Kiah Stokes

[pvdoggy]

Just watched the replay of the game and noticed a couple things:

1. While she did not score many points, she flashed to the post many times but it seems nobody
was willing to pass the ball to her. She seems more aggressive in trying to position herself this year
than last year, but since she did not get many touches it seems she is still a little hesitant when
she does get the ball, but if she continues to get playing time like tonight her instinct will
take over eventually and she will be a monster true post player.

2. She seems to do the best job on the team in setting beautiful screen for her teammates.

 

[DaddyChoc]

I agree

 

[cohenzone]

It seemed to me that she was more content with setting screens than with setting up to seal her defender and demanding the ball to score. Whether that's a matter of her confidence or coach's design I don't know. I didn't think she was in scoring position that much to where it looked like her teammates weren't feeding her.

 

[DaddyChoc]

I agree Cohen but I think UHart and the refs made this a not good game for Kiah, she likes contact and prefer to be a lil deeper in the paint... for rebs, blocks and lay ups!

 

[rvwsleep]

Just watIched the replay of the game and noticed a couple things:

1. While she did not score many points, she flashed to the post many times but it seems nobody
was willing to pass the ball to her. She seems more aggressive in trying to position herself this year
than last year, but since she did not get many touches it seems she is still a little hesitant when
she does get the ball, but if she continues to get playing time like tonight her instinct will
take over eventually and she will be a monster true post player.

2. She seems to do the best job on the team in setting beautiful screen for her teammates.

I also agree with your analysis. The area that most concerns me with UCONN (admittedly, not a huge concern) is the entry pass into the low post player.
It seems to me that a large portion of the teams turnovers ( in general, not necessarily the Hartford game) come when attempting to get the ball down low to our bigs. This is especially true when the pass emanates from our guards. The entry pass seems most successful when coming from the high post
(Stewie to Dolson or Dolson to Stewie). In the second half of the Hartford game there were very few passes down low. It was the principal reason that Kiah didn't score more.

 

[Icebear]

I also agree with your analysis. The area that most concerns me with UCONN (admittedly, not a huge concern) is the entry pass into the low post player.
It seems to me that a large portion of the teams turnovers ( in general, not necessarily the Hartford game) come when attempting to get the ball down low to our bigs. This is especially true when the pass emanates from our guards. The entry pass seems most successful when coming from the high post
(Stewie to Dolson or Dolson to Stewie). In the second half of the Hartford game there were very few passes down low. It was the principal reason that Kiah didn't score more.

This issue is true with almost every team. It is one of the reasons for the new rule controlling the amount of contact. Frequently, low post players have been displaced while trying to catch the ball in the post. It is to catch the ball when off balance and being moved from where the pass was directed to you.

 

[johnnyc]

I would have no problem putting Stokes in the game early and often. Would I like her to be more offensive minded.....yes.....but her ability to rebound, block shots and disrupt an opposing team's offense is an asset. She always seems to be in the right spot in that regard. With Stewart and Stokes in the game you better be able to hit from the outside because your chances of driving to the hoop are slim.

 

[vtcwbuff]

Stokes got a lot of minutes last night and to be honest I didn't see much difference from the Stokes of last year. Solid defense but she seemed to be content to let her teammates do the scoring.

However, one game does not a season make.

 

[Geno-ista]

Stokes got a lot of minutes last night and to be honest I didn't see much difference from the Stokes of last year. Solid defense but she seemed to be content to let her teammates do the scoring.

However, one game does not a season make.

VT- I see alloy of difference in her- she is more engaged. I think she's more aggressive. And I think she is trying to be more aggressive on offense. She has improved he already athletic b ball body. But u r correct- I think the jury is still out on her offensive game. Her perimeter defense looks outstanding when she's a wing in the zone defense!

 

[jsloanjr]

Kiah is too good a player to allow other players to make or break her season. She needs to demand the ball and then make something happen and show her teamates she can be counted on to score and win games. We will need her before this season is over..........Kiah to are too good a player not to show your true potential.......

 

[UcMiami]

Almost half of Kiah's minutes last night came in the last ten minutes of the game when she was playing with four guards and during those ten minutes Uconn scored about 1 point per minute with very little real offensive flow - not surprising with 2 walk-ons, a freshman, and a player in her first game back from a major knee injury. Given that, I discount most of what happened in those ten minutes as being 'garbage time'. During that time Kiah was trying to set screens that guards weren't using, flashing and not getting a pass, etc. Court balance was bad and with Hartford playing some zone no one really did anything.
Before those ten minutes I saw Kiah setting great screens in the right places, moving well through the offensive sets, and looking like she knew exactly what was happening and doing exactly what she was supposed to do - big difference from previous years. She only got a few looks from the guards, fouled on one.
And her defense as always was solid.