Kentucky has three point guards heading into this season, but only one of them can have the ball in his hands at a time.
Sophomore Tyler Ulis is expected to be the main lead guard, but freshmen Isaiah Briscoe and Jamal Murray are also accustomed to playing the point — and both have had tremendous success doing so.
Yet the 6-foot-4 Murray — the projected No. 6 pick in the NBA Draft by DraftExpress.com — says he’s fine playing off the ball at times this year.
“I’ll play fine,” the Canadian told Andy Katz during ESPNU’s coverage of Kentucky’s Pro day. “I trust Tyler and Isaiah with the ball so let them do their thing and I’ll just complement them.”
Murray’s AAU coach, Tony McIntyre of CIA Bounce, says Murray will “adapt” to whatever is thrown his way.
“He has [played off the ball] through high school and AAU ball and will adapt to any situation,” said McIntyre, the father of Milwaukee Bucks point guard Tyler Ennis and Oregon point guard Dylan Ennis. “I know that for sure.”
Murray did drop 30 points on Briscoe and Team USA in the Nike Hoop Summit back in April.
Asked how lethal Murray could be on the wing, McIntyre said, “Deadly, he can score in so many ways.”
Still, it remains an open competition for playing time, and Murray, like the others, is up for it.
“We match up fine,” Murray said. “We’re getting a feel for each other right now, and going against each other [at the] same time so everything’s competitive. We’re all trying to win the competition and drills. It’s very competitive as I like it and we’re all trying to win.”
Kentucky coach John Calipari said he’s open to playing all three point guards at once.
“If they deserve to play together, I absolutely will play them together,” he said. “But I don’t know that yet.”
Of the three, Murray appears to have the highest ceiling, but didn’t seem daunted by playing in front of scouts from all 30 NBA teams.
“It’s not the first time and hopefully not the last,” he said. “So just go out there and play basketball and don’t worry about who’s watching. Just go out there and do your thing.”
FREE THROWS
John Calipari has produced a Top 10 pick for eight straight NBA Drafts, per ESPN…Senior power forward Alex Poythress, projected at No. 58 in the draft, told Andy Katz his lateral quickness is “pretty good” following ACL surgery. He didn’t participate in any drills…Junior forward Marcus Lee told Katz he plans to be louder and have a bigger role this year. He is projected at No. 28 by DraftExpress.com…Freshman point guard Isaiah Briscoe has lost 12 pounds, according to Calipari, and his body looks completely transformed from his high school career at St. Benedict’s Prep and Roselle Catholic, the latter of which he led to the New Jersey Tournament of Champions title last March….Calipari joked to his players, “We got guys going harder right now than they have in any practice so far” because of the NBA scouts….DraftExpress.com has all the measurements from the Combine here.
