2015-16 NBA Eastern Conference OFFICIAL THREAD

[bksballer89]

Another reason Hassan doesn't play in the 4th as much..

 

[trojanfan12]

i just find it funny how certain Heat fans tried to tear down Love for sitting out 1 fourth qtr- when its been happening to Whiteside on a repeated basis lately. The hypocrisy is always entertaining.

Whiteside is a 50% free throw shooter, no surprise that he's sitting out down the stretch, especially if it's close enough that a team might start fouling.

Love has no such excuse. He sits because he couldn't defend a chair.

What's truly entertaining is the way you continue to try to support your failed posts with more failed posts.

 

[bksballer89]

Whiteside is a 50% free throw shooter, no surprise that he's sitting out down the stretch, especially if it's close enough that a team might start fouling.

Love has no such excuse. He sits because he couldn't defend a chair.

What's truly entertaining is the way you continue to try to support your failed posts with more failed posts.

Yeah that was when his 4th quarter minutes starting decreasing. Once Spo noticed teams would use hack-a-Whiteside to either get back into games or prevent a heat comeback is when Spo starting using Whiteside less in the 4th.

Anyway back to back solid wins for Miami after a rough week. Hoping we can end the month with 19+ wins

 

[bksballer89]

Last season Miami did not win their 15th game until January 4th. There is a great chance they'll have more than 15 wins by Sunday

 

[bksballer89]

 

[trojanfan12]

hack-a-Whiteside

Hack-a-Whiteside is weak. We already had Hack-A-Shaq, Hack-A-Dwight, Hack-A-DeAndre.

When teams are fouling Whiteside they should call it Hassan chop.

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

lol...yah...Whiteside is "possibly the most dominant center in the league" playing 17 minutes...lol

it just cracks me up...very good player- not an all star- never a guy i would give big money to unless it was on a 1 or maybe 2 year deal.

Whiteside has shown he can do some freakish things, but also has some flaws to his game which opponents have exposed.
Plus as BK pointed out, the Heat have a decent small ball lineup and sometimes opponents go small ball to try to not have to deal with the strengths of Whiteside.

I've evaluated and criticized Whiteside fairly all season.
Plus, in close games he's going to get pulled if he's clanking FTs, as he should.

Regardless, hes still basically, in reality, an NBA rookie that the Heat got for nothing.
What happens next year with him will largely be decided by what happens the rest of this season.

Now, back to Love.
Cavs traded a ton to get him.
He's to this day, never accomplished anything of significance to help the Cavs win an important game or stepped up to show he can be a trusted leader if James is out.

And, he's a good FT shooter who can be mixed and matched in any sized lineup, so why is he being pulled in 4th qtrs of tight games?

 

[bksballer89]

So Indy were down 26-5 then went on a 42-7 run

 

[trojanfan12]

Regardless, hes still basically, in reality, an NBA rookie that the Heat got for nothing.

^^^This. 100% of it^^^

He's young and has shown that as long as he's willing to learn, he can be a really good player. Essentially, it's like the Heat were handed an extra 1st round pick.

 

[gordontrue]

Not sure where all this 4th quarter Kevin Love talk is coming from. It was a real thing last season... but not this season.


- Kevin Love is 3rd in 4th qtr minutes (8.2) for the Cavs behind only LeBron and Delly.

- Kevin Love is 2nd in 4th qtr usage% (20%) for the Cavs behind only LeBron.

- Kevin Love is 10th in the whole league (min 15 games) at 4th qtr defensive rating (87.9)

- Kevin Love leads the team in 1st and 3rd quarter scoring. The rotation is setup that he gets more minutes at the end of the 1st and 3rd when LeBron is on the bench.

 

[gordontrue]

^^^This. 100% of it^^^

He's young and has shown that as long as he's willing to learn, he can be a really good player. Essentially, it's like the Heat were handed an extra 1st round pick.

True... but one big difference is that the Heat are going to have to either fork over a max-type contract after just 1 season or lose him to FA. The best part about having great young players is getting them cheap for 3-4 years.

Still... every team wishes they would've seen what the Heat did in Whiteside and would gladly take him on roster for a year and a half at that price. Just pointing out an important difference.

 

[trojanfan12]

True... but one big difference is that the Heat are going to have to either fork over a max-type contract after just 1 season or lose him to FA. The best part about having great young players is getting them cheap for 3-4 years.

Still... every team wishes they would've seen what the Heat did in Whiteside and would gladly take him on roster for a year and a half at that price. Just pointing out an important difference.

True. But they also got him for a lot cheaper than they would have gotten a true 1st round pick, so it evens out a little. I do agree though, that they (or someone) is going to be paying him big money a couple seasons sooner than if they had gotten him in the draft.

 

[bksballer89]

True... but one big difference is that the Heat are going to have to either fork over a max-type contract after just 1 season or lose him to FA. The best part about having great young players is getting them cheap for 3-4 years.

Still... every team wishes they would've seen what the Heat did in Whiteside and would gladly take him on roster for a year and a half at that price. Just pointing out an important difference.

I think the Heat will let him walk. More and more teams are going to small ball. Even Memphis now benched Randolph in favor of small ball. Whiteside still doesn't have a post game good enough to warrant a max contract. He is also still a head case. Wade spoke with him about his attitude on the bench

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

I think the Heat will let him walk. More and more teams are going to small ball. Even Memphis now benched Randolph in favor of small ball. Whiteside still doesn't have a post game good enough to warrant a max contract. He is also still a head case. Wade spoke with him about his attitude on the bench

I agree as of today, but I think we still have from between now to the trade deadline to evaluate.
Lets consider though, that his success depends of the flow of the game around him, which has been very uneven so far, but it seems like Dragic is starting to get into a better rhythm with more and more players.

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

Not sure where all this 4th quarter Kevin Love talk is coming from. It was a real thing last season... but not this season.


- Kevin Love is 3rd in 4th qtr minutes (8.2) for the Cavs behind only LeBron and Delly.

- Kevin Love is 2nd in 4th qtr usage% (20%) for the Cavs behind only LeBron.

- Kevin Love is 10th in the whole league (min 15 games) at 4th qtr defensive rating (87.9)

- Kevin Love leads the team in 1st and 3rd quarter scoring. The rotation is setup that he gets more minutes at the end of the 1st and 3rd when LeBron is on the bench.

Regardless of those stats, how many of the minutes of tight games or losses did he contribute something that made the difference?
He's always been great at putting up meaningless stats.

I will say that I have seen him hit some 3's which helped the Cavs get back into games or extend the lead so the 4th qtr became unimportant.

 

[gordontrue]

Regardless of those stats, how many of the minutes of tight games or losses did he contribute something that made the difference?
He's always been great at putting up meaningless stats.

I will say that I have seen him hit some 3's which helped the Cavs get back into games or extend the lead so the 4th qtr became unimportant.

Yeah, that's very fair. I agree that most of his big moments have come in putting a game away early... or contributing to a run to get back in the game.

The thing is that LeBron has been very good at the end of games this season... with the exception of a couple of games. A lot of his 4th quarter performances have gone under the radar. In close games LeBron has had the ball in his hands and - for the most part - teams have chosen to play him straight up and take away his option to pass.

I would love to see more of a team effort - including with Love - in those critical moments... but LeBron has been delivering so I'm not gonna complain for now. I will say that Love has been one of the most vocal and active cheerleaders when he's been on the bench - which is a big difference from last season.

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

Yeah, that's very fair. I agree that most of his big moments have come in putting a game away early... or contributing to a run to get back in the game.

The thing is that LeBron has been very good at the end of games this season... with the exception of a couple of games. A lot of his 4th quarter performances have gone under the radar. In close games LeBron has had the ball in his hands and - for the most part - teams have chosen to play him straight up and take away his option to pass.

I would love to see more of a team effort - including with Love - in those critical moments... but LeBron has been delivering so I'm not gonna complain for now. I will say that Love has been one of the most vocal and active cheerleaders when he's been on the bench - which is a big difference from last season.

IDK.
In general James' stats are good, but in many of the losses, the games were close and he didn't have very good 4th qtrs.

 

[gordontrue]

IDK.
In general James' stats are good, but in many of the losses, the games were close and he didn't have very good 4th qtrs.

I'm not even sure what his 4th quarter stats are. I can think of 2 specific losses where he failed to deliver down the stretch. But I can think of at least a handful of games where he delivered very clutch game-winning type shots/plays in the final moments of very close games. Its only the start of the season and no single regular season game is very important for the Cavs - imo... but having watched every Cavs game so far... LeBron's performance at the end of close games has been as good as it ever has in his career.

 

[Mecca of the “B” Team]

Whiteside is a 50% free throw shooter, no surprise that he's sitting out down the stretch, especially if it's close enough that a team might start fouling.

Love has no such excuse. He sits because he couldn't defend a chair.

What's truly entertaining is the way you continue to try to support your failed posts with more failed posts.

50% is a wet dream for Clipper Fans

 

[Mecca of the “B” Team]

I think the Heat will let him walk. More and more teams are going to small ball. Even Memphis now benched Randolph in favor of small ball. Whiteside still doesn't have a post game good enough to warrant a max contract. He is also still a head case. Wade spoke with him about his attitude on the bench

I would let him walk unless the market for his skills is reasonable.

Max deal?