Boys Basketball: Murphy proves to be a ‘phenomenal presence’ in Lake Zurich’s lineup

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Lake Zurich's Doug Murphy, seen here taking it to the hoop during earlier action this season, is averaging 10 points and 8 rebounds per game. He also has taken a charge 23 times. | Buzz Orr~Sun-Times Media

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Updated: February 27, 2012 8:13AM

One of Doug Murphy’s critical jobs as a Lake Zurich senior power forward is to end up sprawled across basketball courts.

The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Bear leads the team — and maybe North America — in charges taken, with 23.

His teammates this winter have taken 12 charges … combined.

“I’ve always been taught that it’s a good thing to stand in a lane and take a charge,” he said. “It’s good for the team, and it’s a good way to give your team the ball.”

Murphy gives and gives and gives — until it hurts.

If it seems, in games, he spends more time on the floor after charges than he does upright, raise your hand.

Now look up, way up, above your hand, above skyscrapers.

That’s where Murphy wants to spend a good chunk of his adult life.

Murphy, a down-to-earth guy, wants to fly commercial planes for a living.

Bears coach Billy Pitcher, for one, would feel quite safe if, after buckling up and asking kindly for another small packet of peanuts, he heard Murphy’s soothing voice over a jet’s intercom.

“I’ve been so impressed with him; we all have,” said Pitcher. “The things he does for us … the little things. He’s been incredibly reliable, consistent, and he’s doing it all while giving up five, six inches in the paint.

“Stats,” he added, “don’t tell you how valuable he is.”

Murphy, after 20 games, is averaging 10 points and eight rebounds. Warren senior forward Nathan Boothe, all 6-9 of him, scored only four points on Murphy in an LZ loss last month. Against Stevenson, which deploys 6-6 Colby Cashaw and 6-5 Chandler Simon, Murphy stole four entry passes, including a lob.

Good thing he majored in jump-roping in the offseason.

“I jumped rope, a lot,” said Murphy, a captain. “Usually in my backyard. Near the end (of the sessions), when I was getting tired, I was determined to keep going, because I knew it would help me in the fourth quarters of games.”

Pitcher wants Murphy on the floor in fourth quarters, for a number of reasons.

Some of them: Murphy, a second-year varsity member, takes charges, grabs key rebounds and shoots 75 percent from the free-throw line.

“His leadership, too,” Pitcher said. “Doug communicates extremely well on the court. He makes all the post calls, lets his teammates know about screens. What a middle linebacker often does as a leader in a football game, Doug does on a basketball court.”

Murphy’s older sisters, Tylee and Susan, played hoops at LZHS. At the halftimes of their games, li’l Dougy would sometimes chuck his li’l basketball at varsity rims.

“I got my work ethic from watching my sisters come home late, after their practices,” said Murphy, who, at the age of 6, started playing organized hoops at a YMCA. “Both liked to work some more on their shots after practices.”

Doug Murphy took shots in the fall.

Golf shots.

He drove and putted as the varsity’s No. 1 man for most of the season. One of his highlights: a 78 at the NSC Meet, in cold, windy conditions.

These days he’s a take-charge ironman in hoops.

“My assistant (Tom Reagan) is thinking about getting some T-shirts and putting an image of Doug on it, with the word ‘charge’ on it as well,” Pitcher said. “Doug has been such a battler for us, a phenomenal presence. He’s Mr. Hustle, Mr. Heart, Mr. Toughness, Mr. Intensity.”

On the schedule: LZ (11-9, 2-4 in the NSC Lake) hosts Libertyville at 7:30 p.m. Friday and plays Johnsburg at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

The Bears’ home game Jan. 20, against Warren, was postponed because of heavy snowfall. It will be played Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. at LZ.