In the fourth quarter of the Seattle SuperSonics’ 90-81 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers Monday afternoon, coach Nate McMillan had a decision to make.
Does he go with Brent Barry, who had been running the team so well and had hit 4-of-6 shots?
Or, does he go with Flip Murray, who was providing the Sonics with good defense on Allen Iverson?
That’s right, you read correctly, Ronald Murray and good defense were used in the same sentence.
It may have been the first time this season.
That has been McMillan’s gripe with Murray all along; everybody knows he can score, but at the other end of the floor he often is seen chasing his man as he goes past him, or swiping at the air as the ball goes up for a shot.
So against the Sixers, McMillan stayed with Murray. And guess what? It turns out Murray has been fooling everybody all along. He actually can play defense.
“He told on himself,” McMillan said, smiling. “He can play defense. I thought he did a hell of a job. You don’t stop Iverson. You can just keep him in front of you. And tonight, he did. That has to happen every night. I saw tonight exactly what I had seen on a different occasion during the season. And he slowly got away form that because his main focus is on the offensive end.”
In the fourth quarter, when Murray played 11 minutes, Iverson made only 2-of-7 shots. Some of it was that Iverson’s jumper was off, but some of it was Murray, who was playing in front of friends and family. Iverson complained to officials that Murray was grabbing him, getting physical.
Murray picked him up full court and made him work.
“I wanted to go out there and guard him,” Murray said. “It is more of a challenge to guard Allen. I had a chance to go out there and guard him, and my team needed me.”
Barry’s break-up: When Brent Barry dove on the floor to break up a 2-on-1 fast break, Iverson made a point to pat Barry on the head and tell him nice play.
“I told him if he had faked me, I would have been a fish out of water, just flopping on the floor,” Barry laughed. “He would have been driving right by me.”
Evans can exhale: Reggie Evans recovered from an upper respiratory infection and played five minutes, grabbing two rebounds.
Frank Hughes, The News Tribune
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