Whiteside, sitting in the locker room, put a towel over his head and stared straight at the ground in front of him. Although he didn't say a word, Addison could tell that the big man's heart was tumbling with frustration and unwillingness.

Whiteside also played against Gortat during the regular season, when the Heat center was dominant, especially on the defensive end, and his physicality and reach caused the Poles quite a struggle. But when it comes to the playoffs, it seems that everything is different. The white-skinned center seemed to have become much more agile and cunning all of a sudden, and on several occasions Whiteside felt that nine out of ten blocks had turned into opportunities for the opponent to shake his weight away, so that he could easily attack the basket.

Marsin. When did Gortat become so strong? The footwork, offensive skills, and even strength are much better than when they were in the previous position?! Whiteside was puzzled, and always felt that the situation he was facing was not very real.

"Let's hope Miami supporters don't turn hostile to us because of those words, I've always thought Whiteside has a lot of potential, but he's really at an overrated stage." The two commentators in the live broadcast room were also discussing this topic, "If you can't see it in the regular season, but through the performance of this half of the playoffs, the problem has been exposed." ”

"Whiteside's strengths are athleticism, agility and a natural sense of blocking, but that's where his shortcomings, or lack of experience, come from." Drexler summed it up, "Relying on his good movement on the defensive end has led to a very immature defensive position, quite immature for a basket protector. Let's take 25-year-old Dwight. Howard, for comparison, was rough offensively at the time, but was already among the top in the league on the defensive end...... Being named to the All-Defensive First Team and winning the Defensive Player of the Year honor are testaments to his defensive prowess. The 25-year-old Howard is significantly better at choosing defensive positions than Whiteside now, after all, the center exists as the last wall of the team's penalty area protection, rather than playing a 3-and-D role of running around on the court.

"At the same time, Whiteside has another fatal flaw, which is that he likes to block too much. The first priority of the interior defense is to prevent the opponent from putting the basketball in the basket, rather than chasing the ball to fan it out on every ball. Perhaps because of what happened before his career, Whiteside was so enthusiastic about blocking that he could prove his ability, so enthusiastic that he would sometimes lose his position defensively, and even be exploited by opponents. ”

Bill. Wharton nodded, and continued, "Marsin. Gortat isn't quite the league's leading center, but he's good enough. The Pole has played in the Finals, played as a substitute and played as a regular player, and his experience is far higher than that of Whiteside, who is still obsessed with statistics. Especially on the offensive end, Gortat can block and score in the pick-and-roll, can attack in the low post, and can also shoot in the high post...... It was clear from the first half that he had seized on his opponent's desperate desire to prove himself and dangled Whiteside into his trap in quick succession. Whiteside, by contrast, is like an impatient kid who jumps up or loses his position at the slightest feint, and he doesn't show the mentality of a defensive pillar at all. ”

"Marsin. An interior player like Gortat, who is not yet the league's top center, can eat Whiteside in the playoffs, if the Heat's center can't beat this opponent...... Then he doesn't have the right to challenge Al at all. Horford, Kevin. Lefou's more powerful inside line. Drexler made a final decision about Whiteside's poor defense in the first half, which made many Heat fans watching the live broadcast grit their teeth with hatred, but they couldn't refute it.

……

"Tell me, Hassan, do you know your opponent?" Spoelstra stood in front of Whiteside and asked in a calm voice, "Do you know yourself?" ”

Whiteside looked up at the manager in a bit of a daze, not knowing what to answer. The atmosphere in the locker room fell silent and everyone was watching.

"It doesn't look like you know yourself...... But your opponent is different, he not only knows his strengths and weaknesses, but even knows you well. Spoelstra's expression became serious, "He understands that you are a young man who often chooses a bad defensive position, and he also understands your heart that is always frizzy, and he understands that you are always going back and forth between low self-esteem and conceit." ”

Whiteside opened his mouth to retort, but his lips squirmed twice, but he couldn't say anything. The young center's eyes darkened, and it would be fine if he couldn't defend against a top center like the Gasol brothers, but he couldn't find an excuse to defend himself by an opponent like Gortat who he could suppress in the regular season.

"Think about my words, Hassan......" Spoelstra looked at the other man and walked back to the center of the dressing room, "you are the center of the team, you have to strengthen the defense of the whole team with your own strength, not the whole team to cooperate with you and make you a machine that can only block." ”

***

"In the first leg of the second half, the Wizards' offense was once again in Gortat's hands."

Although unhappy with Whiteside's performance in the first half, Spoelstra did not replace him in the third quarter and continued to play. Alexie. Atkinsa was good today, but his mobility and sense of smell are still far from Whiteside's.

The ball was passed to Gortat in the low post through the wing, and the Polish center leaned on his opponent with his back, felt the power of Whiteside, and immediately slammed into it. Gortat felt that the young man behind him did not respond as fiercely as in the first half, and he immediately turned outside a half, squeezed his opponent and raised his right arm to hook the basketball towards the basket.

Whiteside, who has always been agile defensively, reacted a full beat slower than Gortat this time, almost watching the opponent hit a hook basket. His expression was a little confused, obviously in a state of dilemma.

"If Coach Spoelstra coached Whiteside at halftime, then all I can say is that his coaching was not successful......" The corners of De Drexler's mouth twitched when he saw this scene, "At least the center of the Heat team could show his flexibility in the first half, and now he reacts like an old man, slow and hesitant." ”

Bill. Wharton didn't say anything, he frowned and looked into the arena, but his face didn't have the surprised and sarcastic expression of his partner. As a former super center, Bill. Wharton can probably understand where Whiteside is and why he's stiff.

The Heat center listened to what Spoelstra said to him at halftime, and he was trying to change his defensive habits. But correspondingly, Whiteside is now very ignorant, and he wants to go from desperately chasing blocks to becoming a real defensive pillar, as the head coach said, but he doesn't know how to change because of his lack of experience.

When you ask a person to abandon their habits and follow another method, that person will definitely show a long period of confusion. Whiteside is in this state now, and when he first played against Gortat, he tried to show himself as a defensive pillar and a stable defense, but the habit of abandoning himself made him play a four-like, and the opponent scored easily.

- What the hell should I do?! What the hell does it take to become a so-called defensive pillar?!

Whiteside patted his head in annoyance, and Addison punched the young center in the back, signaling for his opponent to focus on the next round of attack.

Spoelstra crossed his arms on the sidelines, expressionless, and he could certainly see what troubles Whiteside was in. Although the head coach's face was calm, he was very anxious inside. It's the playoffs, and every game is so decisive that there's not much time left for Whiteside to figure it out or complete his transformation.

Besides, how can the growth of a center on the defensive end be done in the time of a game?! Whiteside had complicated the problem, and now Spoelstra wanted him to do just recognise the strengths and weaknesses of his habits, and didn't ask him to evolve into Tim in a single game. The defensive core of a team like Duncan......

Fortunately, Whiteside's troubles on the defensive end did not carry over to the offensive end, perhaps because he was reminded by Addison, or perhaps to demonstrate to Gortat, and the Heat center appeared very resolute in this offense. After Addison wiped inside with the help of screen, Whiteside quickly turned and headed down the box. Although around after John. Wall blocked Addison's breakaway, but Gortat, who was brought up to block, couldn't keep up with Whiteside.

Addison gave the ball to Dwyan, who was running over, as soon as he couldn't break through. Wade, the two backcourt players completed the tacit exchange of positions and runs. In Wall and Bradley. There was a moment of hesitation in Beal's defensive focus, and Wade handed the basketball back in.

The Chinese point guard didn't let the basketball stay in his hand at all, and the right hand that received the ball flew into the penalty area along the gap that Gortat couldn't fill in time! Whiteside, who had already descended to the three-second zone, took the basketball and did not run one more step, but directly pulled up his 7-foot tall body, grabbed the basketball with both hands and smashed it into the net basket not far away!

Seeing this scene, the **, who intended to make up for the defense, couldn't help but cringe, and stopped and watched the other party rush to the basket like a beast!

"Boom !!" Whiteside, who ravaged the basket, stared directly at Malsin. Gortat, his eyes full of anger and aggression, seemed to want to burn the big Polish man who was over 30 years old with the flames in his eyes!