photo credit: Craven Whitlow
Arkansas’ Billy Richmond III approaches the game of basketball the same way I attack courses on Mario Kart: all gas, no breaks, baby! Find the vehicle that cranks the speed all the way up, and then just let that thing loose. Who cares about handling on corners or weaving through crowds? It’s the straightaways I live for.
It’s a decent strategy on the racetrack, and it can be successful on the basketball court, as well. Richmond absolutely saw some successes during his freshman year at Arkansas playing at the breakneck speed typically reserved for the Mushroom Circuit. Whether you want to call it motor, pace or tempo, Richmond was the most likely player last year to put the pedal to the floor and blast past defenders like he had a star. The key for Richmond in Year 2 is avoiding the same banana peels that befell him as a freshman.
Data suggests that Richmond was an A-list weapon in transition. Richmond landed in the 98th percentile for fast break points per 40 minutes and a completely bonkers 99th percentile for percentage of points scored on fast breaks, according to CBB Analytics. He didn’t just embrace the chaos of transition basketball, he practically lived there, like someone who discovered the shortcut on Rainbow Road and refused to take any other route.
Watch this clip from a game last November against Pacific:
You just witnessed a true freshman taking the ball coast-to-coast in transition and tilt-a-whirling the defense with a blink-and-you-miss-it Euro step. That’s NBA-level athleticism exploding out of an 18-year-old frame.
How Billy Richmond Can Improve
But every speed-focused strategy has its Achilles’ heel, and for Richmond, it was the 3-point line. His 2-of-16 performance from beyond the arc (that’s just 12.5 percent for the season) was the kind of shooting display that would make even the most optimistic fan wonder if he was using the wrong controller.
In a modern college basketball landscape where floor spacing is crucial, Richmond’s reluctance or inability to consistently threaten from deep created traffic jams that make him an easy cover in the halfcourt for opposing defenses.
This shooting struggle manifested itself in Richmond’s overall impact metrics. His -0.3 RAPM (Regularized Adjusted Plus/Minus, CBB Analytics’s all-in-one efficiency metric) ranked eighth on the team, sitting uncomfortably below teammates like Adou Theiro (6.3), Boogie Fland (5.3) and Johnell Davis (4.9). It was the second-lowest figure of any Arkansas player who logged significant minutes last year.
The path forward for Richmond in Arkansas’ increasingly crowded backcourt requires the same strategic thinking that separates good Mario Kart players from great ones. He needs to identify which parts of his game represent those wide-open straightaways where he can maximize his natural advantages, and which areas require more finesse and patience.
His transition excellence and court vision (91st percentile in assists per 40 minutes) provide a solid foundation. For instance, take this play from the first half of Arkansas’ SEC Tournament game against South Carolina:
What, on first glance, looks like a routine pass is actually a pretty astute recognition that South Carolina got lost in the defensive transition, and it netted Richmond an assist on a made 3-pointer by D.J. Wagner, of all people.
The challenge lies in developing counters for when opponents have slowed him down and shrunk the floor. Improving his half-court shooting, particularly from 3-point range, would give him the versatility of a well-balanced kart setup rather than being stuck with a speed-only configuration.
Some real magic happened in the dunker spot, where Richmond showed elite efficiency despite limited attempts (4 of 5 on the season).
Richmond has the basketball IQ to recognize and capitalize on high-percentage opportunities, as seen in the clip above. Consistently applying this decision-making to the half court – knowing when to attack, when to facilitate and when to maintain possession – could transform him from a one-dimensional speedster into a more complete player.
Richmond’s motor and pace will always be his calling card, but the most successful players learn to modulate their approach based on game situations. Sometimes you need to gun it, and sometimes you need to pump the brakes through a series of curves. If Richmond can find that balance while maintaining his natural aggressiveness, he’ll stay on the floor regardless of how many talented guards surround him in Fayetteville.
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Impact on Arkansas Basketball
The beauty of Richmond’s game lies in those moments when everything clicks into place. His ability to recognize and attack transition opportunities is the kind of basketball instinct that can’t easily be taught. These natural gifts are the building blocks for everything else he wants to accomplish.
What makes Richmond particularly intriguing is how his strengths complement the modern pace-and-space approach that defines successful college basketball programs. His transition excellence isn’t just about individual highlights. It’s also about creating advantages for teammates and forcing opponents into uncomfortable defensive rotations. When Richmond pushes the pace effectively, he’s a sight to behold.
The key to unlocking Richmond’s full potential lies in finding the sweet spot between a natural aggressiveness and the tactical discipline required at the SEC level. It’s the difference between a player who can only succeed when everything goes according to plan and one who can adapt when he gets blue-shelled right before the finish line. Because at the end of the day, basketball isn’t just about having the fastest kart on the track; it’s about knowing when to hit that perfectly timed drift boost to leave everyone else eating your dust.
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