Dejounte Murray, along with his brother-in-arms Shai Gilgeous-Alexander up in Oklahoma, is making sure that the midrange game doesn’t die in today’s era of obsessive analytics (an era which I have had no hand in perpetuating whatsoever…nope, none at all). Like SGA, Murray is lanky enough that he can usually get his shot even if a big is switched on to him. At that point, the only thing he has to do is worry about making it, and lately, it seems like he’s making way more than he’s missing.
Of course I would say that because, in the course of making these highlight videos, I see every made field goal while I only incidentally ever see missed field goals. And the missed field goals just don’t stick in my brain as much as the makes do. Hence my characterization of Murray as some kind of midrange demigod who never misses, unlike teammates DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge who do miss a fair amount of shots.
Does Murray rely so much on the pull-up jimbo because he knows his finishing ability isn’t where it should be, thus lowering his willingness to drive into a crowded paint? Possibly. Do I care? No. Because I play the exact same way. Minus the dunking ability, height, and seven-figure NBA contract.