Hassan Whiteside

Strengths

Over the last few weeks of this season, there has not been a hotter player in the nation in terms of draft stock. Whiteside began the season as a relatively unknown freshman, but since, he has become lottery talk amongst NBA front offices. At 6'11", he is a long athletic front court player, who offers extreme athleticism. He is an explosive leaper and quick for a man of his size… His length and explosiveness off the floor have helped Whiteside become one of the top rebounders and shot blockers in the country. He has two triple-doubles on the season, and narrowly missed a third. His 5.4 blocks per game top the nation. He is one of the few players in the past years that an offense has to game plan against Whiteside. He has excellent timing on opponents' shots, enabling him to deflect shots and redirect others… Opponents have tried to take Whiteside away from the rim, but he has shown pretty good lateral quickness, giving him the able to not only defend on the perimeter, but also minimizes the effects of a switch and mismatch on D… Offensively, he has shown some glimpses of an effective hook shot, but lacks the consistency to be a true threat. Similarly, he has shown the ability to hit a 12'-15' jumper, but has thrown up air balls on multiple occasions. Around the rim, he is a solid finisher… He gets to the free-throw line about five times a game…

Weaknesses

Adding strength to his upper and lower body would substantially help his game. With added strength, not only would he be able to create and maintain space on the offensive end, allowing him room to operate, but also make him more likely to finish with contact as well… He is unpolished in almost all areas of his offensive games, but he has shown flashes. His footwork needs the most work and then from there, his post moves will develop and then his mid-range jumper… On the same note as his poor/inconsistent footwork on the offensive end, Whiteside will roll the incorrect way on pick-and-rolls (will turn his back to the ball) and end up just running towards the rim, instead of picking, then rolling with the defender on his back, making a seemingly unchallenged layup or dunk… While he gets to the foul line a decent amount, he is a poor free-throw shooter. Simply repetition work from the foul line would do wonders for Whiteside's offensive production...