Liya was playing angry. Wow!
All the bumping and slapping and hard fouls in the W -- Aaliyah didn't need to adjust to that. She'd experienced 4 years of it in college. When the veterans think they'll knock her off her game with that sort of play, well, they have another think coming.
The one thing Aaliyah lacked coming into the league was a good perimeter shooting game. But she seems to have addressed this. She was always a powerfully built 4 with excellent handles.
This 1-on-1 tournament seems to be the roughest play of them all, by a large margin. The referees have their whistles in their pockets! Playground rules to be enforced! It is fun to watch, but like, 'I hope nobody gets hurt!' type of fun. If the referees do not alter and start calling fouls that they had not previously been calling, I think Aaliyah has to be the favorite.
Watch a couple vids, look at some action photos of the four players that are left; Aaliyah is extremely athletic, big, strong, fast, powerful, ... from a physique standpoint, if they are going to let them play barnyard rules, Liya is built for laying down the schwack! Think about how intimidating Edwards would be if she showed up in her facemask for the next round? 'You didn't bring yours, Arike? Hum, good luck.'
As Milford noted, Edwards was absolutely punishing Allisha Gray like she was angry at her! Perhaps a lot of that is that she is a rookie, and this is for two hundred thousand bucks. In addition to the publicity and respect that goes along with winning this, that would likely double her net worth. Everyone has a favorite, in this one, I am pulling for Aaliyah. Go get it!
