Doggydaddy's Den: DoggyDaddy's Dailies 3/28/16

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Here is the link to my ESPN Challenge page.

After Friday's action, here are the leaders -

Synthia - 730
JerrJerrMorg - 710
Chappette - 710
Jbb1985Karnevil9 - 670
DoggyDaddy - 660
Jbb1985Knife-edge - 660

espn08651472 1 650

rja749 2 - 640
usagirl - 640

Phil - 640
JerrJerrmo - 640
Pinotbear - 640

Congrats to Synthia, who picked Syracuse to get to the final four!! She might have locked this up!

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If you haven't seen it yet, here is my UConn/Texas Pregame Report.

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I watched both games today, and boy was that fun!!! Washington beat Stanford 85-76 after putting a UConn type hurting on them in the first quarter. They went out to an 18-5 lead very quickly. But unlike UConn, it was pretty even the rest of the way.

I was so happy for Washington and for Kelsey Plum. She is a delightful young lady.

They are a terrific offensive team with scoring options from every player they play. The only problem is they play only 6 players. UConn got away with that last year, so maybe it's not an issue. Three of the players played 40 minutes, another played 39 and two other split the remaining 41 minutes.

On the defensive end, they play a very active zone defense. They vary from a 2-3 and 3-2. And most teams that defense gives fits.

The player that intrigued me most was Chantel Osahor, who has a very interesting game. She can hit the three, but you couldn't slide a piece of paper under her feet when she takes it. A true set shot. A lefty to boot! And she had a BIG body that carves out space in the paint. There could have been a few more fouls called on her on the offensive end, but they let her play. She has a nice variety of post moves and uses them well.

Plum is the star and leader of this team. She is the primary ball handler and does a great job of taking care of the ball and finding her teammates. But she is also great at getting to the basket and finishing with contact. On top of that she is a terrific three point shooter.

But like many great players, her contributions go way beyond statistics. She give her team confidence AND a sense of calm. She doesn't rattle and that just keeps the team on an even keel. Impressive.

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In a true "lesser of two evils" game, Syracuse just destroyed Tennessee 89-67. It's hard to be a team that makes 14 three pointers and that is what the Orange did in this game. And in 30 attempts.

The evil Tennessee came out in this game with 21 turnovers, but certainly the Syracuse defense had a lot to do with that. Bashaara Graves played in her last game for the Lady Vols and it was sad to see her crying on the bench after the game. Poor kid. She has given her heart and soul to this team. Best buds Deshields and Cooper really struggled with the press and turned the ball over 10 times between them. Deshields and Nared were 12-35 from the field and 3-13 on threes. Typical Deshields shooting game.

Syracuse was just fantastic in this game led by Alexis Peterson, their dynamic point guard. She was hitting threes (3-4) getting to the basket, harassing the Tennessee guards and in between had ice on her sore hip. A great performance that was equaled by Brianna Butler, who took 15 threes and made 6. Not a great percentage but most of the makes were killers. The bench contributed as well with Fondren and Morrison contributing 21 points between them.

Their pressing defense that morphs into their zone in really impressive. They play it with reckless abandon.

The matchup with Washington should be a great game and interesting with two teams that play 100% zone.

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Ding dong the witch is dead, which ole witch???

The SEC!!!

In another underwhelming performance, the nine SEC teams have all been eliminated. Some will say that they only lost to higher seeds, but that is really not true. And in some cases, it's not that you lose but how you lose.

5 Mississippi State lost to 1 UConn 98-38

10 Missouri lost to 2 Texas 73-55

4 Texas A&M lost to 5 FSU 74-56

1 South Carolina lost to 4 Syracuse 80-72

5 Florida lost to 12 Albany 61-59

7 Tennessee lost to 4 Syracuse 89-67

8 Georgia lost to 9 Indiana 62-58

3 Kentucky lost to 7 Washington 84-72

10 Auburn lost to 1 Baylor 84-52

Of the 9 teams, 5 lost to lower seed.

Of the other 4 teams, the average MOV was 44 points.

No teams in the final four, one in the elite eight.

No, they didn't under perform....not much!!!!

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UConn has a number of players who have either joined, or are about to join, the 100 Club in certain statistics. For example, Morgan Tuck now has exactly 100 assists. Kia Nurse, who led the Huskies with 5 assists yesterday, is right behind at 96 assists. When/if Kia gets those last 4, that will give UConn 4 starters with over 100 assists.

Moriah is currently sitting with 92 steals, just 8 from 100. Getting there would make three straight years of 100 steals for MoJeff. Napheesa Collier has 97 baskets and with 3 more will join six other teammates with over 100. She has already collected 107 defensive rebounds, on her way to 186 total boards. Natalie Butker just joined the 100 Club in total rebounds with 106 and Gabby Williams is now exactly at 200 total. Of course, Stewie sits at 292 total boards and will pass 300 with just 8 more.

Stewie is the undisputed queen of the 100 Club. In addition to the 292 rebounds, she is in the 100 Club for blocks (120), assists (134) and made free throws (112). The assist and blocked shots totals are already her personal best. For her career, Stewie is also in the 100 Club for made three point shots (145) and steals (227).

Go Huskies..!!

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