Missouri @ South Carolina- 1/28/18

[Gamecockfan77]

"Blessed is the peacemaker".

 

[DefenseBB]

Have you watched her other than tonight?

Yes, I have watched her career quite closely and she has done well against the lesser teams but a POY you are defined how you do that season in the many big moments and on that, she has been inconsistent at best. She also struggled mightily against Mizzou in the 1st game. She has key games coming up to make a statement and she better do it to warrant all the preseason prognosticators. To me she is one of a handful in contention and that simply is her not fulfilling her talent for whatever reason. She still has a bright future but I really thought by now she would be Stewie, Candace Parker type dominant. That just not the case and to be honest, I am a tad saddened.
This past weeks episode on Geno Auriemma on SNY had a segment where Geno said if you watch a HS Game and heard a player is being recruited by UConn that you should know who that player is by the end of the first quarter if not then the 1st Qtr than by the half. That is how I feel about the POY, it should be obvious in any game and especially in anticipated, televised games who that is. Like Kelsey Plum last year, you just knew she was when you watched. I don’t feel that way about A’ja in watching her this year...yet.

The head on head matchup with KLS to let us see who looks like the dominant player is Thursday and we shal see.

Respectfully submitted-DefenseBB

 

[Kevin G]

I cannot help but to think that this fight was somewhat predicted. During pregame ESPN talked about the "chippiness" and how physical it was during the last game in Missouri and how the officiating was poorly done in that game. The highlights they showed supported their claim.

In the 1st quarter I thought there were some "chippiness" and the officials did nothing to control the game.

I, too, watched the 2nd half in a non-biased view and thought that SoCarolina got away with a lot more physical play. I cannot believe how much Wilson gets away with jumping over and running into players with no calls.

 

[eebmg]

She finished with 15 and 15 with 4 blocks. The entire Missouri defense collapsed on her every time she touched the ball and they beat her up all night.

I think it is fair to criticize her somewhat for not finding more teammates, but most of her touches were pretty deep in the post and her teammates were pretty reluctant to take perimeter shots.

I will say she was really, really good defensively tonight protecting the basket. And the defense and rebounding may well have been the difference. Very few second chances for Missouri and very few easy layups. Cunningham finishing 8/19 had a lot to do with Wilson.

I also think the coaching strategy of Staley hurt Aja since they kept trying to get it in to her 4 ft from the basket with 4 defenders drpaed on both sides of her instead of trying to loosen it up by feeding her facing the basket from the key for drives / high low which she is very good at based on the few games I have seen. The commentators were saying the same thing. Under the circumstances, Wilson played well especially early on but physical bashing got to her late in the game a bit. Most important, she kept her composure and had good body language throughout.

 

[oldude]

Wilson is an outstanding player. She was a force on the boards and a rim protector on defense. The biggest weakness in her game last night was her inability to kick the ball back out to open shooters when Mizzou collapsed on her in the paint. When she gets the ball down low, Wilson appears intent on shooting it, no matter what.

I noticed the same tendency with Jennings, so it may be that Dawn wants them to force shots inside with the potential to score, draw fouls or get offensive rebounds. Don’t think that strategy is going to work on Thursday.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

Wilson is averaging 23 and 11 with 2 assists and a block, shooting 57% from the field in 27 minutes a game.

Yesterday she had 15 and 15 and 4 while being tripled teamed.

I'd submit if you can't find her on the basketball floor, you are pretty blinded by something. And I'm pretty sure you weren't actually interested in her being as "dominant as Stewie".

She's a pimp, you can check the stats.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

Wilson is an outstanding player. She was a force on the boards and a rim protector on defense. The biggest weakness in her game last night was her inability to kick the ball back out to open shooters when Mizzou collapsed on her in the paint. When she gets the ball down low, Wilson appears intent on shooting it, no matter what.

I noticed the same tendency with Jennings, so it may be that Dawn wants them to force shots inside with the potential to score, draw fouls or get offensive rebounds. Don’t think that strategy is going to work on Thursday.

It probably won't.

 

[wallman]

Lets try not to conflate stats with what is actually happening on the court. Stats can be manipulated and as such don't tell what actually happened. What seems to have been lost is the initial act, even if it was just taunting and that is why Jennings had to be pulled back, which it looked more than taunting to me, how was that overlooked.

 

[Centerstream]

Lets try not to conflate stats with what is actually happening on the court. Stats can be manipulated and as such don't tell what actually happened. What seems to have been lost is the initial act, even if it was just taunting and that is why Jennings had to be pulled back, which it looked more than taunting to me, how was that overlooked.

I agree with the stats manipulation as earlier this week SC was up in a game by over 30 points in the 4th quarter and Wilson was still in the game, padding her stats. Now maybe other AAs and potential NPOYs are left in the game during a blowout but she is coming off an ankle issue and has more meaningful games in the near future, so...

 

[Kevin G]

Wilson is averaging 23 and 11 with 2 assists and a block, shooting 57% from the field in 27 minutes a game.

Yesterday she had 15 and 15 and 4 while being tripled teamed.

I'd submit if you can't find her on the basketball floor, you are pretty blinded by something. And I'm pretty sure you weren't actually interested in her being as "dominant as Stewie".

She's a pimp, you can check the stats.

Wilson is talented and I still think she can get better........BUT She's a ball hog. Period.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

Lets try not to conflate stats with what is actually happening on the court. Stats can be manipulated and as such don't tell what actually happened. What seems to have been lost is the initial act, even if it was just taunting and that is why Jennings had to be pulled back, which it looked more than taunting to me, how was that overlooked.

I'm just saying she averages significantly more points and rebounds than Parker or Stewart averaged and she doesn't play but 27 minutes a game. I'm sure those players had similarly low MPG because they played on dominant teams.

I'm not claiming she's the greatest player ever or that she is better than either of the two mentioned. I'm suggesting that to average 23 and 11, that many points and rebounds against a strong schedule, you have to show a fair amount of dominance at some point. I've watched our games this year and know that she has dominated plenty of them.

Yesterday, she dominated the boards, anchored a shut down defense, and scored 15 points -- some of which were in crunch time. She didn't convert a number of pretty close looks against triple teams and she really should have passed some of them out.

She had a huge effect on the game. She was in part responsible for every wide open shot the guards hit.

USC hasn't played the same level of defense, isn't as deep, hasn't been as tough, and due to injury has a couple of question marks in the starting lineup as far as shooting from the perimeter. But still is in the SEC race largely because of how dominant she is. It will be a shame if we are Miss State's only loss and miss out on the conference due to the Tennessee loss without her, which is really looking bad right now.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

I agree with the stats manipulation as earlier this week SC was up in a game by over 30 points in the 4th quarter and Wilson was still in the game, padding her stats. Now maybe other AAs and potential NPOYs are left in the game during a blowout but she is coming off an ankle issue and has more meaningful games in the near future, so...

She averages 27 minutes a game.

I remarked that I wanted her out of a fourth quarter game, myself, then I was reminded that we only had 8 players available.

 

[Bliss]

It was just as ugly as I thought it would be.

 

[wallman]

The biggest issue I saw was that Wilson has no confidence in any type of outside game and thus needed to go so deep in the paint with the defense to try and score, plus forcing shots which could have been an easy pop out pass for an open look by a teammate.

 

[SCGamecock]

The biggest issue I saw was that Wilson has no confidence in any type of outside game and thus needed to go so deep in the paint with the defense to try and score, plus forcing shots which could have been an easy pop out pass for an open look by a teammate.

Wilson’s midrange jumper was off yesterday. She was off offensively yesterday IMO, but was locked in defensively. She played more on the low block yesterday than I’ve seen in a long time. Wilson usually moves around the court way more. That tells me the key to the game was to get Mizzou’s post players in foul trouble..

Thursday will be interesting to see how Dawn uses Wilson.

 

[Centerstream]

She averages 27 minutes a game.

I remarked that I wanted her out of a fourth quarter game, myself, then I was reminded that we only had 8 players available.

I understand the 8 players deal, but she was finally taken out with under 8 minutes left in the game so I was confused as to why she played any minutes of the 4th quarter.

 

[DefenseBB]

As I have said, the big games and how you perform in them is key for the players in the POY discussion. A'ja has typically struggled with stats in the UConn games: her stats from 3 games-
26.3 min, 13.3 pts, 5.7 reb, 1 assist, 0.7 steals, 1.7 blocks, 1.3 turnovers, 2.7 fouls and 0.5 field goal percentage.
Like I said, I like Wilson but her stats against us do not say Player of the Year.

I am spoiled in the history of big games, seeing talent rise to expectations-Diana, Maya, Stewie and KLS has shown glimpses with her Maryland game and a few others and I think Thursday night will be another. Will A'ja show up? I do think UConn is in her head and she wants to badly prove she is that transcendental talent. We shall see.

 

[GoCardinal]

As I have said, the big games and how you perform in them is key for the players in the POY discussion. A'ja has typically struggled with stats in the UConn games: her stats from 3 games-
26.3 min, 13.3 pts, 5.7 reb, 1 assist, 0.7 steals, 1.7 blocks, 1.3 turnovers, 2.7 fouls and 0.5 field goal percentage.
Like I said, I like Wilson but her stats against us do not say Player of the Year.

I am spoiled in the history of big games, seeing talent rise to expectations-Diana, Maya, Stewie and KLS has shown glimpses with her Maryland game and a few others and I think Thursday night will be another. Will A'ja show up? I do think UConn is in her head and she wants to badly prove she is that transcendental talent. We shall see.

I’m not sure she is that transcendental talent some think she is. She’s very good, but she’s just not that once in a lifetime type of talent. For now at least.

 

[sharris952]

I agree with the stats manipulation as earlier this week SC was up in a game by over 30 points in the 4th quarter and Wilson was still in the game, padding her stats. Now maybe other AAs and potential NPOYs are left in the game during a blowout but she is coming off an ankle issue and has more meaningful games in the near future, so...

In that game SC only had 8 players available so Aja went back in after sitting a large part of the 3rd qtr because backups were fatigued. Also when she went back in she primarily played guard because we only had 3 guards available. Don't think it was stat padding.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

In that game SC only had 8 players available so Aja went back in after sitting a large part of the 3rd qtr because backups were fatigued. Also when she went back in she primarily played guard because we only had 3 guards available. Don't think it was stat padding.

She only had 26 minutes.

but I really have no real interest in discussing whether she's a transcendental poet...err...player.

 

[DefenseBB]

She only had 26 minutes.

but I really have no real interest in discussing whether she's a transcendental poet...err...player.

just remember that above you said her stats were better than Parker's or Stewarts...so you are either directly or indirectly saying she belongs in their status-which, let's be honest, as collegian, she doesn't.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

just remember that above you said her stats were better than Parker's or Stewarts...so you are either directly or indirectly saying she belongs in their status-which, let's be honest, as collegian, she doesn't.

Sigh.

"I'm just saying she averages significantly more points and rebounds than Parker or Stewart averaged and she doesn't play but 27 minutes a game. I'm sure those players had similarly low MPG because they played on dominant teams.

I'm not claiming she's the greatest player ever or that she is better than either of the two mentioned. I'm suggesting that to average 23 and 11, that many points and rebounds against a strong schedule, you have to show a fair amount of dominance at some point."

 

[DefenseBB]

Sigh.

"I'm just saying she averages significantly more points and rebounds than Parker or Stewart averaged and she doesn't play but 27 minutes a game. I'm sure those players had similarly low MPG because they played on dominant teams.

I'm not claiming she's the greatest player ever or that she is better than either of the two mentioned. I'm suggesting that to average 23 and 11, that many points and rebounds against a strong schedule, you have to show a fair amount of dominance at some point."

Kelsey Mitchell has similarly shown that type of dominence if not more so and OSU has the #8 SOS vs. SC's #24 SOS. I am not advocating Mitchell for POY but noting a comparison of "gaudy" stats to counteract whatever then it is you are trying to say. Why mention her stats if you then immediately back away when it is pointed out the assumption is not logical. What other assumption should we make? Mitchell = Wilson, two nice players who evidently don't make other players better, which is probably not fair to Mitchell...

 

[Gamecockfan77]

Kelsey Mitchell has similarly shown that type of dominence if not more so and OSU has the #8 SOS vs. SC's #24 SOS. I am not advocating Mitchell for POY but noting a comparison of "gaudy" stats to counteract whatever then it is you are trying to say. Why mention her stats if you then immediately back away when it is pointed out the assumption is not logical. What other assumption should we make? Mitchell = Wilson, two nice players who evidently don't make other players better, which is probably not fair to Mitchell...

Dear sweet baby jesus. I didn't say anything about anyone being player of the year and I don't care anything about Kelsey Mitchell.
What on earth are you talking about?

I mentioned her stats for exactly the reason I said I was mentioning her stats when I mentioned them.

If someone doesn't think A'Ja Wilson has been a dominant player this year they are being ridiculous, in my opinion.

You don't average 23 and 11 and 3.5 and 2 in 27 minutes a game without being dominant.

I'll leave player of the year and transcendentalism to someone else.

 

[cbraarj]

View attachment 28104

Geno was an asst for one of the Gold Medal teams. I want to say in 2008. Actually Dawn has 3 Gold Medals and Geno none. Only players get medals.