POLL: what kind of season does Kiah have in 2014-15?

[alexrgct]

I'll position this poll with a positive statement: I think Kiah was fantastic in the NCAA Tourney, and it's clear Geno trusts her fully.

Given the steps forward Kiah has taken, you know we'll get some measure of quality. But how high a level? Surely this is worth voting on and discussing. Stef's departure is extremely significant, so how much does Kiah fill in?

 

[Sonny44]

Mosy people here think she has been a solid contributor this year so i would expect some improvement over that.

 

[connboy77]

I guess I'm the only one who feels Kiah will be an all-american next year!

 

[Wbbfan1]

Kiah will be an All American Defensive Player with a good shot at winning AAC Defensive Player of the Year. May have to battle Stewie for the Award. However, don't think she can average double digits in scoring which is what she would have to do to become an All American.

I guess I'm the only one who feels Kiah will be an all-american next year!

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

I undervoted to add positive mojo.

 

[Ctpaul0825]

Kiah gained confidence this year and I expect it to carry over in her Senior season.

 

[Shenandoah]

I expect Kiah to average 10+ points and rebounds next year, with starter minutes. She will also get 4-5 blocks/game. What remains to be seen, is, does she develop the 15 footer, and passing skills to be a consistent threat? I say yes....

 

[MilfordHusky]

I think Kiah has the potential to be an AA and one of the best players in the country. She played very well this year and seemed to have the confidence of her teammates and coaches. I thought she was the best defensive post player in the country, even better than Stef.

Here's one reason why Kiah may not be an AA: Stewie is a lock, Kaleena should be a lock, and Moriah is not far behind. We won't have 4 players on an AA team. Additionally, the other 3 have had more media attention already.

Kiah seemed to be as happy as anyone and very involved in Tuesday's celebration. I expect her to be a major part of the team and less reserved next year. She will be all-conference and the conference DPOY. CD will work with her on the offensive end. Kiah will not have Stef to defer to and will step up. Will she frustrate Geno? A little, but not nearly as often as in the past.

 

[mrmojack]

I believe she could ave. 10-12pts and 15 rebounds with a few games with
over 20 rebounds. In the NCAA tournament we saw her be a little more aggressive on offense. There is a lot of potential and room for improvement
which I believe the coaches will extract from her. Next year is HER year to
shine. I think we will get a lot more help from the freshman than people
think. We have the best athlete, a great 3 pt shooter and a lock down
defender in the class who will be a potential starter. Even without Wilson,
we will be fine to defend our title. Don't forget, championship experience
is huge. Even ND had game time jitters. Whats going to happen to a young
North Carolina team if they get that far? Probably the same thing that the
young Kentucky men's team experienced. JMO

 

[HoopsFan21]

If Kiah works on her shot this summer and just gets more confident and comfortable taking it, especially when wide open, instead of looking to dish it off to someone else, she will be great next year. I don't see why she couldn't be an All-American. How many points/game did Stef average this year? Couldn't have been much more than a dozen or so because Bria was second on the team at 16 and change I believe. If Kiah has starters minutes which I think Geno was trying to do in this NCAA tournament, out of necessity if not to get her ready for next year, it's not unreasonable to expect about a dozen points (don't forget she seems to get to the line pretty often and is a good foul shooter), 8-10 rebounds, and a few blocks per game. She may be one of the quieter kids on the team, but her game will speak for itself next year.

 

[uconnfan68]

If Kiah works on her shot this summer and just gets more confident and comfortable taking it, especially when wide open, instead of looking to dish it off to someone else, she will be great next year. I don't see why she couldn't be an All-American. How many points/game did Stef average this year? Couldn't have been much more than a dozen or so because Bria was second on the team at 16 and change I believe. If Kiah has starters minutes which I think Geno was trying to do in this NCAA tournament, out of necessity if not to get her ready for next year, it's not unreasonable to expect about a dozen points (don't forget she seems to get to the line pretty often and is a good foul shooter), 8-10 rebounds, and a few blocks per game. She may be one of the quieter kids on the team, but her game will speak for itself next year.

Try 18-20 rebounds. She gets the 8-10 in 15 minutes. Best rebounder in college (exception might be Stewie).

 

[msf22b]

Two points:

In her post game Muffit spoke about her strategy of "getting into UConn's bench," meaning Kiah (I suppose).
She felt they had a match-up advantage against our "big" lineup. And indeed their comeback in the first half was against that 5
(need to re-watch, to be certain). She further said that in the 2nd half, Geno kept his starters in and they couldn't get anything going…
Just saying, not a knock on Kiah, for all I know, she was speaking of the next two, who hardly played. And more likely, her "advantage" was a fantasy.

As stated earlier, when Kiah is at the high post, turns and finds herself loosely guarded, she should rumble a bee-line to the hoop.
She displays that move (maybe shooting with either hand) and she will be a force to be reckoned with. All-American? Who knows, but surely a true monster of the hardwood.

 

[Icebear]

I hate to tell Muffet but our guards were off and while Geno didn't use them I would have been comfortable with using Banks or Chong. Not both together but either one and I think we were still solid defensively.

 

[HoopsFan21]

Try 18-20 rebounds. She gets the 8-10 in 15 minutes. Best rebounder in college (exception might be Stewie).

Well I was thinking on average. She's going to have ups and downs, all players do. How many players ever have averaged 18-20 rebounds/game in a season? Let alone a player that probably won't play more than 25 minutes since there will be plenty of blow outs and Geno will do what he usually does and experiment especially to get the freshmen experience. The main thing we will miss about Stef, besides her personality, is her running the offense. We're not going to get that with Stokes, and she's not magically going to inherit that ability from Stef over the summer. However, our offense should still be plenty good on raw talent alone, so that shouldn't be a huge loss.

 

[UcMiami]

I didn't like my options but chose the one below all american because even on a ten player team, those ten represent such an elite group.
I do believe Kiah will average a double double - she made two offensive moves in the championship game I had never seen her make before - catching the ball while tightly guarded and not passing it out again but making an offensive move and shooting a contested shot against a double team. That was a level of confidence in herself and her ability that I had just never seen and to do it in the NC was so exciting. The confidence she gained this year and especially in the last two months and the confidence the coaching staff gained in her is going to pay dividends.
So double digits scoring
Rebounding machine
Defensive stopper and shot blocker extraordinaire (Stewart average a block every 11 minutes of playing time, Stokes every 8 minutes!)
I also expect her to get about 100 assists - she is a good passer who played a portion of her minutes on mop up duty with other bench players and still got 45 assists. Working the two man game replacing Dolson either with Stewart or with the guards and KML will lead to a marked increase in her assist per minute played ratio.
So ... in the conversation for defensive player of the year, but I don't think she will get enough points to convince voters to put her on the AA teams. Maybe third team and certainly a strong chance of honorable mention. She is also going to be on a team with three other likely AAs and may get squeezed in the 'numbers' game.

 

[JSB60]

I think she'll set a single season UCONN rebounding record. 8 PPG.

 

[bschwartz]

Sounds odd to say this because she is such a good rebounder, but IMO she needs to find a way to not let so many rebound opportunities slip through her hands. If she catches the ball, no one is getting it from her, but way too many times in a scrum for the ball she either tapped it away or let someone else come up with the ball. I don't whether it is reaction time, instincts or what. If she can improve on getting her hands to the right place faster, 17-20 RPG seems probable. I think we can expect 15 RPG and 7 PPG next year at least. Still rooting for her. Her progress is going to be one of my favorite story lines going into next year.

 

[mrmojack]

Two points:

In her post game Muffit spoke about her strategy of "getting into UConn's bench," meaning Kiah (I suppose).
She felt they had a match-up advantage against our "big" lineup. And indeed their comeback in the first half was against that 5
(need to re-watch, to be certain). She further said that in the 2nd half, Geno kept his starters in and they couldn't get anything going…
Just saying, not a knock on Kiah, for all I know, she was speaking of the next two, who hardly played. And more likely, her "advantage" was a fantasy.

As stated earlier, when Kiah is at the high post, turns and finds herself loosely guarded, she should rumble a bee-line to the hoop.
She displays that move (maybe shooting with either hand) and she will be a force to be reckoned with. All-American? Who knows, but surely a true monster of the hardwood.

If she just drives to the hoop from the foul line she will average 5-6 pts just in
foul shots alone.

 

[xHunt3r]

My Kiah predictions for 2014-2015

- Breaks single season rebounding record 372 held by Tina
- Averages double double for the year
- Honorable mention All-American
- 1st round selection in WNBA draft

 

[Tenspro2002]

She'll score some on putbacks, and in post-ups against lesser competition, but she won't be a focal point of the offense against top teams. There will be some times where she's a little lost on offense, but it won't run through her the way it ran through Stef. Geno will tailor our sets next year to match personnel.

Her rebounding and defense will be outstanding. I think she'll average 9 ppg, 11 rpg, and 3 bpg.

She'll be second team all-AAC, but not register for the national awards. 2nd round WNBA pick.

The only thing I care about is that she goes out with a championship in her senior year.

 

[HoopsFan21]

If she just drives to the hoop from the foul line she will average 5-6 pts just in
foul shots alone.

Yeah she does get to the line. And she makes free throws.

My Kiah predictions for 2014-2015

- Breaks single season rebounding record 372 held by Tina
- Averages double double for the year
- Honorable mention All-American
- 1st round selection in WNBA draft

Speaking of Tina's record, is it true that Stef was one rebound away from breaking it? I could have sworn they said that during the championship game that she came up one rebound short. Of course a lot of the season records get broken over time simply because they play more games. Since the days of that first undefeated team 19 years ago, for example, they've added five more games to the schedule.

 

[Goodgood]

I really don't think she needs to work on her shots or post moves. She has been doing that for the past 3 years. She is just reluctant to use all her skills because of lack of confidence and reliance on others to score.
Next year, she has no choice and she knows it...

 

[EricLA]

I tend to agree with Milford and others who said she has the potential to be an AA BUT... There are a ton of players "ahead" of her, even a few centers (Harrison, Williams, Hamby from Wake, Alleyne from Oregon, 6,5" Butler from Georgetown, and probably a few others)...

 

[JellyBean]

I love this kid, well young lady. She really stepped up this season. Like she felt more confident in her abilities. With that being said, I see her having another solid year for the program. Her style of play and personality (She is so laid back) does not show an up front type (Alpha Dog mind set) of player, so I expect her to be a solid contributor for her senior season. I am just so proud of her. After the Stanford, Stokes was interviewed. My favorite quote that Stoke said after the Stanford game was: "Coach says I don't care if you make 100 mistakes, as long as you make a different mistake each time and you go hard."...LOL!! I love it. That is our coach right there. But I see Kiah having a solid senior year and being a huge plus to the program.

 

[UcMiami]

She'll score some on putbacks, and in post-ups against lesser competition, but she won't be a focal point of the offense against top teams. There will be some times where she's a little lost on offense, but it won't run through her the way it ran through Stef. Geno will tailor our sets next year to match personnel.

I actually think you are wrong here - Geno loves the high post on offense with cutters playing off it and then the center turning and looking to the low post or to score herself. Kiah will not be as much of a threat to score, though she will make some teams very sorry they sagged off her by nailing three or four wide open foul line shots. But that basic offensive set with Kiah playing that role will be a big part of what happens. She really is a very good passer - 45 assists and only 27 turnovers in her limited time with starters - not in Stef's class, but not bad. And what really stood out to me this year with her game ... she knew what was happening on the offensive end - previous years she looked lost most of the time.
By the way - I finally watched the pre-game show last night and the analysis of the 2 out, three high offensive sets that both ND and Uconn run was very good.
On Edit - still think Stokes will get around 100 assists but she had only 34 this year not 45 (I jumped a line on the stats - thanks David.)