I doubt it. Now how much he can improve depends on the coach/system he chooses, IMHO.
Murray prediction
- Thread starter Ghettobird
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I doubt it. Now how much he can improve depends on the coach/system he chooses, IMHO.
For a lot of reasons, the star system is always prone to being way off with particular players. Evaluations by our coaches much more important. John Calipari took an early commitment from Charles Matthews, only a 4 star. I bet real money right now that Matthews will outplay some of the 5 stars who have been in this program in recent years. Willie Cauley Stein and Devin Booker were both 4 stars. Ryan Harrow, Archie Goodwin, Kyle Wiltjer, Marcus Lee all 5 stars. Shabazz Napier was a 4 star. Russ Smith was a 3 star. So stars are only guesses by people who may or may not have seen the player. It is nuts to judge Jamal Murray by stars. Murray is an underclassmen, playing in Canada, and his only significant exposure came in the recent Nike Hoops Summit. So most talking heads assigning stars to Murray had never actually seen him play before the NHS. I laugh when people say Murray is not athletic. He has good quicks, good hops, great size and strength for a guard. He can score inside and outside, also a dangerous midrange game. He has a great handle, and easily drives past good defenders to get to the rim. I see 2 areas where a good college coach can produce improvement in Murray's game. For 1 thing, he can improve as a passer. Another thing. His defensive game still has a ways to go, but he has the athleticism, quick twitch, long arms to become a good defender. Calipari is the perfect coach to bring the best out of Murray, but that is up to Murray to decide for himself. If Murray picks Kentucky, that team would give nightmares to every team we play. How do you keep Murray, Briscoe, Matthews, Ulis out of the lane? Can't be done. Most teams would be forced into playing zones, but then we have Briscoe, Mulder, Murray, Ulis who can pour it in from the perimeter. With Labissiere and Poythress on the baseline, they would be impossible to defend, and I predict this will be Calipari's best coaching performance.
My view is NBA executives don't want to be known as the guy who picked Todd Fuller instead of Kobe Bryant or Johnny Flynn over Steph Curry. The way Murray uses his dribble to set up his jumper is very Curry-like. He has the size of a Jason Kidd with a great feel for the game. It isn't too hard to see that this kid has the potential to be special and I'm sure people are telling him that too.
I dont disagree but there are 50 kids every class that are being told they have potential to be special.
Curry and Kidd are lofty comparisons off a couple of all star games.
I hope we get him and he turns out great.
I don't agree with the Curry and Kidd comparisons for Murray. Think Brad Beal is a much better comp.
Didn't think they ranked foreign players, but I will take their grade with a grain of salt, seeing as they are the group that didn't have Bledsoe in their Top 100.
Rivals and Scouthoops have him as a 5*
ESPN and 247 have him as a 4*
Choose to like whichever you prefer. I'm just answering your question. In the end he most likely grades up to a 5* especially if he doesn't reclassify.
Mudiay's stock did not soar when he went to China. He has always been a top 5 projected pick. Nothing changed for him at all. That's a poor comparison.
We haven't seen enough of Murray to know he is a sure fire star, but Cal probably has.
It's likely he at least will compete for that last starting spot.
It's a safe bet he starts.
I think he ends up being our number two scorer behind Labissiere. If that is the case, he has a shot at the lottery.
It's likely he at least will compete for that last starting spot.
It's a safe bet he starts.
I think he ends up being our number two scorer behind Labissiere. If that is the case, he has a shot at the lottery.
Yes and he looked very mature doing it. No one is questioning the kid has skills. A poster suggested he may protect his draft stock by going to prep school and not revealing flaws.
Some of us suggested he has not shown enough to have the luxury to do this and must go to school and show his skill versus better competition.
From what little we've seen and heard about him, and heard from his dad, I do not see them going to prep school for the purposes of hiding flaws. That's a terrible plan if you want to succeed in the NBA, and it doesn't seem like they are the type to do that. Despite all the disappointment we've had this spring, I really just do not see him going anywhere but UK.
I noticed a couple of things in that game. Murray scores inside, outside, and midrange. You just can't keep him out of the lane. Murray can put the ball on the floor, blow right by an athletic defender, and finish at the rim. He is still a raw product as a defender, but he has length and athleticism to become a plus defender with good coaching at the next level. Although he is ranked by most sources as a point guard, and he can play that position at the next level, his skills are a better fit at 2 guard in college. He definitely looks to score 1st, and his passing skills need some work. When I watch Briscoe, I see a point guard with great scoring and distributing skills. When I watch Murray, I see a wing player with a good handle.
We all know what Murray can do. But the big problem is Murray coming to Kentucky?
Lol at some people thinking that he couldn't do bad in college. He potentially could. Anybody potentially could. Nobody here has seen enough of him to say otherwise.
If we get Murray, it's icing on the cake (frankly, I want Matthews to start the 3 because he reminds me a bit of how MKG played. Hard nosed defender, slashes the ball well with both hands, rebounds it pretty well, finishes through contact). If we get him though, it sounds like we at least get a pretty good shooter who's a student of the game.
That said, the longer he puts this off, the less time he spends learning about playing with the team, and practicing with our team, and I don't like that.
If we get Murray, it's icing on the cake (frankly, I want Matthews to start the 3 because he reminds me a bit of how MKG played. Hard nosed defender, slashes the ball well with both hands, rebounds it pretty well, finishes through contact). If we get him though, it sounds like we at least get a pretty good shooter who's a student of the game.
That said, the longer he puts this off, the less time he spends learning about playing with the team, and practicing with our team, and I don't like that.
An important thing to consider about him, "Putting this off." Is there are quite certainly some things he must have in line to reclassify. Odds are he will enroll at or close to the start of the fall semester if he indeed chooses to play college ball in 2015. I think UK and Murray have a tremendous amount to gain by him playing here. To me we are short a scorer and a big on paper anyway. Adding Murray certainly moves toward solidifying the scoring for next season.
Agreed.
I think it's pretty clear he will reclassify, IF he can.
I seriously doubt he is dragging his feet or milking this for attention or whatever. It's a process. A player can't wake up one morning and say "I want to reclassify" and it happens.
He can't enroll until all his paperwork is in line. Its likely it will be August before he CAN enroll anywhere.
We are definitely short a shooter and a big on paper.
With Murray, we are set with a shooter.
If Wynyard can come in and give us a few minutes a game after Christmas, then I think that gives us the other big we need.
I think we are in pretty good shape with Murray and Wynyard coming in.
Guards:
Ulis
Briscoe
Murray
Matthews
Mulder
Hawkins
Floreal
Forwards:
Labissiere
Poythress
Lee
Wynyard
Willis
?????? I thought it was common knowledge he was still working academically to reclassify and couldn't come now if he wanted to?
As for his classification worries, Paul Biancardi stated earlier that he is hearing withing Murray’s inner circle, it should be close to a done deal for the class of 2015. Stay tuned for more Jamal Murray updates throughout the month.
Think we heard a couple of weeks ago Murray was a couple of weeks away from getting his studies over.
