Doggydaddy's Den: Doggy's Doghouse 11/28/17

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Some interesting injury updates for our Huskies.

So, what does that mean for UConn? Well, I'm not sure what "hopeful" actually means. But it's better than "unlikely" that's for sure. If it's up to the doctors and the coaching staff, she might still sit against Notre Dame. If it's up to Samuelson? She will be playing. Now, will she just jump into the starting rotation? Maybe. But in the past Geno would have an injured player come back slowly and that would mean off the bench with limited minutes. We won't know until tip off.

Now Batouly Camara? Likely means to me that she will be playing unless she has a setback. Playing against a weak Nevada team is a perfect situation for her to get some minutes, see how she plays and then Geno can decide how much she is in the regular rotation. To me she is a real unknown. I've seen a few clips of her at Kentucky. She is a hard worker and a rebounding demon. Great position player and a solid defender. Only Geno knows how he will utilize her. I hope she can contribute enough be extend the rotation to seven players and then to eight when Samuelson is back.

Either way, it won't take long before UConn is at 100% full strength and that should scare the crap out of the rest of WCBB. I mean, they are only beating Top 25 by 25+ points every game without these two young women. Whew......

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The reaction to the news of these two players being available soon to play by a UConn fan on their message board was pretty sad.

"I hope they don't come back before they are completely healed and can go at game speed. "

Uh....does this poster actually believe that Geno would play someone that is not completely healed?

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I won't be creating a pre game report for the Nevada game. Not much to say on this one. UConn has a great advantage in height, skills, speed, quickness, coaching and whatever else you can think of. I think it's great that the coach of Nevada agreed to this game in order to give senior Gabby Williams a homecoming game.

UConn will win by whatever Geno wants the final margin to be. I'm sure he will try not to hammer them too badly but the players will play hard so it might be somewhat out of his control. I'm hoping the end of the bench gets some solid minutes and that they can produce when on the court.

I'm guess a 50+ point win for the Huskies.

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More on my favorite former UConn player still playing in college. I couldn't separate the pictures so the freshman of the week gets a free ride in my blog -

Natalie Butler was awarded Atlantic 10 player of the week!!! She helped the George Mason to a 3-1 week, averaging 17.8 points, 13.8 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 2.0 assists while recording four double-doubles. She scored a career-high 26 points and shot a personal-best 10-of-13 from the field. She also grabbed 11 rebounds as the Patriots won their sixth straight for their longest winning streak in six years. She capped off the week with 17 points, 17 rebounds - the most by a Mason player in four years - three blocks and two assists in a loss to Colorado. Butler has posted seven straight double-doubles, which is tied for the most in the country. She also leads all of Division I with 107 rebounds.

Yes, leads the country in rebounding!!!

GO NATALIE!!!

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If you haven't seen it yet, here is my UConn/Michigan State Post Game Report.

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By David in Naples!!!!!

Katie Lou Samuelson has only played 46 minutes so far for UConn. She made 2 three-point baskets during the 1 & 1/2 games she was on the court. Last season, she made 119 threes in 37 games. As a team, the Huskies made 302 threes in those 37 games or 8.2 per game. The accuracy rate for UConn last season on three-point shots was 40.5%.

So with Katie Lou out, the Huskies have been awful beyond the arc, right? Not so fast... In five games, UConn has 40 made threes or 8.0 per game. Pretty close to last season's 8.2 per game. And, these first five games have been against ranked opponents. Clearly, others on the team have stepped up to fill the KLS void. At the top of that list is Crystal Dangerfield with 14 threes and 52% accuracy. Kia Nurse has 9 and is making 43% of her three-point shots. But the biggest surprise of all has been Andra Espinoza-Hunter. She is 4-8 or 50% from long range.

Not everything Katie Lou does can be replaced. But, adding a fresh three-point sharpshooter in Andra sure has helped.

Go Huskies..!!

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