Can Florida guard Clayton channel Steph Curry’s championship form?
SAN FRANCISCO – A familiar scene played out Thursday when a heralded point guard, Walter Clayton Jr., swished a deep 3-pointer at Chase Center, providing Florida’s first bucket en route to a Sweet 16 win.
That’s chief resident Steph Curry’s move here.
Clayton is no Curry, but that hyperbolic comparison was volunteered by Maryland coach Kevin Willard some 24 hours before Clayton helped top-seeded Florida to an 87-71 win.
“He reminds me of Steph a little bit of how good he is off the dribble,” Williard said ahead of the matchup before lauding Clayton’s composure. “… If he misses three in a row, his body language, it don’t matter. A lot of kids get sensitive when they miss two or three in a row. He’s just going to keep coming right at you.”
“It means a lot to get those comparisons and get that little bit of recognition, but I have a long way to go until I’m even in the conversation with Steph,” Clayton humbly and correctly stated after his modest 13-point effort.
Florida (32-4) is not a one-man show, and Clayton’s unselfish style will be on display once more Saturday night against Texas Tech for the West Region’s Final Four bid. The Red Raiders rallied from 16 down and beat Arkansas in overtime 85-83.
Clayton scoffed in Florida’s postgame locker room Thursday night when, after his subtle stats, a reporter asked if he was saving himself for Saturday. “I’m good. We had a good team effort tonight,” Clayton responded. “I wasn’t bottled up. It was other guys’ night.”
Five other Gators scored in double figures: Will Richard (15 points), Alijah Martin (14), Thomas Haugh (13), Denze Aberdeen (12), and Reube Chinyelu (10).
“We enjoy passing the ball. Night in, night out, we all show we can go and we trust each other,” Martin said.
Clayton passed up multiple open shots to dish the ball to more open teammates. That unselfish approach reflects a Curry-esque talent, which Martin said is not out of the ordinary: “Steph makes the right play, and Walt makes the right play.”
“Sometimes (Florida coaches) think I pass up open ones, and I think so, too,” Clayton said. “I’m always looking for a great shot rather than a good one.”
Clayton finished 3-of-9 from the floor and 2-of-6 on 3-point attempts. He had four assists but deserved twice as many with his passing and vision. He’s averaging 17.9 points per game this season, along with 4.2 assists.
“Obviously the way he shoots, especially to people in the Bay it might sound crazy to compare him to Steph, who’s won a ton of NBA championships and MVPs, but from a college version, I think it’s applicable to say he compares to Steph,” Florida coach Todd Golden said Wednesday. “His off-balance shooting, his ability to get his shot off at different times and just his confidence to let it fly from deep, those things are very similar to Steph.”
Richard agreed: “Walt shoots the ball at a high level – off the dribble, off the catch. I can definitely see that.”
Curry, by the way, averaged 28.6 points and 5.6 assists en route to All-America honors his third and final season at Davidson in 2009, which ended with an NIT loss at Saint Mary’s, a year after Golden’s playing tenure ended there.
Now, back to that Clayton’s opening 3-pointer Thursday night: He said he wasn’t channeling Curry, “just shooting some shots, that’s all.”
Still, the Warriors’ championship aura is prevalent at Chase Center, to which Clayton said: “As you walk in, you see everything on the wall, so it’s definitely crazy to see those guys go on a historic run still, and Curry’s going crazy.”
Saturday night, Clayton hopes to be cutting down the nets with a Final Four-bound Florida team.