January 28, 2023
Locked on Women’s Basketball: WNBA Draft profile: Aliyah Boston
By The Next
Boston has an ability that co-host Em Adler calls 'one of the most impressive things you'll see out of any prospect ever'
The latest episode of Locked on Women’s Basketball is the first in a series that will provide detailed scouting reports on the top 2023 WNBA Draft prospects! Fittingly, co-hosts Hunter Cruse and Em Adler focus this first installment on the consensus No. 1 overall pick, South Carolina center Aliyah Boston. (Note: Because of the video footage and graphics in this episode, we recommend watching it on YouTube rather than listening to it as a podcast.)
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Boston is 6’5 with a 6’9.5 wingspan and was the National Player of the Year and the NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player in 2022. This season, she is averaging 12.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 1.7 assists in just 24.3 minutes per game and shooting 59.3% from the field.
Here’s Hunter talking about Boston’s offensive game:
“The main thing with her is just how efficient and effective she is near the rim, whether that’s sealing defenders in the post, post-ups, face-ups … She understands when to take advantage of a mismatch and just understands where her defenders are … I just think it brings so much value to to a team like South Carolina with just how much rim gravity she has and how many times she consistently draws two to three defenders at the rim.”
Em explains what separates Boston from other top-tier collegiate post players:
“The thing that I don’t know if I see from really any other college posts at this level of competition is how she adapts on the fly. … If she gets a slow start to the game [in the] first five, six, seven minutes, you can see her figuring out what the defense is doing and how they’re stifling her and she’ll adapt on the fly. Her post moves, her approaches, where she gets the ball, where she’s finishing, it changes on the fly. And it’s one of the most impressive things you’ll see out of any prospect ever.”
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