Kiah Stokes | The Boneyard

Kiah Stokes

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I think everyone will agree that Kiah is NOT the player she was at the beginning of the WNBA season. While she's not where she or the Liberty want her to be when she peaks, she has made significant strides towards becoming a good to very good post player (she still has a long way to go).

She'll sharpen her skills and boost her confidence even more during her first stint in the Korean leagues this winter. She may never be the juggernaut that Charles or Fowles is, but I agree with Kara Lawson that Kiah will be a serviceable journyman in the WNBA for a long time.

It would not surprise me to see Kiah averaging a double double most games during the WNBA season in a couple of years. As she matures, her confidence and production will rise. You know she's going to get better.

One thing is for sure at this point. She's gotten over the "awe" phase most rookies experience when coming into the league. She now knows that she can play at this level. She knows the things she must work on and improve upon. Kiah appears to be holding up pretty good playing a 34 (+ playoffs) game WNBA season on the heels of a 39 game season with the Huskies.

Her teammates have her back. Laimbeer plays her a lot of minutes. He expects her to do what she does best at this point of her career. He expects her to do her job.

And lastly.......she hasn't lost a single fan since leaving Storrs. In fact, her fan base has grown upon her arrival in the big apple. Who doesn't like Kiah Stokes?
 
Also 4 steals, while the rest of the team had lousy shooting %, she doesn't miss a shot.

Tiff did her part for the Dream, putting up 15 and 6 assists and 4 boards.
 
That was the first full game I have seen her play this year. She is playing with much more confidence. It stuck out to me how she is more relaxed and playing with better body control/positioning. She made some big plays down the stretch. Could not be more happy for her. I think in two years she will start to put it all together.
 
After a season of playing international bball, she will be a completely changed player. You can see what that did to Stef Dolson overseas. She will learn and will master a lot of one-on-one stuffs and she will bang hard down below. It is a lot rougher and they don't call contact fouls as easily as here. I can't see why she can't progress as well as Tina Charles, they have the same type of athleticism and UConn work ethic. Same size as well. Kiah just bloomed a couple of years later than Tina (but Tina had Maya to show her then).
 
I noticed last night that Kiah threw two fakes before she shot contested
layups. She scored on both plays. I have not seen much of that before
last night. She was tough in the last 4 minutes of the 4th quater and also
very good in the OT. She was 5-5 from the field.
 
Goodgood said:
After a season of playing international bball, she will be a completely changed player. You can see what that did to Stef Dolson overseas. She will learn and will master a lot of one-on-one stuffs and she will bang hard down below. It is a lot rougher and they don't call contact fouls as easily as here. I can't see why she can't progress as well as Tina Charles, they have the same type of athleticism and UConn work ethic. Same size as well. Kiah just bloomed a couple of years later than Tina (but Tina had Maya to show her then).
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Wasn't it the other way around? Tina showed Maya? Tina was older and graduated before Maya.
 
I've asked this question before: Is there any other example of a player who didn't start for her college team, coming into the WNBA and starting? I'm thinking this is unprecedented.

I also posited that UConn starters (as a college players) are better than Liberty Starters (as pros.) Although Liberty starters are looking pretty good. But I still think if Morgan Tuck were on the Liberty, Morgan would be starting over Kiah, but that is purely conjecture.

Don't misunderstand me, the few times I have watched, including last night, Kiah's play has been outstanding, especially on the defensive end. Kudos to her success.
 
Carnac said:
I think everyone will agree that Kiah is NOT the player she was at the beginning of the WNBA season. While she's not where she or the Liberty want her to be when she peaks, she has made significant strides towards becoming a good to very good post player (she still has a long way to go).

She'll sharpen her skills and boost her confidence even more during her first stint in the Korean leagues this winter. She may never be the juggernaut that Charles or Fowles is, but I agree with Kara Lawson that Kiah will be a serviceable journyman in the WNBA for a long time.

It would not surprise me to see Kiah averaging a double double most games during the WNBA season in a couple of years. As she matures, her confidence and production will rise. You know she's going to get better.

One thing is for sure at this point. She's gotten over the "awe" phase most rookies experience when coming into the league. She now knows that she can play at this level. She knows the things she must work on and improve upon. Kiah appears to be holding up pretty good playing a 34 (+ playoffs) game WNBA season on the heels of a 39 game season with the Huskies.

Her teammates have her back. Laimbeer plays her a lot of minutes. He expects her to do what she does best at this point of her career. He expects her to do her job.

And lastly..she hasn't lost a single fan since leaving Storrs. In fact, her fan base has grown upon her arrival in the big apple. Who doesn't like Kiah Stokes?
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I
Carnac said:
I think everyone will agree that Kiah is NOT the player she was at the beginning of the WNBA season. While she's not where she or the Liberty want her to be when she peaks, she has made significant strides towards becoming a good to very good post player (she still has a long way to go).

She'll sharpen her skills and boost her confidence even more during her first stint in the Korean leagues this winter. She may never be the juggernaut that Charles or Fowles is, but I agree with Kara Lawson that Kiah will be a serviceable journyman in the WNBA for a long time.

It would not surprise me to see Kiah averaging a double double most games during the WNBA season in a couple of years. As she matures, her confidence and production will rise. You know she's going to get better.

One thing is for sure at this point. She's gotten over the "awe" phase most rookies experience when coming into the league. She now knows that she can play at this level. She knows the things she must work on and improve upon. Kiah appears to be holding up pretty good playing a 34 (+ playoffs) game WNBA season on the heels of a 39 game season with the Huskies.

Her teammates have her back. Laimbeer plays her a lot of minutes. He expects her to do what she does best at this point of her career. He expects her to do her job.

And lastly..she hasn't lost a single fan since leaving Storrs. In fact, her fan base has grown upon her arrival in the big apple. Who doesn't like Kiah Stokes?
Expand ...

It is great all the nice comments about Kiah. One commentor said a non College starter now an WNBA Starter is unprecedented.
Another suggested she shall be a changed player after her stint, this winter, in Europe--I agree.
Geno was loaded with talent and Stewie was a loudly proclaimed talent as she arrived. Kiah never sought the lime light. She always has had the talent that Lambeer is pulling from her--He is no Henry Higgins!! Geno is no boogie man. But it took the right kind of environment and person to put her in a position and stay with her for her to shine so brightly. Because the WNBA teams need more than one player to be successful for the team to be successful--Kiah is in the right place at the right time.
 
I just love thinking back on the rolling 2010-12 recruiting classes, classes which produced Stef Dolson, Bria Hartley, KML, Kiah, Stewie, Mo, and Tuck. Those are seven kids who have already produced another three-peat...and probably a fourth. Of course, Morgan can play yet one more season as well. And in the interim, Kiah did us all proud at UConn and is doing so in the WNBA.
 
Aluminny69 said:
I've asked this question before: Is there any other example of a player who didn't start for her college team, coming into the WNBA and starting? I'm thinking this is unprecedented.

I also posited that UConn starters (as a college players) are better than Liberty Starters (as pros.) Although Liberty starters are looking pretty good. But I still think if Morgan Tuck were on the Liberty, Morgan would be starting over Kiah, but that is purely conjecture.

Don't misunderstand me, the few times I have watched, including last night, Kiah's play has been outstanding, especially on the defensive end. Kudos to her success.
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When did Kiah become a starter?
 
j66kicker said:
When did Kiah become a starter?
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You're right, she doesn't start which is funny - Laimbeer always brings her off the bench, yet she plays 30+ mins a game and sometimes 35+ ! Certainly unusual. As long as she's performing and getting lots of PT everybody's happy :cool:
 
BroadwayVa said:
I

It is great all the nice comments about Kiah. One commentor said a non College starter now an WNBA Starter is unprecedented.
Another suggested she shall be a changed player after her stint, this winter, in Europe--I agree.
Geno was loaded with talent and Stewie was a loudly proclaimed talent as she arrived. Kiah never sought the lime light. She always has had the talent that Lambeer is pulling from her--He is no Henry Higgins!! Geno is no boogie man. But it took the right kind of environment and person to put her in a position and stay with her for her to shine so brightly. Because the WNBA teams need more than one player to be successful for the team to be successful--Kiah is in the right place at the right time.
Expand ...

I think Broadway Va has it right, Kiah's in the right place at the right time to show her talent. At another stop she might not have been given this chance to shine. She was easy to admire here, and now she is establishing herself as a potential force in the WNBA.

I think though that it is a mistake to try to compare the college game too closely to the pros and because of that I think the inferred criticizm of Geno for not turning her into a star has been off the mark.

I think that he has missed here and there with some players (I think more in the recruitment than the coaching) but I saw Kiah get her chances and I always felt that she shied away from asserting herself and so became a spot player used by Geno when she could most help the team.

For most of her career here she looked to pass whenever she had the ball and there were times when she was so open that she could easily have cut for the basket or taken an open jumper. I don't think that at those times that Geno was holding her back.

Now in the WNBA she is playing more minutes than anyone else on the team (at least lately) and using her strength and BB IQ to help her team to the playoffs.

Everyone seams to think that she'll return from Korea an improved offensive player, but I'm not sure that it's in her DNA to be one. I hope her other fans are right and that she one day becomes a double-double machine, but whether that happens or not I'm thrilled with the player that she has already become.
 
We will never know what Geno allowed Kiah to do or not to do, so we will leave it at that. At UConn, if she is not performing, she will not play and will sit at the end of the bench until the next opportunity. She still goes to classes and did what all student athletes do.

With the pros and the abundance of great athletes waiting in the wings, she will get cut even if she performs adequately and does not excel and someone "better" is available. That is incentive enough for someone as smart as Kiah to get motivated. We should stop comparing colleges and the WNBA, and the WNBA with oversea leagues.
 
Goodgood said:
No. Tina always said she looked up to Maya even though Maya was a year younger.
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When Tina roomed with Maya, she became more focused, harder working, and tougher. The result: She surpassed her roomie for NPOY.
 
Bonpland said:
I think Broadway Va has it right, Kiah's in the right place at the right time to show her talent. At another stop she might not have been given this chance to shine. She was easy to admire here, and now she is establishing herself as a potential force in the WNBA.

I think though that it is a mistake to try to compare the college game too closely to the pros and because of that I think the inferred criticizm of Geno for not turning her into a star has been off the mark.

I think that he has missed here and there with some players (I think more in the recruitment than the coaching) but I saw Kiah get her chances and I always felt that she shied away from asserting herself and so became a spot player used by Geno when she could most help the team.

For most of her career here she looked to pass whenever she had the ball and there were times when she was so open that she could easily have cut for the basket or taken an open jumper. I don't think that at those times that Geno was holding her back.

Now in the WNBA she is playing more minutes than anyone else on the team (at least lately) and using her strength and BB IQ to help her team to the playoffs.

Everyone seams to think that she'll return from Korea an improved offensive player, but I'm not sure that it's in her DNA to be one. I hope her other fans are right and that she one day becomes a double-double machine, but whether that happens or not I'm thrilled with the player that she has already become.
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I thank you for the nice words. I also think being a scorer is deep down in her DNA--she was a pretty fair scorer in HS and her Daddy was a fair to mid land BB player. Like you I have great hopes she'll earn and learn in Asia or Europe, where ever..
 
Goodgood said:
We will never know what Geno allowed Kiah to do or not to do, so we will leave it at that. At UConn, if she is not performing, she will not play and will sit at the end of the bench until the next opportunity. She still goes to classes and did what all student athletes do.

With the pros and the abundance of great athletes waiting in the wings, she will get cut even if she performs adequately and does not excel and someone "better" is available. That is incentive enough for someone as smart as Kiah to get motivated. We should stop comparing colleges and the WNBA, and the WNBA with oversea leagues.
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sometimes being benched cuts deep into your confidence... and its hard for many to return from that. now you become hesitant, looking over your shoulder watching your back etc. I nice talking to, pat on the back, try again... go get'em tiger does work as well for some.

yeah I know 10 championships, blah blah blah... but Geno's tactics arent good for everyone
 
VAMike23 said:
You're right, she doesn't start which is funny - Laimbeer always brings her off the bench, yet she plays 30+ mins a game and sometimes 35+ ! Certainly unusual. As long as she's performing and getting lots of PT everybody's happy :cool:
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Kiah comes off the bench because Laimbeer does want her to get into foul trouble.
She usually comes in the game after 5 minutes or so in the 1st and 2nd quarters.
This gives her about 10 minutes in the first half. She plays the bulk of her minutes
in the 2nd half, usually about 15 minutes. They need her defensively at the end
of the game. The Liberty have struggled late in the game when she is not on the
floor. I think it is a smart way to utilize her defensively. She is a big reason for
the Liberty success this year.
 
VAMike23 said:
You're right, she doesn't start which is funny - Laimbeer always brings her off the bench, yet she plays 30+ mins a game and sometimes 35+ ! Certainly unusual. As long as she's performing and getting lots of PT everybody's happy :cool:
Expand ...
She always played better off the bench at UCONN too.
 
It's interesting that folks are talking about her numbers vs. the "better" players in the WNBA and using that as "evidence." Usually that's the opposite - folks feast on weaker competition and wilt under tougher.

Which got me thinking - maybe responds not just to coaching - the but the actual on the court competition. It's real. It's been fascinating watching her learn - Big Syl just abused her a couple of times, as did de Souza, but in the second half, not so much.
 
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