Sunday, November 5, 2017

Doggy's Doghouse 11/6/17



                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
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Uh Oh....I figured out how to post a video from my phone in my Blog.
I'll try not to abuse that new skill.

But in the meantime......Here's LOGAN!!!



I also videoed the introductions. Enjoy!!!



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Enjoy the Highlights!!!!

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Geno's Postgame Comments

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Player's Postgame Comments

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                                                                       Game Quotes

Geno Auriemma, UConn Head Coach

On if today was a better preseason game then the previous 

“I am not sure what an exhibition game really says about your team anymore. Obviously we scored a lot of points. If you want to go by that then it was great compared to the other night. We got better in a couple days, and that is important. We are starting to get a pretty good feel for each other, and that takes a little bit of time even when you have a couple players returning.”

On preparing for Stanford 

“When you look at the film we will have a lot of things we want to adjust and we have a week to do so. We will know a little more next Sunday night.”

On Napheesa Collier 

“There is never any question about what Napheesa does when she touches the ball. She has been trying to do some other things, including being a good playmaker. We know Napheesa can score, last year was an example of that. She has been working hard in practice and that looked evident today in the game.” 

On Kia Nurse

“It is always the same thing every day in practice, Kia always is the one to get the most open shots. I am sure it has something to do with some of the other players we have, our team does a good job of finding that open man. Towards the end of last season Kia became really comfortable with her role and right now she has a tremendous level of confidence.” 

Katie Lou Samuelson, Guard/Forward 

On Crystal Dangerfield:

"Crystal has had huge presence this year, I feel very comfortable with her with the ball more so than recently. Saniya (Chong) was a really good first option and stepped up huge, but true point guard presence that kind of knows and has a feel for everything as each of us work with each other and she is more vocal, so having her out there, we can all be not as concerned about which plays are running or anything because we know Crystal is going to call it and get it to the right person."

On being ready for the season to start:

"Yeah, I had a lot of fun today, I love playing in Gampel so I am excited to get actual games started. We have a tough one next week so we know that this week of practice really has to be really elevated even more than we have been doing. It is basically no mistakes now or no going back. We are all in and we are excited and I am excited."

Kia Nurse, Guard

On advice for the freshman:

"I think it is just a matter of knowing what to expect. Every single year I come back and I am a little bit older it is kind of like this is what I expect in practice and expect in the game. So when play the first one you go out and you have a deer in the headlights type thing. Meg and the freshman today did a good job of settling in to what they are good at and understanding how to make that effective."

On being excited to start the season:

"Yeah, I mean yeah for games to start, but the season really started a long time ago, but absolutely I think it is fun to get out there and play someone that is not your practice players or each other, but the travel and grind that starts with it is also fun as well." 

Napheesa Collier, Forward

On how she felt about her play:

"I wish I could have done more things, I wish my defense was still better, but I wish I could do a lot of things better so I just need to keep working on it."

On Kia Nurse:

"Kia is a great three point shooter and if people aren't going to guard her we are going to keep feeding her. When they do start to guard her I mean it is just going to open it up for other people on the court so that's what you want, when you take one thing away you [feed] it to another."

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Have I told you how much I hate sitting at Gample without chair backs? Those bleachers are so uncomfortable. But it's hard to turn down free tickets.

And the pain in my butt and shoulders were worth it to see what a great team this will be this season.

Just a few comments on the game:

* This starting five is something else. So much in turn with each other on both sides of the ball. '

* Kia Nurse looks so comfortable at the shooting guard position. She was 7-7 from the field, 4-4 on threes and 3-4 from the foul line. 21 points, 3 assists in only 17 minutes.

* Katie Lou continues to diversify her game. Nice mid range jumpers, great fast break effort, and still looks great shooting threes although she was only 1-4 from long range. 19 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists in her 21 minutes.

* Gabby hit her only three. Really!! She was 5-5 from the field and had a double-double in her 19 minutes. 11 points and 10 rebounds. And she added 6 assists. She looked better than the first exhibition game.

* Collier was a little hard on herself in the post game interview. I thought she was terrific. She wanted to improve her passing and with 7 assists, it sure looks like she has. She added 19 points, 7 rebounds and 4 blocks.

* Dangerfield made some spectacular passes in this game. One behind the back pass on a fast break but it wasn't showboating. It was the right pass to make. She also had a look away pass for an easy basket that showed how she just has a great feel for the game. In her 21 minutes she had 7 points, 6 assists and 4 steals.

* Stevens really struggled from long range. She had 3 open looks and missed them all. But she only missed one other basket, going 8-9 from the field on all her other shots. She played strong in the paint both offensively and defensively. She had 4 blocks and many more intimidation plays. 16 points, 11 rebounds in 21 minutes.

* Walker is the real deal. She really looks like she fits right into the regular rotation. I know her reputation is that of a poor outside shooter, but she didn't hesitate on taking the open three making 2 of 5. Huge for this UConn offense. Her defense is way ahead of most UConn freshman so her playing time will be there. In 20 minutes she had 14 points and 5 rebounds along with 2 assists.

* I believe that these are the seven players you will see in the regular rotation. The returning sophs, Bent and Irwin looked more comfortable but still not ready for prime time. The three other freshman, Coombs, Gordon and AEH had their moments. Time will tell of one of them can make the leap to give Geno one more player he can count on.          

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UConn's opening opponent Stanford won 60-46 last night over UC-San Diego. Stanford only led 21-17 at halftime, shot 39% for the game and made only 4-25 three-pointers.

UC-San Diego is coached by Tara's sister Heidi. Their tallest player is 6-1 yet they managed to grab more rebounds than Stanford (42-39).

Yeah, it's just an exhibition game, but usually I'm telling you not to put much stock into these games when the Div I team hammers the Div II team. This was the opposite.

Stanford better play at a higher level when they face the Huskies or it could get ugly quick!

We will find out more when Stanford opens up against Ohio State on Friday, Nov 10. That game will be on the Big Ten Network at 6pm.

Thanks to my friend Cat for all the info!

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By David in Naples!!!!!

I missed this from David the other day, but I'll post his numbers from the Fort Hays game now.

Because of their superior conditioning, UConn is normally much fresher later in the game than their opponents. So, the best time to get ahead of the Huskies is early, right? Well, the Ft Hays State team tried that strategy and found out UConn's defense is playing right where they left off last season. Consider UConn's 1st quarter defensive stats.

1. Ft. Hays missed 13 of their 15 shots.
2. UConn created 6 turnovers in the first 10 minutes.
3. Ft. Hays had 0 points in the paint and 0 second chance points.
4. The coach from Ft. Hays used 9 players to try and keep up with the Huskies.
5. The Huskies had 11 defensive rebounds in those 10 minutes.
6. The Mole crickets made only 2 baskets and scored 6 points.
7. UConn only had 2 fouls, both by Gabby.

Oh, and the offense was pretty good for the Huskies as well. They scored 28 points, including 18 in the paint. They turned the 6 turnovers into 11 points and used their fast break for 10 more. The offense will get better, but the defense is already humming..!!

Go Huskies..!!
  

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