Skills Breakdown - South Carolina's A'ja Wilson
Skills Breakdown - South Carolina's A'ja Wilson
By Dane CarbaughA’ja Wilson is South Carolina’s top-performing post player and a looming WNBA prospect thanks to her standout sophomore season.She was a top
By Dane Carbaugh
A’ja Wilson is South Carolina’s top-performing post player and a looming WNBA prospect thanks to her standout sophomore season.
She was a top recruit in 2014, and despite holding offers from UConn, North Carolina and Tennessee, Wilson spurned other top programs to stay close to home in South Carolina.
As a starter in 2015-16, Wilson has excelled. She’s raised her scoring, sure, but most impressive is her impact on the defensive side of the ball and off the glass.
Wilson has shown impressive foot speed while guarding the pick-and-roll and as a help defender. Standing 6-foot-5, her athleticism and wingspan are often underestimated by offenders. As a result, Wilson is averaging 3.5 blocks-per-game, tied for fifth in the NCAA this year.
She’s also ended nearly half her games played with double-digit rebounds, an area of expertise where she shows considerable timing.
Let’s get into the nitty gritty with Wilson and why she’s one of the best young players in college basketball.
Post Strength
Due to her height, you would expect Wilson to be a bruiser down low and you’d be right. Her game is one of soft touches around the rim, quick pull-ups and one-dribble moves to give her just enough space for a shot.
Wilson appears to relish the chance to draw contact and finishes strong through bumps and the arms of her defenders.
What’s impressive about Wilson at this stage in her career is her ability to both seal her defender, catch an entry pass and shield her shot from defenders.
In the example above, Wilson is part of a high-low action that we’ve seen from South Carolina quite a bit this year.
Anticipating a rotation to the elbow but with her defender fronting, Wilson steps around her defender’s interior, then positions herself back in front and then down the lane line so she can spin to the baseline and use the rim to try and shield her shot.
Defense
A solid post and pick-and-roll defender, Wilson’s deceptive length has lent her one of the best blocks-per-game averages in the NCAA this year.
Wilson spends nearly all of her time defending the post and patrolling the paint, and she’s been rewarded with her patience.
In the example above, she does an excellent job of both defending a pass back to the paint and turning her hips at the right moment to defend the drive. Her opponent is just three inches shorter than her, but still can’t manage to turn the corner or get a shot up and it’s an easy change of possession for South Carolina.
Her help rotations are excellent, and might just be my favorite part of her blocking ability. Her arms are long enough, and her timing coy, that she almost lulls offenders to sleep.
Above are two examples. Against Texas A&M, Wilson again blocks a player standing 6-foot-1 after rotating off of a guard down low.
In the second video, Wilson blocks 6-foot Maci Morris from Kentucky almost casually.
Wilson’s had two games of eight blocks this season and recorded, at least, two in every single contest save for two games in early January.
While she might not be a monster in the WNBA, showing early signs of proficient two-way play is a great sign for the 19-year-old.
High- and mid-post movement
While scouting reports often peg Wilson as a face-up offensive player, scouting her this year reveals that she’s not necessarily a stretch four in the form we’ve come to see it in modern basketball.
She moves in interesting ways, taking one-dribble pull-ups from just inside the free-throw line and with various moves across the baseline.
In the example above, you can see Wilson operate from the free-throw line. She uses a swing through move as the other USC post clears the lane while looking for the high-low pass.
Wilson also loves to go from block-to-lane, pushing across defenders only to rise up with a tricky left-handed jumper.
She is not afraid of contact in the middle of the lane and uses impeccable timing and defensive confusion to her advantage. Her propensity to move up and away from the basket from a low block position while defenders try to react affords her multiple opportunities per game.
Deficiencies
It’s hard to say where Wilson is deficient at this point in her career. At 19, many of her mistakes are simply attributed to youth.
Despite her added minutes, blocks and rebounding totals, her rise in fouls per-game are nominal and nowhere near a dangerous level.
If she has something to work on, it’s likely a smoothing of her back-to-the-basket game. At USC this year she’s relied on her own innate sense of timing and size. At the next level, Wilson will have to combine a more well-rounded set of block moves to go with her quick first step and soft touch.
A’ja Wilson is South Carolina’s top-performing post player and a looming WNBA prospect thanks to her standout sophomore season.
She was a top recruit in 2014, and despite holding offers from UConn, North Carolina and Tennessee, Wilson spurned other top programs to stay close to home in South Carolina.
As a starter in 2015-16, Wilson has excelled. She’s raised her scoring, sure, but most impressive is her impact on the defensive side of the ball and off the glass.
Wilson has shown impressive foot speed while guarding the pick-and-roll and as a help defender. Standing 6-foot-5, her athleticism and wingspan are often underestimated by offenders. As a result, Wilson is averaging 3.5 blocks-per-game, tied for fifth in the NCAA this year.
She’s also ended nearly half her games played with double-digit rebounds, an area of expertise where she shows considerable timing.
Let’s get into the nitty gritty with Wilson and why she’s one of the best young players in college basketball.
Post Strength
Due to her height, you would expect Wilson to be a bruiser down low and you’d be right. Her game is one of soft touches around the rim, quick pull-ups and one-dribble moves to give her just enough space for a shot.
Wilson appears to relish the chance to draw contact and finishes strong through bumps and the arms of her defenders.
What’s impressive about Wilson at this stage in her career is her ability to both seal her defender, catch an entry pass and shield her shot from defenders.
In the example above, Wilson is part of a high-low action that we’ve seen from South Carolina quite a bit this year.
Anticipating a rotation to the elbow but with her defender fronting, Wilson steps around her defender’s interior, then positions herself back in front and then down the lane line so she can spin to the baseline and use the rim to try and shield her shot.
Defense
A solid post and pick-and-roll defender, Wilson’s deceptive length has lent her one of the best blocks-per-game averages in the NCAA this year.
Wilson spends nearly all of her time defending the post and patrolling the paint, and she’s been rewarded with her patience.
In the example above, she does an excellent job of both defending a pass back to the paint and turning her hips at the right moment to defend the drive. Her opponent is just three inches shorter than her, but still can’t manage to turn the corner or get a shot up and it’s an easy change of possession for South Carolina.
Her help rotations are excellent, and might just be my favorite part of her blocking ability. Her arms are long enough, and her timing coy, that she almost lulls offenders to sleep.
Above are two examples. Against Texas A&M, Wilson again blocks a player standing 6-foot-1 after rotating off of a guard down low.
In the second video, Wilson blocks 6-foot Maci Morris from Kentucky almost casually.
Wilson’s had two games of eight blocks this season and recorded, at least, two in every single contest save for two games in early January.
While she might not be a monster in the WNBA, showing early signs of proficient two-way play is a great sign for the 19-year-old.
High- and mid-post movement
While scouting reports often peg Wilson as a face-up offensive player, scouting her this year reveals that she’s not necessarily a stretch four in the form we’ve come to see it in modern basketball.
She moves in interesting ways, taking one-dribble pull-ups from just inside the free-throw line and with various moves across the baseline.
In the example above, you can see Wilson operate from the free-throw line. She uses a swing through move as the other USC post clears the lane while looking for the high-low pass.
Wilson also loves to go from block-to-lane, pushing across defenders only to rise up with a tricky left-handed jumper.
She is not afraid of contact in the middle of the lane and uses impeccable timing and defensive confusion to her advantage. Her propensity to move up and away from the basket from a low block position while defenders try to react affords her multiple opportunities per game.
Deficiencies
It’s hard to say where Wilson is deficient at this point in her career. At 19, many of her mistakes are simply attributed to youth.
Despite her added minutes, blocks and rebounding totals, her rise in fouls per-game are nominal and nowhere near a dangerous level.
If she has something to work on, it’s likely a smoothing of her back-to-the-basket game. At USC this year she’s relied on her own innate sense of timing and size. At the next level, Wilson will have to combine a more well-rounded set of block moves to go with her quick first step and soft touch.