2k6-2k7 REPORT CARD: Troy Murphy

When it comes to handing out Golden State Warriors report cards for the 2006-2007 NBA season the professors here at GSoM leave no stone unturned.

That means these fellas and their bad hairdos will be graded.

Back in January there was of course that trade that brought the artist formerly known as T-Double's five and a half year run in the Bay to an end:

• Trade: Dun, Murphy, Diogu, McLeod for Harrington, S. Jackson, Jasikevicius
• The Warriors & Pacers Blockbuster Trade: Throwing Up W's and L's
• Basketball Obituaries -- Mike Dunleavy Jr. 2002-2007
• Dad's got my back!
• Warriors Head Coach Don Nelson Talks about the Blockbuster Trade
• Warriors-Pacers Blockbuster Trade Linkfest
• A Little Pacer Perspective on the Blockbuster Trade
• New Warrior Al Harrington Talks about the Trade
• Everyone's Talking About the Trade!
• GSoM Q&A with Matt Steinmetz - 01/18/07 (Part 1 of 2)
• A Reality Check on the Blockbuster Trade between the Warriors and Pacers
• GSoM Q&A with Marcus Thompson II - 01/30/07 (Part 1 of 2)
• Jon Barry on the Warriors and Pacers Trade
• Simulation Analysis of the Warriors-Pacers Blockbuster Trade

But before that Troy Murphy was struggling big time in his 26 games with the Warriors this season. Was it the injuries? Was it being too slow and unathletic for Nellieball? Was it the understandable frustration of being a daily feature in the NBA's rumor mill for over a year? Who knows, but TMurph went from being a fairly solid starting power forward, albeit with some glaring holes in his game, to bench material pretty fast.

It was sad that Murph didn't pan out for the Warriors this season because if there was anyone who could seemingly utilize a perimeter oriented 4, it was Coach Don Nelson. Here's what Nellie had to say about Murph way back in September before the season began [Nelson ready to shake up the Warrior]:

Well things didn't exactly go according to plan and Nellie benched Murph fairly quickly, opting to start the erratic Mickael Pietrus and journeyman Matt Barnes. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like Murphy took the benching as a challenge or source for motivation. Any hunger he demonstrated during his first two years in the league as a fiery up and comer had seemingly vanished. The man just seemed to want out and probably justifiably so.

TMurphy's grades and more after the jump.

Um...

notice a trend here?

Adam Lauridsen (Fast Break)   Grade: D Murph slides in a half-grade above Dunleavy because the odds were against him succeeding in Nellie's system. He's not fast enough or athletic enough to do the things Nellie-ball requires. That said, he still gets a D for playing with zero passion and tossing up awful jumper after awful jumper. Fun Score: 1 Murph's hair: the opposite of Baron's beard in every way.

Atma Brother #1   Grade: F At the beginning of the season I thought T-Double could sneak his way into a Western Conference All-Star spot as a backup center. Don't worry, I promise never to drink that cherry Kool-Aid flavor again when making preseason predictions for the Dubs. Murph never really fit into Nellieball because of his lack of speed and athleticism. His unfortunate early season injuries just made the situation worse. Troy didn't seem the least bit happy here towards the end and being Troy "Trade Rumor" Murphy for over a year seemed to really be taking its toll on him. Good luck to Murph in Indy. If he can upgrade his defense from being atrocious to just bad, he might be a decent starter in this league and return to being a double-double machine. Fun Score: 0 That Phantom of the Oracle mask wasn't fun at all- it was scary as hell.

DJ Fuzzylogic   Grade: C Ever since his first season where we thought he was one of the fiercest White guys in the NBA -- throwing and staring down Dale Davis (one of the scariest looking guys in the NBA) -- Murphy has oddly become afraid of contact whatsoever. Maybe that incident with Davis changed him forever. This past season was no different as Murphy hung out around the three point line more than ever and failed to grab more than 2 offensive rebounds a game. Not exactly what you expect from your biggest big man. Fun Score: 2

Fantasy Junkie   Grade: D I like Troy. He just didn't fit the system and it really affected his confidence. He never really pulled out of it in Indiana. Troy seems like a good guy, so I hope he finds a role on a contending team. Fun Score: 4

Hash   Grade: C+ Hehehehehe. SEEEYALATAH!! Fun Score: 2

Also see Troy Murphy's 2005-2006 GSoM Report Card (C+)

This might be the only time I've seen him move laterally on defense.

Unfortunately after the trade to Indy, Troy didn't fare that much better than he did with the Dubs earlier this year. Instead of returning back to his double-double ways he only played 28:11 minutes per game and his rebounding rate actually dropped slightly. He made some noticeable increases in the shooting department percentage-wise (40.9% 3pt up from 37.3% with the Dubs and 77.2% FT over 71.2%), but after this dismal past season he's become the recipient of one of the NBA's most awful contracts.

How can you sport this intimidating mask and still be so... so...
(Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

Charmin SOFT?!

What do you think the future holds for Troy Murphy in the NBA? Will he ever return to his double-double form? Will the Warriors ever regret trading this jump-shooting power forward?

I'm putting my money on Troy pulling a Michael Jordan
and leaving hoops for a few years for the baseball diamond...
then returning to win 3 titles in a row!

2006-2007 GSoM Report Cards

• Chris Mullin & Rod Higgins (B+)
• Don Nelson (A+)
• Jason Richardson (B)
• Mickael Pietrus (C)
• Sarunas Jasikevicius (D+)
• Zarko Cabarkapa (F+)