Doggydaddy's Den: Doggy's Doghouse 1/26/18

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Here is my UConn/Tulane Pre Game Report.

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Lots of Top 25 Games Thursday night with mostly predictable results. Here are the unpredictable ones -

No. 3 Baylor beat No. 6 Texas at home. No, that part is predictable. The final score was not. Baylor destroyed Texas 81-56. The Bears beat the Longhorns in every quarter, beat them in every way possible. This was the bad Texas and nothing like the team that played UConn so tough. Coach Aston has a strange team this year. They have really blown hot and cold. Baylor, on the other hand, looked like a real final four team. Their weak schedule withstanding, Baylor has some terrific talent on this team. And Kawani Brown is one load down low. Unstoppable. I would pay to watch Brown and South Carolina's A'ja Wilson go at it. Maybe we will in the NCAA tournament. That would be a great final four matchup. The winner goes against UConn??? Fun!!!!

No. 11 Missouri, a team I have been calling overrated all season, lost to No. 21 Georgia 62-50. The Tigers shot 27.6% from the field, 25% from the three point line and had 18 turnovers. I had a temporary lack of judgement when Missouri beat South Carolina and said I might have been wrong about them. Well, I was wrong about being wrong.

I wasn't wrong about No. 12 Ohio State. They lost a couple of days ago to Maryland by 30 points giving up 99 to the Terps. I berated their defense in that game and called them overrated. Well, Thursday night they lost to unranked Iowa 103-89 for their third straight loss. They will be plummeting in the polls next week. Kelsey Mitchell scored 27 points in the losing effort but it took her 26 shots to do it. She only made 10 of them and went 3-11 on threes. She added 5 turnovers. I'm sure she will still make 1st team AA but she wouldn't be on my ballot if I had one.

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The sound you heard was Dawn Staley's head exploding.

The NCAA ruled Thursday on the waiver requested by South Carolina on Te'a Cooper's ability to play in the 2017-18 season. It wasn't approved.

Staley had publically called out the NCAA for taking so long to make a decision, so they gave her a big FU and turned it down. I don't know if the timing of the decision was related to her big mouth but hey, let's make believe it did. It's much more fun.

After Notre Dame was allowed to have Jessica Shepard play this season by the NCAA with a waiver, I'm sure Dawn felt pretty confident about Cooper being eligible for the rest of the season. She knows the lack of another guard could hurt them going forward.

Sorry Dawn....my heart is breaking for you.

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By David in Naples!!!!!

Image result for crystal dangerfield uconn

UConn fans know Crystal Dangerfield is playing the best basketball of her young career this season. But how much better is she this year vs last season? Consider:

1. Last year, Crystal played 733 minutes. So far this year, she has played 574 minutes. So her stats this season have been accomplished in 20% fewer minutes.
2. Her overall point total is better already at 217 pts vs 188 as a freshman.
3. A year ago, she made 26 threes for 32% accuracy. Now, she sits at 38 made threes and a 49% accuracy, with half a season to go.
4. Her 114 assists from 2016 are more than the 84 she has today, but she is on pace to exceed 150 this season.
5. Crystal's free throw accuracy is 77% now versus just 59% last year. She had made 17 this year vs 16 all of last season.
6. Steals up at 32 vs 29, but should improve dramatically before the tournament.
7. Last year, Crystal averaged 23.6 minutes per game. This year, she is at 30.2 mpg. That is almost 7 minutes more every night.

Better shooting, both beyond the arc and at the free throw line highlights Crystal's performance this season. In addition, her leadership role is obvious, game in and game out. All this and Geno says she is nowhere near how good she will be in the future. Can't wait to see that..!!

Go Huskies..!!