Dawn Staley attacks “dangerous” narratives about USC’s style of play in the Final Four

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Win or lose, South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley knew she had to go bat for her roster after the final four games on Friday.

So, when a reporter asked Staley for “the truth about her team” and its style of play after a 77-73 loss to Iowa State in the national semifinals, she sent a clear message about her majority-black slate to the sports world as a whole—and a member of the national media in particular. He is not named.

“We don’t ban fighters,” Staley said. “We’re not thugs. We’re not monkeys. We’re not street fighters. This team shows how you need to approach basketball on and off the court. And I think that happens sometimes in the game, and it hurts.”

Staley said she felt compelled to defend USC and the “dangerous” narrative about its physical style of play after hearing, through back channels, that a member of the national media had crossed the line while criticizing South Carolina at a Final Four event held on Monday. Thursday. She didn’t say what those comments were.

“Some people in the media, when you get together in public, you say things about our team, and you get heard, and you get brought back to me,” Staley said. “And these are the people who write nationally for our sport.”

The two-time South Carolina national champion coach made it clear that she and her team are not above valid criticism, “But when you say things you probably should have said at home on the phone or texted in public and you are heard, and you are a national writer for our sport, it just confirms what we already know.” So watch what you say when you’re in public and you’re talking about my team in particular.”

USC, the reigning national champion, entered Friday’s Final Four game against Iowa by a score of 36-0. Led by Naismith Player of the Year and star forward Alia Boston, the Gamecocks were among the best defensive and rebounding teams in the country all season.

But the Gamecocks’ luck ran out against the Hawkeyes, who advanced to the national championship game Sunday at the American Airlines Center behind star guard Caitlin Clark’s 41 points and eight assists. Iowa’s win snapped a 42-game USC winning streak dating back to the 2022 NCAA Tournament.

South Carolina forward Jim Cox's Aliyah Boston (4) is guarded by Iowa Hawkeyes forward McKenna Warnock (14) in the NCAA Tournament Final Four game at the American Airlines Center on Friday, March 31, 2023.

South Carolina forward Jim Cox’s Aliyah Boston (4) is guarded by Iowa Hawkeyes forward McKenna Warnock (14) in the NCAA Tournament Final Four game at the American Airlines Center on Friday, March 31, 2023.

Boston has expressed frustration with the same “physical” narrative that Staley has alluded to and spoken out against several times in recent seasons, including before and after South Carolina. 81-77 win at UConn on February 5th.

“I feel like every time teams get ready to play us, there’s always that agenda, we’re very physical,” said Boston. “We can take all the aggression. So I think it was a lot let go of that, but I don’t think it was anything different. I think it was just a very physical game.”

Boston made two early errors and only played eight minutes in the first half as a result; She committed a third fumble early in the third quarter and finished what was likely to be her final game in South Carolina with eight points on 2-of-9 shooting and 10 rebounds.

Boston could return to South Carolina for its fifth and final season of eligibility or declare for the 2023 WNBA Draft, where it will be the No. 1 projected pick. Staley said she would encourage Boston to go professional, in part because of the way she was managed as a college basketball player.

“I’ll tell her to go,” Staley said. “There are defenses that are being played against her that won’t let her play her game. And then that’s hard to manage. It’s hard to manage that.”

Meeting with local reporters outside the South Carolina locker room after her official press conference, Staley reiterated that the stories surrounding her team’s body were “dangerous.”

“It’s very dangerous,” she said. “But, you know, sports are a microcosm of our society and sometimes there are hurdles you just can’t cross.”

As an undefeated team, South Carolina has been the subject of criticism from other fanbases throughout the season, but some remarks gushed over the insulting terrain and racial overtones, State mentioned earlier. In January, screenshots circulated from a UConn Facebook group showed some fans calling USC players “thugs” and saying they played “streetball”.

“We’ve been called a lot of things,” Staley said on her radio show in February. “I’m sick of it. I’m sick of it because I’m coaching some of the best humans in this match ever.”

After Friday’s Final Four loss, Staley asserted that South Carolina “doesn’t change” despite criticism of its playing style. Over the past four seasons, a period that Boston and the rest of USC’s No. 1 recruiting class of 2019 set, the Gamecocks have gone 129-9 over the past four seasons and made three consecutive Finals appearances.

“It is what it is, but we’re going to keep moving forward because that’s what we do,” Staley said. “We built for it. I think that’s the attitude people probably take: We can handle it, we built for it, and that’s what we do. But a night like tonight, you can’t really beat it.”

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