Pulse of the NBA

(SportsNetwork.com) – Hassan Whiteside was a pretty well-kept secret up until his amazing performance in front of a national television audience on Sunday, when the Miami Heat center put up 14 points, 13 rebounds and a franchise- record 12 blocks in just 25 minutes of a 96-84 win over the Chicago Bulls.

It was the quickest triple-double which included blocks in NBA history.

But this wasn’t the first eye-opening performance from the 25-year-old center who bounced around the NBA Developmental League and had stints in China and Lebanon. Whiteside completely dominated DeAndre Jordan with a 23-point, 16- rebound performance in only 29 minutes on Jan. 11, as the Heat won in Los Angeles, 104-90.

The Heat were a very good defensive team during their four straight trips to the NBA Finals, but now head coach Erik Spoelstra is really happy to have a great rim protector in Whiteside.

“Clearly he gives this team a different dimension,” Spoelstra said. “That’s exactly what this team needs. He just needed time to develop. Big guys sometimes take longer. He had to go through his trials and tribulations of being in the league, but also playing in China and Lebanon to get to a point where he was really ready to embrace what was necessary. You root for guys like this.”

The coach isn’t the only one thrilled with Whiteside’s presence.

“It’s special,” said Dwyane Wade of Whiteside’s skill set. “We didn’t have that through our championship runs. That was the one missing piece. Obviously, when we got (Chris Andersen), that gave us a lift. But a guy like Hassan, he’s special.

“He gives us a confidence both defensively and offensively,” Wade added. “It puts pressure on a defense knowing that if they make a mistake, the big guy is going to catch it and dunk it.”

Whiteside’s presence on the front line – he’s 7 foot, 265 pounds – is obviously a big help to Chris Bosh, who openly admitted his new teammate was a complete mystery to him prior to his arrival from the D-League on Dec. 15.

“Nope,” Bosh quickly said when asked if he had ever heard of Whiteside. “I said, ‘Where’d he come from?’ It’s truly remarkable the way he’s slipped through the cracks. But I’m glad. When we signed him, I didn’t know how big he was. When I saw how big he was and saw his athleticism, I was thinking, ‘Man, he could really help us out.’ Now, what he’s doing is, of course, more than I expected. But I just want him to stay grounded.”

Wade is doing all he can to keep Whiteside grounded and is constantly in his ear. “I’m always talking to him: ‘Your job is to stay on this court. You have to figure out how to stay out here. We’re better when you’re out there.'”

For the season, Whiteside is averaging 8.2 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.4 blocks in just 17.1 minutes per game. But since the start of the New Year, when his game really started to take off, the numbers have jumped to 12.7 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.6 blocks in just over 23 minutes a game.

His per-36 minute average of 5.1 blocks is tops in the league and he’s third in rebounding at 14.2 per game.

Whiteside’s shot-blocking and rebounding ability shouldn’t come as a major surprise as he led the nation in rejections in his one season (2009-10) at Marshall with 5.4 blocks per game, and averaged nearly nine rebounds in just 26 minutes.

So how good can Whiteside be?

According to Wade, “The sky is the limit.”

QUICK DRIBBLES

The addition of Jeff Green might give the Memphis Grizzlies the edge in the very hotly contested Southwest Division. The Griz are 7-1 since acquiring the six-year veteran from the Boston Celtics, and now lead the Houston Rockets by two games, the Dallas Mavericks by 3 1/2 games and the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs by 4 1/2 games. Green, who is averaging 12.9 points in nearly 29 minutes since coming to Memphis, is a huge upgrade over Tayshaun Prince, who was sent to Boston in the deal.

The Detroit Pistons will definitely miss Brandon Jennings, who went down for the season on Saturday with a torn Achilles, but at least they have a very competent replacement in D.J. Augustin. The 27-year-old point guard was in a similar position last season in Chicago when the Bulls lost Derrick Rose. He averaged 14.9 points and five assists, which prompted Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau to say, “He saved our season.” The Pistons are 0-2 since losing Jennings, but it surely hasn’t been because of Augustin’s play. The six-year veteran had 35 points and eight assists on Sunday against the Toronto Raptors, and put up 19 points and nine assists in Tuesday’s loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Categorized in: NBA