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Originally Posted by CloudWalker  Seeing as how you watched him play, what did you think of draftexpress.com's writeup on him?
Under his weaknesses they actually say "runs floor like old man". |
He's not a gazelle, that's for sure. This isn't Amir Johnson, fluidly galloping down the hardwood. DJ is very much a half-court player, but he can get up and down the floor as much as the Pistons would ask.
I wonder when that write-up was done. He's worked on much of those issues. His jumper was pushed out to 18-19 feet this year, although his release is slow, especially compared to McDyess. It looks a lot like Sheed's, mostly wrist action. This year he also became a much more skilled player, and seemed to not just default to the baseline turnaround jumper like he did as a freshman and junior (injured sophmore year). He does lack the quickness that say Maxiell has on the perimeter, but he would protect as a better on-ball defender because of his greater height and length.
His biggest weakness in the NBA, which isn't even listed, IMHO, is his passing. He improved from "awful" to "just really slow" in his ability to feel the double team and pass out of it to someone who was open. Mostly he would dribble out then look to pass or hand the ball off. But the comment about relying on his strength too much was really puzzling. IU fans will tell you that the biggest change in DJ this year was that he learned to rely on his big frame and muscled people around more. He has a lot of skills offensively.
This video shows how varied his repetoire is. Note that he can back down or face up, spin baseline or to the lane, and has the jumper and hook shot if he can't get to the rim.
YouTube - D.J. White Highlights vs. Wisconsin (01.31.08)