ADVERTISEMENT

Nick Richards

S

shutzhund

All-American
Nov 19, 2005
16,672
2,521
113
He has very little bb background but Calapari seems to be very patient with him. Starting him the majority of the time.

Can he be the answer to our problem at the 5 and what can he realistically do to be a value inside. He has one great advantage over Reid in that he is already here. Granted that Reid appears to be a talent but he may never be here.

This brings up the question do we really need a true 5 for this team to realize it's potential given its' strength at the other slots?
 
All he has to do is come down with the balls he gets his hands on. I bet he lead the nation in losing balls that he had in his hands
 
  • Like
Reactions: Catzman
Yeah, the Cats have no use for a 7-foot, 7'4'' wingspan player with excellent athleticism.

Because he wasn't AD last year, people are writing him off. He looked awkward and confused for one reason -- the game was too fast for him against athletic teams. But that's an adjustment lots of young players have to make. His hands didn't look that bad early in the year. He actually made some decent catches and some nice moves in the games against weaker teams. I think lots of his problems late were from overthinking and feeling lost. I hope he's working his ass off and the coaches have him set up to play some decent competition this summer.

He could EASILY be the positive surprise of the coming year, though as I suspect that will happen it won't be that much of a surprise to me.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: hotelblue, barbourfor3, awf and 14 others
He doesn't have to give us 20 and 10 every night. ...but gotta get more from him than last year. At least make a couple dunks, ha.
 
Travis brings a true "want to" to the front court. I didnt know anything about him prior to his possible transfer so I did some research. He averaged better at almost everything than any 4 we've had under Cal. Rebounds per game is the only thing he wasnt better at and that's because Randle and Poythress were quite amazing at grabbing rebounds.

I compared his top 10 teams played last year, against his last seasons average, he played 6 teams in the top 20. And the other four were Arizona State, Ohio State and UCLA twice. And you know what? His numbers stayed the same or slightly improved. He consistently rose to the occasion when he faced tough competition. He is no wilting flower.

He will most likely play the 4 here and he will bring a work ethic to that spot. The more I researched the more I came to the conclusion that we need him. If we were to just rely upon who we have we will struggle because we don't have another player on this roster with his skill set at that position.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BBUK
It would be dumb to discount Richards. Dude is still relatively new to the game, and the only sport he played before he started in basketball was a sport where you can't even use your freaking hands.

The guy has elite physical tools. Outstanding height, outstanding weight, outstanding length, and to go along with that, he's a very good free throw shooter, and has very good potential as a shot blocker.

He could be a 5 and 4 guy, he could be a 12, 8, and 2.5 blocks guy (in a frontcourt with PJ Washington, Reid Travis, and EJ Montgomery). With Kenny Payne coaching him, the latter is very, very possible, but it's too early to tell.
 
  • Like
Reactions: awf, wildcatwelder, WildMoon and 1 other person
Smashcat said:
True 5 or not, every team needs an inside player you know can make an 'easy' basket inside when the shots aren't falling.
Click to expand...
PJ was our real center this past season due to this. He will again along with RT IMO. Richards will be better and probably play good enough to be drafted late 1st round / early 2nd next season but IMO EJ , PJ and RT are our main bigs .
 
Rhavicc said:
It would be dumb to discount Richards. Dude is still relatively new to the game, and the only sport he played before he started in basketball was a sport where you can't even use your freaking hands.

The guy has elite physical tools. Outstanding height, outstanding weight, outstanding length, and to go along with that, he's a very good free throw shooter, and has very good potential as a shot blocker.

He could be a 5 and 4 guy, he could be a 12, 8, and 2.5 blocks guy (in a frontcourt with PJ Washington, Reid Travis, and EJ Montgomery). With Kenny Payne coaching him, the latter is very, very possible, but it's too early to tell.
Click to expand...
I think he will fall in between ( probably around 7 pts 6 rebs a game ) but he will have a few games in 24 pts 10 reb area as well.
 
If we get him, Travis will handle most of the low post scoring when paired with Richards.

I see Travis and Richards playing together like Randle and Johnson, when they are on the floor together.
 
I read that Richards has only been playing basketball for only 6 years. So I look for him to have a very good year this coming season.
 
I think his most important contributions are needed on the defensive end NOT the offensive end. Cal's defense requires good rim protection, and the last 2 teams have not been great at defending the rim without fouling.

If Richards can average only 2 pts/8 rebs but have multiple altered shots and instill a fear of entering the lane, he will give this team what it needs most from him.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bucsrule8872
ThroughBlue said:
All he has to do is come down with the balls he gets his hands on. I bet he lead the nation in losing balls that he had in his hands
Click to expand...

Such a simple thing to say and overlook but it's true. Being where he needed to be wasn't the problem for Nick. What separated him from someone like, say, Vanderbilt, is that when the ball touched Vanderbilt's hand, it was his and NO one had a chance of getting it back. It's not just about hustle and ferocity on the glass. Taking your eye off the ball for a second in game speed, or not being fully aware of your surroundings will have the ball carom off your unsuspecting stone hands or off the tip of your fingers due to timing. He gets that down and he can be a machine. He was a 12rpg per 40 last year, which isn't bad at all. Good actually. He could easily be a 15+ per 40 guy though.
 
It amazes me how people are assuming Travis is a lock. I don't care what all the experts say. I've learned you can't depend on that. Remember Noel. I Won't be surprised to see him pick Villanova. First option. Great coach. One poll I saw they are already ranked higher. Our advantage. We develope bigs for the pros. Which is what he wants. I think we're the better team with him. But he has connections there. If he wasn't considering it would he take a visit? I don't think so. I wouldn't pencil him in the lineup just yet.
 
Catzman said:
Such a simple thing to say and overlook but it's true. Being where he needed to be wasn't the problem for Nick. What separated him from someone like, say, Vanderbilt, is that when the ball touched Vanderbilt's hand, it was his and NO one had a chance of getting it back. It's not just about hustle and ferocity on the glass. Taking your eye off the ball for a second in game speed, or not being fully aware of your surroundings will have the ball carom off your unsuspecting stone hands or off the tip of your fingers due to timing. He gets that down and he can be a machine. He was a 12rpg per 40 last year, which isn't bad at all. Good actually. He could easily be a 15+ per 40 guy though.
Click to expand...
No one plays 40 minutes use per 36
 
Steelman100 said:
It amazes me how people are assuming Travis is a lock. I don't care what all the experts say. I've learned you can't depend on that. Remember Noel. I Won't be surprised to see him pick Villanova. First option. Great coach. One poll I saw they are already ranked higher. Our advantage. We develope bigs for the pros. Which is what he wants. I think we're the better team with him. But he has connections there. If he wasn't considering it would he take a visit? I don't think so. I wouldn't pencil him in the lineup just yet.
Click to expand...
What poll has them higher?
 
I think people are way down on Richards. He wasn't the guy we needed him to be in order to win big last year.

However, that doesn't mean he is someone we should put aside. I really like his starting point, and his starting point is noticeably better than our other big we had in the past, excluding those true OAD interior players.

Here are facts about him...

7' tall 7'4" wingspan, 240+lbs with 32' no step vertical. (compare to other struggling bigs like Dakari, Lee, skal, humphries, or SKJ, none of them come close to these measurable)

Shot FG @ 61.6% --> which was highest on the team. Part of this is because he is so athletic that he can get so many lobs easily. This isn't going to change. He also has solid shooting capability, see below.

Shot FT @ 71.8% --> which is insanely high for big man. This also allows him to shoot mid-range with decent consistency. It's something he just needs to get consistency, but this is impressive stats. (AD @ 70.9, KAT @ 81.3, Boogie @ 60.4%)

Rebound @ 4.4 in 14.7 mins --> Which is ACTUALLY really good rate of rebounding (12.1 per 40 mins). Excluding Vanderbilt, i believe he was our fastest rate of rebounder on the team. This is with his issue of holding onto the basket. However, he still gets to the ball and that's the key. Next step is assuring and controlling the basketball. (Boogie 16.8 (insane), Randle 13.5, AD 13.0, KAT 12.7, NN 11.9)

Block Avg @ .9 in 14.7 mins --> Again, this is solid rate. Probably want to get that up slightly, but his timing is still off. All these aspect he can learn by more basketball experience.

PER @ 19.9... Again, this is a very good value for "raw" talent. He was our most efficient PER front court player last year. SKJ didn't even compare. Its funny, people say he started because of potential, but the reality was he started because he was the most valuable. Unfortunately, i don't know if he was the best fit, which i think WG was better since he provided spacing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: hamidousvertical and UK HEMINGWAY
ThroughBlue said:
No one plays 40 minutes use per 36
Click to expand...

I understand what you are saying about actual playing time, but when comparing efficiency per minute played, it doesn't matter as long as you use the same calculation for everyone.

You could use per 20 minutes, per 30 minutes, etc. Ultimately, it's just trying to compare efficiency and not let total game stats skew the data.
 
  • Like
Reactions: WildMoon
Steelman100 said:
It amazes me how people are assuming Travis is a lock. I don't care what all the experts say. I've learned you can't depend on that. Remember Noel. I Won't be surprised to see him pick Villanova. First option. Great coach. One poll I saw they are already ranked higher. Our advantage. We develope bigs for the pros. Which is what he wants. I think we're the better team with him. But he has connections there. If he wasn't considering it would he take a visit? I don't think so. I wouldn't pencil him in the lineup just yet.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

But it's June, what else are we suppose to do besides discuss roster possibilities?

This place would be dead this time of year if it wasn't for recruiting and roster speculation.
 
  • Like
Reactions: FrankUnderwood
Any suggestion that Richards wasn't a liability is someone wearing blue tinted glasses. That's why during the tourney he was mainly on the bench. Hopefully he is putting in the time to work on a number of the clear weaknesses, catching, holding the ball, passing, rebounding (which did improve somewhat during the season), etc. We really need Travis so PJ can be the low post scorer with someone else to keep everyone honest on the weak side baseline. Maybe the Freshman will do that but it would be nice to have someone with significant college experience.
 
  • Like
Reactions: wildcatwelder
UKSanders said:
I understand what you are saying about actual playing time, but when comparing efficiency per minute played, it doesn't matter as long as you use the same calculation for everyone.

You could use per 20 minutes, per 30 minutes, etc. Ultimately, it's just trying to compare efficiency and not let total game stats skew the data.
Click to expand...
I understand that but most people now do let 36
 
DK about Lotto pick, but i think NR will be greatly improved has nice touch on shots, just needs to be stronger with the boards and ball
 
Richards will hopefully continue to progress and improve like a normal Soph does next year.

If he can give us 15-20 solid minutes, playing solid defense and rebounding, I will be tickled.

We have scorers, we need him to protect the rim and grab boards when he is in there.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BlueSince92
Watching the Warriors last night and how they use Javale McGee, Richards should be used in a similar way. Little to no expectations but when given an opportunity on the court he should find a way to get some easy baskets because the talent around him helps open the floor. Get the kid some confidence and hopefully he can become the player we all thought he could be coming out of high school.
 
  • Like
Reactions: wildcatwelder
The good thing about Richards is he will probably be here atleast one more year unless he blows up this year. He will continue to get better
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

B

10 year job

Replies
3
Views
522
Rupp Rafters - Basketball Forum
megablue
M
FanofUK

The new normal

Replies
58
Views
3K
Rupp Rafters - Basketball Forum
fastpaste101
fastpaste101
Firewalker_

Let's be realistic for a moment.

Replies
2
Views
239
Rupp Rafters - Basketball Forum
Phil_The_Music
Phil_The_Music
TriCountyCat

Hurley at Rupp

Replies
14
Views
2K
Rupp Rafters - Basketball Forum
cats#1again
C
S

I’m so glad Cal is gone, but…

Replies
19
Views
2K
Rupp Rafters - Basketball Forum
North Carolina Blue Wildcat
North Carolina Blue Wildcat
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest posts

ADVERTISEMENT
Top Bottom
Back