Wildcat Blue Nation
Fansided

Kentucky Wildcats Basketball: Steve Nash Praises Jamal Murray

By Shelby Caudill

facebooktwitterreddit

The Canadian Men’s National Team General Manager, Steve Nash has high praise for incoming Wildcat, Jamal Murray, who currently on the team. Take a look at what Nash had to say and other insight from Sports Nets’ Michael Grange.

More from Kentucky basketball

"You only get one chance to make a first impression, and Jamal Murray is taking it head on.The 18-year-old from Kitchener, Ont., made his senior national team debut on Tuesday night, taking the rare leap from playing against his high school-aged peers to playing with and against men in the space of just a few months.The kid did all right, earning praise from none other than men’s senior national team general manager Steve Nash after Murray logged 21 minutes in Canada’s comfortable 105-88 win over the Dominican Republic in their opening contest at the Pan Am Games.Sorry, this video is not available in your country/region.The wave of Canadian basketball talent seems never-ending and Murray is the latest next big thing. In the space of a year he’s gone from an intriguing prospect to an almost certain lottery pick should he declare for the NBA draft in 2016 and now the 6-foot-5 point guard is pushing to make the national team roster for August’s Olympic qualifying event in Mexico City under the watchful eye of the best floor general Canada has ever had.“I’m just starting to get to know him,” Nash said. “I’ve watched him quite a bit. He’s got a tremendous amount of ability. He’s got a very bright future. It’s very exciting for our program. But it’s also exciting for me as a point guard — to see a young player come through with that much ability is very fun and exciting.”Murray checked in midway through the first quarter becoming one of just a handful of players to make their senior debuts before they played university basketball and never looked out of place.His first basket was on a smart back cut. He had a dunk in transition, found Anthony Bennett for a dunk in the half-court and took the ball hard into some big bodies to score the basket and draw a foul later in the game.His performance was notable in a way because he didn’t stand out. Canada was the better team against the Dominican Republic and they played like it. Defensively they were a bit sloppy, although they did hold their opponents to 42 per cent shooting. But offensively it’s clear they have some weapons."

Take a look at the article for more great insight about Jamal Murray.

More from Wildcat Blue Nation

Home/Kentucky basketball