Jamal Murray, the 23 year old Nuggets breakout star from Ontario, Canada became the youngest player in NBA Playoffs history not named LeBron James to score 40 points in a game.
Murray scored 50 points in Games 4 and 6; 42 in Game 5 against the Utah Jazz, and 40 in Game 7 to eliminate the Los Angeles Clippers. The True Shooting Percentage was an astounding 68.2% — a NBA Star is Born!
In January 2020, the Quince Orchard High (QOHS) Sports Analytics Club (MD) predicted the NBA stardom of Murray in a data science driven SACP Research Report issued to the Denver Nuggets under the assignment of Tommy Balcetis, assistant general manager of the Nuggets. The Club was governed by STEM Teacher Michael Schweizer and George Mason University Professor Ralph Romanelli served as the University Partner Advisor. The SACP Research Report advocated, with advanced performance metrics, for the selection of Murray to the 2020 NBA All Star Game in midseason comparison with comparable elite guards, notably Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz. Murray was not selected to the NBA All Star Game, but with no surprise to the aspiring Data Scientists, Murray’s offensive explosion eliminated the Jazz on the path to the Western Conference Finals versus the Los Angeles Lakers.
The students in the Quince Orchard Club applied data science to sports and witnessed the incorporation of their SACP Research Project into the Denver Nuggets media campaign to promote the selection of Jamal Murray to play in the NBA All Star Game – their interest was sparked to enter into the emerging field of Data Science. They also are enjoying the immense satisfaction of watching Murray’s stardom being born in the NBA Playoffs knowing that their prediction had come true.