How often did John Murry (192-G-1995, college: Austin Peay) think about being able to make more money and playing in a higher league in the last 3 years? It must have been countless. Thoughts and thoughts. 1000 or 10,000 who knows. Not really any different then as many free throws Steph Curry has practiced in the last years. All those nights after he had given his all and put up allstar stats scoring 30-40 points and still losing games. How difficult must it have been to endure all these annoying mind games that he was playing with in Germany? John Murry is a hell of a player, but honestly when you’re a talented guard overseas, you can look left and right and see just as many talented guys. It just isn’t always easy to find the right situation where organization and money cater to the expectations of the player. After finishing at Austin Peay (NCAA) where he averaged 16,7ppg, he set on a professional career, but instead of going the usual route of playing somewhere in the vicinity of 80-100 games, all he had on his resume after 4 years was 11 games. Injuries, business decisions and Covid all made basketball life for the Indianapolis native very unbearable. Things finally turned around in 2021-2022 as he played a full season and rocked the German Regionalliga with the NEW Elephants Grevenbroich being the second best scorer in the league averaging 28.2ppg, 5.2rpg, 4.6apg, 1.8spg, FGP: 59.8%, 3PT: 38.4%, FT: 82.2% and picking up Eurobasket.com All-German Regionalliga South East North Player of the Year -2022 and Eurobasket.com All-German Regionalliga South East North First Team. Things then really looked up for him as the Basketball God finally noticed him and he was rewarded with a contract with German pro A team Art Giants Duesseldorf moving up 2 leagues to the second. He finally got a pay raise and was playing at a high level. But this didn’t last as the club decided to release him, because it was simply a numbers game something that often is seen in the basketball world. He never gave up and took a step back and signed with Regionalliga team Hamm Stars in order to rack up great stats and search for that next opportunity. The basketball God didn’t hibernate on him, but was lurking in the shadow and hooked him up again. His nonstop love, dedication and grind has rewarded him with that next opportunity in Morocco where he will earn even better money than in Duesseldorf.

After his short stint in the Pro A with the Art Giants Duesseldorf, the American guard who believes despite a good start by the Boston Celtics into the season, they will never get by the Golden State Warriors signed with the Hamm Stars. The team began with a bang beating Munster and Leverkusen, but then suffered a 3 game losing streak to Hagen, Essen and BG TVO / Jahn. A big problem was keeping points off the board as they allowed 97 points per game. Rebounding has also been a problem for Hamm as in their loss against BG TVO / Jahn were outrebounded 46-36 and watched them scrape 13 offensive boards. The American and other guard Mateo Zovko are 1 and 3 in rebounding and it’s apparent that the club needs an additional big man. ‘That could be the case or just us coming to together more as a unit to box our man out and not watch as the shot goes up. That’s mainly the key to rebounding, it’s just a job of who wants the ball more’, stressed John Murry. One of the great things to observe in the German Regionalliga are the guard battles on a nightly basis. It is usually the American guards that are the best players on the floor. In this game Murry tangled with Shawn Scott who flirted with a triple double just missing having 36/10/8 stats. He is another guy like Murry that must have a massive chip on his shoulder as he played in the NAIA before turning professional. Murry wasn’t to shabby himself equalizing his career high from last season against Hamm with 42 points. It isn’t hard to understand that battling tough and real talent pushes a guy to even greater heights. ‘It’s always good to see someone else be able to battle with you and hold their own. That game definitely brought the best out of me, it was a tough call at the end for me but we live to fight another game. The crowd was a key factor for them in that game also, very loud and into the game, I loved that environment’, remembered John Murry. But at the end of the daythese dudes are having fun at the same time. ‘I love it, I absolutely love it, I’m the type to feed off the energy of the crowd in away games and use it to motivate my focus and performance level. Also, guys who can play at a high level makes the game fun while we battle’, commented Joun Murry.

The explosive guard who hopes Rusell Westbrook is ok mentally after his 0/11 performance recently from the field and hopes he can perform at the level again that we have seen in his career came back after the loss to Scott and co and helped Hamm defeat Koln DTV 93-86 to snap their losing streak. ‘It was big for us to get this win especially coming into a week of playing one of the better teams in the league. This will definitely give us momentum moving forward. It definitely gives us positive hope and we are excited yet focused on the journey ahead of us’, expressed John Murry. He had another great game in the victory with 36 points shooting over 70% from the field and 62% from the parking lot while hauling down 11 boards and dishing out 5 dimes. He nailed a huge three to send the game into overtime in which Hamm then sealed the game in the extra time. ‘It felt good, one of the biggest shots I’ve hit in the clutch when we really needed a 3. I just try to stay focused and give it all I got and let God take care of the rest’, warned John Murry. In 6 games with Hamm, he averaged 27.8ppg, 8,7rpg, 3,0apg and 2,0spg while shooting 42,9% from outside. A stat that really has stood out has been his rebounding as he has never averaged that much before in his career. The most had been 5,6rpg in the 2014-2015 seasons at Owens Community College. ‘I really wanted to challenge myself defensively upon returning back to reg 1 to be a playmaker on both ends of the floor. Everyone knows I can score but I want to bring the same energy on the defensive end to make it a complete game’, said John Murry. One thing that stays the same no matter where you play is taking care of the ball. In 6 games with Hamm he was coughing up the ball at 4 times a game something he will continue to work on on cutting down. ‘Maybe that’s just it, maintaining possession of the ball more and value the possession to get us a good shot in the end when the shot clock is running down’, stated John Murry. Even if his stay in Hamm was short, he will never forget that head coach Ivan Rosic was instrumental in him being able to play his game and keep his name out there while putting up impressive stats when no one else did in this time. ‘Coach Ivan is a great person and even better coach. He has been coaching for a long time and his words of advice are gold. He has helped me in more ways then one and I will always value our friendship’, stressed John Murry. Now he embarks on a new chapter in his career in Morocco. Recently the easyCredit BBL saw some not so positive vibes in Weissenfels as American Lamont Jones staged his own battle with the team fans during a game against the Fraport Skyliners on the floor directing the F word towards them in many cases as well as giving them the finger. This is definitely something that isn’t seen very often, but it does happen. ‘As a overseas pro, I understand from all angles, frustration and positive vibes. I also understand how to carry yourself in a professional manner certain things can, and cannot happen, just hate to see unfortunate events like that. You see it from all angles and you just hope from the outside looking in that whatever that person is going through on the inside there able to deal with’, warned John Murry. It is no secret that fan behavior is better in some places and worse in other places. Even if Murry should experience some hostile fan interaction in his new basketball home, I’m sure that he will be professional enough to ignore it. This guy has overcome so much adversary in the last years, that he will play his game as usual and shine. He is playing the game he loves and finally earning better money. Basketball life is finally really good and something he has been grinding years to attain.

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Tags : JOHN MURRY, ART GIANTS DUESSELDORF, GERMAN BASKETBALL