PirateCrew: Seton Hall Pirates Football & Basketball Recruiting
The definitive source for all PirateCrew news.
BY JP Pelzman
Thoughts and observations from Seton Hall's 85-63 victory over Wagner:
Richmond finding his groove.
Syracuse transfer Kadary Richmond posted a season-high nine assists in 28 minutes and recorded a plus-22.
“He’s progressing nicely,” coach Kevin Willard said. “He’s starting to practice the way he needs to kind of sustain a level where he has the ball in his hands that much, and I think that’s been the biggest thing. He’s really worked hard the last three weeks of really sustaining practice and really working. I think he’s starting to get confidence in what we’re doing and what we’re looking for.
“I think these guys are starting to get used to him playing at the point,” the coach added. “They know he’s going to pass the basketball. He’s not going to take a ton of shots. I think he’s progressing really well. I think he’s taking the steps that we need him to take and I think the more he understands the value in each possession and how important each possession is, I think he’ll continue to grow.”
“I’m just getting better day by day and being more connected with the guys,” Richmond said.
Make no mistake, Richmond is one of the keys to the season. The Pirates cannot afford to overuse backup point guard Bryce Aiken, and they were in danger of doing that early in the campaign.
"I think his potential is amazing," Jared Rhoden said of Richmond. "It’s a good feeling to play with a true point guard. I know when I run the lane hard, he’s going to find me.
"This is the game I’ve been waiting for Kadary to have,” Rhoden said.
It's just a number.
Seton Hall fell from No. 21 to 25 in the Associated Press poll after its split in Fort Myers last week. But, not surprisingly, the Pirates aren’t paying much attention.
“When you’re ranked,” Tyrese Samuel said, “everybody’s going to try to beat you. You can’t worry about being ranked. You've just got to keep on playing.
“Rankings come when you win,” he added, “but you’re not really getting rewarded for that.”
As he noted, the real goal is “March Madness.”
As for the AP rankings, The Hall could drop out only because victories over depleted Wagner and non-D1 Nyack won’t move the needle. Ohio State, which knocked off the Pirates last week on a last-second three, probably will jump back in thanks to its win over top-ranked Duke. However, No. 24 Michigan certainly will fall out after getting blown out at North Carolina.
The problem with depth.
As Willard has noted, he is working on combinations early in the season. That can make it tough on players, especially the bigs.
“I do think we can wear down teams,” he said, “especially with our 4s and 5s, but it’s hard to be 7-foot-1 (such as Ike Obiagu) and sit for seven minutes, then get right back into it. I think that’s what I’m struggling with, a lot more than anything, is with these big guys.”
He added that with guards, “it’s easy, you can pop up, pop down, you’re ready to go, you have the ball in your hands. Big guys for the most part, they don’t have the ball in their hands nearly as much, so I’m trying to get these guys to be able to just kind of find their rhythm and let their rhythm come to them. That’s one of the biggest things, that’s kind of the double-edged sword.”
A case in point, and Willard wasn’t referring to this, but I am, is how 6-10 Tray Jackson entered with 13:45 to go in the second half, missed a long ill-advised trey attempt, committed a foul that resulted in two Wagner points, and then made a turnover that led to a Seahawk basket. He quickly took a seat again. For a big man, trying to impress, those things can happen when you’re playing in short spurts. Jackson went 4-for-5 from the field and scored 10 points yet had a minus-11 in a 22-point victory.
Cale update.
Willard said that guard Myles Cale (groin) “is still game-to-game, so I have no update on MC. He’ll be back by next week. He’s been working out pretty good. He wasn’t cleared to practice (Wednesday).”
It would not be surprising if Cale got some run against Nyack just to get him back in the flow before the Dec. 9 game against Texas.
“It's going to be great,” Rhoden said. “We really miss Myles on the defensive side and as a leader in general.
“Just how Myles Cale recovers (on defense) for all of us,” he added, “we’ve all seen that throughout the years. It's going to help us a lot.”
Cale's defense has been sorely missed in these past two games, particularly in the first halves.
