In Defense of the Praise of A'ja | Page 2 | The Boneyard

In Defense of the Praise of A'ja

Yes, A'Ja is a good player, but to be honest I was tired of hearing it. Gabby is a very special player. I do not know another 5 ft 11 inches player who can do what she can. Gabby is playing with a hurt hip, and don't no one know how much pain she is in, but she defends teams bigs and don't complain. To me ESPN is trying to guarantee A'Ja is NPOY.
 
Shorty Dee said:
Yes, A'Ja is a good player, but to be honest I was tired of hearing it. Gabby is a very special player. I do not know another 5 ft 11 inches player who can do what she can. Gabby is playing with a hurt hip, and don't no one know how much pain she is in, but she defends teams bigs and don't complain. To me ESPN is trying to guarantee A'Ja is NPOY.
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The votes are pretty much in. That one game wont make a difference.
 
A'ja is an amazing basketball player and appears to be an exceptional teammate and young lady. I like her a lot, and I wish her all the success in the world.
Having said that, I have to admit it was getting hard listening to her name over and over and over and over again. But a couple of years back, how many times did we hear Stewie's name? And before her, Maya's? Etcetera, Etcetera, Etcetera (in my King of Siam voice).
Can't begrudge A'ja the kudos and respect she deserves.
 
terif831 said:
A'ja is an amazing basketball player and appears to be an exceptional teammate and young lady. I like her a lot, and I wish her all the success in the world.
Having said that, I have to admit it was getting hard listening to her name over and over and over and over again. But a couple of years back, how many times did we hear Stewie's name? And before her, Maya's? Etcetera, Etcetera, Etcetera (in my King of Siam voice).
Can't begrudge A'ja the kudos and respect she deserves.
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Exactly. Now we know how everyone else felt in 2016 when every game had ten minutes of Big Three coverage because Doris Burke was so in love with them.
 
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SCGamecock said:
Avoiding fouls. A’ja leaves the floor and UConn would’ve won by 60.
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Not sure I understand this logic. When you play a great UConn team, you go for it, leaving nothing back.
 
IWearShoes said:
Is it possible she and her coach discussed allowing layups rather than fouling because her team had less than the near zero chance they started with if she was on the bench? A'ja can play D.
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I sure hope Coach Vic tells his aircraft carrier to do the same thing if your team plays UConn in the finals............:rolleyes:
 
Charliebball said:
I sure hope Coach Vic tells his aircraft carrier to do the same thing if your team plays UConn in the finals..:rolleyes:
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There's a big difference between playing good D on the block or help D down low and swatting at quicker, more athletic players as they fly by on a layup., which is what I saw A'ja refraining from.
 
HopJim said:
Not sure I understand this logic. When you play a great UConn team, you go for it, leaving nothing back.
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Really, what does a statement like that mean? It's very general. Do you honestly think a player like A'ja Wilson held something back playing UConn in the Elite Eight? She did what she thought best to help her team. It didn't work. Rarely does against the Huskies as I'm sure you've joyously noticed.
 
Roger G said:
Agree. 27 points, 8 rebounds, while UConn was keying on her. That's impressive. And she seems like a first class young lady. I'll be rooting for her when she plays in the W with Moriah.
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I don't know if there is a more likeable team in the league than the Aces. The Sky are my team but it's going to be hard not to pull for A'ja, MoJeff, and K-Mac at least a little.
 
SCGamecock said:
Avoiding fouls. A’ja leaves the floor and UConn would’ve won by 60.
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Which is why she was SC's leading scorer, UConn applied token defensive pressure on her when she was in the paint. History shows that the refs protect her and grant her phantom fouls galore so I think the Huskys were cognizant of the fact and knew that she alone was not going to beat them.
 
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cockhrnleghrn said:
I wasn't going to respond to the original post, but since you did, I will. Columbia and Richland County are just as progressive and liberal as the State of Connecticut. It is the Upstate of SC that is extremely far right. Hopefully, I didn't cross the no politics threshold. As far as the reason for our great attendance, A'ja's presence definitely helped, but most of the credit for high attendance needs to go to Dawn. That woman interacts with our fans more than every other coach combined. The fans return the love, plain and simple.
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Being Progressive vs Conservative has nothing to do with it. Being a sports fan and appreciating the game does.
 
HopJim said:
Not sure I understand this logic. When you play a great UConn team, you go for it, leaving nothing back.
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When you play a great UConn team you do whatever is necessary to help your team and not let them get blown out by 50 points... which is what Wilson did.
 
Centerstream said:
Which is why she was SC's leading scorer, UConn applied token defensive pressure on her when she was in the paint. History shows that the refs protect her and grant her phantom fouls galore so I think the Huskys were cognizant of the fact and knew that she alone was not going to beat them.
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This is a bunch of crock. Aja could not be played one on one because she would have her way with any of UConn's defenders. This has come many times from Geno's and Gabby's mouths. This is why she scored so much. She just did not have the supporting cast to deal with UConn but please do not use individual moments in time to say that these players could guard her one on one because it is simply not true
 
Wilson is an excellent player and seems very nice and down to earth. The one thing I've been seeing that irks me, however, is this notion that she is some sort of saint for "staying at home" and not going the "easy route." AKA not going to UConn. Putting aside the fact that UConn was her second choice, if her hometown school hadn't been an up-and-coming power with an Olympian for a head coach and attended by her close friends does she go to South Carolina? This wasn't a top talent from Sioux Falls playing for South Dakota, or one from Blackfoot Idaho going to Boise State. There were plenty of draws for a hometown star to head to Columbia.
 
Kudos to Wilson on her stellar career and good luck for the future.

The success of South Carolina was shaped by more than one person. Other "native" players include Alaina Coates and Allisha Gray Who where early picks in the WNBA. The press seems to have forgotten them in the build up of their story.
 
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sharris952 said:
This is a bunch of crock. Aja could not be played one on one because she would have her way with any of UConn's defenders. This has come many times from Geno's and Gabby's mouths. This is why she scored so much. She just did not have the supporting cast to deal with UConn but please do not use individual moments in time to say that these players could guard her one on one because it is simply not true
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Yeah, it is normal for a player to get called for a foul 16 seconds into the game and then not be called for another one the rest of the game. Upon watching the game replay, she committed at least three fouls after that one and not one was called. Oh, I am guessing that no one was defending her in the 2nd half of the Feb 1st game when she scored how many points??????
Well luckily no one in WCBB has to hear about The Best Player in America again, except when she picks up all the NPOY awards that she does not deserve, thanks entirely to ESPN.
Gabby and Geno give her "praise" because that is what gracious players and coaches do, unlike D......
 
CTrefugee said:
She's good, but not in the same league as Breanna, Tina, Stef or a host of other bigs. She has shown me nothing but post-up. The greats could take you outside.
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No, just no. Comparing to Stewart is not fair at all. Stewie is on a different planet altogether. A'ja was more accomplished than Tina or Stef. Have we forgotten how much Geno had to prod Tina her first 3 years to reach her potential? Steph skills were great at passing to always hit the open man but she was never the focal point of the offense and for that matter, neither was Tina-she had Maya, one of our Holy Trinity's of players.
Pecking order of your comparison for me is this-Stewie, A'ja, Tina and distantly Steph....
 
cockhrnleghrn said:
I wasn't going to respond to the original post, but since you did, I will. Columbia and Richland County are just as progressive and liberal as the State of Connecticut. It is the Upstate of SC that is extremely far right. Hopefully, I didn't cross the no politics threshold. As far as the reason for our great attendance, A'ja's presence definitely helped, but most of the credit for high attendance needs to go to Dawn. That woman interacts with our fans more than every other coach combined. The fans return the love, plain and simple.
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Curious as to what are the ticket prices and how many tickets go to students.
 
The Lower bowl season tickets are$60-80 on top of having to be a member of the Gamecock Club to get access, which will run you about $440 for the lowest priority on top of the $60-80. So you are talking about $500 to be in lower bowl which is all reserved tix. Mind you, the lower bowl holds 11,000 seats. the upper bowl is general admission which you can get tix for $7 a game. We always have fans in the upper bowl which holds about 8000 seats. If you ever go to a game at SC students make up the least amount of their fans in women's bball. About a 1000 come but the fan base is heavily alumni and general gamecock or women's gamecock fans. This is why their numbers are so consistent game to game. Dawn has done most of this by her work in the community and genuine accessibility to the fanbase. She filled the arena by completely changing the program but also changing the past view of the big time coaches who often did not interact with fans and never really invited to public at large to give girls bball a look.
 
Los24 said:
Being Progressive vs Conservative has nothing to do with it. Being a sports fan and appreciating the game does.
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I think you missed the post I responded to; it gives context.
 
South Carolina native
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cockhrnleghrn said:
I think you missed the post I responded to; it gives context.
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I did not miss it. I'll just say, to keep it short and sweet, that I rather the original post was not even made because it sounds rather ignorant and stereotypes certain people which I thought was not supposed to be on this board. I know plenty of people with all kinds of backgrounds and perspectives about life (keeping it general but read between the lines) ... some of the ones that give me the hardest time about being a women's college basketball fan would be on a side of thinking that would surprise a lot of people.

On to more fun stuff and tonight's games, although as the our game gets closer the more stressed I am feeling : - )
 
Los24 said:
I did not miss it. I'll just say, to keep it short and sweet, that I rather the original post was not even made because it sounds rather ignorant and stereotypes certain people which I thought was not supposed to be on this board. I know plenty of people with all kinds of backgrounds and perspectives about life (keeping it general but read between the lines) ... some of the ones that give me the hardest time about being a women's college basketball fan would be on a side of thinking that would surprise a lot of people.

On to more fun stuff and tonight's games, although as the our game gets closer the more stressed I am feeling : - )
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Why are we still talking about SC? That is yesterday’s news. We should be focused on NDtonight!
 
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