Las -Vegas – Aaja Wilson She thought deeply when she left Michelob Ultra Arena after the worst loss in the history of the franchise. A Minnesota Linx Demolled it Las Vegas Aces 53 points in front of the ABC television audience this Saturday afternoon August 2. Ace, 14-14 at that time with the remaining less than six weeks in the regular season, should have gathered together for another game at home the next day.
And Wilson knew that they needed an intestine test.
“At first I thought:“ I don’t want my teammates to feel everything I feel right now, ”Wilson ESPN said. “Then I realized: how can I help them understand that this is the last time we feel like that?
“I scattered the game in my head: what did they do [the Lynx] We could not do this? They just played harder. It was then that I decided to send a notorious text message. ”
But not just any text message. It should have been solid, no strokes were pulled. And Wilson knew that there could not be impulsive in writing this.
“I spent time because I am an emotional person, and I like to wear my emotions on the sleeve,” Wilson said. “There were some lessons in X and O, but basically it was just the heart and the feeling of the game. People lose, and sometimes even remove their ass. But this loss was what we cannot do. ”
When Wilson created the text, she bounced off the guy BAM AdebayoThe field is a two -time Olympic gold medalist and captain of the NBA team Miami hitHe provided a valuable prospect of a professional athlete.
“He saw different locker rooms, different situations,” said Wilson. “If he thinks:“ No, this is not what you can say: “He will definitely say to me. I really respect his point of view. So we somehow go back and back, and I say: “Well, how would you deal with this situation? How would you feel? “
“Then it was then that I looked like:“ Well, now I can talk with my teammates and inform them. This is normal to feel embarrassed. We really must be embarrassed. But this is how we move forward. ”
She sent the text to the group chat with her teammates.
“If you have not been embarrassed since yesterday, then do not come to this gym. You are not needed or not needed here. We need a change of thinking, because it was embarrassing. ”
Wilson smiled, remembering all this. Now, almost nine weeks later, the text looks brilliant.
Tozes bounced on August 3 with victory 101-77 Golden stateThey no longer lost the field in the regular season, a victorious series of 16 games, in which Wilson pushed Wilson to the record fourth MVP and Las Vegas to seed No. 2 for playoffs. After beating Seattle In the first round and Indiana In the semifinals, the aces will be held Phoenix Mercury In the game of the 1st final Wnba on Friday (8:30 pm on eastern time, ESPN) is looking for the third championship in four years.
“We knew that everything should change, because what we did was not at all the standard of ace Jackie Young Said ESPN. “When Aizha says something in the group [text] It is important, everyone answers, because everyone respects her. This loss and this message changed our season. ”
1:41
Aaja Wilson becomes emotional after the surprise of the 4th Wnba MVP
Wnba Commissioner Katie Engelbert and Miami Heat Bam Adebayo Center A'ja Wilson with his fourth Wnba MVP award.
Wilson, Dress No. 1 Wnba in 2018, when the unsuccessful franchise in San Antonio found a new life in Las Vegas, is the player of Aces' Bedrock. Leadership demands that she sometimes say difficult things that her teammates should hear.
And her teammates were a desired audience – none of them felt good in how the Lynx game was held.
“It looks like this feeling when your parents are really disappointed in you,” playing Aise. Chelsea Gray said. “You are just ashamed.”
The coach of Las Vegas Bekki Hammon said that she knew that Wilson's message would emotionally light the fire under the aces, so she decided to give them a practical approach. Hammon told them that they need to start making their own reconnaissance reports for games.
“I needed some way to create responsibility and a little chatter between them before I entered the room,” Hammon said in the media during the victory in the semifinals of Aza over Indiana. “Because I felt that I was just repeating myself.”
Hammon joked that it was like “convincing your 5-year-old child is broccoli”, telling them that this would make them become stronger. “Then they burst in broccoli,” she said.
Initially, Hammon said that, in her opinion, the players playing plans would be a short -term thing to help reveal the potential that she was sure that they still had. But, as a text, the move worked.
“They were so locked, they had team meetings and discussions without me,” said Hammon, who played for 16 years in Wnba before joining training. “Aizh comes with a laptop, they kicked out the coaches and do their job, and then we will return.
“A couple of their plans for the game, I said:“ Good! I like it. This is outside the box. ” Tell me why they should know why.
Despite the season of inconsistency as the main group of five people – Wilson, Young, Gray, Kia Stawks And Kirstan Bell – Of both past teams of the Las Vegas championship adapted to the new players around them, Hammon and Wilson always believed that the aces would gather it together.
They did not think that they would have to first hit the bottom. But Hammon, in his fourth season as an ACES coach, said that the teams can reach points where they break and remain broken – or break and collect even more.
Wilson's leadership and text helped collect pieces.
“This is huge from your leader to always be able to check each person,” – forward Aces Forward Nalissa Smith said. “Victory here is the standard, and without responsibility there will be no victory.
“You might think that a person who is a four -time MVP, with all these achievements, really takes care of climbing to the top. [she] It pours so much into other people. ”
The aces looked broken immediately after their loss of the explosion of the house two months ago. Now Las Vegas is playing for another championship.
“At this moment you see how our character, you see where our leadership comes from.” Juell Lide said. “It was an intuitive test for us to find our rhythm, to find out who we are.
“This loss and how everyone answered has revealed a lot of things outside just basketball. For us it was like a mirror that allowed us to start. ”
