Scouts aplenty at Breakers game
In one of the most talked about NBL regular season matches in recent memory, the Breakers recorded their first win of the new season, thrashing the Illawarra Hawks 103-72.
All the talk before the game was on much anticipated match-up between young superstars RJ Hampton and Ball.
Both are projected to be NBA draft picks in 2020, and there were scouts from 15 NBA sides in attendance at Spark Arena, on Thursday night.
Hampton spoke earlier in the week about wanting to be more aggressive, and he set the tone early with a first quarter block on Ball – bringing the record Auckland crowd to their feet.
Ball finished the stronger of the two, however, ending with 10 points after he struggled to get going early – held scoreless until halfway through the second quarter when he cashed in at the free throw line.
He picked up the output in the second half, but ultimately his side couldn’t match the pace of the Breakers, falling to their fifth loss of the season.
Breakers guard Scotty Hopson said post match he was happy with his side’s overall defence on Ball, adding he was ‘‘just another basketball player’’.
‘‘I only guarded him on a few possessions, my job was more keeping Aaron Brooks contained,’’ Hopson said. ‘‘He (Ball) was good, but we didn’t really get into that match up between he and RJ for us it was just about playing well as a team and I felt we did that. We stayed aggressive throughout.’’
Hampton finished with just eight but was busy defensively and found open teammates throughout.
He was helped out by solid contributions from Cory Webster (17) and Scotty Hopson (17) as well.
The Breakers were on fire from three, shooting at better than 50 per cent from behind the arc in front of what was the club’s biggest crowd since 2013.