Breaking Down The Pistons vs Magic Tankapalooza
Last night, two tanking teams in Detroit & Orlando faced off. It’s time to break down all the youngsters involved in this tankapalooza.
I’m always down for a good tank fest. When two rebuilding teams face off, it’s fun. The game itself isn’t my main focus. Instead, I want to talk about some of the games’ brightest stars. When the Pistons and Magic squared off last night, some of the best youngsters in the NBA were on display.
From the #1 overall pick to Mo Bamba, here’s everything you need to know from last night’s Tankapalooza.
Orlando Magic
Let’s start with the Magic. Orlando has been injured to hell, Florida, and back this season. Their roster filled with youngsters has unsurprisingly been awful. Top-10 pick Jalen Suggs has been one of the more disappointing draft picks this season, currently out with injury.
Aside from their isle of sadness, the Magic have some exciting young prospects. Here are the two guys I want to talk about from last night’s game.
RJ Hampton
RJ Hampton is an interesting player. He was the main attraction coming from Denver as part of the Aaron Gordon deal. The 2nd year guard from New Zealand has shown promise at times but still needs tremendous development to turn into an impactful player.
Hampton is an athletic slasher, someone who isn’t very polished offensively. His jump shot has looked better this season (37% 3-PT on 2.7 attempts). However, most of his threes come off the catch. An RJ Hampton off the dribble three-pointer is about as rare as seeing Ferris Bueller in school.
Hampton scored just five points last night, but that’s not what I want to focus on. What I want to focus on is his defense. Like we talked about, Hampton is an athletic guy. His length on defense makes him a good defender simply due to his physical stature.
With a 6-7 wingspan, Hampton can stay with any guard on the perimeter. Here, he simply swallows up Saben Lee, who gets caught in the air.
When you consume as much NBA content as I do (an unhealthy amount, my doctor tells me), you’re bound to see some plays that leave your jaw glued to the floor.
This is one of those plays. Hampton teleports twenty feet to the corner, making this Josh Jackson 3-pointer anything but wide-open. As an average athletic human being, it’s plays like this one that make me question my existence.
Other than his off-the-dribble scoring, I think defense is somewhere that Hampton can hone in on. He’s got the physical tools to be an above-average defender. RJ Hampton for All-Defense? Call me in a few years. We’ll see where we’re at on this campaign.
Mo Bamba
Mo Bamba is finally getting an opportunity to shine. The Magic took the lengthy Texas big man 7th overall in 2018, a draft headlined by the likes of Luka Doncic and Trae Young. Bamba has shown promise, but the Magic haven’t exactly had his best interests in mind.
With no plans of rebuilding at the time, the Magic took a player who needed a lot of time to develop. I guess that’s fine, but the Magic didn’t Bamba the light of day. Behind an All-Star in Nikola Vucevic, Bamba played just 2400 minutes across his first three seasons.
Now, finally, with his interests in mind, Bamba is having a solid season. He shot just 2/7 from the field last night, but I still want to highlight his offensive game.
I think that Bamba’s potential as a pick-and-pop big is immense. He’s shooting 35% on catch-and-shoot threes this season, a sign that this is sustainable.
Bamba’s range could potentially flummox opposing defenses. It’s hard to get out to Bamba when he moves so well in space. Something to keep an eye on if you’re Orlando.
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons, like the Magic, are not very good at this whole basketball thing. Their rebuilding project is just beginning, with their crown jewel being Cade Cunningham. They have some decent pieces, adding to that pool with the acquisition of Bol Bol (great move btw).
Here’s what I thought about their youngsters last night.
Cade Cunningham
Cade Cunningham has been great this season. For a month, he displayed everything we all needed to see to assure us that this guy was worthy of the #1 overall pick. His 3/14 shooting performance doesn’t look great, but I urge people to look beyond the numbers.
For one, his five assists last night were things of beauty. Featuring a few no-look passes in traffic, this one to Saddiq Bey was my favorite;
Not too many players can make this pass, with only one hand, might I add.
The thing I liked even more was the free throws. Cade is a bigger guard who likes to drive downhill as much as possible. He’s only averaging 2.1 free throw attempts from the season, but he shot eight last night.
It’s not unrealistic to think that Cade can average 6-8 free throw attempts a game at one point in his career. He’s a tank coming down the lane, so this is something I want to see him continue to do, draw fouls.
Hamidou Diallo
Hamidou Diallo, harnessing the power of Rip Hamilton with his mask, has been a great revelation for Detroit. The bouncy guard-forward came to Detorit from another rebuilding team, OKC. In his first full season in the Motor City, Diallo has quietly been excellent.
10.7 points / 1.3 steals / 56% TS / 1.0 DBPM
Diallo is a fun player to watch. He can uncork dunk contest level dunks in an instant. He’s a tenacious defender, using his length very well. I’m ashamed with myself for not talking about him before today. He deserves a lot of credit for how far he’s developed.
With Diallo not being the best off the dribble player in the world, a coast to coast layup is promising. He still needs a lot of work on that part of his game, but this is promising.
The only thing missing from Diallo’s game is an outside shot. He’s shooting just 25% from outside this season. Even worse, that figure drops to 23% on catch-and-shoot opportunities.
A jump shot would make Diallo a 10x better player.
What Are Your Thoughts From Last Night’s Tankapalooza? Leave A Comment Down Below!
Follow My Instagram & Facebook To Never Miss A Post: @hoopnotions
