Tag: Trey Murphy

Trey Murphy: ‘I play basketball to win, I don’t play basketball to stat-chase’

Trey Murphy just can’t catch a break. After missing a good chunk of last season, he is set to miss the start of this season with a hamstring injury. On behalf of Call of Duty and the looming release of Black Ops 6 on October 25, the fourth-year …

Trey Murphy just can’t catch a break. After missing a good chunk of last season, he is set to miss the start of this season with a hamstring injury.

On behalf of Call of Duty and the looming release of Black Ops 6 on October 25, the fourth-year sharpshooter took some time away from his rehab to chat with HoopsHype. He discussed his shooting slump last season, dealing with injuries, why players in his era think of Kobe Bryant as their GOAT, and more.

14 most surprising omissions (Tyrese Maxey!) from the 2024 USA Basketball men’s player pool

Unless these players denied invitations, these are some very shocking decisions by Team USA.

USA Basketball announced a 41-athlete player pool as candidates for the Paris Olympics roster. Eventually, 12 players will make the final cut.

Among the 12 names that we initially projected to make the roster after the 2023 FIBA World Cup, 11 appeared on the first list. Those players were LeBron James, Joel Embiid, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, Jayson Tatum, Devin Booker, Damian Lillard, Bam Adebayo, Anthony Edwards and Mikal Bridges.

A few notable All-Stars to also earn invitations include Chris Paul, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Paul George, Jimmy Butler, Kawhi Leonard, Donovan Mitchell, Jaylen Brown, Trae Young, Jrue Holiday, De’Aaron Fox, Tyrese Haliburton, Brandon Ingram, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jarrett Allen.

The other players were Paolo Banchero, Desmond Bane, Scottie Barnes, Jalen Brunson, Alex Caruso, Aaron Gordon, Josh Hart, Tyler Herro, Chet Holmgren, Cam Johnson, Walker Kessler, Bobby Portis, Austin Reaves, Duncan Robinson and Derrick White.

Two players who we did not include in our surprising omissions were Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green and Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant. While both of these players may have helped the team on the court, they have faced off-court issues that made invitations unlikely — plus Morant is currently injured.

Otherwise, these were the most surprising omissions from the list:

Pelicans’ Trey Murphy III weighs in on the Holmgren vs. Wembanyama debate

The Pelicans’ sharpshooter would take Holmgren over Wembanyama for one year at this point in their careers.

The upcoming season will see two promising up-and-coming 7-footers debut in the NBA: Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren and San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama.

Holmgren was the second pick last year but missed the entire season after suffering a Lisfranc injury in a pro-am game. Meanwhile, Wembanyama was the top pick by the Spurs last month after a sensational year in France with Metropolitans 92.

The two players have similar frames and can handle the ball, shoot and protect the paint. Each have plenty of hype surrounding their debuts and represents a key piece of his teams’ success this season and beyond.

Their arrival in the NBA has sparked plenty of conversation.

Recently, New Orleans Pelicans forward Trey Murphy III joined Allie Clifton, Channing Frye and Richard Jefferson on the “Road Trippin’ ” podcast to discuss the two players.

Murphy would take Holmgren at this point in their careers.

Chet has a little bit of grit to him. You can tell he isn’t soft, that is the easiest way to say this. He plays with a sort of tenacity that bigs need. Then also, he is very skilled; he is a little more polished than Victor is. I feel like he will shoot the ball better.

Holmgren is fresh off a strong showing in summer league, averaging 16.5 points, 9.8 rebounds, 3.5 blocks, two assists and one steal in four games between Salt Lake City and Las Vegas. He finished his stay in the desert with 25 points, nine rebounds and five blocks on July 12.

Wembanyama debuted with the Spurs on July 7 in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. He had an uneven first game but responded with a 27-point, 12-rebound effort two nights later and showed what made him so highly touted entering the NBA draft.

Though they haven’t met in the NBA, they previously squared off in the 2021 FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup. Holmgren scored 10 points as the U.S. topped Wembanyama and France for the gold medal. Wembanyama had a game-high 22 points, eight rebounds and eight blocks.

Certainly, the basketball community will be locked into their first game against each other next season as the two players project to have long careers ahead.

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NBA All-Star 2023: Participants for Skills Challenge, 3-Point, Dunk Contest

The NBA on Tuesday unveiled the participants for the Skills Challenge, 3-Point Contest and Slam Dunk Contest at All-Star Weekend.

The NBA on Tuesday unveiled the participants for the Skills Challenge, 3-Point Contest and Slam Dunk Contest on Feb. 18 during All-Star Weekend in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The weekend will get underway on Friday with the Celebrity game and the Rising Stars competition at 9 p.m. EST. The events conclude on Sunday with the G League Next Up Game at 3 p.m. EST and the 72nd All-Star Game at 8:30 p.m. EST.

The festivities on All-Star Saturday night will begin at 8 p.m. EST and will be televised on TNT starting with the Skills Challenge. The second event will be the 3-Point Contest with the Slam Dunk Contest wrapping up the evening at Vivint Arena.

NBA Rising Stars 2023: Full rosters revealed in draft announcement

The NBA on Tuesday unveiled the four seven-player teams for the 2023 NBA Rising Stars game.

The NBA on Tuesday unveiled the four seven-player teams for the 2023 NBA Rising Stars competition set to take place on Feb. 17 as part of All-Star Weekend in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The showcase will feature four seven-player teams competing in a mini-tournament consisting of three games for the second straight year. Each game will be played to a final target score, meaning a game will end with a made basket or a made free throw instead of a running clock.

The pool of 28 players for the game consists of 11 first-year players, 10 second-year players and seven players from the G League. The rookies and sophomores were selected by assistant coaches, and the G League players were chosen by the league office.

The G League players will comprise one of the four teams.

The three teams from the NBA will be coached by Pau Gasol, Joakim Noah and Deron Williams. The three former players each selected seven players to their teams on Tuesday in an order determined by career All-Star appearances: Gasol (6), Williams (3) and Noah (2).

Here are the four rosters for the NBA Rising Stars competition.

NBA Rising Stars 2023: Player pool revealed for annual showcase

The NBA on Tuesday unveiled the list of 28 players set to participate in the annual Rising Stars game on Feb. 17.

The NBA on Tuesday unveiled the list of 28 players set to participate in the annual Rising Stars game on Feb. 17 as part of All-Star Weekend in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The showcase game will feature four seven-player teams competing in a mini-tournament consisting of three games for the second straight year. Each game will be played to a final target score, meaning a game will end with a made basket or a made free throw instead of a running clock.

The pool of 28 players for the game consists of 11 first-year players, 10 second-year players and seven players from the G League. The rookies and sophomores were selected by assistant coaches and the G League players were chosen by the league office.

The 21 NBA players were selected by assistant coaches across the league. Each team submitted a rookie ballot and sophomore ballot featuring four frontcourt players, four guards and two additional players of any position, in order of preference.

The three NBA teams will be coached by Pau Gasol, Joakim Noah and Deron Williams. Jazz assistant coach Jason Terry, who previously coached the Grand Rapids Gold, will lead the G League team. Assistants from the All-Star Game staffs will also coach in the event.

TNT will televise the competition beginning at 9 p.m. EST.

NBA fans were astounded by Pelicans’ Trey Murphy III’s perfectly pristine shooting night

Have a night, Trey!

They say practice makes perfect, and New Orleans Pelicans forward Trey Murphy III must’ve gotten in plenty of practice this week.

Murphy had an eye-opening statline during Tuesday night’s 113-111 Pelicans win over the Dallas Mavericks, hitting every single shot and free throw that he attempted during the game.

Murphy, a 2021 first-round draft pick out of Virginia, figures to play a key role in the Pelicans offense this season. With performances like this, he’s more than living up to his draft status.

In total, Murphy led the team with 22 points on the night, helping New Orleans get to 3-1 on the young season.

His stellar night was so good, he’s now the NBA’s leading three-point  shooter in percentages.

Shoot your shot, Trey!

2021 NBA Draft: 10 bold predictions from the preseason revisited

Rookie Wire made 10 bold predictions for the 2021-22 rookie class and made a vow to come back and see how we did.

Rookie Wire offered 10 bold predictions for the 2021-22 rookie class last October and made a vow at the time to come back after the season and see just how we did.

Well, it is that time to look back and review the results.

Our annual revisit of these bold predictions is our favorite time of the year. It typically just consists of us trying to convince basketball fans why we made the picks and why they should have come true, but ultimately didn’t.

Upon further review, this year proved to be no different.

Several predictions fell well short of expectations but to be fair, we were pretty close on a few. We just ask that you don’t alert the authorities at Freezing Cold Takes about the ones we missed badly on.

Here are the latest results with the verdict from each prediction.

CJ McCollum: Pelicans’ rookies have shown ‘tremendous growth’

Led by Herb Jones, the Pelicans’ trio of rookies helped the team knock off the Suns and even their first-round series.

On Tuesday, the eighth-seeded New Orleans Pelicans tied up their first-round series versus the No. 1 seed Phoenix Suns thanks in large part to the efforts of Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum.

Combined, they scored 60 points to lead the Pelicans to the 125-114 win.

Ingram had a game-high 37 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists to finish just shy of his first career triple-double. McCollum added 23 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, and Larry Nance Jr. chipped in 13 points and six rebounds off the bench.

Of course, there was also the rookies’ production.

The team has relied on three first-year players this season, and each has come up with big-time plays and contributions to help the Pelicans reach this point of the postseason: A tied-up series versus the top seed going back to New Orleans for Game 3.

Herb Jones led the way with 14 points, three assists and one steal. Trey Murphy III had nine points and three steals off the bench while Jose Alvarado scored all eight of his points in the fourth quarter to help keep the Pelicans ahead.

McCollum admired their commitment and growth this season.

They’ve just showed tremendous growth, not just from the two play-in games and the six games we used to close the season out but from when they were 1-12. That takes a courageous group led by a courageous coach who did what it took to get the best out of his players and then they went and put the work in so we could have success.

With Jose knocking down shots, with Herb locking up (on defense) and making his free throws, with Trey knocking down shots. We had a lot of guys who were in the G League finishing this game.

The three players have often been commended by their veteran teammates for the poise they display, and their ability to compete on a nightly basis. They have rarely been afraid of the moment and that has shown on the game’s biggest stage as of late.

There is no question the Pelicans are led by Ingram and McCollum, but the contributions of their rookies, and the rest of the roster, are a huge reason why they are currently tied up with the Suns.

Game 3 is scheduled to tip off on Friday at 9:30 p.m. EDT on ESPN.

This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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Trey Murphy III credits Corey Brewer, Pelicans for growth as a rookie

Murphy saw his hard work throughout the season pay off on Friday after coming up clutch for the Pelicans.

For much of the season, Trey Murphy III saw an inconsistent role with the New Orleans Pelicans. It is often the case with first-year players, especially those on teams with veterans ahead of them on the roster.

But, throughout the uncertainty, Murphy continued to work.

On Friday, in the Pelicans’ biggest game of the season, head coach Willie Green called upon Murphy. He not only delivered but was a huge reason why the Pelicans were able to knock off the Los Angeles Clippers.

Murphy produced 14 points, five rebounds and two assists in 24 minutes off the bench to help the Pelicans claim the eighth seed in the Western Conference in the play-in tournament.

New Orleans snapped a three-year playoff drought with the win.

The Pelicans overcame a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit to complete the comeback win. Murphy hit three 3-pointers in the period, including one to tie the game and another to push the Pelicans’ advantage to seven points with two minutes to go.

“I think that shows his work ethic and preparation,” said C.J. McCollum, who had 19 points. “He has been in and out of the lineup. He has been in the G League some. Sometimes, he is in the game, sometimes he hasn’t played some in the first half. He didn’t play a lot in the second quarter and Coach throws him in. That is a sign of trust but also him being ready.”

Brandon Ingram led the way with 30 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Pelicans while Larry Nance Jr. added 14 points and 16 rebounds off the bench.

Afterward, those that played a part in the victory spoke with the media but there was one individual that wasn’t there that also played a large role in the victory, specifically with the performance of Murphy.

Pelicans player development coach Corey Brewer.

The former 13-year veteran has played a key role for the Pelicans throughout the season. With his help, along with the rest of the coaching staff, Murphy benefitted greatly from their work together. Murphy credited Brewer after the game.

I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Corey Brewer and Coach Green believing in me in those times giving me that opportunity. I’m very thankful for that. It is just a testament to the work we put in and my teammates trusting me.

Said Green:

He has been just working all season long. Corey Brewer and Trey have just been in the gym with Coach (Teresa Weatherspoon) Spoon — getting shots up, working on his game, watching film. This was a preparation meets opportunity moment for us as a team, for me as a coach, for our staff and for our organization.

Murphy seemingly stayed ready for his opportunity and came through when his team needed him the most. Nance credited the culture that has been established in New Orleans to encourage guys to stay ready and “win” in their roles.

The Pelicans will now begin preparations to face the top-seeded Phoenix Suns in the first round of the playoffs on Sunday. They wanted to hold off on looking ahead to enjoy the moment on Friday after pulling off a comeback win to snap their postseason drought.

After starting the season off 1-12, they certainly earned it.

This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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