We were destined to win everything last year.
We really were.
32-1, undefeated in the conference, undisputed number one in the classification. Everything was prepared for us. We knew we could do this. We were ready for that, playing our best basketball and gel at the right time and….
You know what? Let me stop right there.
Because, to tell you the truth, while I’m sitting here writing this – in my head, I can really hear Coach Staley’s voice over and over saying, “That was last year! This is in the past. The train keeps moving! “
This is her thing. That last line, especially. She loves to say that.
“The train keeps on going, ladies!”
The coach is always anxious, so one of the great things that she got into our heads since the beginning of this season was that this 2020-21 team, our team, is a different team than the one that was about to win everything. We needed to move on.
“You have to form your own identity.”
“Make your own story!”
And I am totally in it, I swear.
So, coach … coach, I’m with you. I’m not going to go into detail about how special that team was or how we were about to go down in history as one of the best college basketball teams of all time. Nothing like that. I promise. I will focus on this year, and on this NCAA tournament that we are about to start.
Because, as you tell us every day….
We – this team, we now – WE it can be absolutely special.
And that is the goal, for sure.
We want to manage the table. We don’t want to lose. And me?
Maaaaan….
You better believe that I’m trying to win everything. I hate to lose to the point that I really have no problem admitting that it is extreme. Let me break this down for you.
In short: I just really want to win.
I really, really, really want to win. Every game. Each possession. Everytime.
This is the short version of this.
The train keeps moving, ladies!
– Dawn Staley
The long version? Well, it does require some examples. Perhaps the best way to get past this is by looking back at that UConn game earlier this year. Great game, obviously. Everyone tuned in. Two powers coming and going, throwing punches, giving each other the best shots.
Then the end of the regulation comes and I have a chance to win the game with an easy hit and…
I ruin everything.
There is no other way to put it.
I just screw it up. And then we lose in the OT.
I thought there was less time on the clock than before, and I got an easy shot. A shot that I usually make 100 times out of 100. And yet, to this day, I can’t get that moment out of my head completely. It is like….
If you had won another fraction of a second, you would have won for your team.
It was especially bad in the days after the game. I kept thinking about that setback, but also about all the other things that could have been better. I started to blame myself. I was relentless. To the point that my teammates were like, “Aliyah … please stop.”
And I really had to be like … “I can’t.”
As if I really can’t stop thinking about what I did wrong – and analyzing everything in detail, over and over again. For me, nothing goes away when it comes to basketball. It’s like my brain is kind of connected to … how do you know how some people can remember phone numbers or addresses or lines from movies or whatever … I’m like this with our games and where it could have been better .
Because I never want us to lose.
Seriously, I couldn’t stop thinking about what I did wrong – and analyzing everything in detail, indefinitely.
– Aliyah Boston
I even remember bad games since last year. Like, if you go back and watch the movie of our game against Temple last season, guess what you’ll see?
Aliyah losing all layups, that’s it.
I’m going to be 60 sometime, and you could come up to me and ask me about Temple, and I guarantee you that I will remember all those missing layups.
I can be very hard on myself.
I love this team so much that I want to do literally everything I can to help us win games and make sure everyone is happy. I know we have everything we need to do something special as a team and I just want to help us make it happen.
I know we can get there too.
Now it’s just a matter of following Coach Staley’s example and working together to bring him home. We just need to make sure that we always play smart and, more than anything else, we play as a team. Because we have all the pieces of the puzzle.
Our five starters are no joke, and then you have a lot of players who could really be starters on most teams in the country. LeLe can leave the bank and take care when needed. Fate arrives and can do her thing. Eniya is a great guard who is hard work. And LA, she is another great post player, who is also a sniper. There are so many different pieces to the puzzle, and I think it’s very difficult for teams to match that.
At this point, I’m mainly excited to see how it all unfolds. And besides, I don’t really know what else to say here.
In fact … wait! Resist.
Before I leave here, let me go back to a promise I made above and add one more thing … even if in fact no it has to do with this season’s team directly. But please, allow me a second to scream my girls Ty and Kiki real quick before I go.
Tyasha Harris and Mikiah Herbert Harrigan.
Two legends of SC. Two draft choices from the first round of the WNBA. But also, two incredible ex-teammates who missed out on winning everything last year because … the entire NCAA tournament it was canceled.
“Ty and Kiki are gone”, the coach always told us earlier this year. “We don’t have them anymore. We need to turn the page. The train keeps moving! “
But how … yet.
I can’t write anything about this tournament and the journey we’re about to take without tipping two of the best leaders and mentors I’ve ever met. These two were the heart and soul of our team from the moment I arrived on campus. And I really want Ty and Kiki to know that everything that our team does, everything we’ve achieved so far and everything we do in this tournament … you both contributed a lot to making it happen.
So this is going to be the end of me. Basically just: WE LOVE YOU TY AND KIKI !!!!!!
And now we are trying to do our best during this tournament to make you proud.
