Hampton latest Breakers blow
When you’re embattled Breakers coach Dan Shamir, you take your good news where you can get it.
So, despite losing 18-year old American phenom RJ Hampton for the majority of the rest of the season, Shamir cut a rather cheerful figure at Breakers training yesterday ahead of their Sunday clash against the Adelaide 36ers at Spark Arena.
Hampton confirmed his hip injury looked set to sideline him for four to six weeks, which might see the 2020 NBA draft hot prospect only make it back on court for the final four rounds. The Breakers coach, though, was adamant his Next Stars standout has not been shut down for the season.
Regardless, with all due respect to the abilities of the Texan teen tipped to go top-10 in next year’s draft, and auditioning for that with his rookie pro season in New Zealand, his absence is something the Israeli coach can manage with the remainder of his squad now back and working back into something resembling a decent rhythm and confidence-level.
Hampton has a ton of upside and he’s been good in patches for the Breakers (averaging 9.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists as starting point guard). But his absence can be effectively covered by a mix of Sek Henry, Corey Webster and Jarrad Weeks. On the flip side, Webster, Scotty Hopson and Rob Loe have all come through their recent returns from the injury-list in positive fashion. Finn Delany, too, is well and truly up and running after ankle problems delayed his season start significantly.
Webster was outstanding after his fortnight off with an ankle injury in Monday’s 96-85 victory over the Brisbane Bullets, leading the Breakers’ scoring with 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting. He was at his crafty best, getting defenders on his hip and then creating space for his jump shot, and his team was much the better for it. Hopson, too, returned to action in the same game after five weeks dealing with a knee problem, and did a lot well in 21 mostly productive minutes (14 points, 6 rebounds) that hinted at the explosiveness that lurks in his game.
Loe remains a work in progress as he slots back from that skull fracture in the early rounds of the season but he too will be better heading into Sunday with a couple of games under his belt. He certainly feels like his best stuff is not far away.
‘‘We were in total abnormality from day one and we’ve had multiple players out,’’ noted Shamir. ‘‘We’re still in the process of getting everybody back but we have a functional roster now. We’re in a normal place.’’
Well, as normal as you could call the tight spot the Breakers have found themselves in on the back of the Glen Rice Jr saga, one or two other off-court issues and a 4-9 start to the season that wedges them firmly between a rock and a hard place.
But they have won two of their last three and Sunday hinted at the total game Shamir and owner Matt Walsh envisaged when they put this roster together. Now the coach needs to see another step up in effort and execution levels to improve their position even further against the dangerous Adelaide outfit.
‘‘From everything we’ve been through, the main factor was we didn’t have the players and players win games and players learn to play together,’’ responded Shamir. ‘‘I can’t really put a finger on the reason for every setback. Is it bad travel, poor defence, roster issues? We have a lot of things we need to do better.
‘‘But the main factor that didn’t allow us to play well was the players did not play with each other from day one of the season. Now it’s time to play as well as we can together. Defensively we struggled last game stopping Lamar Patterson (36 points) on pick-and-rolls … the first time we played Adelaide (a 117-100 defeat) we struggled to defend them oneon-one.’’