A’ja Wilson, motivated by the rematch of the finals against Alyssa Thomas
It will be the third time that A’ja Wilson and Alyssa Thomas face in the WNBA finals; The most recent confrontation was in 2022, when Thomas played for Connecticut Sun. The ACES won the title razing.
Las Vegas – A’ja Wilson, who reaches his fourth participation in the WNBA endings In his six years of career with Las Vegas Aces, he continues to find ways to improve his game.
In the series to the best of 5 against the Phoenix Mercury, which begins on Friday, Wilson states that his motivation resides in his rematch of the finals with Alyssa Thomas.
“It’s always fun to compete against (Thomas),” Wilson said. “It helps me to overcome myself, either in defensive schemes, (driving) to the staff or simply taking everything to another level in each game. We are going to play our best basketball.”
This is the third time that Wilson and Thomas face in the finals; The most recent confrontation was in 2022, when Thomas played for the Connecticut Sun. The ACES won the title razing.
But in that series, Thomas was the most effective defender against Wilson. He kept Wilson, twice MVP at that time, with 6 of 15 in field shots (40%) as the main defender, while Wilson shot 59% against all other defenders, according to AM850 Insights.
Much has changed since then. Wilson comes from a regular season that earned him the fourth MVP award of his career and led to the aces of a record of .500 at the end of July to second place when entering the postseason. Wilson led the league in annotation (23.4 points per game) and plugs (2.3), and was second in rebounds (10.2).
“(A’JA is) the maximum competitor. He is doing many things that many players could never do,” said Thomas. “Your curriculum speaks for itself. I think that when you have like that, you constantly want to evolve and improve your game. Somehow, raise my game. Every year I try to return and contribute more.”
This year, the 12th of Thomas in the WNBA, added more facilities to his repertoire. He had already driven the ball before, but in his first year with Las Mercury, he has become a full -time base.
For that reason, Wilson does not consider Thomas a typical post player. He listed a list of attributes that distinguish Thomas: their ease, the involvement of their companions and their ability to “define the game.”
“I can’t defend that every day,” Wilson said. “His way of seeing the game, his vision and the way he is transmitted to his companions, is something that contributes to this game in that position, something that I do not see every night.”
ACES won the regular season games 3-1, but both teams claim that they cannot use these games to anticipate how the series will take place.
“Playoffs basketball, man, is a different beast,” said the Base of ACES, Chelsea Gray. It is totally different from the regular season … Each player’s play book can be completely different … It is totally different with playoff basketball. Maybe it’s a bit of exploration, small ideas, but it’s a completely new season. We try to improve the playoff game.
