Liberty @ Sky - 5/20/18

[Carnac]

Final score - Sky 80 - Liberty 76
Gabby finished with 12 pts in 19 min - Kia 17 pts in 29 min. Only Hartley and Charles played more minutes that she did. Kia started the last game, came off the bench in this one. With this performance, she may start the next one.

 

[j66kicker]

Kia played really well today - she can play in this league right now. 17 points, 3:1 A/TO ratio, couple rebounds, couple steals, only 1 TO and 1 foul in 29 minutes, +/- of +8 in a loss.

Coates looks good on offense too. I don't care for Amber Stocks' hockey line substitution, but I guess they're 2-0, so....

 

[JordyG]

Kia played really well today - she can play in this league right now. 17 points, 3:1 A/TO ratio, couple rebounds, couple steals, only 1 TO and 1 foul in 29 minutes, +/- of +8 in a loss.

Coates looks good on offense too. I don't care for Amber Stocks' hockey line substitution, but I guess they're 2-0, so....

I just think that Kia's game is better suited to the pro game than many others. To me she looks like a glue player that puts a contending team into the playoffs and a top team into a championship.

 

[Orangutan]

Some final thoughts:

Nurse is extremely polished. She is a total irritant on defense. She forced several rushed late-clock shots by denying Chicago guards the ball and blowing up plays. She also is very skilled in the art of drawing fouls. When she gets fouled she makes darn sure that the refs know. And of course her deep shot is lethal. She just does a lot of subtle good things on both ends.

Kia Stokes was in street clothes and had a boot on her left foot.

Diamond looks really good when she plays within herself. But she tries these highlight-reel moves and passes and none of them came off today. She needs Joe Maddon's mantra "Do Simple Better."

Gabby hit a couple of long 2s today. As long as she can hit that shot consistently she will be fine. I liked her all-around game.

It looks like we finally found out what Amber Stocks thinks her best lineup is: Faulkner-Quigley-Copper-Parker-Dolson was the crunch time 5. Copper and/or Parker can certainly be displaced by Gabby and/or Diamond but that was the group she rolled with today and I think it was the right call. Obviously Sloot will slot in there when she is back. I think Stocks has Faulkner coming off the bench because she wants to build her chemistry with the second unit. She's clearly better than Hopkins.

 

[Carnac]

Some final thoughts:

Nurse is extremely polished. She is a total irritant on defense. She forced several rushed late-clock shots by denying Chicago guards the ball and blowing up plays. She also is very skilled in the art of drawing fouls. When she gets fouled she makes darn sure that the refs know. And of course her deep shot is lethal. She just does a lot of subtle good things on both ends.

Kia Stokes was in street clothes and had a boot on her left foot.

Diamond looks really good when she plays within herself. But she tries these highlight-reel moves and passes and none of them came off today. She needs Joe Maddon's mantra "Do Simple Better."

Gabby hit a couple of long 2s today. As long as she can hit that shot consistently she will be fine. I liked her all-around game.

It looks like we finally found out what Amber Stocks thinks her best lineup is: Faulkner-Quigley-Copper-Parker-Dolson was the crunch time 5. Copper and/or Parker can certainly be displaced by Gabby and/or Diamond but that was the group she rolled with today and I think it was the right call. Obviously Sloot will slot in there when she is back. I think Stocks has Faulkner coming off the bench because she wants to build her chemistry with the second unit. She's clearly better than Hopkins.

Thanks O for the "court side" report. When you're at the game, you see things that the TV audience does not. Hope to gets these reports and observations all season.

Too bad about Kiah Stokes, I wanted to see how much she has improved this past winter. Hopefully she'll make her debut in a couple of weeks.

 

[HoopsFan21]

Oh man. Nurse just put Gabby in the spin cycle

I thought they were best friends????

 

[Lynx23]

I have MSG+ so I get all the Liberty games on TV. The Chicago Sky announcer was a hoot. He was clearly exasperated by Kia's play in the first half as her "nastiness" was on full display, plus she was hitting shots. That move against Gabby was unlike anything we ever saw from her at UCONN so I guess she really can create her own shot. Dolson looked bewildered when Kia "hooked" her and got the foul call in her favor. In any event, at one point the announcer stated that more experienced WNBA players would start retaliating against her hard-nosed defensive play before too long, before conceding that she's probably not going to back down anyway. He noted midway through the third quarter that Kia had a "quiet" second half so far. Then again, she had just entered the game right before he made this statement. In the 4th quarter he simply stated that he would have her on his team any day. Kia is playing like someone who has something to prove and there's no question the pro game suits her style. As far as the hair goes, I thought that to be a not so subtle statement that she has arrived and "this is who I am".

 

[eebmg]

I have MSG+ so I get all the Liberty games on TV. The Chicago Sky announcer was a hoot. He was clearly exasperated by Kia's play in the first half as her "nastiness" was on full display, plus she was hitting shots. That move against Gabby was unlike anything we ever saw from her at UCONN so I guess she really can create her own shot. Dolson looked bewildered when Kia "hooked" her and got the foul call in her favor. In any event, at one point the announcer stated that more experienced WNBA players would start retaliating against her hard-nosed defensive play before too long, before conceding that she's probably not going to back down anyway. He noted midway through the third quarter that Kia had a "quiet" second half so far. Then again, she had just entered the game right before he made this statement. In the 4th quarter he simply stated that he would have her on his team any day. Kia is playing like someone who has something to prove and there's no question the pro game suits her style. As far as the hair goes, I thought that to be a not so subtle statement that she has arrived and "this is who I am".

I agree that Kia is a good fit in the WNBA and primarily on the defensive end. I do think there are weaknesses in her game on the offensive end that she needs to address over time. Her mid range shot and more conventional driving to the basket. On the other hand, she draws fouls and makes foul shots and there are plenty of opportunities to get decent 3pt shots so she will be a big part of the team as a rookie and will only get better. Shame some one with as big a presence as her will not be able to play at MSG. Her hair takes some getting used to and seems to be pretty close to Bria's styles so I sometimes cant tell them apart.

 

[Lynx23]

I agree that Kia is a good fit in the WNBA and primarily on the defensive end. I do think there are weaknesses in her game on the offensive end that she needs to address over time. Her mid range shot and more conventional driving to the basket. On the other hand, she draws fouls and makes foul shots and there are plenty of opportunities to get decent 3pt shots so she will be a big part of the team as a rookie and will only get better. Shame some one with as big a presence as her will not be able to play at MSG. Her hair takes some getting used to and seems to be pretty close to Bria's styles so I sometimes cant tell them apart.

Having Katie Smith as her coach should really help. I think Kia lucked out with a team that presents a good fit for her and a coach that sees in her the same qualities Geno did.

 

[Carnac]

I just think that Kia's game is better suited to the pro game than many others. To me she looks like a glue player that puts a contending team into the playoffs and a top team into a championship.

The game announcer said that Kia was the only 1st year player to make the roster. I'd like to see our incoming first year players adapt and play as well as Kia has in their first few games. Whatever they can give the team will be needed.

 

[UConnCat]

First game but better than some predicted.

 

[MilfordHusky]

First game but better than some predicted.