Considering how little the Miami Heat projected rotation players played together last season, there have been plenty of preseason questions surrounding the way they fit together on both ends of the floor. One of the more important questions is how Hassan Whiteside and Chris Bosh, two dynamic big men, pair together on both ends of the floor. As the Washington Wizards found out on Wednesday night, there are going to be times when the answer to that question is very well.
https://vine.co/v/eVmdbJBPtDi
(vine via Free StreetHistory)
The Whiteside block is impressive enough. John Wall is so fast that it isn’t easy at all to be able to beat him to where he wants to go. Once you get there though it takes even more talent and timing to explode up with Wall and block his shot, both of which Whiteside does. Of course a defensive possession doesn’t just end with a block, especially when the offense corrals the rebound like Marcin Gortat does in this play.
Which is where Chris Bosh comes in. Gortat is no pushover, so trying to block his dunk attempt isn’t a guaranteed success. But Chris Bosh is a really good player and he is able to do just that thanks to his length and athletic ability, turning Gortat away and making it look easy.
While this one sequence doesn’t mean that Bosh and Whiteside will fit together perfectly this season, it does at least provide some encouraging signs. Both are pretty good defenders in their own right and if they can team up like this every once in a while to clean up teammates mistakes the Heat should be pretty dangerous, and fun, this season.