Exhibition Analysis: Has Nick Richards turned the corner?
After four games of exhibition basketball perhaps no questions looms larger than these: Has Nick Richards turned the corner? Is he starting to? Where along that process might he be?
That we're even asking those questions is a great thing for Richards, and a testament to his high level of play in the Bahamas. After falling out of Kentucky's rotation entirely last year, Richards was a high impact, high level player for the Wildcats and has everyone wondering, and many fans salivating, because of what he might be for this year's team.
We'll go to the tape, make comparisons with last year, identify progress and potential pitfalls in this, our second installment of Cats Illustrated's Exhibition Analysis series.
What he did well
The stats do not lie. Stats like these simply can't. Kentucky will face better big men than it saw in the Bahamas, but against older, physical players, Richards shot an abnormally strong 80-percent from the floor, scoring 12 points per game (playing basically platoon-level minutes). If you didn't watch those games you might be tempted to imagine Richards went on a tear of high-flying transition dunks and lob finishes against an overmatched set of defenders. There was some of that, indeed, and that's a part of Richards' game that he will always have.
But those who watched the games saw Richards coolly knocking down spot up attempts that simply weren't in his bag of tricks last year. Most impressively, Richards finished through contact following offensive rebounds. That was a major area of weakness last season and is a testament both to his strength gains and improved willingness to mix things up around the rim.
Richards' most impressive offensive play came in the second half with 8:12 to play against San Lorenzo, when he caught the ball face up near the left block, backed his man down, turned to finish but threw a nasty drop step and scooped it up and in around the other side of the hoop. He was nowhere close to being able to do that most of last year and Kentucky's bench responded by standing in unison to signify their approval.
