Doggydaddy's Den: DoggyDaddy's Dailies 2/22/17

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If you missed it, here is my UConn/Tulane Post Game Report.

And here is my UConn/Temple Pre Game Report.

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Lots of nervous UConn fans before the Wednesday's Temple game. The reasoning is the poor performance against Tulane and the low scoring effort in the South Carolina game.

While it's true both of those issues are accurate, I don't think a team all of a sudden loses it's ability based on two games.

It's clear how much the team missed Kia Nurse in the Tulane game and the South Carolina game to some extent. On both sides of the ball. But it's more of a team shooting slump that is the cause of the low scoring output.

They shot only 41% against South Carolina and 4-17 on threes.
They shot only 38% against Tulane and 6-20 on threes.

If they come close to their average percentages, the games are totally different.

Now, here is the good news. Slumps are just what they are. A short period of a downturn in performance. In UConn's case, it pertains to shooting. And slumps end as quickly as they start.

In Lou's case, it's been going on a little longer, but does anyone reallythink this is a permanent thing?

I'm certainly hoping the slump ends at home against Temple Wednesday. If it does, UConn could have a big win. If it is still happening, it could be very tough game.

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While UConn has hit a slow patch, the rest of the top teams have had their own issues. I'm not sure that any team should be confident in facing the Huskies in the NCAA's. They need to worry about just getting that far.

Another example of the parity in WCBB this season happened Tuesday night. Now unranked Kansas State used a big first half to beat No. 16 Oklahoma 79-71. Oklahoma, if you remember, just beat No. 8 Texas.

Crazy season....so much fun!!!

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By David in Naples!!!!!

Turnovers are the worst thing an offense can do during the game. At least if you miss a shot, you have a chance to get an offensive rebound. When you turn the ball over, you lose any chance to score on that possession. If the turnover is in the back court, you might even give up an easy basket. Instead of scoring, you get scored on. This season, UConn has 324 total turnovers. That is 12.5 per game. Last year, the Huskies averaged 11.9 turnovers per game. Two seasons ago it was 12.1 turnovers per game, so the average is not up dramatically.

In this season's 5 closest games, UConn had 17 turnovers at FSU (win by 2), 18 turnovers at Tulane (win by 3), 10 turnovers at Maryland (win by 6), 16 turnovers against Notre Dame (win by 11) and 12 versus South Carolina (win by 11). The Huskies had more turnovers against DePaul (19), East Carolina (16) and UCF (21) so clearly just the number of turnovers doesn't make games closer or almost a loss. As detailed previously, high turnovers, coupled with poor shooting is the formula that results in near defeat.

Look for the Huskies game with Temple to have fewer turnovers, more high percentage shots and better free throw accuracy than at Tulane, where UConn missed 9 free throws. Geno's game plan has not changed in years. Don't turn the ball over and take better shots than your opponent.

Go Huskies..!!

PS - Katie Lou Samuelson and Napheesa Collier continue to climb the list of Points Scored by a Sophomore at UConn. KLS is at 536 points (8th place) and will pass Tina Charles with her next 5 points. D.T. and Svetlana are after that, currently 28 points away. Katie Lou sports a 20.6 point per game average. Pheesa is 10th with 503 points. Next for her is Bria Hartley with 533 points. Her 19.3 pts per game is equal to Maya's sophomore average in the 2008-9 season.