Richmond Spiders
2013-2014 Overall Rank: #65
Conference Rank: #6 Atlantic 10
After a few great seasons under Coach Chris Mooney, which culminated in a 29 win season in 2010-2011, Richmond has had a couple of down years, relatively speaking at least. Last season the Spiders still managed a .500 record in the tough A-10 and won a postseason game. That postseason game was against Bryant in the CBI, so it will not go down in Richmond lore. But the seeds are sown for a better postseason berth in 2014.
2012-13 Record: 19-15, 8-8
2012-13 Postseason: CBI
Coach: Chris Mooney
Coach Record: 121-109 at Richmond, 139-131 overall
Who’s Out:
Richmond will have to do it without a couple starters from last year’s squad. Darien Brothers was the most prolific scorer and outside shooter. Having a consistent and experienced guard like Brothers in Coach Mooney’s Princeton offense was extremely important. Stop Brothers and you could beat Richmond. The Spiders will have to find another guard who is ready to step in and become a consistent scoring threat. Greg Robbins is the other departure. He stepped into a starting job during his senior season and did a bit of everything. Robbins would cede the scoring to the backcourt, but the 6-5 small forward could knock down some three-pointers, pass effectively and help out on the glass.
Who’s In:
The Spiders have the depth to slide up some returning players to replace Brothers and Robbins. This is a team that went ten deep in 2012-2013, so they are experienced options as well. However, there is room for a couple of the newcomers to crack the rotation. Forward Chase Fletcher and guards Josh Jones, ShawnDre’ Jones and Tim Singleton will be in the mix. Singleton could be the candidate to fill a dozen minutes or so off of the bench, but Josh Jones can fill up the stat sheet and, at 6-4, can give Richmond some much needed size on the perimeter.
Who to Watch:
Cedrick Lindsay is one of the most underappreciated point guards in the country. He finished his junior campaign on a tear and ended the season averaging 12.0 points and 3.1 assists. Lindsay does a superb job of running the offense and he plays terrific defense too. Kendall Anthony was right behind Brothers and Lindsay when it came to scoring, tallying 11.5 points per game. Anthony should step into the starting job vacated by Brothers after spending most of last season coming in off of the bench. After knocking down 42.6 percent of his attempts from long range, Anthony is ready for the bump in responsibility. However, he is just 5-8 and while it is tough for the Spiders to rebound any worse than last season, it could actually happen. The pressure will be on the only proven scoring forward on the team to hit the glass effectively. Derrick Williams missed a big chunk of the season in January and February and his absence was felt. He averaged 11.4 points and a team high 5.4 rebounds and he is an experienced senior who can throw around his 270 pound frame. Lindsay, Anthony and Williams are a great trio to work around, but the development of the rest of the team will be the difference between a trip to the NCAA Tournament and one of those other postseason tournaments.
Final Projection:
Wayne Sparrow, a 6-3 guard, will turn into the sixth man with Anthony moving into the starting lineup. With a little more consistency on his jumper, Sparrow will fill that role just fine. Alonzo Nelson-Ododa started all 34 games as a freshman. The 6-9 forward is not much of a scoring threat, but he is a very productive interior defender. Terry Allen, Deion Taylor and Trey Davis all saw more action than expected as freshmen while Williams was out. That experience is huge and one of them will have to take over a starting job. Taylor proved to be the most consistent shooter of the bunch a year ago and started a handful of games. There may not be room for every sophomore in the frontcourt to make a big jump in production, but a couple of them can and that will give this Richmond team plenty of talented depth that will help the Spiders at least get to the NIT.
Projected Postseason Tournament: NIT
Projected Starting Five:
Cedrick Lindsay, Senior, Guard, 12.0 points per game
Kendall Anthony, Junior, Guard, 11.5 points per game
Deion Taylor, Sophomore, Forward, 3.6 points per game
Alonzo Nelson-Ododa, Sophomore, Forward, 3.9 points per game
Derrick Williams, Senior, Forward, 11.4 points per game
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 70.0 (107th in nation, 7th in conference)
Scoring Defense: 66.5 (170, 8)
Field-Goal Percentage: 44.4 (110, 8)
Field-Goal Defense: 44.5 (251, 12)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 8.3 (16, 1)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 37.8 (30, 2)
Free-Throw Percentage: 72.2 (85, 4)
Rebound Margin: -5.8 (331, 16)
Assists Per Game: 12.8 (159, 11)
Turnovers Per Game: 12.2 (86, 7)
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