Walter has really struggled as of late. In his last three games he’s shot 31% overall and 30.4% from three. His regular season numbers are 43.9% and 36.3%. In those three games he is averaging 13.7 ppg. For the season he’s averaging close to 17 a game. I’ve noticed over the last several games that he seems to be complaining to refs that he’s not getting foul calls. My question to you all is this slump brought on by the wear and tear on the body over the season, or is he exerting too much bad juju complaining over no calls?
This isn't a very satisfying answer, but shooting slumps happen, and often for no apparent reason. There's a certain amount of randomness in how well a guy shoots on any given day, and it's not unusual to see a solid shooter string together a few poor shooting games in a row.
Just as an example, Lee Humphrey shot 4-13 from three-point range in his first three games in 2006, which is 30.7 percent.
Even on a deep roster and with a coach increasingly willing to sub, guys are going to periodically wear down, physically and mentally, over the course of a long season. Lots of fans think that given their youth, you can just give these kids even more game minutes until they magically recharge, which is beyond comical.
I have the impression that he is shooting more off-the-dribble over the last several games. He rarely misses catch-and-shoot shots.
Hard to say. I am sure teams go into games trying to limit his good shots. Also could be some wear and tear from the long season or him pressing some. Not terrible shooting so maybe just averaging out as well. He has still made some shots when we really need them though.
This is where I am on this. Fewer and tougher shots being taken. Teams are doing everything they can to make him not beat them - which I think is partly why we see random "other player" having huge nights lately. I think running him off his spot and aggressively hedging screens to take him out of his game is a good overall strategy against us. It's resulted in increased assist numbers for Walt as well. Could this be bleeding into some frustration on his behalf? I have no idea, but wouldn't be surprised. I feel like most every basketball player looks exasperated when they get called. If Walt's more exasperated than normal - it hasn't jumped out to me.
He has always shot from deep, but he’s taking more for sure. He also had a wide open air ball recently. I wonder if that Auburn finger injury affected anything. I think the attention has freed up other guys though. Besides Georgia we’ve been shooting very well.
Walt looks like he's had tired legs since the UGA game. I think we should have some of the other PGs bring up the ball some of the time and try to limit how much we demand of him. Right after we win at Bama.
Kid is taking it to the rim a lot, but some of those aren't going down. He has been an exceptionally efficient scorer in the paint all year. The jumpers are always going to ebb and flow, especially given the range of those shots and how teams defend them. But I'm not going to be overly concerned with a three-game slump. Kid is still shooting 36% from the arc and 49% from 2 in conference play on a high number of shots (8 from the arc, 6 from two--both are the highest on the team). When you are creating that many of your own shots, you are bound to have low spots. But Clayton's confidence, athleticism, and experience should help him work his way out of any slump.
I like a lot of the comments and ideas out there. Maybe I’m reading too much into his complaining to the refs, but it seemed like he was constantly talking to the refs about not getting calls in the Texas A&M game.
Yeah, my only complaint shooting-wise is that I think he passes up too many good looks - from 3-point range and also some good mid-range looks when he'll continue driving into traffic rather than pulling up for the open look. I know Golden probably doesn't want many 2-point jumpers, but Clayton seems to be (I don't have stats) pretty good at them. My main concern with Clayton is his passing, which results in too many careless turnovers, particularly deflections when he tries to throw passes over defenders.
He's definitely had some lapses, but for the most part, I think he's been solid running point this year. I think Denzel is a better ball handler, but he has too much of a tendency to get lost and just dribble in circles for 20 seconds, before initiating the hot potato routine resulting in someone heaving up a last second shot. Klavzar can be a bit wild, but he's a pretty good ball handler and has a knack for keeping the ball moving, imo. Don't see him running out the entire clock on his own. Klav is almost too good of a passer though, lol, or at least his teammates aren't fantastic at expecting his passes. Condon throws some pretty nice passes too that teammates aren't always ready for. Klav has that Jwill, wild man passing (wants to anyway), but Jwill made it a point to tell his guys ALWAYS expect the pass because it's coming.
