San Antonio Spurs: Dejounte Murray needs to make adjustments for the sake of the team

It hasn’t been a strong showing for San Antonio Spurs point guard Dejounte Murray in Orlando, but he still has three more games to improve his play.

Momentum was immensely helpful for the reintegration and development of San Antonio Spurs point guard Dejounte Murray. That was stripped from the 23-year-old when the NBA season abruptly ended in March. Now that the league is back in action, Murray is having a hard time finding his footing again.

Dejounte has failed to play up to his potential in these five games despite some flashes of progression. He hasn’t been shy with his shot attempts, notching 12.4 field goal attempts compared against his 9.5 average through the season as a whole. Still, that field goal percentage has plummeted eight percent during these five games in the Orlando bubble.

Practical application of skills and confidence are key for Murray to get back on track. Fundamentally, he’s got some work to do, but Dejounte is fearless in almost every situation. The keyword there is “almost” because Murray has shied away from way too many open 3-point shot attempts during the restart. This is the first adjustment that he needs to make for the betterment of the team.

Dejounte’s shot mechanics and confidence from deep need a boost.

While scoring isn’t necessarily his forte, Murray is a solid ball-handler with quality shot creation when engaged. These apply very well in the mid-range, where he pulls jumpers without a doubt in his mind. However, Murray is extremely hesitant to launch 3-pointers at this point in his career. He’s connected on just three of his 11 triples inside the bubble thus far despite hitting 36.6 percent on the season.

Having DeMar DeRozan as a primary shot creator means there will be open perimeter jumpers for his Spurs teammates and oftentimes, Murray is the man left with space. For his team to have any chance of making it into these playoffs by winning out the regular season, Murray needs to start taking more of these without hesitating.

One thing to note is that Murray usually doesn’t have his feet set properly when he catches these jumpers. Great shooters keep their hands and feet ready to receive passes on the perimeter and go right into their shooting motion. Murray hasn’t done that as well in the restart as he did before the season stopped in March. If he shuffles his feet to set up for the jumper, he’s allowing defenders more time to close out while disrupting the flow of ball movement.

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