Barstool's Favorite Hooper RJ Hampton And Future Knick LaMelo Ball Put On A Goddamn Show Against Each Other In The NBL Today
This is very much an important game for so many reasons. You have two top-5 picks in LaMelo Ball and RJ Hampton going up against each other. You had some early morning hoops on. You also have two guys who skipped college putting on a show.
You see the play above. That's a hell of a pass by RJ Hampton (who chose to play for our beloved Breakers instead of Kansas). This is all part of his game. Hampton's a bigger point guard who has excellent floor vision. He's still filling into his body and that'll come with the professional life, but the man knows how to play the game. Hampton's a good shooter that is working on getting more consistent with his jumper. It's not broken by any means or anything like that. He's one of my favorite prospects for next year.
Oh, he also has some athleticism. Just as an example, this block on LaMelo:
Fucking filthy block.
Then there's future Knick LaMelo. I'm all for the Knicks losing for LaMelo and by that I mean just get in the top-3 again and end up with him, Cole Anthony or Anthony Edwards please. But, LaMelo's transformation from the dude who just cherry picked and launched halfcourt shots is pretty ridiculous. He's now a 6'8" lead guard that can do this.
You can say you hate his dad, hate his last name, whatever. The dude is GOOD. He's fixed his jumper and it's nowhere near as broken as Lonzo's was coming into the league. He's way more consistent with that jumper. He's got the size to play any position/defend in the backcourt. He's a filthy passer (not as good as Lonzo, but still above majority his age).
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I know people like to mock them, but they are playing in a decent league. The NBL has a bunch of former NBA players and big time college players. This isn't a bad thing. For some reason people like to mock dudes that go overseas, but it's developing each year. This is about Hampton and Ball playing against pros as teenagers. That'll payoff in the long run.
Get excited fellow Knicks fans. They'd look great in blue and orange.