TORONTO– Good morning America.
This breaking news. Canada, our neighbor to the north, has one of the best young men’s basketball players in the world
Jamal Murray, an 18-year prodigy, put his game on display at center stage at the recent Pan Am games, leaving a huge impression on the ESPN commentators and the NBA scouts in attendance and giving this country a huge boost to its basketball brand as the silver medalists prepare for an important Olympic qualifier in early September at Mexico City.
The gifted 6-4 guard, from Kitchener, Ont., making his debut on the senior men’s team, scored in double figures in all five games and playing close to 25 minutes a game against much older competition, playing with uncommon poise. But the game that most thrilled Canadian fans will remember occurred against a hybrid U.S. team in the tournament semi-finals.
Murray scored all of his 22 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as Canada won, 111-108 at the Ryerson Centre, taking over the game at critical moments down the stretch. Murray stunned the United States after the Americans rallied to take a 106-104 lead I overtime on an Anthony Randolph three point jumper. Murray came right back and made consecutive three pointers of his own to give Canada a 110-107 with 55 seconds to play and create a seismic shift in momentum. Prior to that he made another huge three to tie the game at 97-97 with just 36 seconds left in regulation. It was great theatre.
Murray shot 8 for 18, made 4 threes, had 4 rebounds and 6 assists in 27:48. His brilliant performance against a backcourt that included pre-season All Americans Ron Baker of Wichita State, Malcom Brogdon of Virginia and Melo Trimble of Maryland should earn him a place on Canada’s national team that will participate I in the FIBA Americas Olympic qualifier next month in Mexico City.
Murray seems unfazed by the pressure of taking — and making– big threes, especially the one he made over the 6-10 Randolph that gave Canada a 107-106 lead.
“I just had confidence in my shot. I knew I could hit that shot” he said
“He played phenomenal down the stretch,” said Canadian forward Andrew Nicholson, an NBa player who finished with a team high 31 points and 10 rebounds. “He’s going to be an outstanding player for us.”
Don’t act so surprised. We’ve see this magic act before. We saw it at CIA Bounce, the AAU development club that produced back to back first overall NBA draft picks Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett. We saw it in FIBA youth competitions. And, just three months earlier, Murray lit up a U.S select team that included the best high school senior prospects in the country for 30 points and was selected MVP as a team of International stars won the Nike Hoop Summit in Portland, then scored 29 points and had 10 assists and 8 rebounds a week later in another MVP performance at the BioSteel All Canadian game.
John Calipari is certainly a believer. What is important is remember here is that Murray reclassified so he could graduate a year early and enroll at the University of Kentucky this fall and should be a starter in the backcourt along with sophomore point guard Tyler Ulis. Murray has earned the right to play for the Canadian senior team that has its best chance to qualify for an Olympic spot since 2000, when the country finished seventh in Australia. The gold and silver medalists in the FIBA Americas will receive automatic bids to Rio and neither the United States, which earned an automatic bid by winning the 2014 World championships in Spain, and Brazil, which will automatically be included as the host country, will not participate.
Most of Canada’s big name NBA talent like Wiggins, Cory Joseph and center Kelly Olynyk are supposed to play and there is a chance forward Tristan Thompson will even suit up if he can settle his NBA contract negotiations and the Cavaliers will pay his insurance.
Murray had less spectacular moments in the finals during a 86-71 loss to Brazil, scoring 12 points on 3 for 12 shooting when he attempted to take over the game against the well coached more experienced Brazilians. But he piqued the interest of Canadian NBA players like Joseph, Nik Stauskas and Tyler Ennis who were all seated on the front row, looking to get a closer look at the kid.
If Murray plays in Mexico, he will likely be the youngest player in the competition.
“He’s sold me,” Canadian senior men’s coach Jay Triano said. “He’s got great poise, knows how to control the game, moves the basketball, can score the basketball. We’re working with him continuously about how to defend men, that he’s never had to play against. He’s got a confidence about him. I asked him if he was tired he said to me, ‘Coach, I’m 18.’ He’s got that attitude where he wants to be o the floor and he’s a great kid to coach.”
Ironically, it is hard to tell whether Canada’s newest star will be able to play. Kentucky may not want Murray to miss two weeks at the start of his freshman year.
But it was a joy to watch what we have seen of Murray so far.
Murray, like Kia Nurse of the Canadian women’s gold medal team, is already a growing legend in this country. His father Roger recently told the web site Hoops Hype Canada his son was offered a seven-figure deal, much like Emmanual Mudiay last year, to play overseas for a year. When the site did further investigation, it discovered the offer was made by a Las Vegas semi-pro team which is trying to lure players away from college to play against international teams.
He eventually settled on Kentucky, choosing the Cats over Oregon. Given the fundamentally sound way he plays, making the transition to a less physical college game should not be a problem. Murray is exceptionally coachable and,, given Calipari’s track record for producing pros, he could easily be a one and done and a late lottery pick. Murray looked right at home with the older players on the court at the Pan Ams. “He’s mature for his age,” guard Brady Heslip said. “He’ll figure it out. When I was younger and you play against men, there’s obviously an adjustment period, but you just figure it out as you go.”
Murray looks like he has already figured it out.
“I play with all these guys all the time , so it’s not a problem,” he said. “Obviously it’s a little more physical going to the boards, but that’s part of the game. I think everybody has a little of the jitters going into a game like this, especially the Pan Am games, where you are representing your country and everybody looking at you.
“But after you run up and down the court once or twice, it goes away.”
Murray was originally supposed to play for Canada’s U19 team in the World Championship in Crete, but he decided he would rather test himself against older, more established players in the Pa Am team.
“Playing on both would have been too much for him,” Canadian national coach Jay Triano said. “You know what. To play I his home town. To play for the national national team. It was a great opportunity to play for his country for the first time to play on the Senior national team for the first time. We had to introduce him to this level of competition and it was the right time.
“When I watched the Nike Summit earlier this year, I was reminded by NBA forward Nic Batum (of France) that only two other players prior to that had 30 points– Nick Batum. and Kevin Durant. So I knew he was in good company in that game and the poise he had to the big stage.”
“Murray loves the big moment.”
I’m having a lot of fun,” he admitted. “To be there with all our fans, representing the country, it’s a great feeling. You got to go through it. I’ve been in situations before like this. I just try to play basketball. Limit the turnovers and make good decisions.
“I grew up in a competitive family. My dad and I battle about everything, whether it’s the first one on into the car, first one to make a basketball. My dad is very confident I what he does. We’re both very competitive with each other and that’s where my competitive spirit comes from.”
Murray is Canada’s future, maybe even more so even than talented 6-8 Wiggins, who was the No. 1 pick I the 2014 NBA draft. He has played his final year of high school at Orangeville Prep in Ontario, where his dad is an assistant coach, and has gone through Canada’s youth development teams under astute Roy Rana since he was 16 and went to high school in the country whereas Wiggins chose to play his high school ball in the states at Huntington W. Va. Prep and skipped the U19 competition to prepare for a short college career at Kansas.
Murray has already picked up a big fan in Heslip, the best pure shooter I Canada. Heslip, a former Baylor star, played for Igokea of the Adriatic League, where he was named the 2015 Bosia Cup Grand final MVP. “I just told him we’re going to be a dynamic duo,” Heslip said. “I love playing with him. He’s great has a great attitude about everything. He’s a great player and he’s going to be special. I heard about his little all star game run and I came into camp and he was my roommate so we got to know each other well so he’s now my little bro.”
