RJ Hampton
- Thread starter Darezay
- Start date
Assuming Hagans is back, it might be tough. The coming dumbster fire at KU might take them out, so it could come down to UK and Memphis. I'd hate to lose another one to Penny.
https://usatodayhss.com/2019/rj-hampton-top-four-duke-kansas-kentucky-memphis-report
"Zagoria cited Hampton’s father in saying the star point guard is down to Duke, Kansas, Kentucky and Memphis.
If he does reclassify, he would provide an immediate boost to any of those teams. Three of the four are top-10 recruiting classes, per 247Sports.
Kentucky has plenty of wing talent already with small forwards Khalil Whitney (No. 11), Keion Brooks (No. 22) and Dontaie Allen (four-star, averaged more than 40 points per game) and combo guard Tyrese Maxey (No. 7).
In Zagoria’s tweet, he said Hampton will look at which point guards leave college for the NBA, specifically Tre Jones at Duke. Jones posted a picture on Instagram with the caption “Year 2?” and a shrug emoji, hinting he may return to the program.
That may be a preventative for Hampton, who would be competing for playing time with Jones and Ellis.
“With Duke, if Tre leaves, that is something I would look into,” Hampton told Zagsblog."
"Zagoria cited Hampton’s father in saying the star point guard is down to Duke, Kansas, Kentucky and Memphis.
If he does reclassify, he would provide an immediate boost to any of those teams. Three of the four are top-10 recruiting classes, per 247Sports.
Kentucky has plenty of wing talent already with small forwards Khalil Whitney (No. 11), Keion Brooks (No. 22) and Dontaie Allen (four-star, averaged more than 40 points per game) and combo guard Tyrese Maxey (No. 7).
In Zagoria’s tweet, he said Hampton will look at which point guards leave college for the NBA, specifically Tre Jones at Duke. Jones posted a picture on Instagram with the caption “Year 2?” and a shrug emoji, hinting he may return to the program.
That may be a preventative for Hampton, who would be competing for playing time with Jones and Ellis.
“With Duke, if Tre leaves, that is something I would look into,” Hampton told Zagsblog."
He'll either see an opening at Duke to play off the ball as a combo beside Jones since they'll have starter minutes available and will need a scorer, or I think he'll go to Memphis and run the show on what looks to be a talented young team while learning the position from Penny.
Our backcourt looks a little too crowded, most likely.
Our backcourt looks a little too crowded, most likely.
Not if Herro leaves. Hagans, Baker, Maxey. That's only 3 guards. Doubt Hampton is worried about Baker, so he would have to beat out Hagans at the 1 or Maxey at the 2. If he's as good as they say, I'd think he takes it from Hagans.
Forgot about IQ. That complcates things. Yeah, I think it's Memphis then.
His dad was really vocal that RJ wants to be on the ball though. I can’t imagine Tre coming back bodes well for Duke’s chances. If it means landing Hampton, I’ll gladly give my blessings to Hagans if he wants to be a pro. Hampton is on another level. Him & Maxey would be straight up filthy.
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Hagans
Maxey
Quickley
Baker
2 sophomores, a RS 3rd year sophomore, and an elite top 10 combo guard.
We are fine at guard. We have 3 five-stars and a 3rd year 4 star
Talent and experience in the back court. Depth in the back court. Different variety of skills in the back court.
We fine.
Maxey
Quickley
Baker
2 sophomores, a RS 3rd year sophomore, and an elite top 10 combo guard.
We are fine at guard. We have 3 five-stars and a 3rd year 4 star
Talent and experience in the back court. Depth in the back court. Different variety of skills in the back court.
We fine.
If we got Hampton and Hurt or McDaniels, I would start to get really excited. Like Kermit and Daffy excited.
IQ and Maxey with Hampton would be unreal. Calipari needs to convince him to come and play alongside those guys. A very weak draft this year which means UK could possibly lose Hagans and Herro. Hampton would make UK’s backcourt a massive threat.
Agree, IF Hagans improves. We won't be if we get the same or slightly better than what we got from him this year. I think most players do improve from their FR to SO season, but you can't take it as a given. Richards didn't really. I'm concerned because I don't know if AH is quick enough, or has the handles of an elite PG. Are those going to significantly improve? Not as easy as improving your shot.
You'd think so, but I wouldn't underestimate momentum in recruiting - which K/Duke has had for 5 years now. I recall when we had that kind of halo, and after Eric Bledsoe committed the reasonably presumption was that it meant we wouldn't get John Wall......
Two of his final teams are known cheats. All things equal, I like Kentucky’s chances, but as of this moment, they’re not. It will continue to be this way until that changes.
If the father is saying the kid doesn’t want to compete with Jones for playing time, I doubt he’s going to like Cal’s pitch of no one being guaranteed anything. May just have UK on for show
And if Hampton comes in and is as good as Hagans was as a freshman, what then? You can't take a reclassified player coming in and being better than your sophomores as being a given. Same logic. I wouldn't mind Hampton...but I doubt he comes and I wouldn't want to push experienced guys out for an unknown quantity....and we'd have to start over
We've only had 2 point guards return. Andrew Harrison and Ulis.
I tend to think Hagans improves. We saw him at his best and what he can do...in December and January....we KNOW what he can do...and a full offseason of strength and conditioning will only make him better. We won't have to see a learning curve with a new PG again...the offense can start rolling on day 1.
Hagans in year 2...less turnovers and in better shape...if that's the minimum of what he improves then we are in good shape.
We also have Maxey too...
Maxey will start beside Hagans if we're lucky enough to get him back. Maxey is more of a combo than a PG. He'd benefit greatly from not having to be our lead guy. Either IQ or Hagans will run the show for us.
I was under the impression Maxey was more like Brandon Knight, who started at PG though he was also considered a CG.
Hagans definitely has the quickness and ballhandling to be an elite PG. He was elite in both of those categories this season.
His issues were decision making and being overly passive. When he was playing aggressive, under control, and wasn't afraid to drive the ball into the paint he was fantastic...the problem is we didn't see that very often. If you aren't willing to drive the ball, and not willing to take open shots, that's a recipe for problems.
If he comes back with more confidence and starts making better decisions with the ball....he can be one of the best PG's in the country. Experience is the only way that kind of stuff gets better.
My dream scenario is Hampton, Maxey, Herro at the 1-3. I doubt it happens, but nobody could frickin stop that backcourt.
I wish that made me feel better, but we never seem to benefit from those relationships.
Maxey will be the 2 guard. Maxey isn't good at running an offense and ball handling like Hagans. Maxey is more of a Jamal Murray with more athleticism.
Maxey is very capable of running a team, he's played PG for his high school team all 4 years, he's only considered a combo guard because he's a very skilled player who can score.
And Hagans ran the point for 1 year in the SEC. He also did it in high school, same as Maxey. He will be capable when Hagans goes to the bench or teams are pressing us and we need 2 ball handlers.
Jamal Murray was a high school point guard. Most combo and 2 guards were the lead guards for their high school team because it's much easier.
Really? Aside from Maxey theres no one who shouldn scare Hampton off. Quickley and Baker are a good 2 years away from being good enough to fight him for minutes and we don't know if Hagans is back yet. If we lose Hagans, I'd say we have the best shot. He and Maxey are both capable of playing the 1 or 2 and won't interfere with each other.
The better question is do we prefer a sophomore Hagans or freshman Hampton? Personally I prefer Hagans.
Maxey is a PG, he's better with the ball in his hands, and all of the best Cal PG's were guards who could dictate the game with their scoring. Hagans is not a scorer and him handling the ball probably wouldn't be in the best interest of the team.
I've been wondering that as well, a sophomore hagans is very intriguing to me. RJ is uber talented...Hagans would be better, already been through the SEC wars and NCAA Tourny. Can't replace that experience with talent...think.that Clark kid on UVA proved this. RJ Hampton is very talented and will be a good\great player depending on how long he remains in school. He will be younger, body still maturing. Would love yo have them both
Again, that's high school.
Hagans has shown the makings of a pure PG. Maxey has looked nice in high school all star games...but hasn't shown me he's a Rondo, Wall, or Fox in terms of ball handling. We give him the ball next year? A lot of turnovers and bad decisions with a freshman to go with his scoring....we have to start over with a new PG running the offense.
Hagans? Experience and was the top PG in the 2018 class (check the rankings). Took over in the middle of the year and slumped late....those guys usually fine tune things over the summer. I'd rather have a sure steady handed PG running a team...than a combo guard that's the new hot freshman.
Let Maxey start the year off the ball...less pressure and Hagans can get him the ball...he gets more comfortable and maybe he can play more of a lead guard later.
There's a reason Maxey isn't top 5 on every ranking...he's great...but he's not the guys that's gonna walk in day 1 and take over. We complain too much about experience...but we are ready to throw the returning guys in the trash. That's how experienced players are built...they struggle early but reach their potential with work. Jordan Bone wasn't the best PG in the SEC day 1...but out his 2nd and 3rd years he was a monster. PJ couldn't shoot as a freshman...came back stronger and refined his game.
Somewhere I remember seeing that Cal wants to go back to the dribble drive. This would be a dream for that
All rankings aren't equal, case and point, Fox was considered like the 3rd best PG in his own class at best. Maxey is definitely an upper echelon talent and is going to lead this team in scoring next year. I don't disagree that Hagans can offer some experience, but Maxey is the superior player, and he has shown the ability to score and get others involved. Either way it goes, Cal will do what he thinks is right and we'll all be rooting for both guys.
It's not necessarily about scaring him off. But if Hagans, Quickley, and Baker are all back, Cal is going to play them. Baker might not see a ton of minutes, but they'll all be on the floor.
Even if we play three guards, four guys, plus Whitney, doesn't leave room for the role Hampton is looking for. Or even if you take Baker out of the equation, that's still not likely to happen because Hampton wants to play point if possible.
Normally I'd say that removes Duke, for similar reasons, but I think they'll have enough minutes/shots available that he could play alongside Jones and K can tell him he'll use him like Barrett, who facilitated the offense despite not being the PG.
But from a strategy standpoint it doesn't make any sense
Start the combo/scoring guard...best shooter....at the 1. The freshman that's not experienced running the offense.
You move the sophomore that started a full year at point guard...off the ball. The guard that's not a great shooter is now your 2 guard....(assuming Herro is gone)
That's just a mismatch in strategy. Hagans was the point guard for a team that was a #2 seed that played in the elite 8. Went in to the YUM Center and shut them down. Led a beatdown of #1 Tennessee. Completely dominated #1 seed UNC because of his defense on a lottery pick PG. He played against a full slate in a 7 bid SEC, the SEC tournament, and 4 NCAA tournament games(3 of them close games). That's who I want running my offense.
Maxey looks good in highlight tapes and games against high school players....but so did EJ Montgomery. Isaiah Briscoe was the top PG in his class too. Now I think Maxey is elite....but we just don't know.
And those rankings had Hagans and Maxey ranked pretty similarly before Hagans reclassified last year...
You can't just look at the rankings, you have to look at their games, Hagans doesn't possess one offensive skill that is better than Maxey, now you can just pass that off as saying "well it's only against high school kids" but every high level talent played against high school kids, that's not a great argument.
Next year is going to be a totally different team, we're going to be more reliant on the scoring from the guard play, Hagans wouldn't have looked nearly as good if he didn't have PJ and Reid down low, that's not to say that Hagans can't improve because I expect him to, but he is not on Maxey's level on the offensive end, he's just not.
I don't get the point about Clark. He was a Freshman. And only recruited by one of the school. So, he was neither highly regarded as very talented, nor was he experienced.
Cal has shown that if you are good enough, you will get the PT regardless if you are down the depth chart. Shai was a recruit in the 30s, not a soul on the planet thought was a 1st rounder OAD, but he won the job because Green didn't pan out. He is not going to play Hagans or IQ over Hampton if he shows he is better. Look at NR and EJ. Nick started out playing more than EJ, but that changed when NR showed he wasn't better.
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