What the HEAT should do with Whiteside?

[Dave Gray]

Basketball is weird.  Sometimes, you're better off with inferior players on the floor.  This is true of a lot of big men.  Even though Whiteside is a better player than others, his presence forces a style of basketball that cause the HEAT team to play poorly.  We get drawn into a mid-range jump-shooting contest and we can't keep up.

So, even though Whiteside is great, his head isn't always on straight.

It's the end of his contract -- what do we do?  Pay him market value or let him walk?  Or something in between?

[Phishfan]

I don't even know who he is. I guess that shows how up I am on the Heat currently.

[Fau Teixeira]

Let him walk.. he'll get big offers from some team that's desperate

[Rich]

Last season, I would have said to pay the max. This season, I am not so sure.

The Heat is a flawed team. Whiteside makes them better defensively, but they are flawed offensively.

That being said, a part of me says part of the flaw on offense is also Wade.

[Spider-Dan]

Whiteside does not make the team "better" defensively.  He chases stats and is a defensive liability; for example, he doesn't help on pick-and-rolls, preferring to hang back in the hopes of getting a block.

[masterfins]

I don't even know who he is. I guess that shows how up I am on the Heat currently.

I was thinking the same thing.

[Rich]

Whiteside does not make the team "better" defensively.  He chases stats and is a defensive liability; for example, he doesn't help on pick-and-rolls, preferring to hang back in the hopes of getting a block.

I agree that he chases stats, but the fact of the matter is that the team is a better defensive unit when they have a rim protector on the floor than when they don't.

[Dave Gray]

I agree that he chases stats, but the fact of the matter is that the team is a better defensive unit when they have a rim protector on the floor than when they don't.

The stats don't bear that out, though. 

They are better at protecting the rim when he's in the game, but other teams play around it.  I believe we're statistically worse off offensively when he's on the floor.

[Rich]

The stats don't bear that out, though. 

They are better at protecting the rim when he's in the game, but other teams play around it.  I believe we're statistically worse off offensively when he's on the floor.

I said earlier in the thread that he makes us better defensively (and the stats do demonstrate this), but that we are flawed offensively.

I'm not sure what is your point of disagreement.

[Rich]

Ok, I did some research and (statistically speaking) I was wrong. Earlier in the season, I saw stats that said the defense was better with him but that no longer seems to be the case statistically.

Even more ironically, the Heat are better with him on offense despite the fact that when the ball goes to him, it never comes back out and he is more frequently taking stupid shots.

Just goes to show stats can be misleading.

[Dave Gray]

I also meant defensively.  We're worse off defensively, despite him being a good defensive player.  It changes the scheme or something and we do poorly.

[Spider-Dan]

He's not a good defensive player; he leaves holes in the defense specifically so he can chase blocks.

He's the equivalent of a DB who jumps routes for INTs but frequently gets burned doing so.

[Dave Gray]

I don't agree with that assessment that he's not a good defensive player.   Sometimes he gambles, but he is a good rim defender, in general.  It's when he's asked to come out, it changes the game and open up for backdoor cuts and mid-range jump-shooting.