Kiah Stokes Outplays Tina Charles!!!

[Fairfield Fan]

Kiah scores 23 points, pulls down 14 rebounds, and blocks two shots against Phoenix. Outplays Tina. Goes toe-to-toe with Britney Griner. Wins the game!

Career game for Kiah!

Way to go, kid!!!!

 

[Fairfield Fan]

You know, it shows that she's had it in her the entire time. It's like the Tin Man or the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz. She didn't need anything, but to realize that she's a superstar.

Had it in her all the time!!!!

 

[Carnac]

Kiah scores 23 points, pulls down 14 rebounds, and blocks two shots against Phoenix. Outplays Tina. Goes toe-to-toe with Britney Griner. Wins the game!

Career game for Kiah!

Way to go, kid!!!!

Now THAT's what I'm talking about!!!! Another double double (23/14)!! Either something snapped in Kiah, or somebody pissed her off, either way, I love it!!! I guess Tina staying in her ear and in her head finally paid off (you know she's been talking to her and mentoring her from day one). I knew Kiah had it in her, I was just wondering when it would surface. Her teammates are finally looking for her on the block, and getting her the ball. Tina had her career game Thursday, Kiah had hers today.

Who would ever think that one day Stokes would outplay Taurasi (17/4) in a game? The only bad thing about her performance today is that now Laimbeer is going to expect her to play like this ALL THE TIME. Somebody on the team should take her out to dinner. I'm a BIG Liberty fan because of those two. Whoo hoo.

 

[Carnac]

Here are the highlights of the game:

Game Highlights: New York Liberty - Phoenix Mercury - WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA

 

[j66kicker]

Maybe Kiah has to be in the doghouse in order to play her best

 

[EricLA]

I'm not sure about all this "Kiah outplayed ___" talk. First, she and Tina are on the same team, so she hardly "outplayed" Tina. She did, however, perform better than her teammate. As for Diana, last I checked, Dee was a guard and Kiah played in the post, so they hardly went head to head. Not trying to take anything away from Kiah, I'm just not sure why anyone would want to make it like her exceptional performance was somehow at the expense of Tina or Dee...

 

[SVCBeercats]

You know, it shows that she's had it in her the entire time. It's like the Tin Man or the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz. She didn't need anything, but to realize that she's a superstar.
Had it in her all the time!!!!

When she does it 3-4 more times in next 5 games, even she may believe it. Let's just hope it was not a Buster Douglas moment.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

I'm not sure about all this "Kiah outplayed ___" talk. First, she and Tina are on the same team, so she hardly "outplayed" Tina. She did, however, perform better than her teammate. As for Diana, last I checked, Dee was a guard and Kiah played in the post, so they hardly went head to head. Not trying to take anything away from Kiah, I'm just not sure why anyone would want to make it like her exceptional performance was somehow at the expense of Tina or Dee...

The point wasn't to say that she bested, or beat, Tina Charles, but to say that she played better than The Great Tina Charles in a game. Kiah, who was a part-time starter, and a sometimes scorer, who didn't go high in the WNBA draft, as opposed to Tina Charles who went #1, went out and put up better numbers in a game than TGTC.

The two of them, together, knocked off Phoenix and The (two) Greats0 Diana Taurasi and Britney Griner. Great performance.

And, yes, I would love to see Kiah put up similar numbers for five games in a row. We all know she's got it in her!!!

 

[MilfordHusky]

Tina draws a lot of attention from the defense, which makes it easier for Kiah and the rest of the Liberty. I don't know if Kiah outplayed Tina or not, but her stats were better. Kiah can put up a double-double fairly often. I'm thrilled to see her doing it.

One of the things that impressed me today was Kiah's FT shooting. She was smooth and confident, plus she got lots of opportunities. She got calls that she doesn't always get.

 

[EricLA]

The point wasn't to say that she bested, or beat, Tina Charles, but to say that she played better than The Great Tina Charles in a game. Kiah, who was a part-time starter, and a sometimes scorer, who didn't go high in the WNBA draft, as opposed to Tina Charles who went #1, went out and put up better numbers in a game than TGTC.

The two of them, together, knocked off Phoenix and The (two) Greats0 Diana Taurasi and Britney Griner. Great performance.

And, yes, I would love to see Kiah put up similar numbers for five games in a row. We all know she's got it in her!!!

Totally agree with you, and it's a small nit to pick on my part, but when someone says "player A outplayed player B", it implies competition (and I don't believe Tina sees herself as competing against Kiah), or if the players are on opposing teams, it implies that they faced off against each other. I could see it if Kiah faced off against Stef, but she and Dee wouldn't ever guard each other unless there was some kind of defensive switch for a mismatch opportunity...!

 

[BostonCanuck]

Kudos to Bill Laimbeer, the team is really jelling and he's getting a lot out of his role players right now. And since a couple of those role players are some of our absolute favorites, it's a whole lot of fun to watch!

If Stokes, Hartley and Zellous can keep this up, and if Rodgers starts firing on all cylinders again, the Liberty could be legitimate contenders to win it all.

 

[msf22b]

The attention paid to Charles gives Kiah wide latitude to find space under or near the hoop.
And yesterday she glided into space, called for the ball was rewarded and put it in.
Splendid game.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

And Kiah has received front page coverage on wnba.com with not one, but two, feature articles:

Kiah Stokes Proves She's Ready To Patrol The Paint - WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA

"In a day and age where so much of the game is played further away from the rim, it’s refreshing now and then to find a old-school big who likes to mix it up in the paint and make the five to seven feet around the basket her home. Kiah Stokes has the potential to be one of the preeminent, true bigs that the WNBA has to offer and move into a permanent residence in the paint. She was drafted 11th overall in 2015 by the Liberty out of the basketball factory that is the University of Connecticut..."

06/04/17: Phoenix Mercury @ New York Liberty - WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA

"Kiah Stokes is starting to play like she did her rookie season, giving short-handed New York a big boost. Stokes had a career-high 23 points and 14 rebounds to help the Liberty beat the Phoenix Mercury 88-72 on Sunday. 'I think she's in a good place and I think she's shown great progress,'' New York coach Bill Laimbeer said. ''Works very hard right now and the results are showing.' It's the second straight game that Stokes has had had a career high in points and finished with a double-double...

''It shows you that it happens a lot in sports when you're missing people it gives the opportunity for other people to step up and play big,' Taurasi said. 'Today showed what type of player Kiah is.'''

High praise from The Greatest.

 

[easttexastrash]

Let's not go crazy here. Kiah had a tremendous game, but Tina Charles was being guarded by Brittney Griner and Stokes had the benefit of getting easy buckets while Charles was drawing BG away from the basket. Reverse defenders and put BG on Stokes and I don't think she would have "outplayed" Charles. Phoenix truly has no decent second post player so anyone team that has two good post players is going to see one of them have a great game if they are not being guarded by BG.

 

[MilfordHusky]

And Kiah has received front page coverage on wnba.com with not one, but two, feature articles:

Kiah Stokes Proves She's Ready To Patrol The Paint - WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA

"In a day and age where so much of the game is played further away from the rim, it’s refreshing now and then to find a old-school big who likes to mix it up in the paint and make the five to seven feet around the basket her home. Kiah Stokes has the potential to be one of the preeminent, true bigs that the WNBA has to offer and move into a permanent residence in the paint. She was drafted 11th overall in 2015 by the Liberty out of the basketball factory that is the University of Connecticut..."

06/04/17: Phoenix Mercury @ New York Liberty - WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA

"Kiah Stokes is starting to play like she did her rookie season, giving short-handed New York a big boost. Stokes had a career-high 23 points and 14 rebounds to help the Liberty beat the Phoenix Mercury 88-72 on Sunday. 'I think she's in a good place and I think she's shown great progress,'' New York coach Bill Laimbeer said. ''Works very hard right now and the results are showing.' It's the second straight game that Stokes has had had a career high in points and finished with a double-double...

''It shows you that it happens a lot in sports when you're missing people it gives the opportunity for other people to step up and play big,' Taurasi said. 'Today showed what type of player Kiah is.'''

High praise from The Greatest.

Kiah set a nasty screen that Dee ran into. Actually, I think she bounced off of Kiah.

 

[Carnac]

Kiah set a nasty screen that Dee ran into. Actually, I think she bounced off of Kiah.

I loved Kiah then (she was one of my favorites), I love Kiah now (she still is. Nothing has changed). I am so happy to see her finally have her breakout game. Now that she has, I'm sure she will be expected to have more games like this on a regular basis, and there's no reason she can't.

 

[Gus Mahler]

Kiah set a nasty screen that Dee ran into. Actually, I think she bounced off of Kiah.

I saw a game last year in which Kiah played Dolson. Dolson set a screen and then slipped toward the basket. Kiah got in front of her and Stef bounced off. That's right: Stef Dolson.

Kiah's on the edge of beastly.

 

[Carnac]

I'm not sure about all this "Kiah outplayed ___" talk. First, she and Tina are on the same team, so she hardly "outplayed" Tina. She did, however, perform better than her teammate. As for Diana, last I checked, Dee was a guard and Kiah played in the post, so they hardly went head to head. Not trying to take anything away from Kiah, I'm just not sure why anyone would want to make it like her exceptional performance was somehow at the expense of Tina or Dee...

I'm only responding to MY comment, to wit: "Who would ever think that one day Stokes would outplay Taurasi (17/4) in a game? " It was not intended as a slight or knock on DEE. Dee is widely considered the best female basketball player of all time. She is considered by many to be a demigod. She has the full and complete respect and reverence of this commenter.

I referred to Dee because of her lofty world-wide superstar status, not to demean her. Eric, we've already conversed off-line. This explanation is for everyone else. I can't help the way a reader may take this comment (at someone's expense), but it was not written that way or meant to be interpreted that way.

Try this: For this one day, Kiah had a better "stat-line" than Dee. Stat-line sounds better to some than outplayed, semantics. My thinking when I wrote this.........Kiah Stokes, who has as yet to become a consistent offensive player in the W, had her breakout game today, whose numbers (for 1 game) bested that of the world's best player, Diana Taurasi.