Ballalld4y
Years ago
Given the $$ thrown at this kid, I'm guessing breakers are expecting him to carry quite a big load on their squad next season.
What do you guys think he's capable of, is he capable of making one of the ALL NBL Squads next year?
I know this kid can flat out score, but what do you think his numbers will look like next season?
I think he will play safe and not hurt his chances of playing in the nba
Food for thought
Years ago
Put it this way, if they recruited kids out of high school into the NBA, this kid would still be a top draft pick for this year. He is probably going to take his lumps but with no other options that are obvious for starting point guard, he will likely start.
I think statistically and impact-wise, he will be up against it against the Trimbles and Wares of the league, but I expect him to be good for 10-15 ppg and a handful of assists. And if and when he struggles they might move him to the two spot to free up his shooting. Defensively with his length he shouldn't have too many problems. He might have some issues with the physicality at first but I expect he will acclimatize well and probably finish the season in the second or third team ALL NBL.
Zodiac
Years ago
How does one play safe? Not leave the ground?
Food for thought
Years ago
Just because Ferguson was weak as piss doesn't mean RJ will be.
I reckon he'll go pretty well.
15/5/5 is my tip. He's coming over a fairly NBA ready PG, compared to Ferguson and Bowen who were really athletic 3&D guys who were very raw. Will struggle at times but also be pretty impressive.
The real question is though...how long until AFL teams are trying to poach him?!?!
BiasedBreakersFan
Years ago
Only one player (Sobey) averaged 15/5/5 last season, so that is definitely a bit far-fetched. Stats will depend on playing time and it's impossible to tell where he'll be in the rotation - especially given we don't even know who'll coach him yet,
Ferguson and Bowen weren't great, so can't expect much. He'll he 5 or 6 ppg and 2 or 3 apg
Hogwash
Years ago
The comparisons to Bowen and Ferguson aren't the best measure neither of them are/were projected top 5 picks.
Next people will say Zion can't do much in a man's league.
PyroCross
Years ago
The main difference here will be minutes. Bowen and Ferguson were regularly less than 20, whereas I expect Hampton's gotten some guarantees on playing time (particularly at the 1).
To get to the 15/5/5, he'll need to play high 20s/low 30s, which I don't see being feasible early-on. My hope is he is getting that type of gametime in the latter part of the season, but I'd be happy if he can be a double-digit scorer, who is reliable from the line (Breakers PGs don't normally shoot well from the line), with more than 3.5apg and a good A/TO rate.
I hope it's a joke about afl poaching him.
A) His salary this year as unproven rookie would be one of top salaries in football and is peanuts to what he can make in future. China would have offered way more.
B) Afl would be looking at more big Cox (haha) tall reasonably athletic rucks, not 6 5 key position players
C) Would have had better players at combines in states to choose from.
D) Even if he has average year like Ferguson he's a first round pick, good year lottery, great year top 5 pick.
So minimum full year salary for a debuting player in the NBA is about AU$1.2 million. Buddy Franklin gets $10million over 9 years at an average of about $1.1 million a year (reportedly AFL salaries aren't released). I don't think the AFL are going anywhere near him.
Zodiac is spot on. It was obvious Ferguson had so much more to play for past NBL. He rarely took it to the hole or go for any play that could potentially hurt him.
I think Hampton looks a more aggressive player than Ferguson, but there's no way the kid comes out guns blazing playing 35 minutes a game trying to win the Championship.
We should all be stoked that talent like this wants to play here. I knew Ferguson coming to play here, then starting for OKC 2 years later would help put the NBL on the map and attract more talent
anonymous
Years ago
Although Hampton looks to be marginally better at this stage of his career than Ferguson, it is only marginal. Ferguson was ranked #11 in the class of 2016 by ESPN, Hampton is #5 for 2019.
Hampton will be an NBA player barring any injury etc but he is a 17yo going up against men.
He will have some decent games but expect him to struggle against a Ware, Trimble, Cotton, Sobey etc.
The style of play is totally different. Hampton would have seen nothing like Damien Martin (although an aged version) in his high school career.
Lonzo Ball didn't look fantastic when UCLA toured Australia and he wasn't even playing against the 'A Grade' players. He went on to have a decent year with UCLA and then Lakers.
Good division 1 college teams will nearly always be beaten by nbl teams, most underestimate the difference of playing against grown,experienced men. I say nearly always because Cairns vs Kentucky or Duke would be interesting.
Difference with Ferguson was he was playing a wing where he was always physically weaker, don't think he was scared to take it to hole, just easily bumped. With Hampton he dousnt look physically mature but imo it won't hurt him as much at point. He'll have a target on back big time and will struggle especially early on. But should rise to the occasion with experience. But 20 minutes with 10 points and a few assists would be more than acceptable.
I don't think nba teams will be too fussed with numbers, as a few analysts have said he's in a real good men's league and can concentrate on ball full time. He probably won't be just measured on his game play but when he has workouts for draft they will be expecting to see gains.
I'm a bit suss with this new coach coming in, can't expect a promise of playing time for him and coach agreeing. Think it will work well since Euro coaches develop real young kids like Doncic and Rubio. Havnt researched him much so juries out. So hopefully he won't be handed minutes so it's a circus. Despite the money the breakers should sign a veteran guard to teach him and not be jealous of being overtaken, Gibson would have been good, wonder if an import would be prepared.
Only real concern was the Mudiay experiment but Chinese league is a joke but he's probably the closest comparison and he still was lottery pick.
Some Random Anon Logic
Years ago
Well if he was eligible, the NBA would draft him, and he'd be on millions, so obviously he will be the best player in the league.
If they start him at PG, better make sure he's wearing a diaper when he encounters Damian Martin.
NBA teams would draft kids at 12 years old if they could. Doesn't mean they'd be starting in the NBA though.
This is a high-school kid. He's never played against grown men, nor seen real defence
^^ making some contradictory statements, are you saying it's good or bad?
RJ Hampton manager said on a podcast that the Breakers are playing against OKC and Memphis
UseTaHoop
Years ago
He'll have some highlights, but play a no/low risk brand of ball. Just like Fergusen.
That’s about all we could expect from any Next Gen or other gap year athlete joining the NBL for a year
D2.0
Years ago
I honestly don't know what people mean by "low risk"?
This isn't NFL or Hockey.
There are random injuries, like getting smacked in the head, which you really can't avoid unless you stay off the court.
Then there are your "repetitive strain" type injuries, players wear out cartilage, strain muscles, and tear ligaments just by playing. You'd hope as a young man in his prime he's be less prone to such things.
A lot of injuries come from just bad/unplanned movement, landing badly, turning sharply, hyper-extending. Sometimes those injuries occur at practice. Unless he trains and plays at medium pace, and refuses to take jump shots or lay-ups, not sure how he can lessen those chances.
He's a skinny kid, transitioning to the adult game, and I'd expect to see him play accordingly.
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