Gamecocks 2022, part IV

[GCKSFN4L]

I wonder if she is still recovering from her foot injury

Good point, didn't think of that. I know she played extended minutes against Tennessee but I guess that had more to due with Key's length.

 

[Creature]

What an embarrassing look for Alliyah and SC. She is rightfully getting dragged on Twitter. How on earth did she think that was a good idea?

In a sport that struggles to get outside fans to take it seriously, this was pathetic.

Is this Nykesha Sales?

 

[SCspur]

Nah, not bitter.

• Is Boston the best player in the country right now? Yes.
• Does she have my NPOY vote (if I had one lmao)? Yes.
• Would she have broken the double double record honestly had she stayed in the game a few more minutes? Yes.
• Was this particular play the best way to do it? Sorry, but no. If you can't recognize that then there's no point in talking about it further.
• edit: Does this one poor decision take away from her fantastic season or negate the admirable sportswomanship with which she plays? Not at all!

As someone who typically roots for South Carolina, all things considered, please don't make me feel the way UConn fans have tended to make me feel about their program, at times lol.

She was going to get it regardless so why not? And why bring up Clark if you’re such a Boston fan?

 

[shiverz45]

Just imagine a UCONN player did exactly what Alliyah did. The SC FAMs would go beast mode with their negative reactions. Take off your SC glasses and watch that. It's embarrassing.

Nykesha Sales

 

[undersized]

She was going to get it regardless so why not? And why bring up Clark if you’re such a Boston fan?

Because it's unsportsmanlike to be intentionally missing shots when your team has a huge lead just so you can get an extra rebound. I'm not sure why that needs to be said, but apparently it does.

I brought up Clark because I also like her, and the most frequent critique of her game is putting up "empty" numbers... which makes the situation at hand kind of ironic... But again, I like and root for both players. Which, you know, is a thing, and pretty easy to do considering they play in different conferences and different positions. This was just not one of Boston's better moments.

 

[Creature]

*Pre A'ja Wilson

2008–09 Dawn Staley 10–18 2–12 11th (A'isha Walker and Lakeisha Suton) (Kelsey Bone McDonald AA/#2 overall recruit)
2009–10 Dawn Staley 14–15 7–9 T-7th (Kelsey Bone Transfers to TxA&M)
2010–11 Dawn Staley 18–15 8–8 T-5th WNIT Second Round (Aleighsa Welch #89 overall-top player in SCar starts the ball rolling )
2011–12 Dawn Staley 25–10 10–6 T-4th NCAA Sweet Sixteen (Walker and Sutton are now Srs/Welch is a soph.) (Tiffany Mitchell/ Khadijah Sessions sign for 2012 season )
2012–13 Dawn Staley 25–8 11–5 T-4th NCAA Second Round (Tiffany Mitchell/ Khadijah Sessions/Asia Dozier)
2013–14 Dawn Staley 29–5 14–2 1st NCAA Sweet Sixteen (1st instate McDonalds AA-Alaina Coates)

2015*first Final 4 run with one McDonald AA.

It took coach 3yrs to make a Postseason tourney and 3yrs to ascend to the upper half of the SEC (while Pat Summit , Andy Landers are still coaching btw) . Folks (outside of SCar) think that its just her recruiting that has her teams at the top of the College WBB -but she put in the work folks. It was not some mass influx of 5 star McDonald AA's that established her program. See her first 6years.

 

[shiverz45]

Because it's unsportsmanlike to be intentionally missing shots when your team has a huge lead just so you can get an extra rebound. I'm not sure why that needs to be said, but apparently it does.

I brought up Clark because I also like her, and the most frequent critique of her game is putting up "empty" numbers... which makes the situation at hand kind of ironic... But again, I like and root for both players. Which, you know, is a thing, and pretty easy to do considering they play in different conferences and different positions. This was just not one of Boston's better moments.

It would have probably been a big deal if it was late in a close game. It was still in the 3rd quarter of a blowout. Andy Landers even said she would have probably got the rebound within the next 30 to 40 seconds. She was probably thinking get it over with to let her teammates get some playing time. No one in the media asked Dawn about it. No one on the SEC post game show said anything about it in a negative way. Just people on message boards and twitter looking for anything to bash SC over. I am not saying she should have done it but don't blow it out of proportion. There is stuff that goes on in the women game that I find to be more unsportsmanlike than this.

 

[shiverz45]

*Pre A'ja Wilson

2008–09 Dawn Staley 10–18 2–12 11th (A'isha Walker and Lakeisha Suton) (Kelsey Bone McDonald AA/#2 overall recruit)
2009–10 Dawn Staley 14–15 7–9 T-7th (Kelsey Bone Transfers to TxA&M)
2010–11 Dawn Staley 18–15 8–8 T-5th WNIT Second Round (Aleighsa Welch #89 overall-top player in SCar starts the ball rolling )
2011–12 Dawn Staley 25–10 10–6 T-4th NCAA Sweet Sixteen (Walker and Sutton are now Srs/Welch is a soph.) (Tiffany Mitchell/ Khadijah Sessions sign for 2012 season )
2012–13 Dawn Staley 25–8 11–5 T-4th NCAA Second Round (Tiffany Mitchell/ Khadijah Sessions/Asia Dozier)
2013–14 Dawn Staley 29–5 14–2 1st NCAA Sweet Sixteen (1st instate McDonalds AA-Alaina Coates)

2015*first Final 4 run with one McDonald AA.

It took coach 3yrs to make a Postseason tourney and 3yrs to ascend to the upper half of the SEC (while Pat Summit , Andy Landers are still coaching btw) . Folks (outside of SCar) think that its just her recruiting that has her teams at the top of the College WBB -but she put in the work folks. It was not some mass influx of 5 star McDonald AA's that established her program. See her first 6years.

Good post. However, we had 2 McDonalds All American on the first final 4 run. A'ja was on that team.

 

[Alydar]

Bitter.

When you are the best you get a lot more criticism. Dawn wants attention, right? UConn fans know all about media attention and a lot of it is bad. Do you think that Geno and UConn never get undo criticism? Even on this thread I read that UConn pads stats, and the Sales issue is raised for the 1000th time. Yep it was an arranged 1 pt. But it neither set nor tied any conference or national record. It was a personal milestone for a senior and it was about 25 years ago. Let's examine Dawn's and SCar's last 25 years while we are at it. Even Paris stayed in blowouts to keep her streak alive. I remember KLStevenson sitting the 4th period when she needed an assist or a rebound for a triple double. Same with Stewart.

What does interest me in the article is what isn't mentioned is Courtney Paris's record. Voepel doesn't want to diminish her in any way. Just another example of ESPN being more of a propaganda machine than anything else. Voepel doesn't even mention Clark in her Boston puff piece. I haven't watch enough wcbb to say who deserves the award. Boston seems deserving but it's not Boston vs "no one" as ESPN would want us to believe. Clark wasn't padding her stats in the 4th period, she was winning the game. She's been the most electrifying player this year. I'm not saying it's enough for POY, but it's too close to declare it a "no contest". Is it just a coincidence that ESPN has the SEC under contract but not the B1G?

 

[undersized]

It would have probably been a big deal if it was late in a close game. It was still in the 3rd quarter of a blowout. Andy Landers even said she would have probably got the rebound within the next 30 to 40 seconds. She was probably thinking get it over with to let her teammates get some playing time. No one in the media asked Dawn about it. No one on the SEC post game show said anything about it in a negative way. Just people on message boards and twitter looking for anything to bash SC over. I am not saying she should have done it but don't blow it out of proportion. There is stuff that goes on in the women game that I find to be more unsportsmanlike than this.

Totally agree. There have been and will be much worse things happen in a basketball game.

 

[bballnut90]

There was 11:22 minutes left in the game with SC leading by 33 pts. She finished off the record and got out so as to allow Dawn to get her younger teammates, and others who don’t play as much, to get some playing/development time.

I imagine if she played for UConn, Geno would have left her in through the 39th minute to pad her stats and the team’s margin of victory. By then she likely would have added 5+ rebounds to her total, while needlessly risking potential injury that could keep her out for a couple months.

 

[bballnut90]

*Pre A'ja Wilson

2008–09 Dawn Staley 10–18 2–12 11th (A'isha Walker and Lakeisha Suton) (Kelsey Bone McDonald AA/#2 overall recruit)
2009–10 Dawn Staley 14–15 7–9 T-7th (Kelsey Bone Transfers to TxA&M)
2010–11 Dawn Staley 18–15 8–8 T-5th WNIT Second Round (Aleighsa Welch #89 overall-top player in SCar starts the ball rolling )
2011–12 Dawn Staley 25–10 10–6 T-4th NCAA Sweet Sixteen (Walker and Sutton are now Srs/Welch is a soph.) (Tiffany Mitchell/ Khadijah Sessions sign for 2012 season )
2012–13 Dawn Staley 25–8 11–5 T-4th NCAA Second Round (Tiffany Mitchell/ Khadijah Sessions/Asia Dozier)
2013–14 Dawn Staley 29–5 14–2 1st NCAA Sweet Sixteen (1st instate McDonalds AA-Alaina Coates)

2015*first Final 4 run with one McDonald AA.

It took coach 3yrs to make a Postseason tourney and 3yrs to ascend to the upper half of the SEC (while Pat Summit , Andy Landers are still coaching btw) . Folks (outside of SCar) think that its just her recruiting that has her teams at the top of the College WBB -but she put in the work folks. It was not some mass influx of 5 star McDonald AA's that established her program. See her first 6years.

A'ja Wilson was obviously a great star for SC, but the program was in a GREAT spot when Wilson arrived which people seldom remember. They were coming off an SEC Championship and #1 seed with everyone back. With or without Wilson SC was already evolving into a powerhouse under Dawn.

 

[SCGamecock]

LOL! No UCONN player would've ever done what Boston did last night. She embarrassed herself and made a mockery of basketball last night. Spin it however you want, I don't care. You can have your opinion and I can have mine. She looked like a 3rd grader doing what she did.

You care too much.

I’m one of the SC fans that couldn’t care less what UConn players do in their games. I don’t even watch UConn games unless they’re playing top 10 opponents.

 

[jchusky]

as much as I think Clark should win player of the year, did not know that Boston had 20 straight double doubles wow... especially in the SEC, that's very impressive!

 

[ConwayGmck]

A'ja Wilson was obviously a great star for SC, but the program was in a GREAT spot when Wilson arrived which people seldom remember. They were coming off an SEC Championship and #1 seed with everyone back. With or without Wilson SC was already evolving into a powerhouse under Dawn.

That's hindsight perspective. Prior to Dawn getting that 2014 class headlined by Wilson, NO ONE was considering South Carolina an up-and-coming "powerhouse" program, except for South Carolina Gamecock fans, and most of us were even cautiously optimistic at the time.

Other fanbases felt the 2014 SEC titles and accolades were due to a down SEC, that Summitt was gone and Tennessee had left a vacuum in the conference that South Carolina just fell into. And South Carolina sort of gave them basis for thinking that - their season efforts to a solid if not decisive degree earned them their program's first ever #1 NCAAT Seed, but they weren't mentally ready nor mature enough as a team and program - all the way up to and including their coaching staff - to defend that seeding, and so they didn't. The next season however, they took a huge stride forward.

But there were bitter fans of several fanbases - much like the bitterness we're reading here in this thread - after losing out on Wilson, that they declaratively proclaimed that Staley would never lead Wilson to a Final Four appearance, much less a NCAA Championship title. It's only because of what has transpired after A'ja signed with the Gamecocks, and all the talent and program success that has followed her since, that non-Gamecock fanbases today begrudgingly concede that South Carolina has risen to where it now resides. Because they pretty much have to.

And like how historically precedent-setting sports events have always been played in front of millions of fans in the stands who were all there to see it happen personally that day, so too these days will non-South Carolina Gamecock fans tell us that they knew all along that Dawn Staley would do great things at South Carolina.....

 

[HuskyNan]

If you think ALIYAH - put some respect by spelling her name correctly - was not going to get that 10th rebound, you're crazier than most people. She wanted her record, but didn't want to stay on the court and risk injury and allow her teammates to get longer playing time. Unlike your program, she doesn't play 40 minutes to pat her stats.

It’s not disrespect, it’s either autocorrect or simple confusion. UConn’s Edwards spells her name Aaliyah I’ve seen many other alternate spellings.

 

[shiverz45]

It’s not disrespect, it’s either autocorrect or simple confusion. UConn’s Edwards spells her name Aaliyah I’ve seen many other alternate spellings.

All these different spelling of the same name is just too much for me. Either I will google it or just put their last name.

 

[bballnut90]

That's hindsight perspective. Prior to Dawn getting that 2014 class headlined by Wilson, NO ONE was considering South Carolina an up-and-coming "powerhouse" program, except for South Carolina Gamecock fans, and most of us were even cautiously optimistic at the time.

Other fanbases felt the 2014 SEC titles and accolades were due to a down SEC, that Summitt was gone and Tennessee had left a vacuum in the conference that South Carolina just fell into. And South Carolina sort of gave them basis for thinking that - their season efforts to a solid if not decisive degree earned them their program's first ever #1 NCAAT Seed, but they weren't mentally ready nor mature enough as a team and program - all the way up to and including their coaching staff - to defend that seeding, and so they didn't. The next season however, they took a huge stride forward.

But there were bitter fans of several fanbases - much like the bitterness we're reading here in this thread - after losing out on Wilson, that they declaratively proclaimed that Staley would never lead Wilson to a Final Four appearance, much less a NCAA Championship title. It's only because of what has transpired after A'ja signed with the Gamecocks, and all the talent and program success that has followed her since, that non-Gamecock fanbases today begrudgingly concede that South Carolina has risen to where it now resides. Because they pretty much have to.

And like how historically precedent-setting sports events have always been played in front of millions of fans in the stands who were all there to see it happen personally that day, so too these days will non-South Carolina Gamecock fans tell us that they knew all along that Dawn Staley would do great things at South Carolina.....

It is hindsight perspective to say I do believe Dawn would have continued to elevate SC to perennial title contender status with or without Wilson. That's not a diss to A'ja, but a compliment to Dawn. She's proven to be a fantastic coach and my opinions about her coaching have significantly changed over the last several years. I admit I have underestimated her coaching abilities in the past, and I think many non-SC fans echo that similar sentiment. No one is trying to argue they predicted Dawn would achieve what she has. With hindsight vision, I'm simply acknowledging that Dawn probably would have gotten her program to be a perennial title contender, even if Wilson chose to go elsewhere.

All that said, you're underselling the 2014-15 squad pre-Wilson commitment. Majority of fans had SC pegged as a top 4-6 team going into 2014-15 with their top players being a junior and a sophomore (Mitchell/Coates). They had everyone back from an overachieving season (even if fans felt they didn't deserve the #1 seed), and had a strong incoming 2014 class without Wilson. Here's an example of an old preseason topic on the BY before A'ja committed. Look where everyone ranks SC.
Link

Adding Wilson elevated SC to title contender (and winner) status, but before A'ja committed the program was headed in a great direction and was still projected to be a top 4-6 teams without her.

 

[JDuro]

Today’s SCISA AAA State Championship Game

Ashlyn Watkins goes for ring #4 - Cardinal Newman vs First Baptist

(In 2 parts due to tech issues)

Part One

Part Two

 

[jumpstart]

Because it's unsportsmanlike to be intentionally missing shots when your team has a huge lead just so you can get an extra rebound. I'm not sure why that needs to be said, but apparently it does.

I brought up Clark because I also like her, and the most frequent critique of her game is putting up "empty" numbers... which makes the situation at hand kind of ironic... But again, I like and root for both players. Which, you know, is a thing, and pretty easy to do considering they play in different conferences and different positions. This was just not one of Boston's better moments.

Boston was going to stay in the game until she got her double/double. She just sped it up so the reserves could get on the floor for the final quarter and the time left in the 3rd quarter. If you don't think she was going to get another rebound in the last quarter then you are just being silly.

 

[undersized]

Boston was going to stay in the game until she got her double/double. She just sped it up so the reserves could get on the floor for the final quarter and the time left in the 3rd quarter. If you don't think she was going to get another rebound in the last quarter then you are just being silly.

Read my posts. To quote myself: "Would she have broken the double double record honestly had she stayed in the game a few more minutes? Yes."

 

[shiverz45]

Good point, didn't think of that. I know she played extended minutes against Tennessee but I guess that had more to due with Key's length.

If you go back and watch the game, it looked like she hurt her shoulder. I noticed later on during the game she was still messing with it when she was on the bench. Probably precautionary that she did not play anymore.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

That's hindsight perspective. Prior to Dawn getting that 2014 class headlined by Wilson, NO ONE was considering South Carolina an up-and-coming "powerhouse" program, except for South Carolina Gamecock fans, and most of us were even cautiously optimistic at the time.

Other fanbases felt the 2014 SEC titles and accolades were due to a down SEC, that Summitt was gone and Tennessee had left a vacuum in the conference that South Carolina just fell into. And South Carolina sort of gave them basis for thinking that - their season efforts to a solid if not decisive degree earned them their program's first ever #1 NCAAT Seed, but they weren't mentally ready nor mature enough as a team and program - all the way up to and including their coaching staff - to defend that seeding, and so they didn't. The next season however, they took a huge stride forward.

But there were bitter fans of several fanbases - much like the bitterness we're reading here in this thread - after losing out on Wilson, that they declaratively proclaimed that Staley would never lead Wilson to a Final Four appearance, much less a NCAA Championship title. It's only because of what has transpired after A'ja signed with the Gamecocks, and all the talent and program success that has followed her since, that non-Gamecock fanbases today begrudgingly concede that South Carolina has risen to where it now resides. Because they pretty much have to.

And like how historically precedent-setting sports events have always been played in front of millions of fans in the stands who were all there to see it happen personally that day, so too these days will non-South Carolina Gamecock fans tell us that they knew all along that Dawn Staley would do great things at South Carolina.....

I don't know why people want to argue about things like this but I'll bite: Wilson didn't play on Dawn's first title team and wasn't her first all American.

If she had gone somewhere else South Carolina likely would still have continued climbing the ladder.

Would it be a regular #1? No way of knowing.

Retire Tiffany Mitchell's jersey.

 

[FormerCTrez]

Okay everyone, please calm down on your tempers. It's a basketball game. And frankly speaking, players can accomplish their goals however they feel like going about it, as long as it's legally done. Boston's missed basket was probably intentional, but so what? It was not illegal to do so. She got the double-double record, and the W. Her team's happy, she's happy. Let us adults be happy for her also.

Have a great Sunday afternoon/evening wherever you are.