11 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, and the game sealing defensive stop on fresh legs even after playing 35 minutes. I never once doubted that Walter was a true point guard. As a former point guard myself, I understand how incredibly difficult it is to play when a tough defense is focused on stopping you. Just holding onto the ball and not turning it over 10 times is hard enough. What Walter did last night won't go down as a statistically great game, but he had to leverage all the skills that, let's be honest... many people doubted he had. The mental toughness to avoid frustration, make the right plays, and be ready to take the big shots when they came down the stretch just showed that Walter is a lot more than the casual takes on his game suggest.
The 7 assists were unheralded, and I admit it didn’t hit me until they showed the stat. I was focused on the overall turnovers. Clayton had one bad pass that jumped out (pass to nobody), but most of my ire was on Condon. Love that dude, but he was driving me mental in the 1st half lol. I think it was 3 travels?
What a play at the end to come out of nowhere and force the turnover when they were trying to take the game winning 3, one of several crucial plays throughout but that may have been the one that sealed the trophy for us!
Reminded me a little of Green's floor game against UCLA in 2006. IIRC, he had 2 points on 1-9 shooting, but 7 points against 1 assist. We obviously depend far more on Clayton offensively, so had to be more aggressive offensively. But his floor game against that defense as outstanding.
The defensive play at the end was amazing - definitely sealed the game for us. Coming alive with a huge spark in the second half was also awesome. I would say though, it seemed like at the start of the game that he was trying to do a little too much. They were definitely smothering him on D, but some of the passes were a little too risky and some shots seemed too long and forced. Like the champ he is though, he came through when it mattered most. And a few other posters have added this, but when one guy is a little down, we always had another step up - and Will Richard especially did that big time last night.
The way he took what he could against a historically great defense that was keying on him...and didn't force it...speaks volumes. Walt is one of the all-time greats. I hope we see his jersey in the rafters at the O-Dome someday.
This was like one of those football games where the opponent's star QB is 7-11 for 80 yards and 2 INT's in the first half and you're only up by 3. You have to bury the other team while they're struggling because the star player isn't going to stay down the entire game.
