KML Breakthrough?

[Fairfield Fan]

Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis scored 13 points on on 4 for 5 shooting (made all three 3-point attempts) in just over 12 minutes to help Seattle beat Las Vegas.

Great to see a strong game from her. A breakthrough? Is she ready to become the super-star that she was destined to be coming out of UConn?

05/27/18: Seattle Storm @ Las Vegas Aces - WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA

 

[DaddyChoc]

What has she done before that, or is this her first game in the states this season?

 

[Jaybird65]

Not sure she was ever detined to a superstar in the WNBA. Good for her; hope it continues.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

What has she done before that, or is this her first game in the states this season?

I believe it's her fourth game of the WNBA season.

 

[Sonny44]

Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis scored 13 points on on 4 for 5 shooting (made all three 3-point attempts) in just over 12 minutes to help Seattle beat Las Vegas.

Great to see a strong game from her. A breakthrough? Is she ready to become the super-star that she was destined to be coming out of UConn?

05/27/18: Seattle Storm @ Las Vegas Aces - WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA

Keep it up Sweetie!

 

[EricLA]

I watched the game. She's a solid player, but as a guard, a real liability on defense. I mean most guards when they have the ball can break down and go past a defender, but she's just so slow. Honestly, I don't think that she will have a long career unless she loses some weight and gets fitter/quicker. She's not a center, like Courtney Paris, so carrying around all that extra weight does not work for guards...

 

[MilfordHusky]

I don’t think that many of us thought that K would be a superstar in the WNBA. I think she has the potential to be a very effective role player as a 3-point shooter or even a solid starter. When she gets good looks—much easier with talented teammmates on the flood than with last year’s scoring-challenged second unit—she can take advantage of that great shot.

Here are her early season stats for 4 games:

32 minutes

6-12 FGAs

4-7 3-pointers

2-2 FTAs

3 rebounds

1 assist

2 TOs

8 fouls

The bad stat is obviously the foul total. Some of that is from weak defense.

K actually has fairly quick feet. I’ve seen other players get beaten off the dribble a lot as well. Unfortunately, Maya has been one of them. If K can be put in situations to utilize her strengths and hide her weaknesses, she’ll be ok.

 

[uconnfan68]

I watched the game. She's a solid player, but as a guard, a real liability on defense. I mean most guards when they have the ball can break down and go past a defender, but she's just so slow. Honestly, I don't think that she will have a long career unless she loses some weight and gets fitter/quicker. She's not a center, like Courtney Paris, so carrying around all that extra weight does not work for guards...

She doesn’t have the body type to ever be thin and quick. She makes up for that with the best shooting stroke I may have ever seen. She’s also has a very high basketball IQ.

 

[BostonCanuck]

KML is simply too good to not be a successful player in the WNBA. I feel like this was simply a matter of time. Can't wait to see how she follows it up tonight!

 

[Fairfield Fan]

She doesn’t have the body type to ever be thin and quick. She makes up for that with the best shooting stroke I may have ever seen. She’s also has a very high basketball IQ.

I would say that coming out of college KML had a strong chance of being a big star: she had a lights-out outside shot, and she was tall and strong, and had a thick body that could bang away under the boards and keep the WNBA bigs honest.

Not sure what's happened, but I agree that her conditioning quite obviously declined while a pro. Haven't seen her play lately, but with height, strength and shooting ability, she can still be an impact player.

Clearly Seattle thought she would be a big help to them, since they drafted her pretty high.

Fingers crossed!!

 

[MilfordHusky]

Kaleena is about 5’10-1/2” to 5’10-3/4”. That’s not tall for a small forward in the pros.

 

[stamfordhusky]

KML played 14 minutes tonight and had 3 points. For the year, she has played 45 minutes (5 games) and has 21 points. Her shooting is good but the rest of her stats are worrisome. For the five games, she has 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 0 steals, and 0 blocks. Her plus/minus is even on a team that has an overall rating of +26.

 

[eebmg]

In last night's game, she had a very good stretch with a super clean 3pt shot with confidence, a beautiful pick and roll assist and a strong offensive rebound. Hughes is also pairing her with Canada alot which makes good sense since KML can stretch the defense out allowing Canada to really penetrate. Her conditioning and defense makes it difficult to play large minutes but as a boost of the bench, she can excel.

By the way, this game featured 3 rookies which I think will be excellent pro's. Hines-Allen, Atkins and Canada all look like they belong. Hines-Allen gave UConn fits so I am glad she is showing the world how strong and steady she is. She can get her shot in the lane almost at will and actually make it with consistency. Thibault put her in the starting rotation. He is no dummy.

 

[MilfordHusky]

In last night's game, she had a very good stretch with a super clean 3pt shot with confidence, a beautiful pick and roll assist and a strong offensive rebound. Hughes is also pairing her with Canada alot which makes good sense since KML can stretch the defense out allowing Canada to really penetrate. Her conditioning and defense makes it difficult to play large minutes but as a boost of the bench, she can excel.

By the way, this game featured 3 rookies which I think will be excellent pro's. Hines-Allen, Atkins and Canada all look like they belong. Hines-Allen gave UConn fits so I am glad she is showing the world how strong and steady she is. She can get her shot in the lane almost at will and actually make it with consistency. Thibault put her in the starting rotation. He is no dummy.

I was going to post that both Hines-Allen and Atkins are making an impact. They look to become long-time pros. If there is an All-Rookie team, they likely will make it.

 

[JellyBean]

Dang!! I gotta get the League Pass. Missing these great games. Glad to read about KML having a solid game. This young lady has a great shot and just needs to gain some confidence out there. Let that ball fly, KML!!

 

[eebmg]

Dang!! I gotta get the League Pass. Missing these great games. Glad to read about KML having a solid game. This young lady has a great shot and just needs to gain some confidence out there. Let that ball fly, KML!!

League Pass is a great investment. You can see all games in archive (even the ones that were blocked out due to conflict with other venues) as well as most live. The feature I like best is that on the minutes toolbar, you can actually filter the "events" by player. So if you want to see KML's 3pt, select KML and select 3pt made and it will mark the event on the time bar so you can find it. Not all events are listed are easy to get to but with practice, you get to see most of the best plays by the players you want to follow.

 

[Carnac]

Dang!! I gotta get the League Pass. Missing these great games. Glad to read about KML having a solid game. This young lady has a great shot and just needs to gain some confidence out there. Let that ball fly, KML!!

It's money well spent. I agree 100% with eebmg. You get all the games live and on replay if you missed them. Last year the subscription cost was $14.99. This year it's 16.99. Next year it will probably $18.99. Still a good deal if you like the WNBA. I like the W, and want to see all of our former players play at this level, so I subscribe.

 

[Carnac]

I would say that coming out of college KML had a strong chance of being a big star: she had a lights-out outside shot, and she was tall and strong, and had a thick body that could bang away under the boards and keep the WNBA bigs honest.

Not sure what's happened, but I agree that her conditioning quite obviously declined while a pro. Haven't seen her play lately, but with height, strength and shooting ability, she can still be an impact player.

Clearly Seattle thought she would be a big help to them, since they drafted her pretty high.

Fingers crossed!!

I echo your sentiments. There was a disconnect of some kind when she was drafted 3 years ago. She was relegated to the bench.
I'm led to believe there was some deficiencies in her game that did not allow her to play at this level right away.

It's good to see her on the court getting meaningful playing time throughout the game. That was not the case under former head coach Jenny Boucek. She must have endeared herself to someone in the organization. They just gave her a contract extension two weeks ago, which means they obviously plan on keeping her for the foreseeable future. That's good news to me. As you say, fingers crossed.

 

[eebmg]

I echo your sentiments. There was a disconnect of some kind when she was drafted 3 years ago. She was relegated to the bench.
I'm led to believe there was some deficiencies in her game that did not allow her to play at this level right away.

It's good to see her on the court getting meaningful playing time throughout the game. That was not the case under former head coach Jenny Boucek. She must have endeared herself to someone in the organization. They just gave her a contract extension two weeks ago, which means they obviously plan on keeping her for the foreseeable future. That's good news to me. As you say, fingers crossed.

I recall Dan Hughes being absolutely enthralled with Moriah with her leadership, ability and work ethic (Canada will ultimately grow into that imho as well) when she was with him in San Antonio and I think I recall in some announcing gigs that he has the utmost respect for UConn players so he is in a good position to appreciate what a UConn player does bring. He can see the positives while scheming to reduce the ill effects of her weaknesses.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Yessss!!!!!

KML records her second double-digit scoring game in the last three. She drains 3 of 4 three-point attempts, while recording 13 points. It might be no coincidence that she has come through strongly in these three games because she's finally getting playing time: 46 minutes in those three games.

KML has now sunk 7 of 8 3-point attempts in her last three games, and is shooting 67% for the year (8 for 12). This game raises her average to 5.7 ppg.

Let's hope that this coach will give her the minutes she needs to shine. Again, fingers crossed!!!

 

[willtalk]

KML got quite a few minutes recently, because the games were blowouts. They played the bench players most of the second half in their last game. Shooters tend to be streaky and she is presently on a hot streak. Fortunately circumstances are such that she is getting playing time while she hot. You can be hot as a pistol but it means nothing if you don't get in the game.

She still is a nitch or specialty player. For her to be on the floor and contribute she has to be hot. She is a liability other wise. Teams will always have a need for at least one shooter, but the trade off in respect to their offense verses their defense has to be worth it. A lot depends on the opposition and match ups.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

KML got quite a few minutes recently, because the games were blowouts. They played the bench players most of the second half in their last game. Shooters tend to be streaky and she is presently on a hot streak. Fortunately circumstances are such that she is getting playing time while she hot. You can be hot as a pistol but it means nothing if you don't get in the game.

She still is a nitch or specialty player. For her to be on the floor and contribute she has to be hot. She is a liability other wise. Teams will always have a need for at least one shooter, but the trade off in respect to their offense verses their defense has to be worth it. A lot depends on the opposition and match ups.

You know, I wonder. Kelly Faris never got a chance to really shine, and Coach Geno said as much, that she was on the wrong team. Perhaps if her career had started out differently, it would have proceeded differently. Perhaps if KML had been given a greater opportunity early on, her career would have blossomed.

Even though she's getting time when the game has already been decided, she's still scoring and hitting three's against the best players in the world. Perhaps this will prove the break she needs, and her career will bloom.

 

[shizam]

In last night's game, she had a very good stretch with a super clean 3pt shot with confidence, a beautiful pick and roll assist and a strong offensive rebound. Hughes is also pairing her with Canada alot which makes good sense since KML can stretch the defense out allowing Canada to really penetrate. Her conditioning and defense makes it difficult to play large minutes but as a boost of the bench, she can excel.

By the way, this game featured 3 rookies which I think will be excellent pro's. Hines-Allen, Atkins and Canada all look like they belong. Hines-Allen gave UConn fits so I am glad she is showing the world how strong and steady she is. She can get her shot in the lane almost at will and actually make it with consistency. Thibault put her in the starting rotation. He is no dummy.

Great point about Canada enhancing KML’s game. Canada instinctually attack’s and forces the D to collapse resulting in some nice opportunities for a talent like KML. With open looks KML is confident. She looks better than I’ve seen her and I’m no fan of hers. Good for her. I wondered why the Storm stuck with her. Not bad this year so far. Hughes might be good for her too.

 

[shizam]

You know, I wonder. Kelly Faris never got a chance to really shine, and Coach Geno said as much, that she was on the wrong team. Perhaps if her career had started out differently, it would have proceeded differently. Perhaps if KML had been given a greater opportunity early on, her career would have blossomed.

Even though she's getting time when the game has already been decided, she's still scoring and hitting three's against the best players in the world. Perhaps this will prove the break she needs, and her career will bloom.

Kelly Farris was lucky to just be in the league as long as she was. That was a huge achievement.

 

[Carnac]

Great point about Canada enhancing KML’s game. Canada instinctually attack’s and forces the D to collapse resulting in some nice opportunities for a talent like KML. With open looks KML is confident. She looks better than I’ve seen her and I’m no fan of hers. Good for her. I wondered why the Storm stuck with her. Not bad this year so far. Hughes might be good for her too.

KML is a "spot-up" shooter. That was her forte at UConn. Rarely did we see her put the ball on the floor and attack the basket. She didn't have to. She set a new D1 record for career 3 pointers made her senior year. If you're doing something that's working for you, why change or modify it? The court, rim and ball are all the same size in the W, as it is in college. An open look, is an open look. If she knocked down open 3's in college, she can do the same at this level.

Any other dynamics that may be involved in her getting more playing time (mobility, playing defense, etc.) is another matter.
Personally, I like KML. I'm rooting for her BIG time. I ran into her at Pauley Pavilion (UCLA) last year during the UConn game in the concourse at half time. I greeted her, and we chatted for a brief moment. She was very cordial and friendly. I appreciated that, in that she had never seen me before, and had no idea who I was other than a random fan, and likely would never see me again. She's taller than she looks on TV.