Nick Richards??

[2Dope15]

How good is he and do him and Bamba play same position? Just wondering if all the recruits are close and if he might get upset that Green is trying so hard to get Bamba and he is getting recruited over, thinking he isn't good enough for them. I know I'm not making sense lol.. I just don't follow the recruits as much as some.

 

[*Bleedingblue*]

How good is he and do him and Bamba play same position? Just wondering if all the recruits are close and if he might get upset that Green is trying so hard to get Bamba and he is getting recruited over, thinking he isn't good enough for them. I know I'm not making sense lol.. I just don't follow the recruits as much as some.

This class is not a strong class. Don't expect Richard's to come in and be a great player next year. Could be our SKJ for next season.

 

[bookerfan66]

Bamba really wants to play the 4.Said he was happy UK had Richards to play the 5.

 

[WildMoon]

Not sure,

Humphries, SKJ, and Richards are all solid. Bamba can play with those two because most of these guys have decent mid range shots, and that's all you need from bigs.

well i don't know if Richards have midrange shot. I think Humphries and SKJ(we saw little) have midrange shot.

 

[morgousky]

This class is not a strong class. Don't expect Richard's to come in and be a great player next year. Could be our SKJ for next season.

If that happens, then it was a miss. There's no way Cal recruited him to be that bad.

 

[*Bleedingblue*]

If that happens, then it was a miss. There's no way Cal recruited him to be that bad.

SKJ was a 5 star as well. Richard's is not highly skilled but a raw athlete.
Some guys who are their watching the practices say he has hands of stone and is very raw.
Nothing wrong with that, not everybody is going to shine. Their are several players each season that disapoint, only a handful actually dominate.

 

[2Dope15]

That's cool, thank for the great response's wasn't sure how my question would make sense, your right this class just doesn't seem as top heavy even the announcers said during game. It does seem we have a good balanced group of players that are coming here and seem dedicated on improving.

 

[*Bleedingblue*]

More so with guards than bigs I might add.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

I don't know if I'd describe Richards as Raw, personally.. He can rebound very well and his offensive game is solid.. "raw" strikes me as a Embiid or Gabriel.. or guys who have the physcal abilities, but still honing their talent.

Either way, he's not this years SKJ.. Cal isn't going to put our current best prospect on the bench all year..

 

[WildMoon]

I don't know if I'd describe Richards as Raw, personally.. He can rebound very well and his offensive game is solid.. "raw" strikes me as a Embiid or Gabriel.. or guys who have the physcal abilities, but still honing their talent.

Either way, he's not this years SKJ.. Cal isn't going to put our current best prospect on the bench all year..

Embiid?

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Embiid was very raw in college as I remember. Played basketball for only a few years prior. Mentally not there (still not quite there). He's a physical specimen, but had some problems adjusting and was still learning the game.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

I think of Raw in food terms.. The meat is there, it just hasn't cooked yet.

 

[WildMoon]

Embiid was very raw in college as I remember. Played basketball for only a few years prior. Mentally not there (still not quite there). He's a physical specimen, but had some problems adjusting and was still learning the game.

Other than foul trouble, He looked great from the start.

He was quick to pass out of double, far better than most. Had a crazy dream like move. For a guy who hasn't played basketball, he looked pretty polished.

He didn't learn to pound it in inside to really take advantage of his physical gift, however. He was also injured prone.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Injury prone AND bad conditioning.

I don't remember seeing the REAL Embiid until the league.. only flashes at Kansas.. maybe in part cause he was rarely on the floor it seems

 

[WildMoon]

Injury prone AND bad conditioning.

I don't remember seeing the REAL Embiid until the league.. only flashes at Kansas.. maybe in part cause he was rarely on the floor it seems

yeah he missed the tourney, so we definitely didn't get to see.

i saw few times and was pretty impressed. But, i don't think he'll ever have a career. He is just as broken as Oden. Another talented big gone from league.

 

[morgousky]

SKJ was a 5 star as well. Richard's is not highly skilled but a raw athlete.
Some guys who are their watching the practices say he has hands of stone and is very raw.
Nothing wrong with that, not everybody is going to shine. Their are several players each season that disapoint, only a handful actually dominate.

I understand, but that's more of a traditional system. Cal doesn't recruit freshman 5 stats he doesn't believe could be big contributors. SKJ was recruited to be a contributor. Richards was as well.

 

[bookerfan66]

Richards has just played basketball for about 4 years so he has a lot to learn.He may be a 5 star but I think it's obvious it's going to take him longer to be his best.

 

[2Dope15]

They say his strengths are def. and rebounding and we need that, he is ranked 16th. ofcourse doesn't mean everything.

 

[Bluegrass79]

Nick looks reserved and quiet kinda like the great ungreat Eloy Vargas

 

[Cowtown Cat]

I don't know if I'd describe Richards as Raw, personally.. He can rebound very well and his offensive game is solid.. "raw" strikes me as a Embiid or Gabriel.. or guys who have the physcal abilities, but still honing their talent.

Either way, he's not this years SKJ.. Cal isn't going to put our current best prospect on the bench all year..

This. Richards has good footwork, from what I have seen.

 

[Jkwo]

Embiid was very raw in college as I remember. Played basketball for only a few years prior. Mentally not there (still not quite there). He's a physical specimen, but had some problems adjusting and was still learning the game.

Richards said he's only been playing for 3 years.

 

[JonathanW]

If that happens, then it was a miss. There's no way Cal recruited him to be that bad.

What little I saw of SKJ, I liked. He looks like a more skilled Lee. Not an elite star, but a good player. My understanding, and from what little I've seen of this entire class, there are a lot of good players, but few elite players. So SKJ will be in the mix, with a reasonable opportunity to be a contributor. It's very possible all, or all but 1-2 of this coming UK class may return for a Soph year. If we don't add Bam and/or Briscoe, we very well could see a 26-10 type season next year, but then a 38-2 year after that.

 

[EMMCAT]

Richards said he's only been playing for 3 years.

The best analog for Richards is WCS in my judgment. An excellent athlete who can run and jump with the best of them. Like WCS lacks some essential skills. He seems to be better ball handler (he crossed over Bamba in practice) but his greatest weaknesses are post moves and (yikes) his hands. He has trouble CATCHING the ball or at least appears to have trouble.. He is much stronger and more physical than SKJ, quicker than Hump and TW.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Do we even know the full story behind SKJ? It has to be more than his ability. Plenty of games he should have gotten 5-8 min of burn and never came off the bench. With how thin our front court was.. why?

 

[*Bleedingblue*]

Do we even know the full story behind SKJ? It has to be more than his ability. Plenty of games he should have gotten 5-8 min of burn and never came off the bench. With how thin our front court was.. why?

That is what everybody has been asking. Also Gabriel was not looking that good as well who was also a 5 star. Most every other school he would of logged as many minutes as SKJ did for us.

 

[kentucky_wildcat_#1]

Unless it's attitude related, i expect SKJ to log major minutes this coming season. Dude has talent. The few games we got to see the kid play, it was obvious the kid has the talent to be a really good post player in college. Not sure what the problem was with the kid, but next season i expect to see SKJ grabbing a bunch of rebounds for Kentucky. If Bamba signs, Bamba has to start, but that doesnt mean SKJ won't see major minutes. You can never have too many talented frontcourt players.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Hoping he can rock that Cobra Kai headband during a few games (0:40 mark)..

 

[Brando Mac]

View embedded media

Hoping he can rock that Cobra Kai headband during a few games (0:40 mark)..

It should be illegal for him NOT to wear that sweet headband during games.

 

[UKCATSFREAK]

I'm holding out judgement for this class until it's complete and we see them play a bit. We've all been guilty of building up certain classes to be a MONSTER class, only to not be so great of a class. So, I'm hoping these guys come in and surprise people. If we get Bamba and another guard or transfer, I'll be pretty excited that we will be in the hunt for the title come March. I'd like to think we can contend for a 1 seed in the tournament but that may be a pipe dream. I think what's going to hurt us is not having the guys like Derek and Dom. Man, they just played so well towards the end of the year. I'd LOVE to have both of them back to play on that level for a full year just to see what they could do.