New Article: Welcome to Kiah Stokes' block party -- Swish Appeal

[bschwartz]

LINK
"Kiah Stokes was viewed by many on the outside as nothing more than a role player at UConn. But Bill Laimbeer saw something much more, and now, the rest of the WNBA is finding that out as well."

Tina and Kiah do the booby bump

 

[JudgeSCR]

I loved Kiah at UConn and still do. But let's slow the parade a little. Kiah is much the same player she was at UConn.

Here are her UConn senior year vs. NY Liberty statistics:
Points 4.5 vs. 5.6; Rebounds 6.8 vs. 6.1; Blocks 3.7 vs. 2.6

Despite Laimbeer's blatherings, despite the article's hyperbole, she has virtually the same statistics as her senior year at UConn.

I hope Kiah will grow into the player we all hope she will be but that hasn't happened quite yet.

 

[Striper69]

Stats don't reveal what Kiah has done for the NY Liberty this season. She deserves every bit of praise she gets. Lucky for her it's at the media capital of the world!

 

[bschwartz]

Same stats, maybe but this league isn't the AAC. Besides, it is the off season. A parade can be nice this time of year.

 

[snlMINAJ]

yeah same stats (1 point more PG) but against the best in the world.. i mean come on, to compare UConn stats against teams like coastal carolina to liberty stats against teams like mercury, sky, mystics, etc... not even close to same level. to me, that means better production. she was a great player at UConn and she is a great player on Liberty. - difference is, i think she is needed more now.

 

[meyers7]

yeah same stats (1 point more PG) but against the best in the world.. i mean come on, to compare UConn stats against teams like coastal carolina to liberty stats against teams like mercury, sky, mystics, etc... not even close to same level. to me, that means better production. she was a great player at UConn and she is a great player on Liberty. - difference is, i think she is needed more now.

She always seemed to perform better when she felt she was needed or had to.

 

[ChicagoGG]

Kiah was a role player because she chose to be one. Now she is choosing to contribute. Here's hoping that she reaches her potential, at last.

 

[JudgeSCR]

Granted the competition is better. But still .... she is scoring 1 more point a game with increased minutes. Her defense remains impeccable. Great athleticism and uncanny timing.

The difference is (and this is important) most nights UConn would have won without her and in half the Liberty games I have seen, her contribution really mattered.

I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade. Shoot, I'd even attend (but without my rose colored sunglasses.)

 

[MattF]

LINK
"Kiah Stokes was viewed by many on the outside as nothing more than a role player at UConn. But Bill Laimbeer saw something much more, and now, the rest of the WNBA is finding that out as well."

Tina and Kiah do the booby bump

"booby bump" seems pretty disrespectful. Wonder if the victorious behavior of male athletes would be described in the same sexualized language?

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Kiah's smile just lights me up... the swats are a bonus

 

[UcMiami]

This is really sort of funny - she is playing the exact same role for the NY Liberty that she did for Uconn - coming off the bench as a defensive and rebounding machine. She is getting 5.5 minutes more a game in NY and her stats are quite comparable per game. Per minute her stats would all be considerably lower because she is 'playing against the best players in the world'.

At Uconn she got fewer minutes because she was competing for time last year with Tuck, Stewart, and KML - two AA players and one who will likely achieve that status and her lack of offensive intensity in most games made Geno reluctant to give her more minutes because it decreased the effectiveness of the other four players on the floor. She was a power on defense and often provided a spark on that end when she did enter that really helped.

She was a really good player for Uconn, she is proving to be a really good player for NY, and I expect her to have a very strong career in the WNBA. The limiting factor today as it has been over the last 4.5 years is that her confidence on offense is just not that strong - if she ever figures it all out, she could well compete for All-Star, MVP, and a National Team spot. If she doesn't, she will continue to be a valuable asset for her defense and rebounding, but may have a limited international career as they want their US players to score lots of points.

Final note - have only seen a little of the NY Liberty this year, but what I saw was the same problem as I saw at Uconn for Kiah - her ability to handle less than perfect entry passes leading to fumbles and loss of position against the defense is holding her back.

 

[Striper69]

Give the rookie a little slack...Kay?

 

[DobbsRover2]

This may not be the most popular thought, but without a huge intensity commitment on paintwork from Kiah and and continuous high pressure drills at both receiving the entry pass, protecting the ball, and perfecting a couple of swiftly executed moves for short jumpers, I have my doubts that she will ever become one of the top choices for her teammates dishes into the paint. WNBA guards know the success percentages for these passes, and it will be a chicken-and-egg situation for Kiah to get the passes to show she can hit these types of shots against the best players in the game. Just not sure whether she can absorb the moves Tina has for entry passes and spins, but maybe proximity to the great one will help.

But that doesn't mean she can't become a mini-giant terror in the paint, and her extremely high Offensive Rating shows she is already well-placed to do so. Besides all the assists, picks and the offensive rebounds, she can do this by cleaning up on the boards and better positioning herself for quick put backs. And of course her teammates can take advantage of her for some flips underneath for lay-ins, and maybe some high-highs with Tina.

 

[Gus Mahler]

I saw a few minutes of her game against Seattle. I would swear her body language was better--more confident, and more relaxed.

 

[msf22b]

As I noted on another thread, her +/- results are an indicator of the mayhem she commits on D.
Have to take that one into consideration along with the normal points/rebounds/blocks
She's having a good game tonight in LA