Doggydaddy's Den: Doggy's Doghouse 12/22/17

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To my Beautiful Granddaughter Mya on her 9th birthday!!!

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I did record the game last night and got to watch it today including the post game ceremony. While it was wonderful in person, the close-ups and the ability to hear what Geno and Chris were saying was worth seeing it again.

I have to admit, I got a lump in my throat when Geno was talking about Chris. I have had the pleasure of speaking with CD several times at different events and she is one of the nicest people I have ever met. He was so sincere and emotional. It was beautiful.

One thing....the jacket is a burnt orange. Even so, it does make me a little nauseous to see Geno in any kind of orange.

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Here is my UConn/Oklahoma Post Game Report.

And now my UConn/Duquesne Pre Game Report.

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Lots of top 25 games to talk about!!!

As you know, I'm not a fan of the SEC and mostly Tennessee. I think Mississippi State and South Carolina are top ten teams, maybe top five. But I'm not sure about the other teams. Kentucky and Texas A&M were on my overrated and finally Kentucky dropped out of the top 25 as they should have. They lost again Thursday at home against No. 24 California 62-52. No. 19 Texas A&M lost to No. 10 Oregon 84-62 behind 25 points from Super Sophomore Ionescu.

The aforementioned MSU and SC had very good games Thursday. No. 5 MSU handed Syracuse it's first loss winning 76-65 behind 25 points from Victoria Vivians who reached the 2000 point marker in her career. South Carolina easily handled Temple 87-60 behind the unstoppable A'ja Wilson. Wilson had 28 points, 12 rebounds and 8 blocks. A dominating performance on both sides of the ball.

In another SEC/PAC12 matchup, Arizona State destroyed Arkansas 89-43 behind 23 points from Courtney Ekmark on 7-10 from behind the arc. A great game by the former UConn Husky!!!!

And in more SEC news, Tennessee was able to hold of Stanford 83-71. While Stanford fouled intentionally late in the game, Tennessee still had an amazing 36 foul shots taken making 31 of them. This season beating Stanford is not the big deal it used to be. They are now 6-6 and lost in previous game to Western Illinois. No, not a big win for Tennessee but certainly a good win as in "it's better than losing". It's the same ole Tennessee offense. 9 assists on 25 baskets. 2-10 on threes. I'm still not convinced about how good they are. They play Kentucky next, a team that was just slapped around by California. Looks like the Lady Vol train keeps on rolling!

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By David in Naples!!!!!

Yesterday, Doggy mentioned the negative comments that continue to pop up about the play of this year's Huskies. It is a mystery as to which game these doubters are watching. Take the folowing example from the Oklahoma game:

" Napheesa Collier is a shell of her usual self. I just don't understand the lack of confidence and strange mechanics on her shot."

In the Oklahoma game, Pheesa led the team with 21 points. She had 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocked shots. Inside the 3 point arc, Collier was 8-11 or 73%. Although she only made 1 of 5 three-point shots, that is the 7th game out of nine that she made a three-point shot. Napheesa did all that in 32 minutes of play. Please point out to me how anyone watching her play can say she lacks confidence or has a mechanical problem with her shot?

For the season, Collier has scored 137 points, just 3 behind the leader Kia Nurse. Her 15.2 point per game average is about 5 points below her record average of 20.4 last season. With 30 games to play, is it possible the average will rise a bit? Probably. Katie Lou is averaging 18 ppg versus last season's 20.2 ppg. Is she lacking in confidence too?

It is interesting to note, Saniya Chong scored 8.3 ppg last year and her replacement Crystal Dangerfield is averaging 13.6 ppg. Hmmm... that's a 5 point difference. Also, Azura has 139 points so far for 15.3 ppg. I wonder if those two have impacted the scoring pattern from last season? Sure enough, this year the Huskies average 87.8 points per game, in 9 games. Last year it was 87.1 ppg for the whole season.

One final point. Last season, Napheesa took 51 three-point shots over 37 games. This year, she already has 23 attempts in 9 games. At that pace, she will take 99 threes in a full 39 games. That indicates more confidence, not less. Maybe she is expanding her game, like Geno always preaches.

Go Huskies..!!

One more message to the negative nellies that pretend to be true UConn fans. Be grateful you are not a fan of any other top 10 team. For example, yesterday, #2 Notre Dame needed overtime to beat Marquette at home. The Irish were a pathetic 4-22 from three-point range and missed 11 free throws. Marquette has a 6-5 record. Also yesterday, #3 Louisville beat 0-11 Air Force by just 12 points. Their sterling performance included going 0-8 from three point range, 22 turnovers and 39% shooting for the game. Tonight, #5 Miss. State (12-0) plays undefeated Syracuse (11-0). Another undefeated will go down.

The game is harder to play than it looks, from your couch, in your Mom's basement.