Stokes

[Icebear]

Stokes is a good kid. Unfortunately (for some) she is more concerned about her grades than how many points, rebounds or blocked shots she is credited with.

Simply one of the most foolish and unsubstantiated statements ever made here. The vast majority of Boneyard regulars are very well educated folks and highly value education. This includes for their own kids and grand kids. We have college facility, lawyers, doctors and nurses and other medical professionals, business professionals, professional counselors, engineers, educators, and yes, even pastors and many others. To insinuate that any of these people do not value the education of these kids we love to watch is beyond silliness, foolishness, or any other kind of nonsense.

Second to imply that there are kids on the team that do not take grades or academics seriously is to fail to appreciate how the program itself holds the kids accountable for their academic performance and is to imply Geno and CD do not emphasize that. That is, also, nonsense by past historical evidence.

 

[Bigpetunia]

As the young women who play basketball at UConn have proved again and again over the years, a commitment to being the best one can be on the floor and a similar commitment in the academic arena, are NOT mutually exclusive. Having said that, any young woman who accepts a full-freight scholarship on the basis of her basketball skills has entered into a "contract" to fulfill the former commitment....fulfillment of the latter, as well, is generally a reflection of her personal character. With stunning regularity, our young women seem to excel in both areas.

 

[UcMiami]

As the young women who play basketball at UConn have proved again and again over the years, a commitment to being the best one can be on the floor and a similar commitment in the academic arena, are NOT mutually exclusive. Having said that, any young woman who accepts a full-freight scholarship on the basis of her basketball skills has entered into a "contract" to fulfill the former commitment....fulfillment of the latter, as well, is generally a reflection of her personal character. With stunning regularity, our young women seem to excel in both areas.

Agree with your post but just want to point out ... the contract they enter into is both basketball and academic related and thankfully, the team and staff take the academic aspect of the contract very seriously. I believe there was a player not allowed to go on a road trip last year because they had failed to take an academic commitment seriously enough and this was not an NCAA rules kind of thing but team/program rules. Unlike many players in men's programs, women athletes in general and women's basketball players specifically are not simply filling up spaces in classes but are getting an education.

 

[Forty_four]

So, we should use her worst games to pick to predict her future output? Looks to me you are the one with unreasonable expectations. Yours are just negative expectations.

Her average right now is her average. I doubt it will go up or down much this season. She is mostly in there for rebounding and defense.

With the weak upcoming schedule, she will get plenty of minutes. 6-8 ppg even for the rest of the season is not unreasonable.

And I doubt that any boneyard expectations impact her performance in any way.

I agree with your response in paragraph 2, 3, and 4.
Did not pick her worst games, she made them her worst games.
My expectations of her are not unreasonable but realistic based on her performance to date. She will not average 10 pts per game this season and that is just the reality of it.

 

[doggydaddy]

I agree with your response in paragraph 2, 3, and 4.
Did not pick her worst games, she made them her worst games.
My expectations of her are not unreasonable but realistic based on her performance to date. She will not average 10 pts per game this season and that is just the reality of it.

When you find a post that said she will average 10 points per game this season, let me know.

You picked her last few games. So if she happens to have 3 great games, 8-10 points, over the next few games, can I use those to predict her future output?

How about we see how she plays the rest of the year.

 

[Bigpetunia]

Agree with your post but just want to point out ... the contract they enter into is both basketball and academic related and thankfully, the team and staff take the academic aspect of the contract very seriously. I believe there was a player not allowed to go on a road trip last year because they had failed to take an academic commitment seriously enough and this was not an NCAA rules kind of thing but team/program rules. Unlike many players in men's programs, women athletes in general and women's basketball players specifically are not simply filling up spaces in classes but are getting an education.

You know, Uc, it's not that I disagree with your point, because I don't, but it alludes to the degree to which we fans of college athletics take the existence of a gender-related double-standard for granted (as you suggest in your closing sentence). If our men's BB program recruited a 7' post player from the Bronx who, as a Freshman, put up 27ppg. and grabbed a dozen rebounds and blocked a few shots, is there anyone who would utter a peep if he barely scraped by on the academics with all the special tutoring he could get? But everyone would be up in arms if he was a "slacker" on the athletic side of his scholarship-related commitment. Generally speaking, our young women set an outstanding example by their dual commitment, and, indeed, on the women's side, our expectations in the academic arena run deeper (why?). But I cannot agree with a poster who suggests that any excuse for not taking the athletic part of the "contract" seriously enough because of a higher commitment to grades is valid. You did not get awarded an academic scholarship...you receive high-quality academics as a result of your athletic "contract." Mind you, I'm not suggesting that Kiah does this...just responding to a post with which I cannot concur.

 

[RadyLady]

Honestly, ed4, if you've followed DD through the years, he does not - not even remotely - abhor critical comments. What he objects to are unsupported or ill-thought-out comments, critical or otherwise. If you have a good argument, DD's your man. If you have an argument, but it's superficial or knee-jerk, or (frankly) mindless, well then, he's gonna call you on it. So, if you've got "the goods", then, fire away!

Really really really really really like this post

 

[RadyLady]

You know, Uc, it's not that I disagree with your point, because I don't, but it alludes to the degree to which we fans of college athletics take the existence of a gender-related double-standard for granted (as you suggest in your closing sentence). If our men's BB program recruited a 7' post player from the Bronx who, as a Freshman, put up 27ppg. and grabbed a dozen rebounds and blocked a few shots, is there anyone who would utter a peep if he barely scraped by on the academics with all the special tutoring he could get? But everyone would be up in arms if he was a "slacker" on the athletic side of his scholarship-related commitment. Generally speaking, our young women set an outstanding example by their dual commitment, and, indeed, on the women's side, our expectations in the academic arena run deeper (why?). But I cannot agree with a poster who suggests that any excuse for not taking the athletic part of the "contract" seriously enough because of a higher commitment to grades is valid. You did not get awarded an academic scholarship...you receive high-quality academics as a result of your athletic "contract." Mind you, I'm not suggesting that Kiah does this...just responding to a post with which I cannot concur.

That Kiah puts the academics before athletics is simply an assumption on some posters part. All of this endless speculation is very unnerving and in my opinion we should just let it go...

 

[easttexastrash]

I was expressing my opinion. Coaches dont have to like every player on the team. You ask any coach in America and they all have had players they've loved, liked ....and God forbid .....not liked. It is possible Kiah falls into the latter category. I know saying anything negative about Geno on this board is "taboo" but it is my opinion.

Mulkey said once that she has had players whose graduation couldn't come soon enough.

 

[easttexastrash]

Well IMO, you are way out to lunch.

I think Geno likes Stokes a lot, at least as a person. She frustrates him, because he can't get her to live up to her potential, at least to this point in time. But he likes her.

Doesn't that fall back on Geno? Isn't it his job to find out what makes her tick and push the right buttons like he did with Charles? Didn't he have the same issue with her for a couple of years? And wasn't it the same with the post player Liz something-or-other that ended up transferring to Vandy.

Was Stokes incorrectly identified as fitting the UCONN mold?

 

[doggydaddy]

Doesn't that fall back on Geno? Isn't it his job to find out what makes her tick and push the right buttons like he did with Charles? Didn't he have the same issue with her for a couple of years? And wasn't it the same with the post player Liz something-or-other that ended up transferring to Vandy.

Was Stokes incorrectly identified as fitting the UCONN mold?

Doesn't that fall back on Geno? What falls back on Geno? Getting her to play to her potential? He can only do what he can do. Then it's up to the player.

Isn't it his job to find out what makes her tick and push the right buttons like he did with Charles? He's working on it. But every player is different.

Didn't he have the same issue with her for a couple of years? It's never the same issue. It's much more complicated than that.

And wasn't it the same with the post player Liz something-or-other that ended up transferring to Vandy. Liz Sherwood. No, it wasn't the same. From reports, she didn't work hard on her conditioning and her defense was something Geno didn't trust, so her playing time was reduced.

Was Stokes incorrectly identified as fitting the UCONN mold? No. No. No.

Done stirring the pot?

 

[RadyLady]

Doesn't that fall back on Geno? Isn't it his job to find out what makes her tick and push the right buttons like he did with Charles? Didn't he have the same issue with her for a couple of years? And wasn't it the same with the post player Liz something-or-other that ended up transferring to Vandy.

Was Stokes incorrectly identified as fitting the UCONN mold?

YOu know, for someone who spends a lot of time on this board, you appear to comprehend very little about UConn basketball. Funny, you once told me that I didn't know anything about basketball. Not important. Let me reiterate my earlier post for you - perhaps you missed it:

For Pete's sake! What is the matter with you people? Do you not listen when people speak? Do you not know how things work at UConn?

• 
  [ ]Playing time is earned at UConn.
  [ ]Geno does not let anyone cheat their talent.

Did you not watch the latest Geno show when something of this nature was discussed? Geno said that he may have upwards of 7 personalities on a team - and he cannot spend practices trying to deal with those personalities because if he does, nothing will get done. What he does is tell the players what his expectations are, and then proceeds to coach the players to meet those expectations.

And between Geno and Chris, practices are managed such that if one of them is after a player to get things done right, the other will back off so that the player does not feel that they are (forgot the exact language, so forgive me) being picked upon.

And, if a player needs some one on one, his door is always open - they can come in, ask for help, for advice on their careers, or to just shoot the breeze.

The focus is for the players to be prepared for life outside of UConn once they graduate, for the student to realize and be the best they can be.

Now - Kiah doesn't like Geno? Geno doesn't like Kiah? What a load of crap! You have no proof whatsoever to substantiate these statements. What you do know, as I said before, is that playing time is earned in practice, and that Geno will not let a player cheat her talent. Kiah is very talented, and Geno certainly will work to get her to realize this on a consistent basis which in turn will boost her confidence and performances in games. Some of this is on Kiah's shoulders, too. She has to take ownership of her game, her playing, and her commitment. The coaches cannot do it all. Some of this comes with maturity as well, and some players mature later than others.

I love Kiah, I love her game. I look forward to each time she gets on the floor, I have faith that she will be the great player we know, and Geno knows, that she can be. She will realize this and then world, look out!

But this speculation about this player and Geno, and about any player and Geno, is just inappropriate in my opinion. Seriously

Now, take what you will from my post that is applicable to your thought. To make it easier for you, I highlighted the paragraphs. Happy New Year.

 

[Forty_four]

When you find a post that said she will average 10 points per game this season, let me know.

You picked her last few games. So if she happens to have 3 great games, 8-10 points, over the next few games, can I use those to predict her future output?

How about we see how she plays the rest of the year.

Just found a post where you said she would average 10 pts in a 3 game stretch.
The UCF game will make it harder for her to get a 10 pt avg for this 3 game stretch.
I think I said exactly that, let her make it happen before people predict her scoring average of 8-10 pts.

 

[pap49cba]

Geez Louise..... enough already!

 

[doggydaddy]

Just found a post where you said she would average 10 pts in a 3 game stretch.
The UCF game will make it harder for her to get a 10 pt avg for this 3 game stretch.
I think I said exactly that, let her make it happen before people predict her scoring average of 8-10 pts.

Ok, so now you are just making stuff up. I never said she would average 10 points a game over a three game stretch. She doesn't shoot enough to do that.

But what YOU said was that she won't average 10 points a game for the SEASON as if someone had said she would. No one did.

I said let's wait until the end of the year to see if she will have certain stats.
You said let's wait to make a prediction on how she will do because we will put undo pressure on her.

Not even close to the same.

 

[Forty_four]

Even if we get Wilson, Kiah will be our only true center next year. The others who
might play that position would be better described as power forwards.

Kiah got 4 boards and 3 blocks in 9 minutes yesterday. If she can add 8 - 10 points
per game to that kind of defensive production, she'll be fine.

This poster said it, I disagreed and you defended his post.

 

[doggydaddy]

This poster said it, I disagreed and you defended his post.

I guess you don't understand the meaning of the word "if".

 

[Forty_four]

I guess you don't understand the meaning of the word "if".

you said she wont average 10 pts per game, I said the same thing, I guess we agree.

 

[doggydaddy]

you said she wont average 10 pts per game, I said the same thing, I guess we agree.

Goodnight Gracey.

 

[Forty_four]

Goodnight Gracey.

your viewpoint is so stubborn that you cant admit when you agree with the basic premise of the argument.
Don't show your age with the sarcastic Gracey comment. Or show your age! Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn.

 

[msf22b]

If our men's BB program recruited a 7' post player from the Bronx who, as a Freshman, put up 27ppg. and grabbed a dozen rebounds and blocked a few shots, is there anyone who would utter a peep . (? sic)

Not to let any loose ends in this ridiculous thread go unanswered…

Precisely one of the significant reasons I follow UConn Woman's Basketball.

 

[doggydaddy]

your viewpoint is so stubborn that you cant admit when you agree with the basic premise of the argument.
Don't show your age with the sarcastic Gracey comment. Or show your age! Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn.

Funny, I was thinking the same thing about you.

 

[JS]

Was gonna ask if anybody can find anything good in this thread.

Then realized I posted in it, probably without changing the answer.

Let's move on.