A lot of people are going to say a lot of wonderful things about Jamal Murray as his basketball career unfolds, but none may resonate as much as the ones being spoken in the bowels of the Ryerson Athletic Centre on Friday night.

Murray, the 18-year-old wunderkind from Kitchener, had just had a game for the ages, a game that was shocking given his age, his experience and the cauldron in which it was accomplished.

And there stood Steve Nash — the icon headed for the hall of fame, the point guard all other Canadians shall forever be judged against — talking about The Next Great Thing.

“He’s a special, special kid,” said Nash.

All Murray had done was make a series of increasingly crucial shots, play with the poise of a grizzled veteran 10 years older and continue to make his senior national team debut better than many thought, helping Canada beat the United States 111-108 in overtime in their Pan Am Games semifinal, assuring Canada of its best finish ever.

Murray finished with 22 points that included a pair of dramatic overtime three-pointers to move Canada on to face Brazil on Saturday afternoon for the gold medal.

They were the biggest shots Murray has ever made wearing a Canadian uniform, but the overwhelming feeling is that there will be more.

“There was a moment there, I think it was early in the fourth, where I thought maybe we should go back to Junior (Cadougan, the starting point guard) . . . defensively he’s always in the right place, and Jamal has his moments where he’s 18,” said Nash. “From there on he was just incredible, and it just shows he’s . . . got such balls and he’s not afraid of the moment. He embraces the moment and that’s why he’s very, very special.”

Murray is with the senior team because head coach Jay Triano figured it was time to start his ascension through the ranks. Canada Basketball held Murray back from the under-19 world championship so he could play at the Pan Am Games, because Triano knows he has a chance to be special.

“When I watched the Hoops Summit (global all-star game) out in Portland earlier this year he had 30 points, and I was reminded after the game by Nicolas Batum (who Triano coaches with the Portland Trail Blazers) that only two players prior to that had 30 points in that game,” said the coach. “They were Nic Batum and Kevin Durant, so I knew he was in good company with the way he played in that game and the poise he had on the big stage.”

Andrew Nicholson, whose skills are perfectly suited for the international game, had 31 points to lead Canada, while Anthony Bennett had 18.

The atmosphere at the sold-out gym was electric and seemed to lift Canada whenever the Americans made a run. The win assures Canada of its first Pan Am men’s basketball medal ever, a fact Triano pointed out before the game.

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“I asked them this morning at shootaround to stand up at their locker and turn around and look at the names, because in everyone’s locker we have their number and a list of the players who have worn that number for Canada,” Triano said. “They looked at the list and there were some pretty good names there, but none of them have won a medal for Canada at the Pan Am Games. I said, ‘Let’s be the first ones.’

“They can rest their hat on that.”

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