Miami Heat: How Hassan Whiteside can rebound from a disappointing 2017-18 season

If the Miami Heat fail to trade Hassan Whiteside this summer, we explore a few ways he can rebound after a disappointing 2017-18 NBA season

"“Why are we matching up? We’ve got one of the best centers in the league. Why are we matching up?”"

According to the Miami Herald, this, which came in a post game interview after a Miami Heat loss to the Brooklyn Nets, was not new from Hassan in recent months.

He had repeatedly expressed displeasure with his role on the Miami Heat, even as others argued for the changes that’d taken place in the offensive system According to Basketball-Reference, from January 25th to March 8th Hassan averaged 13.5 points per game and 11.7 total rebounds per game while playing 25.4 minutes per game.

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The 17-game stretch saw a significant drop off in performance from the previous year, where he averaged 17 points per game and 14.1 total rebounds per game on 32.6 minutes per game.

Hassan Whiteside in the Pick-and-Roll

Hassan Whiteside first came into prominence during the 2014-15 season, back when the Miami Heat were using him as a screener in the pick-and-roll.

Here, a perimeter player walked the basketball up to the three-point line and waved for Hassan to set the screen. Whiteside then stayed in screening position until the perimeter player analyzed his defender for the next course of action. If the defender remained underneath the screen, the perimeter player would shoot the open jumper and Whiteside would maintain his position to force the defender to contest the shot.

Once the shot was taken, Hassan would run to about the restricted area to get in position for an opportunity at the rebound. This offensive system keyed into his strengths as a player, dunking and rebounding.

According to Draft Express:

"Hassan developed a knack in college for “finishing off the ball and crashing the offensive glass, relying on his physical tools to do so”."

Hassan Whiteside with dribble handoffs

However, during this past season, the team chose to alter their offensive system from a pick-and-roll offense to more of a dribble handoff. According to NBA.com, the Heat ran 431 more dribble handoffs than pervious season going from 501 possessions to 932 possessions.

For Instance,a perimeter player walks the basketball up to the three-point line and passes the ball to a teammate standing in the high to mid-post area. The teammate then turns sideways and holds the basketball until another player comes to get the ball. The teammate who is standing in the high to mid-post area finally turns himself into a screen to begin the process of the pick and roll.

Unfortunately, Hassan Whiteside would sometimes be the player standing in the high to mid-post area. As a result, opposing players would often stick their arms between the ball and the hands of his teammate to stop the dribble handoff. The disruption would force Hassan to keep the ball and shoot a jumper, make bad pass and/or put the ball on the ground, leading to a turnover.

The issue was the primary catalyst behind Hassan Whiteside having a significant reduction in his minutes per game. According to Basketball-Reference, Hassan went from 32.6 minutes per game during the 2016-17 season to 25.3 this past season.

If Hassan Whiteside is a part of the Miami Heat roster for the 2018-19 season, they should exclusively use him in the pick and roll to accentuate his offensive strengths, dunking and rebounding.

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On the other hand, if the team wants to trade him, they should wait until the first wave of free agency is over as he will most likely be a backup plan for pick-and-roll teams like Houston or New Orleans.