A Road to Success based on Josh Richardson's Pros & Cons
Sept 13, 2021 18:28:06 GMT -5
DaCeltics likes this
Post by Admin on Sept 13, 2021 18:28:06 GMT -5
How should the Boston Celtics use Josh Richardson?
If the Boston Celtics plan on keeping J-Rich, they need to learn from the Sixers and Mavericks’ mistakes so he doesn’t experience his third-down year in a row.
It is imperative that they adhere to Richardson’s strengths and not try to limit him in a way that strips him of his confidence and, therefore, his abilities. In the past, Richardson has been thought of as a player whose role needed to be lightened, when, in reality, it just needed to be tweaked.
On offense, Richardson needs to see more possessions in pick and roll with him moving downhill. Utilizing his large frame and good enough ball skills will bode well for the entire Celtics offense as they’ll finally have some rim pressure while maintaining good perimeter standing.
When Richardson is not handling the ball, the Boston Celtics need to get him moving towards the rim or to the free-throw line instead of around the 3-point line. The more mid-range attempts and layups Richardson takes, the better.
On defense, the wing should be kept as far away as possible from opposing teams’ stay guards.
Instead, he should be on the second or third best creator on the opposing team, focusing on containing his man and hunting for loose balls or careless drivers.
If the Boston Celtics can meet these precise needs, Richardson will enjoy the best season of his career, even if it is off the bench.
The good and bad of Josh Richardson’s offense
From a scoring perspective, J-Rich is rather lackluster.
His shot selection is relatively poor, and his range is somewhat limited. He has a shallow amount of counters and tends to get antsy when his back is up against the shot clock.
If the Boston Celtics want to see Josh Richardson succeed as a scorer, they need to adhere to his strengths and keep him away from short-shot clocks, pull up threes, or match him up with the opposing team’s best perimeter defender.
Richardson can provide some much-needed rim pressure, close-out scoring, solid mid-range creation, transition scoring, and cutting on the flip side. J-Rich is coming off the best finishing season of his career, shooting 67 percent from 0-3 feet, but it came on the lowest volume.
Although 67 percent may not be a sustainable value, Richardson’s below-the-rim creativity was natural, and with the C’s improved rim gravity, the wing should be just fine in that realm.
Additionally, Richardson shot the second-best field goal percentage from 10-16 feet in his career, hitting 49.5 percent of his mid-ranges on the highest volume of his career. The Mavericks increasing his jump shot output played a large part in his insufficient scoring numbers, so the Cs would be wise to confining J-Rich’s creation within 16 feet.
Originally the Mavericks acquired J-Rich to function as an ancillary offensive piece next to their young superstar, Luka Doncic, but as time went on, they quickly realized he was not nearly capable of handling a more significant offensive role.
This led to the lessening of his touches and more off-ball play, just to keep him away from the ball.
In transition, Richardson was relatively average by most metrics but, based on the film, the Boston Celtics can help him improve in that realm.
He’s committed to running the floor, and his shortcomings come back to his poor decision-making.
With Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Robert Williams, and Marcus Smart, who are all excellent transition players, Richardson’s decision-making load will be decreased and made more manageable. Cutting out the inefficient pull-ups and rushed passes will be critical to maximizing Richardson’s transition ability.
At the beginning of his career with the Miami Heat, his role trajectory was supposed to be a dynamic two-way shooting guard. However, due to some health limitations and a failure to realize how limited his vision and touch were, the two-guard experiment failed.
He does have some ball-handling skills, but at best he’s a very average passer and playmaker. J-Rich has turnover problems, 9% cTOV% and 1:1 AST/TO on drives, due to his relatively moderate vision, often locking onto one option and failing to adjust when the defense takes his passing avenue away.
His touch is nothing special, and he doesn’t possess a particularly impressive passing bag. Richardson can flash some no-look dump-offs or impressive one-handed kick-outs, but he can’t manipulate defenses on the move without confusing himself in the process.
The good news is the Boston Celtics don’t need Richardson to be an advanced playmaker or passer; they need him to make the most basic reads possible. I’m not even talking about skip passes or complicated lobs but, rather, timely extra passes.
He’ll get some reps with Williams and Horford in PnR or PnP, and all he’ll have to do is find players either wide-open under the rim or behind the 3-point line.
We saw how easy it was to work with Robert Williams — even Aaron Nesmith threw him lobs.
I don’t mean to undersell Richardson’s passing abilities, as he’s capable if his options are clear to him and he’s given the freedom to make mistakes.
I liked what I saw from him on kick-outs, finding cutters, and making extra passes, but to be clear, those should be your expectations for him.
From a scoring perspective, J-Rich is rather lackluster.
His shot selection is relatively poor, and his range is somewhat limited. He has a shallow amount of counters and tends to get antsy when his back is up against the shot clock.
If the Boston Celtics want to see Josh Richardson succeed as a scorer, they need to adhere to his strengths and keep him away from short-shot clocks, pull up threes, or match him up with the opposing team’s best perimeter defender.
Richardson can provide some much-needed rim pressure, close-out scoring, solid mid-range creation, transition scoring, and cutting on the flip side. J-Rich is coming off the best finishing season of his career, shooting 67 percent from 0-3 feet, but it came on the lowest volume.
Although 67 percent may not be a sustainable value, Richardson’s below-the-rim creativity was natural, and with the C’s improved rim gravity, the wing should be just fine in that realm.
Additionally, Richardson shot the second-best field goal percentage from 10-16 feet in his career, hitting 49.5 percent of his mid-ranges on the highest volume of his career. The Mavericks increasing his jump shot output played a large part in his insufficient scoring numbers, so the Cs would be wise to confining J-Rich’s creation within 16 feet.
Originally the Mavericks acquired J-Rich to function as an ancillary offensive piece next to their young superstar, Luka Doncic, but as time went on, they quickly realized he was not nearly capable of handling a more significant offensive role.
This led to the lessening of his touches and more off-ball play, just to keep him away from the ball.
He hasn’t cut much since his days in Miami, but with the Boston Celtics wanting to bring back more ball movement, and therefore player movement, Richardson will be encouraged to move towards the basket more instead of around the 3-point line.
In transition, Richardson was relatively average by most metrics but, based on the film, the Boston Celtics can help him improve in that realm.
He’s committed to running the floor, and his shortcomings come back to his poor decision-making.
With Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Robert Williams, and Marcus Smart, who are all excellent transition players, Richardson’s decision-making load will be decreased and made more manageable. Cutting out the inefficient pull-ups and rushed passes will be critical to maximizing Richardson’s transition ability.
At the beginning of his career with the Miami Heat, his role trajectory was supposed to be a dynamic two-way shooting guard. However, due to some health limitations and a failure to realize how limited his vision and touch were, the two-guard experiment failed.
He does have some ball-handling skills, but at best he’s a very average passer and playmaker. J-Rich has turnover problems, 9% cTOV% and 1:1 AST/TO on drives, due to his relatively moderate vision, often locking onto one option and failing to adjust when the defense takes his passing avenue away.
His touch is nothing special, and he doesn’t possess a particularly impressive passing bag. Richardson can flash some no-look dump-offs or impressive one-handed kick-outs, but he can’t manipulate defenses on the move without confusing himself in the process.
The good news is the Boston Celtics don’t need Richardson to be an advanced playmaker or passer; they need him to make the most basic reads possible. I’m not even talking about skip passes or complicated lobs but, rather, timely extra passes.
He’ll get some reps with Williams and Horford in PnR or PnP, and all he’ll have to do is find players either wide-open under the rim or behind the 3-point line.
We saw how easy it was to work with Robert Williams — even Aaron Nesmith threw him lobs.
I don’t mean to undersell Richardson’s passing abilities, as he’s capable if his options are clear to him and he’s given the freedom to make mistakes.
I liked what I saw from him on kick-outs, finding cutters, and making extra passes, but to be clear, those should be your expectations for him.
The good and bad of Josh Richardson’s defense
Unlike his offense, there are more pros than cons when it comes to Richardson’s defense.
Brad Stevens and the Boston Celtics likely brought him in because they knew they could get good production out of him on that side of the ball while figuring everything else out offensively. To get someone of Richardson’s caliber defensively for the price of Moses Brown and a TPE is a steal and a move no Cs fan should be displeased with.
However, J-Rich is no Marcus Smart.
Before I get into what he does well, let me clarify what the expectations should be.
Richardson will provide ancillary on-ball defense — he will not be locking down Kevin Durant and Jimmy Butler on a nightly basis. Richardson will not be one of the rare defensive anchors at the wing position like Robert Covington.
It is essential to know that Richardson will be tasked with maintaining the defensive standing for the Boston Celtics. He will not
be responsible for solely sustaining it, especially considering he may be coming off the bench this year.
Unlike his offense, there are more pros than cons when it comes to Richardson’s defense.
Brad Stevens and the Boston Celtics likely brought him in because they knew they could get good production out of him on that side of the ball while figuring everything else out offensively. To get someone of Richardson’s caliber defensively for the price of Moses Brown and a TPE is a steal and a move no Cs fan should be displeased with.
However, J-Rich is no Marcus Smart.
Before I get into what he does well, let me clarify what the expectations should be.
Richardson will provide ancillary on-ball defense — he will not be locking down Kevin Durant and Jimmy Butler on a nightly basis. Richardson will not be one of the rare defensive anchors at the wing position like Robert Covington.
It is essential to know that Richardson will be tasked with maintaining the defensive standing for the Boston Celtics. He will not
be responsible for solely sustaining it, especially considering he may be coming off the bench this year.
Moving onto what J-Rich can do for the Boston Celtics, it’s quite an impressive list.
Richardson holds a physical advantage over most guards, standing at 6-5, 200 pounds with a 6-10 wingspan and daunting recovery speed.
He made his money working back into plays, coming from behind and blocking potential layups or stripping indecisive ball handlers. His ability to dig on post-ups was well documented, willingly and aggressively helping to force the post-up player into a turnover.
The cons of Richardson’s defense are his lackluster foot speed, poor anticipation skills, and average screen navigation.
Richardson holds a physical advantage over most guards, standing at 6-5, 200 pounds with a 6-10 wingspan and daunting recovery speed.
He made his money working back into plays, coming from behind and blocking potential layups or stripping indecisive ball handlers. His ability to dig on post-ups was well documented, willingly and aggressively helping to force the post-up player into a turnover.
These tendencies combined with his physical gifts make him a clear positive on the defensive end and a contributor off the bench the Celtics have greatly missed since Marcus Smart was inserted into the starting rotation.
The cons of Richardson’s defense are his lackluster foot speed, poor anticipation skills, and average screen navigation.
If Richardson is paired up with a faster guard, chances are he’s going to get blown by every time, and the same goes if he’s matched up with a screen-heavy guard like Trae Young or Damian Lillard.