Players to Watch if Walter Clayton Jr. is Unable to Play

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Every conference game is crucial in the SEC, and especially for the Florida Gators men’s basketball team with their upcoming schedule. They face the Vanderbilt Commodores tonight and then will have back-to-back road games against No. 1 Auburn and Mississippi State.

Not to mention, the Gators may be down arguably its best player in guard Walter Clayton Jr., who is questionable for Tuesday's matchup against the Commodores with an ankle injury. So, if he's unable to play, multiple players will need to step up in his absence.

The first contender to play in Clayton Jr.'s absence is Denzel Aberdeen, one of the first players off the bench for head coach Todd Golden and the Gators.

Aberdeen's length and defensive capabilities make him the strongest contender to take Clayton Jr.'s minutes. Standing in at 6-foot-5, he’s able to guard almost any opposing ball handler on the court. Moreover, when he’s in action, if it’s not Richard or Martin, Aberdeen is likely guarding the main ball handler.

Outside of the defense he brings, he can also score in bunches. While the numbers haven’t jumped off the charts, he still doubled his scoring production from last season, averaging 7.1 points in 19.2 minutes per game. However, he has the capability to put up big numbers in limited minutes. In the team's win over Tennessee, he scored 16 points in 20 minutes and was 2-for-4 from three.

Even though Aberdeen is the most likely candidate to replace Clayton Jr. in the starting lineup, he alone won’t be enough to replace a guy who was named to the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year’s 10-player mid-season watch list. It will have to be a group effort.

The two other players that could see an increased role against Vanderbilt are Urban Klavzar and Isaiah Brown.

Klavzar joined the program with a lot of buzz surrounding his name as a 20-year-old Croatian with professional experience and could shoot the lights out from deep.

However, things haven’t gone exactly as planned with him still acclimating to the college scene and its differences. Still, he’s shown high-level passing ability, which is something the Gators could use if Clayton Jr. is sidelined.

In Brown’s case, he is still figuring things out at the college level as well, albeit in a different way. The true freshman has been used in spot minutes this season and has shown both the good and the bad in his limited time on the court.

The good has been his shooting efficiency overall and behind the three-point line. Although he’s only taken 18 total shots, he’s knocked down half of them. Furthermore, he’s shooting 42.9 percent from deep on seven attempts. Sure, the sample size is small, but nonetheless, the numbers are still good.

He’s also shown great athleticism, putting highlight reel dunks on display for the Gator fans to see. And by driving to the paint and using his athletic abilities, it’s led to 16 free throws in just 4.9 minutes per game.

However, as good as he’s been at getting to the line, his success rate at the charity stripe has been ugly. He is just 7-for-16 in this area, which comes out to be 43.8 percent. That number needs to drastically increase if he plans to continue driving to the paint and initiating contact.

So, should Clayton Jr. not be cleared for tonight’s game against Vanderbilt, it will have to be a group effort to replace his abilities and these three make the most sense in having to step up for the Gators. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. with television coverage on SEC Network.