Nurse best rookie? PIE says yes!

[SVCBeercats]

PIE
Name
Player Impact Estimate
Definition
PIE measures a player's overall statistical contribution against the total statistics in games they play in. PIE yields results which are comparable to other advanced statistics (e.g. PER) using a simple formula.
Formula
(PTS + FGM + FTM - FGA - FTA + DREB + (.5 * OREB) + AST + STL + (.5 * BLK) - PF - TO) / (GmPTS + GmFGM + GmFTM - GmFGA - GmFTA + GmDREB + (.5 * GmOREB) + GmAST + GmSTL + (.5 * GmBLK) - GmPF - GmTO)

Yeah! I know I am being a total homer but - well - of course I am. Kia Nurse after 4 whole games is the best rookie … at least the most impactful so says PIE!

 

[SVCBeercats]

Kia Nurse is still on average playing more minute per game than any other rookie while averaging 19 points per game. If she was a 1st or 2nd scoring option at UCONN maybe she could have been an All-American. So the says homer!

 

[Roger G]

Having watched almost every game thus far this year, I can say Kia not only is the most impactful rookie in the league, she is up to this point one of the most impactful players in the league regardless of experience.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

You are all off your game. A salute to Kia's PIE achievement:

 

[Roger G]

I made the best pie ever the other day. Chocolate sweet potato and pecan pie with a coconut, brown sugar and butter topping in a french pastry crust.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

I made the best pie ever the other day. Chocolate sweet potato and pecan pie with a coconut, brown sugar and butter topping in a french pastry crust.

Nooooo! Sounds like a 4 day sugar high!

 

[oldude]

With her surprising scoring, tenacious defense, ability to run the court and hard-nosed attitude, right now Kia looks like the steal of the WNBA draft for the Liberty with the 10th overall pick.

 

[HuskyFan1125]

That’s great to read but Nurse won’t win ROY. Aja Wilson has already been anointed to that status. I’ve watched 2 Aces games in the last week and it has already been mentioned.

 

[HGN]

I think Kia is ONE of the best rookies so far...…….Hopefully she can keep up this pace for the rest of the season and
don't hit that rookie wall.

And personally , I like the fact that she is not starting but getting Starter minutes...…...Sort of takes the pressure off of her
a bit. She can come in more relaxed and do her thing.....Which she seems to be doing.

 

[Orangutan]

That’s great to read but Nurse won’t win ROY. Aja Wilson has already been anointed to that status.

And she's averaging 21 and 8.

 

[Shorty Dee]

I totally agree, especially if Kia keeps playing the way she is right now.

 

[CL82]

I always felt that Kia's best attributes were her high BBIQ and her tenacity. Those are traits that lend themselves to a long and successful pro career.

 

[EricLA]

That’s great to read but Nurse won’t win ROY. Aja Wilson has already been anointed to that status. I’ve watched 2 Aces games in the last week and it has already been mentioned.

You are probably right. In their effort to hype the league, decisions seem to have already been made. Which is too bad because other more interesting stories have emerged! Go Kia!

 

[shiverz45]

Nurse is having a great start. However it will be hard for her to maintain what she is doing when the injured guards return for NY. A'ja seems to be option #1 so it will be hard for anyone besides her to win rookie of the year.

 

[JordyG]

I made the best pie ever the other day. Chocolate sweet potato and pecan pie with a coconut, brown sugar and butter topping in a french pastry crust.

And why did you have to go and say that, you sadist! Now I'll be thinking about chocolate sweet potato and pecan pie with coconut butter topping all day!

 

[JordyG]

Nurse is having a great start. However it will be hard for her to maintain what she is doing when the injured guards return for NY. A'ja seems to be option #1 so it will be hard for anyone besides her to win rookie of the year.

It's more like those returning guards had better come to play every practice and every minute of every game if they want to keep their jobs. Competition makes for better teams and uneasy heads.

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

A little trivia...

On 34 occasions, a rookie has scored 30 or more points in a game (20 players have accomplished this, with some doing it on multiple occasions).

FOUR UConn alumni have accomplished this feat:

Kia Nurse (34 points) -- 6/2/2018
Moriah Jefferson (31 points) -- 7/1/2016
Breanna Stewart (38 points) -- 6/28/2016
Sue Bird (33 points) -- 8/9/2002

 

[McFly]

It's great to see Kia playing so well. But Lexi Brown, averaging seven minutes a game, is the third most impactful rookie? I think the formula needs some work.

 

[Carnac]

I made the best pie ever the other day. Chocolate sweet potato and pecan pie with a coconut, brown sugar and butter topping in a french pastry crust.

Did you leave any for us?

 

[Orangutan]

You are probably right. In their effort to hype the league, decisions seem to have already been made. Which is too bad because other more interesting stories have emerged! Go Kia!

A'ja is averaging 21.0 ppg and 7.7 rpg and has scored 20+ in her last 4 games. This last game was Kia's first 20-point game. But please, carry on with the conspiracy talk

 

[Carnac]

With her surprising scoring, tenacious defense, ability to run the court and hard-nosed attitude, right now Kia looks like the steal of the WNBA draft for the Liberty with the 10th overall pick.

Agreed!!! Here's the thing....................Kia will never be any worse skill wise or ability wise than she is right now. She's only played in 4 games. Wait until she's played 14-16 games, and those "training wheels" have come off. She's only going to get better as the season and years go on. I would suggest to one and all, that her skill set at this level will NOT regress or retard for the next 8-10 years. There's no substitute for experience. She'll be more comfortable (and a better idea of what she's suppose to do) a month from now, than she is today. She will have gone around the block 1 time (played against and experienced the other 11 teams).

Even though she just finished playing a full NCAA season of basketball, so have many other WNBA players (overseas). I know one person that is glad to see Kia step up is Tina Charles. She's been looking for some help from anybody for some time. The Indiana game was the first game this season that Charles was not the leading scorer for the Liberty. Nurse has been coming off the bench in their 4 games this season. If she continues to play like she did against the Fever, that may change.

I don't look for Kia to hit the "rookie wall" this year. Only 34 games with plenty of days off and no classes to attend. Plenty of down time to rest. After 4 years at a major program, Kia knows how to take care of her body, and how to prepare for the rigors ahead. If she doesn't, she has plenty of veteran teammates (Bria Hartley, Tina Charles and Kiah Stokes, her brother and her dad) she can learn from.

I'm watching all of the UConn alumna in the W this season. I'm going to pay particular attention to Kia. If she can come close to playing at the level she did Saturday (consistently) the rest of the season (and she has turned into that "nasty piece of business" her father has called her), she'll be a serious candidate for ROY.

 

[Roger G]

A little trivia...

On 34 occasions, a rookie has scored 30 or more points in a game (20 players have accomplished this, with some doing it on multiple occasions).

FOUR UConn alumni have accomplished this feat:

Kia Nurse (34 points) -- 6/2/2018
Moriah Jefferson (31 points) -- 7/1/2016
Breanna Stewart (38 points) -- 6/28/2016
Sue Bird (33 points) -- 8/9/2002

Surprising. No Diana, no Maya, and no Tina.

 

[Lynx23]

Does defense count for anything in the WNBA or is this going to be the same old story?

 

[Roger G]

Did you leave any for us?

Yes, but you have to find it. And by the time you do, well, who knows if it will still be good?

 

[EricLA]

A'ja is averaging 21.0 ppg and 7.7 rpg and has scored 20+ in her last 4 games. This last game was Kia's first 20-point game. But please, carry on with the conspiracy talk

Sure thing. Given that from the start of her senior year she was automatically anointed as the NPOY, and given she's already been anointed as the ROY, I'd say yeah, it's all about trying to drive interest to the game, and 'advance the story'. She's the new face. She gets all the pub, yet Kia has played just as well as A'ja, and Kia comes off the bench. Kia's averaging 19 PPG, 4 RPB, 2.5 APG, and 1.3 SPG. But please, carry on with your blinders in place...