Q & A with FanSided’s Miami Heat editor
By Brian Boake
Once again, we learn about the Raptors playoff opponents from an expert, its FanSided editor. Welcome, Wes Goldberg from Miami.
In what is becoming a happy tradition here at the Rapture, we are pleased to bring you some questions I’ve asked of FanSided’s Miami Heat editor. Wes Goldberg’s answers to my queries are in bold.
The Miami Heat has displayed remarkable resiliency by continuing to play well despite the loss of Chris Bosh in February. Which player(s) have stepped up when needed, and who has been the most pleasant surprise?
Luol Deng’s move to power forward has saved this team, and his play since the All-Star break has been remarkable. I’ve said this before: But it’s truly amazing that Deng has not only slid into the position LeBron James left when he returned to Cleveland, but also the position of Bosh. Deng’s filled the roles of two franchise cornerstones and Hall of Famers in two seasons.
Hassan Whiteside has been the subject of much speculation about whether he will return to the Heat next season. Do you have a sense of what he’s going to do?
During every broadcast of every Heat game this season, someone inevitably drops the “someone is going to pay this guy the max this off-season” line. While I don’t doubt that, I do wonder who that “someone” might be. The Nets? The Lakers? The Trail Blazers? Are any of those teams better equipped to win now than the Heat? Sure, maybe they can offer a couple more million dollars a year, but I don’t know how much that matters to Whiteside. To me, the biggest factor is his role on the team. If he knows he’ll be a starter next season, I think he would be willing to take a minor discount to re-sign with Miami.
Erik Spoelstra has shown a lot of faith in his rookies, Justise Winslow and Jason Richardson. What are those two doing right?
The veterans on the Heat consistently talk about how the two rookies show a maturity beyond their years. In the case of Winslow, he walked onto the court without an ego, looking to make an impact on the defensive end and make the small, in between, hustle plays that set teams apart. Richardson didn’t have the immediate impact but came along after the All-Star break thanks to the rigorous work he put in to improve his three-point shot and fill a need for the Heat.
Were you surprised at the result of the Charlotte series?
I wasn’t. I knew this was going to be a tight series, though I expected the Heat to pull through. What I was surprised in was the way the series was played. Both the Hornets and Heat took each other out of their respective games, with the Heat running Charlotte’s shooters off the line and the Hornets clogging the paint to force Miami to take jumpers. It was a wonderful display of coaching by Erik Spoelstra and Steve Clifford, and a really fun series to watch.
Why isn’t Josh McRoberts getting more burn?
He was the first center off the bench for the end of that Hornets series, but overall his minutes have been far and few between. It’s a topic of mystery among those covering the Heat and fans, but for some reason McRoberts has been extremely reluctant to shoot the ball. He passes up wide open shots, favoring instead to pass the ball to even covered guys or, worse, dribble directly into traffic. On defense, he’s been inconsistent defending the pick-and-roll and isn’t quite physical enough even to be a small-ball center. McRoberts is a great passer and, at best, a dangerous point forward who can throw off mismatches, but the negatives have outweighed the positives recently.
Thanks, Wes!