Dragic, Whiteside disagree on cause of Heat's ball screen woes

There appears to be some disagreement in Miami about who's to blame for the Heat's inability to make the most of their ball screens. If you ask Hassan Whiteside and Goran Dragic to pinpoint the cause, you'll get two different answers.

As he's often the biggest man on the court, Whiteside is usually tasked with setting screens for Dragic and Dion Waiters, creating enough separation for the small backcourt to break away from their defenders and create mismatches. He claims the guards aren't waiting for him to get into position before making their moves.

"The guys aren't being patient," Whiteside told the Palm Beach Post's Anthony Chiang. "Me and (Dwyane Wade) showed (patience) all year long. We ain't had no problems. It's just being patient, man, just be patient, wait for the screen and let guys set you up and make decisions."

But Dragic says Whiteside needs to be more consistent in how he sets his screens and how long he holds contact before disengaging from the defender.

"If me and Dion want to get in the paint, then, of course, we need good screens so we can get there and break down the guys and try to spray it or finish," said Dragic. "When there's no screen then it's really tough because then you have two guards, two players with nowhere to go. So that's why it's really hard to get open shots and create open shots."

"I think Kelly (Olynyk) is really good at (setting screens)," Dragic added. "We need to get Hassan to do that. But, he got to that a little bit, he's already shown he could do it. The Detroit game and Washington game, he was great. But we need to be consistent."

Whether it's Whiteside's inconsistency or the guards' impatience, the 7-9 Heat better rediscover their chemistry quick. With matchups against the soaring Celtics and a steadied Cavaliers squad in the coming week, they'll be hard-pressed to get back to .500 by the end of November if they're not on the same page.