Last week, D.J. White finally got back on the court as a member of the D-League’s Tulsa 66ers. And after tearing it up to the tune of 17.3 points and 9.7 rebounds in three games, the Oklahoma City Thunder have recalled him to the NBA today. Supa sweet.
With the season coming to a close here and the Thunder sitting at 20-50, hopefully White will get some playing time before season’s end.
Thanks to Hoosiergirl for the tip.
The opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament is complete and here are the top three brackets in the current standings of the Pick ‘Em Challenge on Inside the Hall. We had over 500 participants in this year’s contest.
Dumes Soft Elbows: 59 points
Hoosier Daddy: 58 points
Irishprd19: 58 points
Around the Hall is recommended reading from the Inside the Hall crew.
+ Hugh Kellenberger writes that the dream is still alive for Jordan Hulls and Blooomington South. {Bloomington Herald-Times}
+ Franklin Central coach Mark James knew his team needed to play a near perfect game to beat Bloomington South. And they almost pulled it off. {Indianapolis Star}
+ Bloomington South senior and IU signee Jordan Hulls says its a dream come true to advance to the state title game, but his team still has work to do. {Indianapolis Star}
Quotable:
“It’s been a dream of mine since I was little kid to play in a state championship game. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very happy right now. We’ll celebrate, but on Monday we’re going to get back to work.” – Jordan Hulls after Bloomington South’s 58-55 win over Franklin Central in the Class 4-A semistate.
‘That’s a wrap’ is Inside the Hall’s player-by-player postseason breakdown of the 2008-2009 Indiana Hoosiers. Today: Devan Dumes.
Final statistics: 12.7 ppg; 2.9 rpg; 72 percent FT’s; 41 percent FG’s; 23 steals
Until the late season emergence of Verdell Jones, Dumes was the most consistent Hoosier offensively for a majority of the season. Under normal circumstances, Dumes would be the 8th or 9th man on a middle of the pack Big Ten team. But as we all know, the circumstances in Bloomington this season were far from normal and Dumes was forced into a more prominent role. His most memorable performance was a 27-point effort in IU’s lone Big Ten win over Iowa.
But the storyline that garnered the most chatter on Dumes in 2008-2009 was a two-game suspension following a series of elbows thrown and ejection in the Michigan State game. After that game, Dumes, joined by Tom Crean, apologized for his actions in a press conference and missed games against Minnesota and Illinois. If Dumes is to return and become the leader of next season’s team, he’ll need to become more disciplined with his emotions and not let tough defense get under his skin.
Quotable: “It’s been difficult, I’m really not sure there are words that can express it because it’s a very tough thing to go through. But we never gave up, we always fought people and we got through it. There have been a lot of stepping stones, and we’ve just got to get better.” – Devan Dumes after IU’s loss to Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament.
(Photo Credit: Joshua Levering/WFIU)
After undergoing jaw surgery in October, D.J. White hasn’t seen one second of playing time. (Well, he didn’t appear in a game with the Thunder before that either.)
But fear not, Hoosier fans, as D.J. was cleared by doctors Monday to resume full-contact drills. White will be a member of the D-League’s Tulsa 66ers. According to Ridiculous Upside, White is joining a bit of a talented roster in Tulsa, so hopefully he finds his way into a starter’s role in an effort to make it onto the Thunder’s roster as early as next season.
Best of luck, D.J.
‘That’s a wrap’ is Inside the Hall’s player-by-player postseason breakdown of the 2008-2009 Indiana Hoosiers. Today: Kyle Taber.
Final statistics: 4.3 ppg; 5.2 rpg; 70 percent FT’s; 51 percent FG’s; 29 steals (led team)
Besides Verdell Jones, you can make the case that no other Hoosier improved more throughout the course of the season than Taber. The former walk-on was a solid contributor throughout the season and late in the year, it seemed like Taber actually belonged on the court. That’s saying something for a guy who came to Bloomington with no expectation of ever seeing the floor for more than mop-up duty.
More importantly than his on-the-court contributions was the way Taber handled himself around his teammates and off the court. He was thrust into a leadership role despite not having the playing experience to merit such a title. But he handled the role admirably. When the ink dries on the history books for this season of transition, casual observers will remember all of the losses. But many IU fans will remember Taber’s leadership and his improvement throughout the season. As they should.
Quotable: “I would think that they would still continually remember his improvement. The fans should see the improvement over the period of time he was here. We’ve seen it and we’ve only been here one year. That he was a huge part of laying a foundation and put everything he that had into it, responded day in and day out, change his personality on the court and continued to improve all the way down the line. And if we can look at that with him five years down the road and say, you know what, the guys in that program are doing the same thing. They are getting most out of their talent, they are getting the most out of their mindset, all those different things, then I think that would be a great place to start.” – Indiana coach Tom Crean on Taber.
