Portland Trail Blazers center Hassan Whiteside was conspicuous by his absence in the fourth quarter of Portland’s 121-115 loss to the Utah Jazz on Thursday night. The Blazers themselves are full of praise for reserve center Skal Labissiere, but down in Jazz-land, they’re taking the opposite tack: panning Whiteside.
Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune headed up his reaction to the win with a video breakdown of Portland’s schemes against the Jazz, most of which cast Whiteside in a poor light.
Larsen began by quoting Damian Lillard claiming that Whiteside was the “best defensive center, shot-blocking center in the league”.