Philadelphia 76ers guard Josh Richardson does get swept under the rug a lot on this team. Especially considering he is on a team with Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons and they get all the love from the media and the team and everything else in between.
However, his contributions cannot be overstated on this team. In their 107-98 win over the Washington Wizards, Richardson contributed 15 points and he knocked down three of his six attempts from deep. He shot 5-for-9 from the floor overall and this comes after a tough opener against the Indiana Pacers to begin the restart.
Coach Brett Brown has said in the past that he does not call plays for his starting shooting guard and that remains to be true, but Richardson still continues to find his niche and make an impact on this team.
“I think Josh Richardson is just sort of that quiet contributor on most nights,” said Brown. “I think the last time that we played against San Antonio, I liked his mentality, just his attack mentality. I think just living in that world as opposed to thinking that there’s going to be a lot of play calls, it’s not going to happen that way so his impact is going to come from him playing with that mentality than a coach just calling a play. I think he was very good in that capacity.”
On top of his needed contributions on offense, Richardson stepped up to the plate when the time called for it against Washington’s guards. Despite not having Bradley Beal, the Wizards boast a lot of quick offensive guards led by Ish Smith, Jerome Robinson, and Troy Brown Jr. who are very good at attacking the rim and Richardson was able to make an impact on defense.
“I thought that he stalked their guards and we needed him,” Brown added. “When you start talking apples to apples, they got live ball guards who can play downhill and get to the rim far too often in the first half, but J-Rich’s ability to defend that and keep those types of athletes in front of him, I thought stood out again tonight. He really was very, very important for us to get this win.”
This is a good sign for Philadelphia. Granted, when the playoffs begin, they will have to take on much better and quicker guards than what Washington can boast, but Richardson makes a big difference on that end.
When they next take on the Orlando Magic on Friday, he has another challenge in the form of former Sixer Markelle Fultz as well as Evan Fournier. [lawrence-related id=36243,36227,36213]