocks the ball. He had a total of 12 BLOCKS in that game! 12!
The Chicago game marked the national presence of Hassan Whiteside, but Miami has been witnessing the greatness for a month now. The game that really set off Miami was against the Los Angeles Clippers when Whiteside put up a stat line of 23 points, 16 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals. Other notable games from this month was the complete of the LA sweep against the Lakers when he scored 15 points, grabbed 9 rebounds and blocked 5 shots; and another double-double against the Brooklyn Nets when he was 11-10 and put up another 5 blocks on the stat sheet. The month of January has been WOW for Hassan Whiteside, but the problem lays in the sample size.
The Miami HEAT organization hasn’t gotten as excited as me and you. Pat Riley says he wants to see 20-30 games of Hassan playing 30 minutes per before really judging what they have. They pay a lot of attention to the sample size, as they should, and realize that it’s only been a month, and he hasn’t been playing many minutes. After all, this guy did get passed on by a lot of NBA teams and ultimately had to go to Lebanon and China to play. So it’s understandable why the HEAT would be cautious.
Then the last game against the Milwaukee Bucks happens to be the first bad game with the HEAT for Hassan Whiteside. Yes, it was a bad game for him, and he still ended the night with 16 points and 16 rebounds. It was just another double-double coming off an incredible triple-double against the Bulls.
Indeed the sample size is small, but it’s getting safer and safer to say that Hassan Whiteside is here to stay.
MY PREDICTION: I feel that sky is the limit for ‘Young Whiteside’. This kid has proven that he can ball, and I see a lot of greatness in his future.
He said on the Dan LeBatard Show the other day that he feels like his career could be like David Robinson: a 10-time All-Star, a one-time MVP, a two-time champion with the Spurs and he also has two gold medals with USA basketball in the Olympics.
And oh yeah, he’s a Hall of Famer.
If Hassan Whiteside continues to put up double-doubles and the occasional triple-double on a nightly basis, who’s to say that Hassan’s prediction for himself will be wrong?
When a bad game is 16 points (50% FG) and 16 rebounds, then what is an elite game for Hassan? Remember, he didn’t play 30 minutes in a game at all this season until last night, so when he has a great game playing 36 minutes, what would it be?
The greatness of 14 points, 13 rebounds and 12 blocks against the Bulls was only 26 minutes long, so if he’s playing that 36 at that level of greatness, what would the final stat line be?
And that right there is why we have Hassanity.
The next few weeks are going to be interesting to see what happens with the progress (or the regress) of Hassanity. Whiteside will be getting minutes in the 30’s, and we’ll be able to see who Hassan Whiteside really is. The past month has already been exciting with the big games, the talk and excitement from fans, writers, and radio hosts; and Ronnie from NBA 2K raising Hassan’s stats after he famously said after the Bulls game, “I’m just trying to up my NBA 2K rating.”
They raised his rating from 59 to 77.
I feel really good about this guy, and I see a very, very bright future for Hassan Whiteside and the Miami HEAT. I believe a level of greatness can be achieved to bring multiple championships to the city of Miami...again. I know I’m speaking early, but it speaks volumes about this franchise and what I’ve seen so far from Hassan. The HEAT already had talent to build around, and now they have a legit seven footer to add to the rotation. Miami was planning for 2016, and now they have this, with that summer still ahead.
Oh my…
Hassan Whiteside is just the beginning of what’s to come in the Miami HEAT’s future, and Hassanity will only get bigger in my opinion. With what’s already going on in South Florida and 2016 approaching, there’s no telling how big things really can get for the Miami HEAT.
Get ready, Miami! It’s going to be a Hassane rest of the season, and an interesting next year!
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