Can you imagine Kiah Stokes with a DT attitude? | The Boneyard

Can you imagine Kiah Stokes with a DT attitude?

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We are seeing the complete Kiah Stokes start to come out of her shell this past weekend. Can you imagine if she becomes a monster in the paint on both ends?...She looks like she is having fun........I am hoping Morgan can hold up this season. Is Geno watching her minutes?............Finally, Kia Nurse is just what this UCONN team needed going into the ND game............
 
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As much as I have been a fan of Stokes, I can't see it happening on the offensive end. She has been great on the defensive end, but other than Stanford, all the teams UConn has played so far do not have much size up front, and even Stanford is not that big either.
 
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Stokes is the most unique post player that Geno has had with her strength, ability to run the court and paly both ends of the court........Her offense is just starting to jell.........Lookout!!
 
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As much as I have been a fan of Stokes, I can't see it happening on the offensive end. She has been great on the defensive end, but other than Stanford, all the teams UConn has played so far do not have much size up front, and even Stanford is not that big either.

Stanford has five 6'3 and one 6'2 forwards and one 6'5 center. They also have two 6'0 guards. That is a pretty big team IMHO.
 

RockyMTblue2

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Alas, the answer is a resounding NO. DT did not acquire that 'tude at UConn. Kiah didn't come to UConn with it and sadly does not have it. I hope that she does not settle for as Geno calls it "settling back" and pushes her offensive game as much as she can. I have not seen her take a shot from more than 6 feet, but I may have missed a couple. Big hopeful fan for a long time, but if wishes were horses, beggars would ride. It is put up or shut up time. We may get by this year with what she is showing now, but her basketball life beyond UConn, if she has those ambitions, will be a far lesser one if she cannot turn the offense on.
 
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Alas, the answer is a resounding NO. DT did not acquire that 'tude at UConn. Kiah didn't come to UConn with it and sadly does not have it. I hope that she does not settle for as Geno calls it "settling back" and pushes her offensive game as much as she can. I have not seen her take a shot from more than 6 feet, but I may have missed a couple. Big hopeful fan for a long time, but if wishes were horses, beggars would ride. It is put up or shut up time. We may get by this year with what she is showing now, but her basketball life beyond UConn, if she has those ambitions, will be a far lesser one if she cannot turn the offense on.

She took one late in the Stanford game, missed short and got immediately yanked. Wonder why she don't shoot no mo'...
 
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She took one late in the Stanford game, missed short and got immediately yanked. Wonder why she don't shoot no mo'...
Because it was a stupid shot and not the play coach drew up. If you can't follow the coach's directions, you will not play, end of.
 
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Because it was a stupid shot and not the play coach drew up. If you can't follow the coach's directions, you will not play, end of.

Not really. She was wide open. Just missed the shot. Please tell me how you knew that was not a play for her? Please share your knowledge, did you get that from Gino?
 
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Not really. She was wide open. Just missed the shot. Please tell me how you knew that was not a play for her? Please share your knowledge, did you get that from Gino?
Geno wanted to run clock not have players bricking shots with :23 left on the shot clock. I'd rather TLaw take an open outside shot over Kiah anyway. If she and Stewie (from the previous play) had the presence of mind of clock and score, UConn very well could have dramatically improved their chances by simply grinding out clock and forcing Stanford's hand. Even Mo could have walked the ball up the court a little slower. It's weird because all the players talk about the impossible situations they are put in during practice, yet dumb stuff like how much time is left on a big red clock staring them in the face in a tight game seems to go overlooked.
 
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Even Geno didn't know what he wanted to do. He said he debated whether they should foul with a three point lead but didn't think they could inbound properly after the foul shots so he let it play.

I thought after the losses to ND last year, they might practice in-bounding, foul shooting...all the basic things at the end of a close game?

Why is this a Kiah problem? She was told to be aggressive offensively?

There were enough mistakes at the end of that game to cover the whole year and I won't go there. Back to the point, Kiah tried to be aggressive when it meant something and got pulled back, so I guess she blocks and rebounds until one day she has the green light to shoot it.
 
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Even Geno didn't know what he wanted to do. He said he debated whether they should foul with a three point lead but didn't think they could inbound properly after the foul shots so he let it play.

I thought after the losses to ND last year, they might practice in-bounding, foul shooting...all the basic things at the end of a close game?

Why is this a Kiah problem? She was told to be aggressive offensively?

There were enough mistakes at the end of that game to cover the whole year and I won't go there. Back to the point, Kiah tried to be aggressive when it meant something and got pulled back, so I guess she blocks and rebounds until one day she has the green light to shoot it.
You're talking about one of the last plays of the game. I'm talking about the game with about 3 minutes left. Geno clearly gave the run clock sign. There is no doubt that's what he wanted to do. It's what any coach would do when you have the lead with a few minutes to play. This is just situational awareness, nothing fancy. You walk the ball up the court and burn 7 seconds of clock while avoiding a back court violation. Then you play hot potato with the ball until you have maybe 10 seconds left on the clock, and then you try to get it inside for the high percentage shot and greater probability of a foul and an "and 1." If you're under 2 minutes you make sure your best FT shooter (KML) has the ball in her hands. This is all pretty basic stuff. Yes multiple mistakes were made at the end, but that Kiah play really got the ball of yarn unraveling. Had they run more clock, perhaps the last sequence that allowed the game tying 3 by Orrange doesn't ever happen. I've never had the pleasure of seeing a Huskies practice, but for end of the game situations, less boot camp style and more practical real world situations might be more of a help to the players, especially given how rare it is for UConn to be in that spot in the first place. It's great they practice 5 on 8 to see if they can break an intense press, but they're never going to face that in a real game (unless the NCAA changes the rules), and certainly not with 15 seconds left and a slim lead. What they are going to face is defenders trying to force a 5 second call on the inbounds. Or having to make free throws in a rowdy environment. Or having to play with foul trouble.
 
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First off, I am a big Kiah Stokes fan. No one questions her defensive abilities.
I have not seen any new offensive fakes and moves to get to the basket to score.
I was hoping that the coaching staff would have worked with her over the
off season to develop some good moves. I have not seen that yet. She has
become more aggressive offensively though, which is good.

We did see some new found aggression from her on the defensive side of the
ball. I believe that losing her starting position will continue to motivate her.
Geno knows how to get the most out of his players, as we all know. We are really
going to need her against ND, Duke and SC. She did have a good 3 games in Fla
with limited minutes. Hopefully, we will see her continue to improve offensively.

The upside of all this is that Gabby is developing nicely now as she becomes
more comfortable playing in the post. I think we are seeing a star in the
making. This girl has a tremendous upside. She reminds me of Nina Davis
of Baylor who is around 5'11" also.

BEAT ND
 

Geno-ista

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Stokes is the most unique post player that Geno has had with her strength, ability to run the court and paly both ends of the court...Her offense is just starting to jell....Lookout!!
JS - most unique player we have ever had??? Monster defensively in the paint! Her hands are really not that great. Loses many balls during and after rebounds. Improving at the foul line. And developing better low post moves. I'm glad she's on our team, but she still can't hit from 12-18 with any consistency, and when the ball goes through her in the high post- the ball looks like a hot potato in her hands. She is still not as multi dimensional as she could be. She's not Steph, and she's not Morgan either. If she hasn't developed comfort with the ball yet at the high post yet , not sure why we would expect her too soon?
 

Geno-ista

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Stanford has five 6'3 and one 6'2 forwards and one 6'5 center. They also have two 6'0 guards. That is a pretty big team IMHO.
And they are all very athletic and active! And a bunch of them can drain threes!
 

Geno-ista

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She took one late in the Stanford game, missed short and got immediately yanked. Wonder why she don't shoot no mo'...
That was one of many bad errors we made down the stretch of regulation and OT.. Kiah panicked and threw up a very low % brick that she rarely shoots or makes in games with 15 seconds remaining on the shot clock. To compound this huge mistake, as she was our 5th option on the floor, she jumps over the top, and puts Stanford on the line for a 1 & 1. The extra 10-15 secs we didn't burn with a better shooter and/or shot, and a stupid foul in the offensive end that stopped the clock and sent Stanford to the line was the back to back errors that really helped prevent victory. She doesn't not shoot and not score from outside of 6 ft because of Geno Auriemma.
 
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You're talking about one of the last plays of the game. I'm talking about the game with about 3 minutes left. Geno clearly gave the run clock sign. There is no doubt that's what he wanted to do. It's what any coach would do when you have the lead with a few minutes to play. This is just situational awareness, nothing fancy. You walk the ball up the court and burn 7 seconds of clock while avoiding a back court violation. Then you play hot potato with the ball until you have maybe 10 seconds left on the clock, and then you try to get it inside for the high percentage shot and greater probability of a foul and an "and 1." If you're under 2 minutes you make sure your best FT shooter (KML) has the ball in her hands. This is all pretty basic stuff. Yes multiple mistakes were made at the end, but that Kiah play really got the ball of yarn unraveling. Had they run more clock, perhaps the last sequence that allowed the game tying 3 by Orrange doesn't ever happen. I've never had the pleasure of seeing a Huskies practice, but for end of the game situations, less boot camp style and more practical real world situations might be more of a help to the players, especially given how rare it is for UConn to be in that spot in the first place. It's great they practice 5 on 8 to see if they can break an intense press, but they're never going to face that in a real game (unless the NCAA changes the rules), and certainly not with 15 seconds left and a slim lead. What they are going to face is defenders trying to force a 5 second call on the inbounds. Or having to make free throws in a rowdy environment. Or having to play with foul trouble.

This is all abstraction. With a little basketball knowledge we could all sit and write-out what we should have done to win the game at that juncture. Kiah is one of the players who could have ended up sitting for a host of reasons during the time you are describing. She was (wide)open, it was within her range, the flow of things and a chance to increase the meager score. Unless it was a designated play ran to get someone open- the next pass- you should shoot. That she was pulled(?) could have been for a host of other reasons.
My theory is that the whole thing went as the coaches would have it. He has emphasized that they were not defending a championship they were not last year team continuing, they were a new team trying to establish their own glory. What better to do then break the glass and put it together. Imagine them going into ND or SC with a pre-Stanford mentality. Imagine that team getting blown out at ND and the latter celebrating. The team that will play at ND will be quite different. They might not win, but I would be shocked if they were to come away with their heads down. So it was a win-win situation for stanford and Uconn.
 

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Stokes is the most unique post player that Geno has had with her strength, ability to run the court and paly both ends of the court...Her offense is just starting to jell....Lookout!!
Tina Charles had most of those characteristics.
 

diggerfoot

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Not really. She was wide open. Just missed the shot. Please tell me how you knew that was not a play for her? Please share your knowledge, did you get that from Gino?

For that particular possession the camera showed Auriemma appearing to signal the team they need to run some offense. The announcers made that very interpretation of what the camera showed. As HF21 pointed out, that is a logical thing to do at that juncture of the game. All evidence indeed points to Stokes either not being aware of or going against instructions from the coach by taking a shot early in the possession.

In possessions prior to that Stokes repeatedly was wide open from around the same spot, it was evident that a strategy was to let her shoot from there, but she did not take the shot. So for the entire game she refuses to take a shot that was available, but does so for a possession where the coach wants to run time off the clock. Those are mental lapses that have to be overcome for her to be a consistent force on offense, not affected in that particular game by being yanked too soon.
 
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i know I'm not geno, nor am i a coach at all, but i just can't fathom her stats (defensively, i guess) if she played 25-30+ minutes per game. i know to play as much as BS or KML or MJ you need to be able to produce on both ends, but ugh its so frustrating - and fascinating.
 
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