Kentucky's Murray continues to shine despite Calipari's criticism
Kentucky's Jamal Murray has torched opponents this year to the tune of 18.5 points per game - good for fourth in the SEC - but despite his numbers, coach John Calipari isn't pleased.
The legendary Wildcats boss has been critical of his star freshman's shot selection, and despite scoring 35 and 24 points, respectively, in his last two games, Calipari isn't relenting his tough-love approach.
"He had this one baseline flip," he recalled after Tuesday's beatdown of Georgia. "He couldn't help himself, it's like crack cocaine. 'I gotta do this.' And he flipped it under. No chance of making it."
Though many would expect a coach to be pleased with a player scoring 24 points on 8-of-14 shooting, Calipari wasn't, and instead harped on Murray's shot selection. It's not the first time he's responded in this manner.
"Jamal went on a drive right and had a layup, but he had to finger roll it. He had to do the Iceman (George Gervin) - whee!" an animated Calipari exclaimed after Murray's career high 35-point performance Saturday against Florida. "The problem was it was an airball. Why would you do that?"
Despite the supposed poor shot selection, Murray has been phenomenal in his first season with Kentucky.
The Canadian's 18.5 points per game represent the highest average of any player during Calipari's Kentucky run, including current NBA stars John Wall (16.6), Demarcus Cousins (15.1), Eric Bledsoe (15.1), Anthony Davis (14.2), and Karl Anthony Towns (10.3).
The 22nd-ranked Wildcats are rounding into form, having rebounded from consecutive losses to Kansas and Tennessee with back-to-back conference wins over Florida and Georgia by a combined 162-109 scoreline.
With senior forward Alex Poythress out two weeks with a knee injury, and high touted freshman Skal Labissiere continuing to struggle, Murray will be leaned on heavily for Kentucky to make a deep run come March.
If this is what the 18-year-old can do when he's hoisting questionable shots, imagine what he can do if he and Calipari get on the same page.