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Genero36
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NYL_WNBA_FAN
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 Posted: 07/26/14 11:04 pm ::: |
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I saw all her years. But especially from 1999-2002 when I was a season ticket holder for the Liberty as well as 2003-2004 when I attended almost every home game. From a physical standpoint possibly the best defensive post ever when she was in her prime. In her prime she was incredibly athletic.
Unfortunately she entered the WNBA at age 29, so by her 4th year in the WNBA she was 33 years old and feeling the effects of injury. But she was unreal in how she could front or three quarter the post and come up with steals...or help and come up with blocks.
To me she's the most unique post player the WNBA has ever seen. Leslie and Jackson also obviously dominant, with more variety to their offensive games. But nobody has been more of a physical terror in the post than Yo. It would be great for the game to have another player like her. It would make things interesting, especially in light of a finesse-oriented team like Phoenix just tearing things apart.
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Genero36
Joined: 24 Apr 2005
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| Posted: 07/26/14 11:07 pm ::: |
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| NYL_WNBA_FAN wrote: |
I saw all her years. But especially from 1999-2002 when I was a season ticket holder for the Liberty as well as 2003-2004 when I attended almost every home game. From a physical standpoint possibly the best defensive post ever when she was in her prime. In her prime she was incredibly athletic.
Unfortunately she entered the WNBA at age 29, so by her 4th year in the WNBA she was 33 years old and feeling the effects of injury. But she was unreal in how she could front or three quarter the post and come up with steals...or help and come up with blocks.
To me she's the most unique post player the WNBA has ever seen. Leslie and Jackson also obviously dominant, with more variety to their offensive games. But nobody has been more of a physical terror in the post than Yo. It would be great for the game to have another player like her. It would make things interesting, especially in light of a finesse-oriented team like Phoenix just tearing things apart. |
Well stated. I don't disagree with any of your post. In '99, I couldn't believe my eyes. She used to actually run the break and it was a sight to see. She was a freak of nature in her prime. She is the best offensive rebounder in the history of the game, imo. She was a suction cup on the boards. When perfectly healthy in her prime, she could defend all five positions.
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hyperetic
Joined: 11 Oct 2005
Posts: 5356
Location: Fayetteville
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| Posted: 07/27/14 12:44 am ::: |
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Can't quote statistics and dates, just give an honest account from my perspective of how it felt to watch her play. IMO, she was dominance personified. A no nonsense, get it done kind of player. Intimidation was a tool for her. I saw a great leader in her. Others may disagree but IMO she was a better center than LLL. But I am biased toward Yo's style of play. She made her team better. She was a great mentor to Rebekkah Brunson. I liked her warrior mentality. She was pretty inspiring to me.
Last edited by hyperetic on 07/27/14 2:11 am; edited 1 time in total |
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SuziQ
Joined: 27 Nov 2005
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Location: Phoenix, Arizona
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| Posted: 07/27/14 1:12 am ::: |
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| We used to joke that you wouldn't want to meet her in a dark alley. Maybe it's just the glare. Yo had an incredibly intimidating glare. She was scary good. I never felt like she was a dirty player, just tough as nails and she owned that paint. In her prime, no one could match up with her strength and athleticism. And yes, a great mentor to Brunson, who I would describe as Yo-esque.
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pilight
Joined: 23 Sep 2004
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| Posted: 07/27/14 8:06 am ::: |
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| She was intense. Never smiled on the court and always appeared to be having a miserable time no matter how the game was going.
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Luuuc
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Joined: 10 Feb 2005
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| Posted: 07/27/14 8:48 am ::: |
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| LLL's kryptonite
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scullyfu
Joined: 01 Jan 2006
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| Posted: 07/27/14 9:40 am ::: |
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| Luuuc wrote: |
| LLL's kryptonite |
spot on!
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Shades
Joined: 10 Jul 2006
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Admiral_Needa
Joined: 23 Sep 2004
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Admiral_Needa
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mavcarter
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ClayK
Joined: 11 Oct 2005
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| Posted: 07/27/14 5:30 pm ::: |
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If Yo had a post move, it would have been her first. But what a defender, what a passionate player, what a beast.
In a story for SLAM, I referred to her as a shark -- always moving, ready to attack at the first hint of blood in the water -- but the editor didn't like the comparison for a female player. I still like it.
Yo was the heart of those very good Monarch teams, and even though the only way she could score, pretty much, was on an offensive rebound, in her early years, she could take over a game on defense and on the boards.
And she was certainly not the most lovable woman in the league ...
Oh, one other thing: She hated to lose, and I wouldn't want to have been her teammate after a loss.
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Queenie
Joined: 18 Nov 2004
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| Posted: 07/27/14 8:57 pm ::: |
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For those of y'all who did not see Yo play and want to get a hint, a ghost of an echo of an idea, of what she was like, watch Rebekkah Brunson on the boards. Brunson's Baby Yo, after all, and was thoroughly mentored by her in Sacramento, and when Brunson crashes the glass I have flashbacks. They're different stylistically otherwise, though.
Also, her daughter, Alicia DeVaughn? If you look at her from the neck down, she's her mother all over again. Not nearly as skilled, but in the way she moves and the way she handles herself, she's a dead ringer.
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myrtle
Joined: 02 May 2008
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| Posted: 07/27/14 9:13 pm ::: |
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| Mean. And not totally in a negative way. But that's the word I'd use. Maybe 'hard-nosed' would be more polite. Not lovable but you had to respect her.
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dtsnms
Joined: 23 Sep 2004
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| Posted: 07/27/14 10:10 pm ::: |
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| Queenie wrote: |
| For those of y'all who did not see Yo play and want to get a hint, a ghost of an echo of an idea, of what she was like, watch Rebekkah Brunson on the boards. Brunson's Baby Yo, after all, and was thoroughly mentored by her in Sacramento, and when Brunson crashes the glass I have flashbacks. They're different stylistically otherwise, though.. |
Talking to Kelsey Bone about Brunson tonight, she commented how Brunson learned so much from Yo, and played so similar at one point in her career, before she added the jump shot to her arsenal.
Yo was my favorite player. As many said, she didn't have many (if any) moves, but she was a force on both ends.
Ironically, on this day, July 27, in 2011, my first podcast aired on Hoopfeed, and my guest was Yolanda Griffith.
http://www.hoopfeed.com/content/2011/07/27/dishin-swishin-july-27-2011-yolanda-griffith-and-the-2011-wnba-top-15-players/#.U9W-_h780d0.twitter
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defenseallday
Joined: 07 Sep 2010
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| Posted: 07/28/14 5:37 pm ::: |
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Griffith doesn't end up with an above average free throw rate with "no post moves " .
Her skills in general are being really dismissed in this thread. She is being painted as a Dennis Rodman / Rebekkah type when she was much closer to a Moses Malone / a better Sylvia Fowles .
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readyAIMfire53
Joined: 20 Nov 2004
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| Posted: 07/28/14 11:09 pm ::: |
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| Yo made me believe that it is possible for a monster defender to completely control a game. I think the player most like her is Catch on the defensive end. I called Yo the "vacuum cleaner" for her ability to clean up anything remotely in her vicinity. Force of nature. Seeing her in person was awesome. Yo and Ticha were the best PG/Post combo, like Birdie and Lojack.
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NYL_WNBA_FAN
Joined: 28 May 2007
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| Posted: 07/28/14 11:13 pm ::: |
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| defenseallday wrote: |
Griffith doesn't end up with an above average free throw rate with "no post moves " .
Her skills in general are being really dismissed in this thread. She is being painted as a Dennis Rodman / Rebekkah type when she was much closer to a Moses Malone / a better Sylvia Fowles . |
I don't think her skills are being diminished. Syl averaged 20 one year without much in the way of post moves.
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GEF34
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| Posted: 07/28/14 11:31 pm ::: |
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Yolanda Griffith was such an amazing player, I watched her from 1999-2009 when she retired after she got injured. Watching her with the Sacramento Monarchs, Team USA, Seattle Storm and Indiana Fever. As others have mentioned she was a monster on the boards, she was crash and pursue the ball, probably better than most if not everyone during her time in the league. She also used her athleticism to help her on the boards and to play defense. I think one of the most underrated things about her is her basketball IQ, she was so smart and was able to read that game, that is one of the things that made her such a terror, as others have called her, on defense because she was so good at anticipating the pass to get deflections and beating the offensive players to the spot when they would try to make a move.
She was also so good at doing her work early in the post. If I were to teach a post player now about doing work early and showing her examples it would be of Yolanda Griffith, not saying other players are not good at it, but to me she was one of the best, getting amazing seals under the basket so she didn't need to have very many moves, she would lock people in jail, as one of my coaches used to call it, when you forced the defender so far under the basket they either had to give up an easy basket or foul.
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GEF34
Joined: 23 Jul 2008
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| Posted: 07/28/14 11:45 pm ::: |
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| defenseallday wrote: |
Griffith doesn't end up with an above average free throw rate with "no post moves " .
Her skills in general are being really dismissed in this thread. She is being painted as a Dennis Rodman / Rebekkah type when she was much closer to a Moses Malone / a better Sylvia Fowles . |
I disagree with this statement because she was so good at sealing her defenders under the basket that she didn't need moves and the defenders would either have to give up an easy basket or foul her. I'm not saying she had no moves because she did have some, but she didn't always have to put them on display so to speak. It's not like she was getting pushed out by her defenders that she was catching the ball outside the paint, often times she was catching in the paint, so all she had to do was turn and shoot.
As you said she is a "better Sylvia Fowles", Sylvia is very similar in that she does her work early so she doesn't really need a lot of moves to get by defenders, she can just turn and shoot over them because she is so close to the basket already.
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ClayK
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| Posted: 07/29/14 10:03 am ::: |
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Yo is really hard to compare to anyone ... I don't think she's like Fowles at all. Fowles lays back and blocks shot, and Yo just took the ball from everyone.
She played with enormous fire and intensity -- I remember her diving flat out, parallel to the ground to get a rebound in a regular season game. She was intimidating, and dominating at the defensive end, and the comment about her basketball IQ was right on as well.
She was sui generis and I feel privileged to have seen her play.
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pilight
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| Posted: 07/29/14 1:39 pm ::: |
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| The closest comparison I could make would be if Sancho Lyttle played with Tamika Catchings' intensity.
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Spark4Life
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GEF34
Joined: 23 Jul 2008
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| Posted: 07/29/14 5:57 pm ::: |
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| ClayK wrote: |
Yo is really hard to compare to anyone ... I don't think she's like Fowles at all. Fowles lays back and blocks shot, and Yo just took the ball from everyone.
She played with enormous fire and intensity -- I remember her diving flat out, parallel to the ground to get a rebound in a regular season game. She was intimidating, and dominating at the defensive end, and the comment about her basketball IQ was right on as well.
She was sui generis and I feel privileged to have seen her play. |
I wasn't comparing Yolanda's complete game to Sylvia, the only think I reference that was similar between the two is that they both do their work early in the paint and put themselves in great positions so they don't need to make moves to get around their defenders. As you mention defensively they are nothing alike.
And I agree with you, I forgot to mention her intensity was always at a high level and it made her so much fun to watch.
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