Collin Murray-Boyles, Alijah Martin named to NBA Rising Stars game
The NBA announced on Monday night that Raptors’ rookies Collin Murray-Boyles and Alijah Martin will be competing at All-Star weekend in the Rising Stars game. Martin becomes the first player in Raptors 905 history to be selected.
A well deserved accolade for the rookie, who has quickly become an essential piece in the Raptors’ rotation. He’s slotted in seamlessly as a starter while Jakob Poeltl has been out, and his defensive numbers alongside Scottie Barnes have been among the league’s best. In 37 games this season, Murray-Boyles is averaging 7.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 2.0 assists. He currently ranks top 10 among rookies in rebounds, steals, and blocks per game, as well as in field goal percentage.
A recent addition to the Rising Stars game is the NBA G-League squad, and among this year’s group of G-Leaguer’s participating is none other than Raptors’ rookie Alijah Martin. The 39th overall pick of this year’s draft has been excellent for the Raptors 905, averaging 18.7 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in 14 games played. His play with the 905 has earned him minutes with the Raptors, where he had a breakout game in an overtime win against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Somewhat surprisingly, sophomore point guard Jamal Shead was not named to the Rising Stars game.
For more on Murray-Boyles high level of play this season, here’s some words from Samson Folk:
So far? Murray-Boyles has flashed all of the classic big man stuff offensively. He screens, runs handoffs, plays out of delay action. He rolls. Hits the occasional outside shot. Battles for offensive rebounds. The usual trappings of a passable big man. He has, in my mind, already shown a better than average awareness and talent as a passer so far, too. The big thing I’m waiting on is the driving. Now, the offense is not built for him in the slightest and doesn’t encourage much creation for him. The pecking order is important, and the guys who need their shots, do need their shots. As a result? Not a lot of driving from the Raptors rookie. However, on small volume, Murray-Boyles is getting to the rim and touching the paint a lot on his drives with middle of the pack efficiency. For a rookie who is driving bigs to the rim? Very happy about that. Although, his overall efficiency on drives, when you include his passes out of them, is very bad because the Raptors are in a very odd cold streak from downtown. They’re 0-7 despite 5 of the looks being wide open. It’ll come around.
- Samson Folk – Collin Murray-Boyles’ size lets him live in both worlds
A draft will take place tomorrow night at 7pm ET, where coaches Vince Carter and Carmelo Anthony will draft their teams from the rookies and sophomores selected. The game will take place on Friday February 13th as part of the NBA’s All-Star weekend.
The post Collin Murray-Boyles, Alijah Martin named to NBA Rising Stars game first appeared on Raptors Republic.