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Friday, March 30
MSU's pivotal player: Jason Richardson
By Jay Bilas
Special to ESPN.com
Juan Dixon | Jason Williams | Richard Jefferson
Jason Richardson is a dynamic scorer who is at his best in the open court. He is a great finisher with
outstanding body control that allows him to make spectacular plays at the rim.
|  | | Jason Richardson usually finds a way to score -- and does much more. |
He is a quiet star who at times has to be cajoled to take a game over, even though he leads the
Spartans in scoring (15 ppg). But Richardson is fully capable of dominating a
game.
He worked on his shot over the summer, getting into the gym early
each morning to shoot, and his range improved dramatically. His hard work
paid off handsomely over the summer, as he and Duke's Jason Williams were
the best players and leading scorers on the USA Junior National Team. He
followed that with a selection to the USA Select Team and scored 19 points
against the Dream Team.
Richardson now has range to the 3-point line, and Tom Izzo runs him off
of a lot of doubles and staggers to free him up. He has struggled
with his jumpshot in the NCAA Tournament, but has found other ways to score.
He is a very good offensive rebounder and an improved
defender who has the athletic ability to lock down almost any perimeter
player in the country.
Richardson is one of the best transition players in
the nation, and gets out and fills the lane, looking for the ballhandler to
pass ahead to him so he can attack the rim. Richardson is also a terrific
rebounder who must be boxed out on every possession or he will tip-dunk the
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