Hassan Whiteside had a triple-double in 24 minutes of playing time on Sunday afternoon for the Miami Heat. Whiteside, a seven footer, came in and showed ridiculous activity at the rim on both ends of the floor against the Chicago Bulls. He had 5 blocks in the first half and went for ten points, nine rebounds, and seven blocks in the second half.
Whiteside single-handedly outplayed the Bulls’ front line of Pau Gasol, Joakim Noah, and Taj Gibson while on the floor. He helped Miami take a 96-84 win at Chicago.
From Whiteside after the game:
“It’s a blessing, you know, I told my teammates, man, you won’t believe how things work out in life. Three months ago, you can ask anybody in Charlotte at the downtown [YMCA], I was just there. At the downtown Y, just chillin’. Workin’ on my game. I couldn’t even get a team to pick up the phone.”
From Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra:
“He’s much more disciplined than he used to be when he first came into the league. He had the talent, the timing, the size. But let’s not say he’s just learned how to block shots — his one year at Marshall was sensational in terms of blocking shots (182 in 34 games, a 5.35 average). He just needed time to develop [and] big guys sometimes take longer. … You root for guys like this.”
“Each game he makes big plays. Not only blocks — I mean, the blocks jump off the page. But his presence around the rim, the rebounding in traffic gives us those extra possessions offensively.”
Since the New Year, Whiteside has averaged 12.3 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 4 blocks per game while shooting 70.4 percent from the field and a 77.8 shooting percentage in the restricted area.
(via NBA.com)