Comfort in the Trees
Richardson’s first step also typically allows her to access the paint once she passes her primary defender. Inside the perimeter, she garners the quick-twitch ability to stop on a dime and hit the midrange with touch, float her shot over the defense, step back for a 3 or get all the way to the rim. Her accumulation of efficient shots and approach to each is impressive especially noting the competition she faces.
While Richardson has all of these tools in her bag to control and impact the game, she has a real knack for doing so from the paint in. Scoring in bunches comes naturally to her game, but the need to do so does not outrank making the best play for her team. Drawing in frontcourt players has become a common occurrence for Richardson with the explosiveness she possesses on the move and puts her in a lot of situations to immediately dictate what happens on the floor.
Typically an area of panic for ball-handlers, especially in quick-changing circumstances, Richardson manages to stay calm and actually elevates her playing style amongst the “trees” and traffic. Her court vision in this area is nearly flawless and dropping dimes to her teammates inside and outside of the lane is easily possible even with multiple flailing arms around. If passing options aren’t the best play however, she has no issues moving around or through traffic to score tough buckets in close to the rim. Richardson has a high motor and knows how to best utilize it to get her team in winning situations.