Richmond’s stellar play showed Wednesday night, as the Pirates improved to 16-9 on the year and 9-5, 3rd place in the Big East behind Marquette and UConn.
The saying goes that a basketball team is built around a point guard. So, when you examine why the Seton Hall Pirates look functional on offense, you’ll understand that it starts with point guard Kadary Richmond.
Richmond is the extension of head coach Shaheen Holloway, playing in his head coach’s tough-minded, smart image. A reminder of what Holloway was like as a Seton Hall player, Richmond is a facilitator on offense who can make big shots when he has to.
Richmond’s performance showed against Xavier in a game Seton Hall had to have after an 80-54 loss to Villanova on Sunday afternoon. Richmond put up a double-double with 20 points and 13 assists–and he was two rebounds shy of a triple-double–in the 88-70 victory over the Musketeers.
Assists are at the core of Richmond’s game, and he had 13 vs. Xavier. Many of today’s point guards are score-first/dish-last players, but not Richmond. A throwback to what a point guard used to be, Richmond gets everyone involved in Seton Hall’s offense. Richmond passed up on several scoring opportunities in this game. He could have had 20 in the first half if he wanted to, but he involved everyone instead, and the approach fueled a 23-7 start to the game.
That is a mark of a leader. The Big East Player of the Year candidate did what was best for the team, and that shows Richmond’s maturity.
Most fans expected the Pirates to win Wednesday night, but no one expected them to blow out Xavier. Games tend to be competitive in the Big East, and the Pirates didn’t let up all night. That’s a great sign as the Pirates head into the home stretch of the 2023-24 regular season schedule.
As much as Holloway deserves credit for his excellent coaching job this season, Seton Hall wouldn’t be in a great place if not for Richmond’s improved play.
