Doggydaddy's Den: DoggyDaddy's Dailies 1/3/17

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Happy Birthday to my wonderful Daughter-in-Law Juliane!! Thank you for blessing me with my two beautiful granddaughters!!!!

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Here is the UConn/East Carolina Pre Game Report.

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Several close games Monday night. I watched bits and pieces of several games. I'll give you my quick rundown. Of course, there are links in the Top 25 section!

* Notre Dame bounced back from their loss to NCST with a clear win over an overmatched Georgia Tech team 55-38. While their defensive effort was solid, from what I saw Georgia Tech has an awful offense. Just terrible. They shot 24% from the field, 1-8 on threes and turned the ball over 17 times. Not one player had double digit scoring. But in only scoring 55 points for the game, the once dynamic Notre Dame offense was almost just as bad. They shot only 40% from the field and 4-16 on threes. Only Ogunbowale scored in double digits for the Irish. I'm sure Muffet was happy to win but not very happy with their offensive execution. A lot of one on one basketball.

* North Carolina State did it again. They beat Florida State 70-61 after beating Notre Dame 70-62. Looks like 70 is their magic number. FSU had won 12 games in a row before this loss. NCST better see that top 25 next week!

* I watched a lot of the first half and then the end of the game in the contest between No. 8 Louisville and No. 13 Duke. Duke won their 9th straight in pulling this one out 58-55 in a game that was close throughout. Sadly, it was an ugly display of basketball, which took away from the event. Durr is an exciting player, but she is a poor man's Kelsey Mitchell. She hasn't seen a shot she won't take. But when you go 2-12 on threes, you hurt the team much more than you help it. Duh. But the highlight of the game was the deception play that Louisville made to start the second half.

Taking the ball in at midcourt to start the 3rd quarter, they purposely set up at the wrong end. Duke, totally clueless to this situation, guarded the Louisville players where they set up. When they inbounded the ball, the Louisville player just dribbled in for an uncontested layup. Crazy!!! Check it out here!!!

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By David in Naples!!!!!

David had a hand from one of the superfans of UConn women's basketball Phil for the lasts Fun with Numbers!!!

Most UConn fans know Geno has won 11 National Championships, including the last 4 in a row.

What many don't know, is that only 15 coaches have won the 35 National Championships since the current format was instituted. Obviously, Geno with 11 wins and Pat Summitt with 8, dominate the totals. After Geno and Pat, there are only three other coaches with more than one championship. Kim Mulkey has had 2 at Baylor, Tara Vanderveer won 2 at Stanford and Linda Sharp won 2 at Southern Cal in the 1970's. All together, those five coaches have 25 of the 35 National Championship titles. That leaves 10 different coaches with 1 NC each. That list includes Muffet McGraw at Notre Dame, Brenda Frese at Maryland, Sylvia Hatchell at North Carolina, Carolyn Pack at Purdue and Gary Blair at Texas A&M. The other five predate recent history, but won National Championships at Old Dominion, Louisiana Tech (2 different coaches), Texas and Texas Tech. Fifteen coaches, fourteen schools and 35 National Championships.Also of interest, only 7 of the 15 coaches had prior Head Coach experience before winning the National Championship. But, those 7 coaches only won 8 total NCs, with Mulkey as the only 2 time winner. The other 8 coaches to win National Championships had never been a Head Coach before. Five of the eight did become the Head Coach at the school where they were an assistant. Geno is one of the three, with no head coaching experience, who came from outside the school and won a title. Or in his case, 11.

In summary, only 7 of the winning coaches had been head coaches before and 8 had not. And, of the 8 with no experience, 5 came from within and 3 from other schools. Short of hiring Geno, there appears to be no formula for hiring a coach who can win a National Championship.

Go Huskies..!!

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