He's well on his way, and he's just starting, too, so to be getting recognized for his defensive efforts already is a credit to how hard he's been working on his game. It's great Murray's taking such pride on defense. Love his attitude.
Dejounte's getting some love from Lowe for another aspect of his defense as well:
3. Dejounte Murray has at least four arms
This dude is everywhere. Sometime around the end of the 2014-15 season, the basic act of dribbling within a 15-foot radius of Kawhi Leonard became dangerous for anyone beyond the league's expert ball-handlers. He just started straight-up snatching the ball out of people's hands. He undressed Ben McLemore on two straight possessions at the start of last season, and I'm not sure McLemore has dribbled since.
Murray is doing that in passing lanes. He just appears out of nowhere, with preposterous arms, and intercepts simple side-to-side passes. Lanes appear wide open, and then, whoosh, Murray is going the other way. He averages two steals and 3.5 deflections per 36 minutes, elite marks. San Antonio's defense is eight points per 100 possessions stingier with Murray on the floor, per NBA.com.
Oh, and he's also just grabbing the ball from people. Excuse me, Andrew Wiggins, you seem very polite and can jump very high, but I will be taking the basketball. Thank you for your participation in this exercise.
http://media.video-cdn.espn.com/gifs/mp4/DEJOUNTE_MURRAY_2gif.mp4Imagine a defense built around Leonard and Murray. /single tear
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23044990/zach-lowe-10-things-like-including-nikola-jokic-dimes-nbaWhenever I watch the Spurs play on opponent feeds, commentators are invariably impressed with Dejounte's defense. It's not just talk about his rebounding and needing a jumper anymore. I can't wait to see how his game develops once he starts putting together his D, shots, and game management as a PG. I was skeptical of the move to insert him as a starter, but Dejounte's turned me into a believer.
Well deserved, and only the beginning.