The USA women’s basketball team is the heavy favorite to grab their 7th consecutive gold medal at this year’s Paris Olympics. Led by the charismatic Aces’ No.22 A’ja Wilson, the roster is filled with special and gifted athletes. Speaking of gifted athletes, the country has another possible representative who has the potential to weigh her worth in gold. The silver medallist at the Tokyo Olympics: Jordan Chiles. However, before she embarks on her quest, fellow Olympian Wilson wants to make sure Chiles is at her best.
Thursday evening marked the kick-off of the Olympic gymnastics trials in Minneapolis. Amidst some injury woes, there were still a handful of women eager to make it to the U.S. Olympic gymnastics squad. The one on whom A’ja Wilson had her eyes was the 23-year-old 2022 World Champion Jordan Chiles. Anyhow, the 2x WNBA champion seemed concerned about one aspect of Chiles’ performance. Sharing a story about it, Wilson wrote, “Bihhh you better stick that landing.”
Chiles is in the 2nd spot after the first day of the trials. With a score of 56.40, she is just behind 7x Olympic medalist Simone Biles, who, with 58.900, occupies the summit position. Meanwhile, a score of 56.025 places Suni Lee at 3rd. The 2023 World all-around bronze medalist Shilese Jones is currently nursing an injured left knee because of an unsuccessful landing during her warmups. Similarly, Kayla DiCello is missing out on the trials due to an Achilles injury.
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Be that as it may, before Wilson readies herself for the Olympics, she is making some tremendous changes in her style of play. This was noticed by ESPN analyst and basketball legend Rebecca Lobo recently.
Rebecca Lobo hails the basketball growth of A’ja Wilson
Having a chat with Malika Andrews on ESPN’s NBA Today, the 1995 NCAA champion heaped praise on A’ja Wilson. Addressing the various adjustments Wilson made, Lobo said, “She’s getting defensive boards and pushing the ball the other way. She is averaging 2 and a half assists per game this season which is assists more than she was last year but her turnover rate has not gone up.”
In addition to this, she also pointed out that Wilson has also worked on her 3-point shooting. This is evident by the fact that she was 9 of 29 from beyond the arc throughout the season last year. Whereas this time around, she is already 8 of 20 at the halfway mark.
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Undeniably, A’ja Wilson is channeling the best out of her for yet another season. The way she has played a role in reviving the Aces’ campaign this year is truly commendable. It will be interesting to see if she gets the job done for yet another season.
Stay tuned for more such updates. And to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and more, watch this video.
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