Doggydaddy's Den: DoggyDaddy's Dailies 12/15/16

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Interesting night at bowling. I just couldn't find the pocket the first game, had 4 splits and shot a 146. I did a little better in the second but couldn't string any strikes together and had two splits for a 167.

The last game I had a 5 bagger, made a baby split and ended up with a 237.

Fun night and I finished strong!!!!

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Taking it easy this week. I'm working on the Ohio State game preview, but the Dailies will be mostly links, when I can find them and my good friend David is still doing his Fun with Numbers.

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Fellow AAC member, No. 22 South Florida beat St. Francis (PA) 129-80. Yep, they scored 129 points. Crazy. But the best performance in that game was by St. Francis guard Jessica Kovatch, who scored 37 points. She had a school record 9 three pointers on 21 attempts. This had to be a great game to watch. No need for the shot clock in this game!!!!

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No. 25 Oregon made their Top 25 debut at No. 25 in the most recent poll. It was short lived, as they lost to Ole Miss Wednesday night 83-67. I think the bottom of the rankings will be pretty fluid this season.

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By David in Naples!!!!!

Year after year, UConn dominates the "assist" statistical category. Two years ago, the Huskies dished out 828 assists while opponents had only 345. Last year, the numbers were just as lopsided at 821 vs 374. The lazy observer would attribute this to UConn just having better shooters. If the shooter makes the shot, the passer gets the assist. If the shot is missed, they don't. However, it is much more complicated than that. Better shots have a better chance of going in. A wide open three point shot by Katie Lou or a layup by Napheesa are better shots. UConn makes the extra pass, or two, or three, to get better shots. As a result, they get more assists. So it isn't just the "better shooter" claim that explains the difference in total assists.

It takes a special player to be a great scorer AND want to pass the ball for a better shot. It is called "unselfish" and that describes UConn players. This season, Gabby and Kia lead the Huskies with 43 and 41 assists respectively. Katie Lou and Crystal are tied for 3rd at 27 each. Saniya and Pheese are next at 21 and 17 assists. UConn has 191 total assists while the other guys have just 93. That averages 21.1 assists per game, and against some very good teams. How does that compare to last season, when they had all those really good players? Well, their average was 21.6 assists per game.