Gators’ guard trip of Walter Clayton Jr., Will Richard, and Aliah Martin met with the media following Florida’s 85-63 win over Oklahoma. They talk three-point shooting, first half defense, depth, and limiting turnovers.
On 3-point shooting:
Walter Clayton Jr.: “Yeah, man, everybody just consistently being in the gym, you know, in their own time, you know. Just, when you walk into the gym and you see a guy hitting eight, nine threes in a row, you know, or whatever they’re working out, you know, they put confidence in you to have confidence in them to be able to shoot the ball. So, we all got confidence in each other.”
On the first-half defense:
Will Richard: “Yeah, we knew we wanted to come in and have effort and intensity from the jump. So it’s definitely big for us to come in and guard them like that, starting the game off, instead of trying to feel our way into the game.
On only six turnovers, playing a clean game:
Alijah Martin: “We’re getting better. You know, we’re getting better. We’re making better reads, on a more better page with each other. We know we got a good win.”
Martin on how he’s feeling after the injury:
Alijah Martin: “I felt almost 100 (percent). I don’t think I have any limitations right now. Just big credit to training staff getting me healthy, doctors and stuff like that.”
On how frustrating being out was:
Alijah Martin: “Super frustrating, you know. Just watching the guys taking down Auburn and going back home against Mississippi. You know, it was tough, but they made it very enjoyable to watch.”
Will Richard on playing the 4, rebounding:
Will Richard: “Yeah, I’m very comfortable with that. I’m willing to do anything it takes to win the game. So, if it means me playing the four, getting in there and rebounding, I’m going to do it. I just want to win games.”
On the 3-point shooting range:
Walter Clayton Jr.: “We got multiple guys shooting from well all over the court.”
Open when you get in the building?
Walter Clayton Jr.: “One would say that. One could say that.”
What did you think of Urban Klavzar’s minutes tonight?
Walter Clayton Jr: “Urb was great. I think Urb is kind of just coming into his own. When he first got here we seen it earlier this year. I think now that he’s getting more minutes, getting some time on the floor, he’s shown what he capable of, and what we already knew.”
On Denzel Aberdeen and Urban Klavzar providing depth:
Alijah Martin: “To be great in March, you got to have a deep roster, and we’re pretty deep with the bigs and the guards, and we’re all pretty confident in each other, we play together, we love each other, and we’re playing great ball. Just super confident.”
On more three point makes in the first half than Oklahoma had in the game:
Walter Clayton Jr.: “I think some of it got to do with small ball lineup, small ball lineup, kind of like y’all said. It’s a little bit more spacing, you know them guys they can’t help on us as much. We getting little, playing off two feet and just kicking it out. Like I said, guys just be in the gym. Any shot anybody on this team get, you know, we all got confidence in them to make that shot, and lately it’s been going in.”
On how you guys keep pushing with five games left:
Walter Clayton Jr.: “We just can’t get complacent. We got to keep doing what we’ve been doing to get us here. We don’t need to change anything. There are obviously things we still need to get better at so just going into practice every day with a work hard mentality and getting better at those things.”
On the defensive improvement with Alijah Martin on the floor:
Will Richard: “We definitely put a lot more effort into the defensive end this year, in practice, film, and all that. So it’s definitely been a much more point of emphasis on our team, but A-Mart (Alijah Martin), he’s taken us to a different level, just how he impacts the game, picking up full court, I don’t feel like he gets enough credit for what he does for us on the defensive end. He’s definitely taken us to another level. The emphasis is definitely there and it’s brought us to another level.”