<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">OAKLAND - Chances are, the lasting image from a Warriors' win will be some sick alley-oop from Baron Davis to backcourt mate Jason Richardson. Or maybe Davis took fans' breath away with one of his no-look specials. Maybe Richardson posterized somebody, or guard Derek Fisher sent the crowd into a frenzy with one of his late-game ceiling-scraping 3-pointers. Meanwhile, chances are it was forward Troy Murphy who won the game. It was likely his consistent production helped give the Warriors substance to go with all that style. "You've got to have guys that just do what they do," Fisher said. "Basically, every time they're on the floor, you know what you're going to get from them. Murph's always been one of those guys. Every time the game's over, you look at the stat sheet, you pretty much know what ballpark he's going to be in." Murphy has grown into one of the Warriors' guarantees. Night after night, he finds ways to produce. He's averaging 16.1 points and 8.6 rebounds in 34.5 minutes thus far. He got his third consecutive point-rebound double-double on Friday, giving him nine for the season and 87 for his career. Murphy will occasionally get the crowd up with a big 3-pointer. He'll sneak in a driving dunk, as he did on Los Angeles Clippers center Chris Kaman earlier this year, or raise some eyebrows with his new step-back jumper. But most of Murphy's work is done in the shadows. He gets to the free-throw line, where he makes 80.6 percent of his average of 5.4 attempts per game (the attempts are on pace for a career high). He scores putbacks and finishes on pick-and-rolls. He provides offense before the runs everyone remembers, and after they've ended. "I think Troy likes that," Warriors special assistant Mitch Richmond said. "He likes to be under the radar -- do his work, get in and get out. I think we've got enough guys that can be in front. He comes in and puts his hat on and does his thing." Murphy has become one of the tougher players to guard at his position because he's become so versatile. He added the 3-point shot to his arsenal last offseason and shot 39.9 percent (59-for-148) from deep last season. He then spent this summer working on his post-up game -- "I don't want to be just a spot-up guy" -- and now has a lefty hook he can go to for points. As a result, he can beat you from anywhere on the court. He showed his full arsenal against San Antonio Spurs two-time MVP Tim Duncan, putting up a season-high 27 points in 32 minutes of the Warriors' Nov. 23 home loss. He attacked Duncan -- a perennial NBA All-Defense first-teamer -- from the inside and out, including a deep step-back jumper from the right baseline over Duncan's outstretched arm. "He's a nightmare for defenders because a lot of (power forwards) can't shoot the three," Warriors swingman Calbert Cheaney said. "And he's a lot quicker than most power forwards. He's got a good array of moves -- he can face you up, shot fake, go around you, post you up with his jump hook. He can do a lot of things. He's a terror for other power forwards in the league." As the Warriors' tallest regular player, he gets to rebounds others on the team can't. To a man, the Warriors will tell you the team's defensive improvement has a lot to do with Murphy's improvement on that end of the court. Warriors coach Mike Montgomery said Murphy is simply working harder on defense this year. He is getting to the right spots more often. Center Adonal Foyle still takes the tougher low-post assignments, but Murphy's competing better in one-on-one situations and challenging more shots. He is the closest thing to an enforcer the Warriors have, as he'll hand out the hard foul. "It's terrific," assistant coach Mario Elie said of Murphy's defensive strides. "I think that's why his rebound totals are down is because he's doing a good job defensively. Last year, he was really lackadaisical with just the little things on defense. Now he's watching a lot of film. He understands who he's playing against. "Troy's got an edge to him. That's what we need. I know he's tired of hearing that we're a soft team. Him playing the way he is, real rugged-like, he knocked a couple of guys down this year, he's adding a real physical presence to our ballclub, which we missed." As Davis and Fisher have said all season, Murphy opens up so much for everyone else.</div> Source <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">BANG FOR THE BUCK It might have seemed like a lot when Warriors executive vice president Chris Mullin signed power forward Troy Murphy to a six-year, $58 million contract prior to last season. But in terms of production per dollar spent, the Warriors have one of the better deals in the league at that position. Here is how Murphy's statistics and salary compare with some of the NBA's other power forwards: Name 05-06 averages 05-06 Salary Salary thru '07-08 Troy Murphy, Warriors 16.1 ppg, 8.6 rpg $7.4M $24.4M Kwame Brown, L.A. Lakers 5.9 ppg, 6.2 rpg $7.5M $24.9M Raef LaFrentz, Boston 10.9 ppg, 5.1 rpg $10.6M $34.6M Zach Randolph, Portland 18.2 ppg, 9.3 rpg $10.7M $36.0M Rasheed Wallace, Detroit 14.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg $10.9M $36.0M Kenyon Martin, Denver 12.5 ppg, 5.2 rpg $10.9M $36.2M Pau Gasol, Memphis 18.6 ppg, 8.8 rpg $11M $37.1M Carlos Boozer, Utah Yet to play this year $11.6M $34.8M Elton Brand, L.A. Clippers 24.1 ppg, 10.6 rpg $13.2M $42.7M Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas 24.7 ppg, 8.9 rpg $13.8M $45.3M Tim Duncan, San Antonio 20.4 ppg, 11.9 rpg $15.8M $52.3M Jermaine O'Neal, Indiana 21.9 ppg, 10.5 rpg $16.4M $54.3M Kevin Garnett, Minnesota 21.9 ppg, 10.5 rpg $18.0M $61.0M Chris Webber, Philadelphia 19.7 ppg, 10.3 rpg $19.1M $62.2M</div>
I have always like Murphy. He has improved his game every year and is doing things that he never did in college. The most important thing he brings is he's the Warriors best rebounder in traffic.
There's no "D" in the name Troy Murphy, but at least he's done a few things that look great when it comes to offense and earning the Warriors an extra posession. He's starting to hustle more and show more effort in everything that he does. His step back jumper looks pretty deadly now. And he's actually driving to the bucket for huge dunks when he gets a chance. His shooting talent leaves a lot of room to do other things, especially when he gets to the foul line. I think he needs to work on his pump fake ability though when he's near the basket. I still can't believe he got stuffed by the same player 2 or 3 times by doing the exact same thing that got him stuffed in the first place. He tried to dunk on Emeka Okafor without juking the defender up in air first. Like the effort, but man... I guess it's better than watching him get stuffed by 6'2 guards last year. I like Murphy's outside game, but he seems like he's in a hurry when it comes to the nuances of playing inside. Being able to score with either hand and relying on pump fakes would help him a lot. He's just too predictable sometimes and he's not the smoothest or most agile guy when it comes to footwork.
Defense will never be his strong suit though his defense has improved this year by all accounts ( including the ones that count, the coaching staff). Inside game is still a work in progress, and is better than last year. And yes was blocked 3 times by Okafor ( only 2 were the same move), though Odom was stuffed twice and Kobe once by Okafor on Sunday in LA. Understand he is not the protypical PF that many of you want. For now he is improving, seems to be 100% after the injuries of the past 2 years and is working harder on the defensive end. He is still a work in progress, is it so hard to be give credit without it being so grudging?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting anotherview:</div><div class="quote_post">Defense will never be his strong suit though his defense has improved this year by all accounts ( including the ones that count, the coaching staff). Inside game is still a work in progress, and is better than last year. And yes was blocked 3 times by Okafor ( only 2 were the same move), though Odom was stuffed twice and Kobe once by Okafor on Sunday in LA. Understand he is not the protypical PF that many of you want. For now he is improving, seems to be 100% after the injuries of the past 2 years and is working harder on the defensive end. He is still a work in progress, is it so hard to be give credit without it being so grudging?</div> I gave Murphy credit, you must solely be picking out the things I didn't like about his game. He's been getting to the line at least and hitting.
People conveniently forget that 3 years ago Murphy stunned the Warrior fans with some monster dunks attacking the hoop. He's just been so banged up we thought we'd never see that spring in his step. Murphy's the player today that we thought he'd be that next year. As for Defense, I'm not asking him to be a shot blocking presence, just to box his guy out and make his guy work to score. If he can make the guy take more shots to get to his average than it usually does, that's a good day for him. I see no reason why he can't do that. As for his post play, you can't just learn to be a post player in 1 year (especially when you get blocked by Earl Boykins the previous year). I'd rather he focus on Defense than the post as I think Ike and Taft both can play the post well. If Murphy held his own on defense, the team would probably pick up a 3 to 4 point differential a night.
