LEXINGTON, Ky. _ Kentucky assistant coach Tony Barbee paid Nick Richards, the person, perhaps the ultimate compliment on Friday.
"He's such a beautiful kid," Barbee said. "You want him to babysit your kids."
But UK wants a different Richards, the player, continuing with Saturday's game against Missouri to open Southeastern Conference play.
"In this game, you can have an alter ego when you step on the floor," Barbee said. "You can be whoever you want to be on that floor. But it can't be a nice guy."
When told that Barbee said parents could trust him with their children, a combination of smile and quizzical expression crossed Richards' face.
"I don't know what to say about that," he said. "He's over-exaggerating a little bit."
UK coach John Calipari has encouraged him to adopt a different on-court personality, Richards said.
"He always talks about he wants me to be the opposite of my personality," the UK player said. "He wants me to, like, be more aggressive. Just be, like, more physical. More meaner. Just tougher."
Why hasn't this meaner personality been more evident in Richards' three seasons for Kentucky?
"That was how I was raised," he said of his off-court babysitter persona.
After posting only one double-double in his first two seasons, the addition of five more in this season's first 12 games speaks to a more assertive on-court personality.
Of course, Calipari expressed his more-more-more coaching persona with a pointed question: If Richards could post a double-double against No. 3 Louisville (13 points, 10 rebounds), why did he disappear (five points, four rebounds) against Utah's tall-but-hardly-imposing front line?
"Good question," Barbee said when asked to provide an answer. "Is Nick coming out here?"
Yes, Barbee was told, Richards would be meeting with the media after the assistant coach completed subbing for Calipari.
"So Nick will be out here," Barbee said. "You can ask him. I don't have that answer."
Richards suggested that these things happen.
"I don't know what to tell you, man," he said. "Everybody just has a bad game."
Even more consistency is what Kentucky wants from Richards. "To be the kind of player he wants to be," Barbee said. "Where he's trying to take himself to ... he's got to be able to do it on an everyday basis."
Richards is coming off a week of consistently good practices, Barbee said.
Mike Rice, who coached Richards on the high school level, said that the UK player needed time to develop. A late start in basketball put his developmental curve on a slower timetable.
"He didn't have as many reps as most of the players he was playing against," Rice said. "He was so physically gifted, and he could run and he could jump and all those things, so people just thought he could do everything.
"Well, there's this thing called fundamentals. And it takes a while."
Richards leads UK in rebounding (7.2 rpg) and blocks (26 of the team's 52) while also averaging 12.0 points.
UK and Calipari want more of the same on more of a consistent basis. Rice said he understood.
"That consistency, teams yearn for that," he said. "They need that to get to the next level."
UK gets consistency from its guards, said Rice, who enjoyed coaching Richards so much he pays close attention to Kentucky's games. If Richards joins the guards in providing consistent production, it emboldens other players and helps them become comfortable in roles, Rice said.
"If Nick can give 20 (points) and 10 (rebounds), now people can settle into what they do best," Rice said.
Missouri big man Jeremiah Tilmon, a 6-foot-10, 260-pound junior, is the immediate challenge for Richards and Kentucky. A foot injury sidelined Tilmon from Missouri's victory over Chicago State on Monday. But he expected to play against UK.
"He brings a lot to the table," Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin said. "He's a guy that demands one or two guys around him in the post. He offensive rebounds. He's a physical presence. And he's a guy that comes into the game with a reputation. You have to identify him at all times when he's on the floor."
That sounds like how Kentucky wants opponents to view Richards.
Barbee suggested a hopeful sign came in how Richards showed emotion against Louisville.
"It's been a confidence deal," Barbee said. "It's why he's more reserved on the court. (He) doesn't want to put himself out there because now you're accountable to do it every day."
But, Rice said, that Richards is key "if Kentucky wants to do Kentucky things."
