Future NBA stars showcase skills
Hoops punters in New Zealand cannot get enough of NBL Next Stars RJ Hampton and LaMelo Ball. Nor, it seems, can NBA draft pundits who have clearly been impressed by the pair’s exploits thus far down under.
Highly respected ESPN NBA draft analysts Jonathan Givony (whom the Breakers use extensively as a scout) and Mike Schmitz have gone all-in on the pair of 18-year old US phenoms currently playing their trade in Australia’s National Basketball League under its Next Stars programme.
The pair went head-to-head for the second time this season in Auckland last Saturday and neither the occasion nor the turnout disappointed.
For the second time this season at the same venue, the Breakers’ Hampton helped his team defeat Ball’s Illawarra Hawks, with the Kiwi club backing up October’s runaway 103-72 victory with a more hardfought 91-79 victory that snapped a five-game losing skid.
With nearly 17,000 fans attending the pair of games at Spark Arena (Saturday’s attendance was a regular season record of 8474 for the Breakers), Kiwi basketball fans have clearly been energised by the prospect of watching these future NBA stars showcase their talent.
And ESPN’s latest 2020 mock NBA Draft also indicates that the terrific teens are doing their
prospects no harm at all with their decisions to forego the ‘‘oneand-done’’ year in college and prepare for the NBA with a season playing pro hoops in Australasia.
Givony and Schmitz, who know their stuff when it comes to the pre-NBA talent pool, have both inside their top five in their latest mock draft ahead of the
2020 annual allocation of young NBA talent.
They have Ball – younger brother of New Orleans Pelicans star Lonzo – as their projected No
1 pick in next year’s draft, ahead of the highly-touted Anthony Edwards (Georgia University), James Wiseman (Memphis) and Cole Anthony (North Carolina).
Then they have the Aucklandbased Hampton going next at No
5, which indicates his decision to play this season for the Breakers has not done his draft stock any harm at all, despite the team’s struggles thus far.
Ball on Saturday at Spark became the first player in the NBL’s 40-minute era to post consecutive triple-doubles when he finished the defeat with 25 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists to follow up his stellar 32 points,
11 rebounds and 13 assists in the home win over Cairns.
It was a far from perfect performance, with the 18-year-old going 1-of-11 from beyond the arc and making just 10 of 28 shots overall. But he still impressed with his energy and steadfastness in the losing cause.
Hampton, too, showed glimpses of the athleticism and pace that have scouts so excited about him, though he was much less of a creative force for the Breakers en route to 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting, to go with 4 rebounds and a pair of assists.
Breakers coach Dan Shamir later indicated he had been happy with Hampton’s efforts, even if he was decidedly qualified with his praise.
‘‘For me it’s a good experience having RJ. It’s a good thing for everybody, for the attention, the excitement it creates, for the media, the fans. But we’re trying to balance things with how we play as a team,’’ he said.
‘‘I’m not about anybody’s personal story ... but it’s been great for me, and it’s also good for the team because he’s improving.
‘‘He’s very coachable, you can get a lot out of him and he was very aggressive [against Illawarra] in moments. There was a time in the fourth quarter where we went with a bigger lineup (with Hampton on the bench), and it gave us a lot.
‘‘This is part of the story and I’m happy we got the win, he got a good performance and we also achieved it as a group.’’
The Hawks are also naturally high on Ball’s efforts for them, with veteran Aussie David Andersen admitting it had not been lost on him he’s been playing pro hoops longer than the youngster has been alive.
‘‘He’s definitely improved over the course of the season. You can see he’s starting to get things at the point,’’ said Andersen who had two years in the NBA during a long and extensive pro career dating back to 1998.
‘‘He brings great energy, he’s everywhere, grabbing rebounds, hustling after things, he’s on the break.
‘‘He is learning organised basketball and still has his moments in games, like any young kid, but he’s got a lot of upside to him.
‘‘I like his energy and I like to get out there and see what he does sometimes – it’s quite impressive.
‘‘I try to give him some guidance where I can, steady his head when the moments get a bit tough and give him a little bit of encouragement because he’s got a lot of talent and if we want to be successful we need him playing good basketball.’’
Illawarra coach Matt Flinn admitted it was hard not to be impressed by the way his young charge was playing.
‘‘He’s a pretty grounded kid and a willing learner. He listens, he’s quite coachable and we’re starting to see that.
‘‘There were times where the ball stuck with him a little and that’s a learning curve ... playing with that tempo, getting other people involved and late clock we come back to you. That’s the everevolving process with him.’’
Hampton’s 3-8 Breakers resume what they hope is an NBL mid-season resurgence with two games this round, at Cairns on Friday night and at home against Brisbane on Monday. Ball’s 3-9 Hawks visit the Bullets.