Draftexpress Scouting Report on Murphy

[InstiGATOR1]

Draftexpress.com calls Murphy the 11th best non-Frosh NBA prospect in the SEC. Kyle Nelson's analysis begins:

A top-50 high school recruit, power forward Erik Murphy saw limited opportunities his first two seasons in a deep, veteran Florida frontcourt before finally breaking out as a junior. While his numbers still do not jump off of the page entirely, he was nonetheless a key contributor all season long for a team that made the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight and will be expected to assume a larger offensive role as a senior.

Standing 6'10 with a long 238-pound frame, Murphy has excellent size for the power forward position, even if he still could stand to get stronger. He remains, as we've written in past evaluations, more fluid, mobile, and agile than explosive, and will be considered just an average athlete at the next level. That being said, he runs the floor hard and really has worked to improve his conditioning, adding nearly 40 pounds of muscle to his once skinny frame.

Murphy's physical profile is particularly intriguing given his skill set. While he struggled initially to find a role in Florida's offense, he emerged as a quintessential face-up power forward as a junior, to the tune of 16.3 points per 40 minutes pace adjusted.

You can read the rest here:

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Erik-Murphy-5273/

[GatorsGators]

Yeguete's also in there at 15th, and Boynton at 10th.

But someone over at DraftExpress really needs to explain why Wiltjer is ahead of Murphy. Reading the description, it sounds like they think Wiltjer is a less fluid, more akward Murphy, yet they put Wiltjer at 9th and Murphy at 11th.

[maleko83]

Patric Young is also number 3.

[don23lucia]

Has Wiltjer put on any weight or muscle at all this offseason?

[REM08]

Originally Posted by don23lucia

Has Wiltjer put on any weight or muscle at all this offseason?

Weight, yes. Muscle, not that I can tell. He's been hampered by the same limitations that we saw from him last year. While he's offensively skilled and a great shooter, his feet are made of lead and anyone remotely athletic will dribble right around him. He isn't physical in any sense of the word and rebounding is still a problem. My guess is we end up seeing WCS or Poythress in his place when playing teams that are likely to expose Wiltjer's weaknesses. His limitations are what they are and realistic fans dont' expect a radical transformation. Guys with a 12 inch vertical don't develop into Blake Griffin by hitting the weights.

To address what Gatorsgators mentioned, in comparison to Murphy, draftexpress seems to be banking on the assumption that Wiltjer has more offensive ability than he's shown - given his limited playing time last year. While I think they're right about that, and do think he's more offensively skilled than Murphy, I think they don't seem to understand the defensive liability that Wiltjer has shown to be at times.

[gatordd]

Murph will find a spot in the league... As will Will when all is said and done.. KB tho idk

[gatorfansrule]

I think Murphy is a lot like Bonner and Bonner's been able to make it in the NBA, so I expect Murphy to stick around for a while too.

[RD_gator]

If Murph really did put on extra muscle than Florida needs to utilize him a few more times in the post along with both Yuguete & Young!

[don23lucia]

Originally Posted by REM08

Weight, yes. Muscle, not that I can tell. He's been hampered by the same limitations that we saw from him last year. While he's offensively skilled and a great shooter, his feet are made of lead and anyone remotely athletic will dribble right around him. He isn't physical in any sense of the word and rebounding is still a problem. My guess is we end up seeing WCS or Poythress in his place when playing teams that are likely to expose Wiltjer's weaknesses. His limitations are what they are and realistic fans dont' expect a radical transformation. Guys with a 12 inch vertical don't develop into Blake Griffin by hitting the weights.

To address what Gatorsgators mentioned, in comparison to Murphy, draftexpress seems to be banking on the assumption that Wiltjer has more offensive ability than he's shown - given his limited playing time last year. While I think they're right about that, and do think he's more offensively skilled than Murphy, I think they don't seem to understand the defensive liability that Wiltjer has shown to be at times.

Great post and is exactly what I was thinking, thanks for doing all the work lol. He does have a pure stroke, but I don't know if he will be able to overcome his other liabilities physically and defensively to make a impact except to stretch the floor at times to open up the middle.

[GatorsGators]

Originally Posted by REM08

Weight, yes. Muscle, not that I can tell. He's been hampered by the same limitations that we saw from him last year. While he's offensively skilled and a great shooter, his feet are made of lead and anyone remotely athletic will dribble right around him. He isn't physical in any sense of the word and rebounding is still a problem. My guess is we end up seeing WCS or Poythress in his place when playing teams that are likely to expose Wiltjer's weaknesses. His limitations are what they are and realistic fans dont' expect a radical transformation. Guys with a 12 inch vertical don't develop into Blake Griffin by hitting the weights.

To address what Gatorsgators mentioned, in comparison to Murphy, draftexpress seems to be banking on the assumption that Wiltjer has more offensive ability than he's shown - given his limited playing time last year. While I think they're right about that, and do think he's more offensively skilled than Murphy, I think they don't seem to understand the defensive liability that Wiltjer has shown to be at times.

He probably does have more offensive skill than Murphy, but due to his lack of athleticism and quickness, he won't be able to show it against better defenders.

Wiltjer is a 3-point specialist at this level, and a very good one. There's nothing wrong with that... But Murphy is definitely the better prospect imo.