South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Can anyone make a free throw? Heat, Whiteside can’t
CHICAGO — Last and last.
That’s where the Miami Heat and center Hassan Whiteside found themselves in free-throw percentage entering the weekend, in the wake of Friday’s foul-line debacle in the loss to the Detroit Pistons.
At .686 from the line this season, the Heat went into Saturday’s game against the Chicago Bulls at the United Center last in the league in foul shooting. And at .429 from the line, Whiteside ranked 122nd and last in the league in percentage among players who have met the NBA qualifying standard for attempts.
“Just got to make ’em,” guard Dwyane Wade said in advance of his final game in his hometown amid his farewell season. “We shoot ’em all the time. We practice ’em. We’re in practice every day, making 10 in a row. We’re making ’em.
“It’s a confidence thing, as well, especially with Hassan right now. It’s just all got to get back in the confidence mode, when he goes up there, knowing he can make it. Right now it’s a mental thing.”
The Heat entered Saturday ranked 16th in the
30-team NBA in free throws attempted per game, with their wayward percentage leaving them 25th in conversions from the line.
“A lot of it is hard when you’re not going there, getting a rhythm and all these things,” Wade said. “But it’s just a free throw and it comes down to it and that’s how we lose the games.”
Guard Tyler Johnson said the effort is there. “It’s just a little bit more concentration,” he said. “I see guys working on it, so it’s just a matter of when you’re getting up there, taking a couple of deep breaths and knocking ‘em down.
“I don’t think it should be that big of a concern, as something we should overanalyze.”
But it’s hard not to after a game in Detroit when the Heat shot 5 of 19 from the line and Whiteside went 0 for 8.
The .263 percentage at Little Caesars Arena was the second worst in the franchise’s 31 seasons with at least 10 attempts, ahead of only the .231 (3 of 13) on April 5, 1991 against the Los Angeles Lakers. It was the worst free throw percentage in a game with at least 15 attempts, with the previous low in that category at
.370 (10 of 27) on Feb. 11, 2005 against the Charlotte Bobcats.
Of his struggles in Detroit and beyond, Whiteside said. “I don’t know. I’ve never went through this in my life. I’ve been playing basketball all my life. I really can’t tell y’all what’s going on. I don’t know.”
But he did offer a theory.
“I can’t duplicate the way I get fouled out there,” he said. “I’m getting hard fouled every time I get sent to the free throw line. I’m going to stick with it. It’s nothing to really think about. I’m just going to keep shooting a couple hundred, a couple thousand, whatever amount it takes.”
Coach Erik Spoelstra, however, said Whiteside was not held out of the finish in Detroit due to foul shooting.
“It was just the momentum of the game,” he said, “and they went small.”
The Heat have struggled from the foul line since LeBron James’ departure during the 2014 offseason at the end of the Big Three era with Wade and Chris Bosh. The Heat ranked 14th in foul shooting that season, at .760. They since have ranked 22nd in
2014-15, 23rd in ‘15-16, 30th in ‘16-17, 22nd last season … and now last.
“We’ve got to figure out a way to fix it,” Wade said.
Harm, but no foul
Contrary to the Heat’s contention, the NBA ruled Saturday that Wade was not fouled on his potential game-tying 3-point attempt at close of Friday’s loss in Detroit.
Per the NBA’s officiating report: “Bullock (DET) is retreating and Wade (MIA) jumps forward to create the marginal contact during his jump shot attempt.”
The Heat had contended that Reggie Bullock did not afford the required landing spot.
Spoelstra had said, “It looked like he got clipped. He was moving in one direction very fast and it looked like Bullock was underneath him. You have to let a shooter land.”