5. The plateauing of Josh Richardson and Hassan Whiteside
As the Heat hover in the race for one of the last three Eastern Conference playoff spots...they have to be disappointed in the play of two would-be franchise pillars.
Whiteside hasn't really been that in a while. Miami re-signed him to a max deal in the orgiastic summer of 2016 because they were backed into a corner. Fit between player and team has always been fraught. Now, Whiteside is a high-profile backup. The flip side of that transition is happy: Bam Adebayo is a legit starter -- hoppy, fast, a smart passer with growing confidence in his elbow jumper.
Whiteside has had some monster games off the bench, including against Boston on Wednesday. He puts up numbers. A lot of his advanced defensive metrics are better than ever.
But he can't shake bad habits. He still chases no-chance-in-hell blocks, leaving the defensive glass naked.
He can be baited into overplaying his hand early in defending the pick-and-roll.
Richardson's shooting numbers ticked down before his injury Wednesday: 41 percent overall, 36 percent from deep. The burden of first-option semi-stardom proved a little much. He looks more at home toggling between that role and rocketing off pindowns while Justise Winslow runs point.
And that's fine! Winslow is enjoying a career season. Richardson is a really good two-way player. But he'll turn 26 before next season, and didn't make the sort of progression Miami envisioned when he became a sticking point in trade talks for an All-Star.
"Legit Starter"
Bam career 21.6 mpt, 7.9 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.9 apg, 0.7 spg, 0.7 bpg
Bam 2018/19 23.2 mpg, 8.8 ppg, 7.2 rbg, 2.3 apg, 0.8 spg, 0.8 bpg
"No Pillar"
Whiteside career ("Heat") No! Okay, Whiteside career, including one game with Sacramento in 2010, 18 games with Sac in 2011, and 4 games with Memphis, 2012, before joining Miami. Fine! We'll include those cups of coffee to dilute the strength of his stats)
Whiteside with coffee 26.1 mpg, 13.4 ppg, 11.4 rpg, 0.6 apg, 0.6, spg 2.3 bpg
Whiteside 2018/19 23.5, 12.3, 11.5, 0.8, 0.6, 1.9
So, "Legit Starter" (starting in place of "No Pillar" this year) is -0.3 in mpg, -3.5 ppg, -4.2 rpg, +2.5 apg, +0.2 spg, and -1.1 bpg.
This year "No Pillar" is only 10th in the league in rebounds and 8th in blocks.
In 2015/16 with Miami he led the league in blocks! In 2016/17 he led the league in rebounds! Nobody else on this fucking team, minus D-Wade and the Dragon, has ever led the league in any statistical and never will!...I take that back: D-Wait routinely leads the league in off-season dpd, donuts per day.
You know what? I give up on the YoungWhiteside debate. Lowe doesn't like him, Spo doesn't like him. He's "No Pillar" of the franchise.
"Plauteau"
J-Rich career stats 30.7", 12.1 ppg, 42.5%, 3.2 rpg, 2.9 apg.
J-Rich 2018/19 34.8, 16.6, 41.2%, 3.6, 4.1
"Career Season"
J-Wins career stats 28.2", 8.9, 41.9%, 5.3, 2.6
J-Wins 2018/19 29.6, 12.5, 43.4%, 5.4, 4.3
Whatever you say, Zach.
And on that note, Miami just lost another one. In Minnehaha, 111-109.
