First, he called this the "flop-offs," upset about Jeremy Lin, Cody Zeller and others flailing about to draw fouls on him.

Now Hassan Whiteside has given us what might be called the count-off.

The latest revelation of frustration occurred after he was asked -- following Thursday's practice -- about how the Hornets are playing him, when he's on offense.

"They're a team that's really big on just taking away the paint, at the center position, and making it a little tough," Whiteside said. "That's all they focus on, taking away the paint. A lot of times, I've got four or five guys around me. It's not really about me scoring. As long as I can open up things for my teammates, I feel like I'm doing a great job."

Asked about whether he can pass out, Whiteside focused instead on it being tough for teammates to get him the ball.

"It's amazing they haven't gotten a defensive three-seconds (violation) yet," Whiteside said. "They stay in the paint. So... I don't know."

Whiteside has been seen regularly chatting up officials, including at halftime of the Game 5 loss at home to Charlotte.

What's that been about?

Well, in part, it's been about Al Jefferson's stays in the lane on defense. Just as on offense, players are only allowed to be in the lane for three seconds.

"I mean, on every offensive possession, I'm counting, I'm counting for the ref," Whiteside said. "I got up to like six at one time, in front of him, and he still didn't call a defensive three. I'm just going to just keep trying to get a defensive three on one of their guys.... I'm right beside him. I'm counting them off. I'ts like preschool, we're counting together."

The officials tell him that Jefferson is moving.

"I'm like, yes, he's moving," Whiteside said. "He's moving in the paint. I'm going to just try to help my guys out, just try to get them out of the paint."

Whiteside also said he's afraid to catch the ball when he's shot towards him, "because it looks so crazy," and he's wary of being called for goaltending.

Incidentally, the NBA ruled that Whiteside should have been called for offensive three-seconds during the final two minutes of Game 5.