A real feast or famine guy. As we've seen so far this season, he's talented enough to hit some really tough shots, but he's also undisciplined, taking dumb shots and committing bad turnovers. He doesn't move his feet well on defense, but his hands are super-quick, so he can get steals or even blocks on guys who are going up to shoot, as he did several times at Dallas and at Orlando. As with so many average or ho-hum NBA players, it seems like he could really be good if he just played with more heart and more court awareness.

Trying to piece things together from his NBA.com bio and a couple of other articles I've read, it appears that he ended up at a little Division II school (Shaw, in North Carolina) because he didn't have the grades to get into any major school--he was at community colleges for three years before ending up at Shaw. Then he dominated there: Division II national player of the year, led his team to the final four, etc. He must have been so much more talented than everyone else at that level that he could dominate every game without any sort of unusual effort. I also remember him going nuts and scoring over 20 ppg for about a dozen games when he was filling in for Ray Allen early on in the '04 season, which is probably what cemented his place in the league.

It's a nice story that he went from nowhere to being a multi-year NBA player, but maybe this is an instance where he actually had it too easy, even though he was in the sticks for so long. He probably never had to work much on moving his feet on D or developing a good sense of court awareness on offense. His talent has carried him to this level, but maybe this is an example of a guy who really could have been something special, if only he could have gotten some good tough coaching at a major college program.

yes its a shame for him that he wasn't here 2 or 3 years ago. having LB coach him could really have helped his game.

unfortunately flip saunders isn't going to teach him much. he will just have to learn from players like rip and CB. at least he might pick up a strong work ethic being in detroit. that is, if it didn't leave with LB as well.

LB might have helped him somewhat, though I don't think he would have been playing very much either. But, it's really tough to develop those basic elements of one's game at the NBA level, no matter which coach you're playing for. There's almost no time for any sort of teaching once the season starts, and you're not even practicing a lot of the time, certainly not when you're on one of those crazy 5 games in 7 nights in 7 different cities type of road trips. Of course you can always find some guys who improve a lot while they're in the NBA, but for the large majority of U.S. players in the league, college is really where that groundwork has to be laid.

After a few rough games at the start of the season Flip has gone from "FMS" Flip Murray Sucks to "FMM" Flip Mini Microwave.
Don't mess with his minutes.

Murray unlikely to stay in Detroit - 12/11/06 - The Detroit News Online

interesting article

So he scored on Jameer Nelson with jumpshots. That doesn't make you a starter. Anybody can potentially hit 4 J's in a row against an undersized guard.

It seems to me that the consensus here is that Flip Saunder loves this guy and has been doing him a big favor by playing small ball.

If I were Murray, I'd stick with Saunders.

Let's not forget that he absolutely failed in Free Agency last offseason. It was a weak class of players, and his agent's phone wasn't ringing.

I like this guy a little. I don't think he has a high motor, and I don't think he plays particularly hard, but when he gets going, he can be a weapon.

he's still living the past.

note to flip murray:
"i have been the number 1 option my entire life" is a theme most NBA players have had growing up. if you're good enough to be in the NBA, chances are you were a young stud and 'the man' on your high school team.

but you're in the NBA now, not little league, theres a very good chance there are going to be a LOT of better players than you now. deal with it. accept your role, which all of your coaches have assessed to be similar. every coach you've had has seen that he has 5 guys he'd rather start.
this isn't a one-off situation. but this is probably the best team you'll ever be on. make the most of it.


the guy must be flat out blind ignorant if he still believes he an all-star calibre player after all this time. i mean, its not like he hasn't had opportunities to break out.

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Micro,

I have a similar view of Murray. He is just learning defense. but hard to quit on a guy that can hit tough shots. He is not great at catch and shoot--now.

By the way, I read your view of Darko in a different strand and feel much the same way about him at this point.

So does this mean that Dumars will seek to trade him before the deadline??? f he walks and CB walks we will be down to one PG (Blalock).

Makes Dumars job pretty difficult.