Class of 2017 - PF Nick Richards (NJ) to Kentucky | Page 4 | Syracusefan.com

Class of 2017 PF Nick Richards (NJ) to Kentucky

reedny said:
Hey, Francis, this is off-thread, but did you happen to see Doral Moore play when we played Wake? Wow. Not sure what the scouts were smoking to put him 75th or whatever. Kids is going to be a monster.

Richards (in 2 years) fits b/c DC will be gone, as well as Roberson. So there will be plenty of room on the front line.

As far as Thompson, where do you see him getting minutes at the 'Cuse next year if he comes in? Chukwu will be there, and DC has said he's coming back. Assuming there aren't that many minutes at the 5, is Thompson mobile enough to play the 4 for us to give us a second big? He'd be trading minutes with Roberson (assuming Lydon moves over to SF).
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I have seen Moore quite a few times in HS and now in college. Was always more of a prospect than player that had the physical tools. Was only a matter if or when he would ever put it together. Wake's been a big disappointment this season, but most of their young core will return next season. So maybe D. Manning will finally get things turned around there.

I think Thompson fits best at the 5 in the zone. He's not Thomas Bryant bad moving laterally, but it's not up to par with how you would want your wings to get after the shooters.
 
Cuse'91 said:
It would help our cause if our coach played more than 6.5 players every year. I think recruits kinda know that Cuse bench players will be Boeheimed...
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The other side of the coin is if your good enough you can get major minuets
 
patcuse said:
The other side of the coin is if your good enough you can get major minuets
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Agree. Clearly, we're playing 7 guys, with Howard and TL coming in. TL plays starters minutes, and FH doesn't. That doesn't mean he's not playing. He's playing.

We're not seeing more bench play b/c we take a big hit on defense with the bench guys and poor decision-making on offense. Even FH has been a Defensive liability, although the last couple games I've seen a big improvement. TL also gets beat regularly on the baseline and out-muscled for position by beefier, more experienced players. So JB's playing his freshmen as much as he can.

The others are not good enough to help us win in conference, although I'd like to see Chino out there more for spot minutes and to give up fouls.

Either way, blaming JB for our lack of bench talent/experience is pretty silly. We've all seen the problems with the other guys. So as you point out, Thompson will have to earn his minutes just like he will on any other top 20 program and his play -- not some "prejudice" by JB against frosh -- will determine how much he contributes.
 
reedny said:
Agree. Clearly, we're playing 7 guys, with Howard and TL coming in. TL plays starters minutes, and FH doesn't. That doesn't mean he's not playing. He's playing.

We're not seeing more bench play b/c we take a big hit on defense with the bench guys and poor decision-making on offense. Even FH has been a Defensive liability, although the last couple games I've seen a big improvement. TL also gets beat regularly on the baseline and out-muscled for position by beefier, more experienced players. So JB's playing his freshmen as much as he can.

The others are not good enough to help us win in conference, although I'd like to see Chino out there more for spot minutes and to give up fouls.

Either way, blaming JB for our lack of bench talent/experience is pretty silly. We've all seen the problems with the other guys. So as you point out, Thompson will have to earn his minutes just like he will on any other top 20 program and his play -- not some "prejudice" by JB against frosh -- will determine how much he contributes.
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I agree about not playing any more guys currently. Generally if you can play JB will play you. But, IMO, JB and the staff deserve some blame for the mess we've been in with guard depth especially the last few years. It's been well documented on here and on various podcasts how there were other big time options but the staff chose and struck out with Joseph and Patterson. BJ is an obvious miss now since he isn't here. Who knows how well he would've developed if at all. I'll be rooting for him at LaSalle for sure. Chino doesn't play and still is a project although the silver lining is apparently he helped bring Chukwu here. A perfect storm of obvious recruiting misses, sanctions, etc.
 
SoBeCuse said:
I agree about not playing any more guys currently. Generally if you can play JB will play you. But, IMO, JB and the staff deserve some blame for the mess we've been in with guard depth especially the last few years. It's been well documented on here and on various podcasts how there were other big time options but the staff chose and struck out with Joseph and Patterson. BJ is an obvious miss now since he isn't here. Who knows how well he would've developed if at all. I'll be rooting for him at LaSalle for sure. Chino doesn't play and still is a project although the silver lining is apparently he helped bring Chukwu here. A perfect storm of obvious recruiting misses, sanctions, etc.
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The staff missed on KJ ... I had hopes for him for a long time but the staff's pretty much given up. You could call this a whiff ... since he's been recruited over and they hand-picked him. That said, predicting how kids will develop is an art, not a science. And the staff normally has an amazing eye for talent ... going back to Dion, MCW, Ennis, Rak and more recently Malachai and Tyler Lydon.

I think a greater concern is our front line. I'm not sure of the timing, but once TB was a no-show, we should have brought in a 5th year or JUCO big. I mean ... after Diagne flamed out, we were desperate. I understand that Sanctions created some chaos. But clearly, we were going to be 2 bigs short of a top 15-20 level team and that's a crying shame .. b/c our back court would be a wrecking machine in conference and the NCAA's if we had some size inside.
 
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Deano said:
Man, I really wish we had gone hard after this kid and hopefully he doesn't end up at PayPalU.
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We are going hard after him. Red has put in a lot of work here and Richards has stated numerous times that SU is one of the schools recruiting him the hardest. We really need to get him on campus for a visit at some point tho.
 
Deano said:
Man, I really wish we had gone hard after this kid and hopefully he doesn't end up at PayPalU.
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Well, Calipari doesn't have any more games to prepare for, so recruiting it is. Red is busy this week.
 
Francis03 said:
We are going hard after him. Red has put in a lot of work here and Richards has stated numerous times that SU is one of the schools recruiting him the hardest. We really need to get him on campus for a visit at some point tho.
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Thanks Francis. Descriptions of his game sound a bit like Terrance Roberts in high school - great athlete that is working to develop a more well-rounded game. We know that things never really clicked with TRob, but would you say that's accurate at this point, or is Richards more skilled at this stage?
 
Francis03 said:
We are going hard after him. Red has put in a lot of work here and Richards has stated numerous times that SU is one of the schools recruiting him the hardest. We really need to get him on campus for a visit at some point tho.
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I thought the ole man wasn't going to chase him, lol.
 
Scotch said:
Thanks Francis. Descriptions of his game sound a bit like Terrance Roberts in high school - great athlete that is working to develop a more well-rounded game. We know that things never really clicked with TRob, but would you say that's accurate at this point, or is Richards more skilled at this stage?
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That's not a bad comparison at this point. He's a five star prospect, but so far he's much more potential than player. Very good defender that protects the rim at a high level. Runs the floor well and is a good finisher around the rim. On the flip side, his offensive skill set has a ways to go. He doesn't have much of a feel with the ball outside of dunks/layups. Hands are kind of suspect. I've seen him bobble passes and rebounds at times. Key thing here is that he has only been playing b-ball for the last 3-4 years since coming over from Jamaica. So the main thing will be how well can a college coaching staff maximize his potential.
 
So has JB/Hop given up recruiting studs like Richards?
 
patcuse said:
The other side of the coin is if your good enough you can get major minuets
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We are dancing this year to the Sweet 16 and maybe beyond, but I don't think it's the minuet.
 
JB and G-Mac watching Nik Richards today

Per Adam Zagoria Richards will cut his list to 8 this weekend and he also hears from Syracuse multiple times per week
 
Do we see him as a center or wing in this class? I feel like he is more of a center and DCR more of a wing.

My 2017 wishlist:
1. Green
2. Diallo
3. Tucker
4. DCR
5. Richards
6. Diange
 
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