We roll on with the draft threads, this time analyzing the Indiana University standout forward, D.J. White. White seems to be headed for a long and uncertain draft night on Thursday, as he could be selected anywhere between 26 and 50. Like many players who have simialr games and talent level, landing in a spot with the right "fit" for him will be the key to his future success.
When you think of DJ, more often than not you think of his high character and intangibles. He was a noble leader for his time here in Bloomington, coming back through all sorts of adversity and injuries and turmoil to be one of the favorite IU players among the fanbase in the last 10 years or so.
White hits the NBA as the classic "slightly undersized" power forward. He will never have the height to play center, and will never have the quickness or skills to play alngside 2 bigger players. In this way, he is a player with "position purity."
Offensively, he has some assets. He shows a decent post up game, with nice touch around the rim. He elevated well and has strong hands in terms of catching the basketball. He gets position well, as he has the move I like so well of driving his back leg in between the feet of the defender playing behind him. He finishes putback attempts with authority, no worries about this player going up soft trying to score in the paint, he much prefers to gather himself and flush the ball with 2 hands. He is a bit slow to jump, and takes some time to gather himself, but those aren't fatal weaknesses in a backup power forward/role player, which is what White really projects to be.
He projects to be a pretty good jump shooter from the high post/short corner area, from about 12-15 in. His release is kind of slow and weird, but he usually has enough basketball savvy to only take jump shots from this distance that he clearly has time to get off unhurried. He won't be able to make tough contested shots like Kevin Love can, but if open he will be able to make the mid range jump shot.
He has a huge gigantic weakness in his offensive game, but it isn't one that will likely ever be an issue in the NBA. DJ White is terrible at trying to pass out of the post when double teamed. He seems to really struggle to tell where the "doubler" is coming from, and is slow to recognize who among his teammates is open. He lacks the leaping ability or dexterity to either jump over/through/slide between a double, so he often grinds your offense to a halt when he faces 2 defenders. However, at this level very few times will present themselves where DJ will be drawing that kind of attention anyway, so this major weakness is rendered meaningless mostly.
What he ends up doing to avoid a double team is to simply dribble back out toward the perimeter, which of course creates all sorts of advantages for the defensive team. Rarely have I seen such a smart, effective player be this bad at this particular area. It's very weird actually.
DJ never played with another good post player at IU really, and the system his various coaches played didnt really lend itself to this, but I think DJ might develop into a nice post FEEDER from the short corner or high post/elbow area. Occasionally, when having the ball in these areas, DJ will really crouch low and seem like he'd be in good position to make a pass, except Indiana had no one decent for him to feed really. As noted, White is not a good ballhandler or passer in any other way, so me projecting him to be an excellent post feeder someday could be totally wrong. In the least, I think DJ will be extremely coachable in this area and be a WILLING passer of the basketball, and that's really all you can ask of him at this point.
White was not taught very well at IU to be a very good screener. At this point, Id say that bothers me more about him than anything else. He stands almost straight up when screening, and narrows his stance instead of widening it, letting the man he is screening get around him way too easily. This compounded the problems Eric Gordon had as a cutter that I wrote about in the draft thread about Eric. Gordon wasnt a good cutter at all, White was a bad screener, so that really hindered the IU offense in my opinion. I think in the NBA level he projects to be taught much better than he was at IU, so I think he can overcome this. I blame it much more on the staffs he played under than DJ himself.
DJ rebounds well. He blocks out physically, and really does a nice job of pulling the ball down hard and keeping it high after he gets his paws on it, keeping elbows out to protect the ball and himself. He isn't the quickest player into the air, which is why he won't ever be a great rebounder at the NBA level, but he will always put in the effort and give you what he has. He will get the ones a 100% of the time that come to him or near him. He also shows decent form on making a great 2 handed outlet pass, except it seems to take him forever to **** the ball into position to pass. He doesnt show super alertness or "feel" to just KNOW where his teammates might be, he normally has to look and actually SEE them before firing the ball ahead. This often means he loses some chances to start fast breaks because he doesnt quite recognize advantages soon enough. I liken this to a quarterback who waits to his reciever is open to release the football, instead of reading the defense and ANTICIPATING he will be open, and throwing it then.
Defensively, DJ will give you an honest day's work. He will fight for position, is willing to take charges, and can block some shots occasionally when the opportunity presents itself. I see him taking more and more charges as his body wears down, and his leaping ability, which already isn't anything great due to all the injuries, begins to fade even more. Occasionally when he gets tired, he will let up just a bit and let a man post him too easily and score on him. When this happens to him no one takes it harder than DJ himself, which is one of the traits so many IU fans liked about him.
So much of White's future depends on where he goes Thursday night. In an ideal world, he would go to a team with some veteran guys to mentor him and who would appreciate his lunch pail work ethic. He'd be best suited to play alongside a true legitimate big man, not a power forward masquerading as a center, and with a team that plays a more traditional, half court, power brand of basketball. White will be useless in my opinion to New York, Golden State, Denver, Seattle, Orlando, and teams like that.
But, put him on a team like Boston (I think DJ is better than Glen Davis), or Detroit (lots of halfcourt sets, good teammates) Cleveland (playing next to Ilgauskus), Houston (next to Yao, splitting time with the similar Carl Landry), and I think he makes some nice contributions potentially.
I grew to be a big fan of White in his days here in Bloomington, so I want the kid to make it. I think the most likely scenario for White is also one I think would be great for him and his future development: Being drafted by Portland in the early second round, and then being sent to play overseas for a couple of years like Antonio Davis did.
If Portland does this like I think they might, it would be an ideal marriage of smart roster management for them, and a chance to have a bright future for White. Over in Europe, he could play many more minutes earlier, and make alot of money developing his game. After an "apprenticeship" there, he could come back to Portland and be a sidekick for Greg Odon.
That is what I would do if I were Portland, and I think it is a real possibilty to happen. I hope it does.
If the Pacers need to use Ike Diogu as a sweetener to move back into the first round (another thing I find likely to happen), with his local ties and intangibles, White wouldn't be a bad fit for the Pacers at #41, if he slips that far. There are alot of guys I'd pick ahead of White, but I couldn't argue much with a selection of a great teammate that DJ is.
There are bunch of guys with DJ's skill level and size who havent made it in the league. There are also a bunch of guys who have. So much depends on who picks him and the situation he lands in. Some similarities I think White could potentially become like include Clarence Weatherspoon, Corliss Williamson, or Antonio Davis. Or, he could end up being Marcus Fizer, who pretty much was a NBA washout.
I'm hoping for the best for DJ White, one of the best character guys I've seen come thru Bloomington in a long while.
As always, all the above is just my opinion.
Tbird
When you think of DJ, more often than not you think of his high character and intangibles. He was a noble leader for his time here in Bloomington, coming back through all sorts of adversity and injuries and turmoil to be one of the favorite IU players among the fanbase in the last 10 years or so.
White hits the NBA as the classic "slightly undersized" power forward. He will never have the height to play center, and will never have the quickness or skills to play alngside 2 bigger players. In this way, he is a player with "position purity."
Offensively, he has some assets. He shows a decent post up game, with nice touch around the rim. He elevated well and has strong hands in terms of catching the basketball. He gets position well, as he has the move I like so well of driving his back leg in between the feet of the defender playing behind him. He finishes putback attempts with authority, no worries about this player going up soft trying to score in the paint, he much prefers to gather himself and flush the ball with 2 hands. He is a bit slow to jump, and takes some time to gather himself, but those aren't fatal weaknesses in a backup power forward/role player, which is what White really projects to be.
He projects to be a pretty good jump shooter from the high post/short corner area, from about 12-15 in. His release is kind of slow and weird, but he usually has enough basketball savvy to only take jump shots from this distance that he clearly has time to get off unhurried. He won't be able to make tough contested shots like Kevin Love can, but if open he will be able to make the mid range jump shot.
He has a huge gigantic weakness in his offensive game, but it isn't one that will likely ever be an issue in the NBA. DJ White is terrible at trying to pass out of the post when double teamed. He seems to really struggle to tell where the "doubler" is coming from, and is slow to recognize who among his teammates is open. He lacks the leaping ability or dexterity to either jump over/through/slide between a double, so he often grinds your offense to a halt when he faces 2 defenders. However, at this level very few times will present themselves where DJ will be drawing that kind of attention anyway, so this major weakness is rendered meaningless mostly.
What he ends up doing to avoid a double team is to simply dribble back out toward the perimeter, which of course creates all sorts of advantages for the defensive team. Rarely have I seen such a smart, effective player be this bad at this particular area. It's very weird actually.
DJ never played with another good post player at IU really, and the system his various coaches played didnt really lend itself to this, but I think DJ might develop into a nice post FEEDER from the short corner or high post/elbow area. Occasionally, when having the ball in these areas, DJ will really crouch low and seem like he'd be in good position to make a pass, except Indiana had no one decent for him to feed really. As noted, White is not a good ballhandler or passer in any other way, so me projecting him to be an excellent post feeder someday could be totally wrong. In the least, I think DJ will be extremely coachable in this area and be a WILLING passer of the basketball, and that's really all you can ask of him at this point.
White was not taught very well at IU to be a very good screener. At this point, Id say that bothers me more about him than anything else. He stands almost straight up when screening, and narrows his stance instead of widening it, letting the man he is screening get around him way too easily. This compounded the problems Eric Gordon had as a cutter that I wrote about in the draft thread about Eric. Gordon wasnt a good cutter at all, White was a bad screener, so that really hindered the IU offense in my opinion. I think in the NBA level he projects to be taught much better than he was at IU, so I think he can overcome this. I blame it much more on the staffs he played under than DJ himself.
DJ rebounds well. He blocks out physically, and really does a nice job of pulling the ball down hard and keeping it high after he gets his paws on it, keeping elbows out to protect the ball and himself. He isn't the quickest player into the air, which is why he won't ever be a great rebounder at the NBA level, but he will always put in the effort and give you what he has. He will get the ones a 100% of the time that come to him or near him. He also shows decent form on making a great 2 handed outlet pass, except it seems to take him forever to **** the ball into position to pass. He doesnt show super alertness or "feel" to just KNOW where his teammates might be, he normally has to look and actually SEE them before firing the ball ahead. This often means he loses some chances to start fast breaks because he doesnt quite recognize advantages soon enough. I liken this to a quarterback who waits to his reciever is open to release the football, instead of reading the defense and ANTICIPATING he will be open, and throwing it then.
Defensively, DJ will give you an honest day's work. He will fight for position, is willing to take charges, and can block some shots occasionally when the opportunity presents itself. I see him taking more and more charges as his body wears down, and his leaping ability, which already isn't anything great due to all the injuries, begins to fade even more. Occasionally when he gets tired, he will let up just a bit and let a man post him too easily and score on him. When this happens to him no one takes it harder than DJ himself, which is one of the traits so many IU fans liked about him.
So much of White's future depends on where he goes Thursday night. In an ideal world, he would go to a team with some veteran guys to mentor him and who would appreciate his lunch pail work ethic. He'd be best suited to play alongside a true legitimate big man, not a power forward masquerading as a center, and with a team that plays a more traditional, half court, power brand of basketball. White will be useless in my opinion to New York, Golden State, Denver, Seattle, Orlando, and teams like that.
But, put him on a team like Boston (I think DJ is better than Glen Davis), or Detroit (lots of halfcourt sets, good teammates) Cleveland (playing next to Ilgauskus), Houston (next to Yao, splitting time with the similar Carl Landry), and I think he makes some nice contributions potentially.
I grew to be a big fan of White in his days here in Bloomington, so I want the kid to make it. I think the most likely scenario for White is also one I think would be great for him and his future development: Being drafted by Portland in the early second round, and then being sent to play overseas for a couple of years like Antonio Davis did.
If Portland does this like I think they might, it would be an ideal marriage of smart roster management for them, and a chance to have a bright future for White. Over in Europe, he could play many more minutes earlier, and make alot of money developing his game. After an "apprenticeship" there, he could come back to Portland and be a sidekick for Greg Odon.
That is what I would do if I were Portland, and I think it is a real possibilty to happen. I hope it does.
If the Pacers need to use Ike Diogu as a sweetener to move back into the first round (another thing I find likely to happen), with his local ties and intangibles, White wouldn't be a bad fit for the Pacers at #41, if he slips that far. There are alot of guys I'd pick ahead of White, but I couldn't argue much with a selection of a great teammate that DJ is.
There are bunch of guys with DJ's skill level and size who havent made it in the league. There are also a bunch of guys who have. So much depends on who picks him and the situation he lands in. Some similarities I think White could potentially become like include Clarence Weatherspoon, Corliss Williamson, or Antonio Davis. Or, he could end up being Marcus Fizer, who pretty much was a NBA washout.
I'm hoping for the best for DJ White, one of the best character guys I've seen come thru Bloomington in a long while.
As always, all the above is just my opinion.
Tbird
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