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Nick Richards

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shutzhund

All-Conference
Nov 19, 2005
29,202
2,619
0
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?
 
J

jwheat

Heisman
Aug 21, 2005
97,626
24,206
42
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
 
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MdWIldcat55

MdWIldcat55

Heisman
Dec 9, 2007
21,269
84,829
113
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 *** 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.
 
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S

SemperFiCat

Heisman
Mar 2, 2009
14,566
30,005
0
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.
 
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Sithlyone

All-Conference
Apr 12, 2012
2,086
1,501
0
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.
 
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Rhavic

Rhavic

Heisman
Dec 15, 2014
33,319
23,526
68
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.
 
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C

caneintally

Heisman
Oct 1, 2002
27,455
17,056
0
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.
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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 .
 
C

caneintally

Heisman
Oct 1, 2002
27,455
17,056
0
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.
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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.
 
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bucsrule8872

Heisman
May 30, 2005
24,397
29,352
0
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.
 
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westerncat

Heisman
Feb 19, 2012
15,923
20,891
0
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.
 
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UKSanders_rivals37733

All-American
Jan 1, 2003
8,634
8,736
0
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.
 
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C

Catzman

Heisman
Apr 29, 2002
17,083
13,669
113
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
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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.
 
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Anon1723990757

Junior
Jul 5, 2016
442
373
36
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.
 
J

jwheat

Heisman
Aug 21, 2005
97,626
24,206
42
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.
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No one plays 40 minutes use per 36
 
C

CatfanMike47

All-American
Oct 9, 2017
4,861
5,222
0
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.
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What poll has them higher?
 
W

WildMoon

Heisman
Apr 7, 2009
78,693
11,120
0
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.
 
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U

UKSanders_rivals37733

All-American
Jan 1, 2003
8,634
8,736
0
ThroughBlue said:
No one plays 40 minutes use per 36
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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.
 
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B

bucsrule8872

Heisman
May 30, 2005
24,397
29,352
0
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.
 
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U

uk78_rivals88018

All-American
Feb 6, 2003
12,401
8,783
0
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.
 
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J

jwheat

Heisman
Aug 21, 2005
97,626
24,206
42
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
 
E

Evil_Morty

Redshirt
Jun 4, 2018
10
9
0
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
 
B

bucsrule8872

Heisman
May 30, 2005
24,397
29,352
0
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.
 
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J

JamesLee

Senior
Aug 4, 2009
905
975
93
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.
 
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Wall2Boogie

Heisman
Jan 28, 2010
26,239
21,732
0
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
 
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