Lonzo Ball threw an absolute dime on a fast break through all five defenders, but someone forgot to tell Isaac Hamilton how to make open layups
The excitement level among college basketball fans leading up to Friday night’s Sweet 16 matchup between the UCLA Bruins and Kentucky Wildcats was at a ridiculous high all the way up to tip-off. At the heart of that feeling, of course, was UCLA’s star freshman point guard Lonzo Ball.
Ball has been one of the most dynamic playmakers in the country all season. He has one of the ugliest forms on his jump shot in the entire country, but it falls regularly. However, the most lethal part of his game at such a young age is his vision and ability to thread the needle with passes. Early on against Kentucky, he put that on display.
After catching the outlet early in the first half, Ball saw the entire Kentucky defense was getting back, but Isaac Hamilton snuck in across the court a bit behind them. So the UCLA freshman uncorked a perfect pass through the entire Wildcats defense and right to Hamilton.
Because apparently we can’t have nice things, Hamilton then got scared by his shadow at the rim and completely whiffed on the layup:
Lonzo Ball is going to be one of the first three picks in the 2017 NBA Draft by all accounts. There are many reasons why, but being a freshman in college and able to make plays such as this is up near the top of the list.
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For now, though, he’s trying to lead Steve Alford’s team to glory at the collegiate level. If he keeps making passes like this one and then gets his teammates to, you know, make wide-open gimmes, they’ll be in the mix.