Doggydaddy's Den: Doggy's Doghouse 11/9/2023

****************************************************

Even my daughter (mother to Logan and Barrett) is looking for my Blog!!!

GO UCONN!!!!!

***********************************************

This game went pretty much as expected in regards to results. I had UConn winning by 40% and thanks to a late run by Dayton, the Huskies won by 44.

After a few years of having a short roster, it's so strange to see UConn with so many players in double digit minutes.

The starting five of Bueckers, Edwards, Ducharme, Muhl and Fudd all had between 21-26 minutes. The top five off the bench were between 10-19. And the last two off the bench had 5 and 6 minutes. I'm pretty sure that Geno and Chris chart everything out before the game against an opponent they can basically create the score.

The Huskies had 6 players with double digit points and two players with 8 points each. The beauty of this team is everyone in the rotation can contribute. All ten players.

Edwards was clearly the start of the game with 23 points and 9 rebounds. She added 2 steals and a block.

Muhl was great and showed off her new three point shooting going 2-3. She was all over the place defensively. She had 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals. She is just a bundle of hustle. She grabbed FOUR offensive rebounds. At 5'11", that is just amazing. In one sequence she grabbed an offensive rebound, eventually hit a three and then stole the ball in the backcourt and made a no look pass to Griffin for the layup.

Paige is still rounding into form. That thurm brace and bandage is definately impacting her shooting. She only hit 3-9 from the field but she scored 8 points, snared 7 rebounds and handed out 4 assists.

Fudd was really really aggressive in this game. She took the ball into the paint several times with a variety of successes. She hit 3-7 threes and was second on the team in scoring with 13 points.

I was so impressed with the three freshman guards. The each have their own skillset and the variety is great for the rotation of players. Geno is finding out who plays better with who. KK led the team with 7 assists to go along with her 8 points, Shade really understands the offense and knows where to be on the court at all times. Amazing for a freshman. And Q can really shoot. She hit her open threes. One was even not that open. She just has a great shot. I loved her finish at the basket as well. She just adds more firepower to an expolsive offense.

Yes, Bettencourt and DeBerry didn't exactly light up the court while they were out there. But they are fine at the end of the bench and playing low or against some teams, no minutes.

Next up is the unranked North Carolina State Wolf Packs. I'm working on the pregame report for this game and it should be done soon.

Geno Courtside Postgame Interview

Full Geno Postgame Interivew

Edwards, Bueckers, Arnold

Postgame Interview

**************************************************

** Designates Upset

Wednesday, 11/8

Scores and Links

No. 13 Texas 80 Southern 35

No. 15 Stanford 87 Hawaii 40

No. 16 North Carolina 102 Gardner-Webb 49

No. 20 Colorado 97 Le Moyne 38

**************************************************

5⭐️ Arianna Roberson (no. 19 espnW 💯) has committed to Duke 🔵😈 #𝕿𝖍𝖊𝕾𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖍𝖔𝖔𝖉 @aroberson2024 | @DukeWBB pic.twitter.com/ut0DjmFcJ3
— SportsCenter NEXT (@SCNext) November 9, 2023

Yeah, this was a done deal once Arianna took her second visit to Duke on her own dime last week. It's a great school and a good choice for her. Well, at least she thinks so...lol. Seriously, Duke, under Coach Kara Lawson is a program on the rise. She will man the middle starting next season for four year. I'm a Lawson fan for the fact that her success really annoys many Lady Vol fans.

I still have my fingers crossed on getting No. 1 2024 recruit Sarah Strong.

And we already have these two terrific players.

Morgan Cheli is officially a Husky! 💙 pic.twitter.com/zRf6xkw8tt
— UConn Women’s Basketball (@UConnWBB) November 8, 2023

**************************************************

Straight from the Dog

Last year UConn had a high of 25 points off the bench. With the newfound depth and talent coming off the bench UConn crushed that number with 38 points off the bench against Dayton. A sign of how this season will play out.

__________________________________________________

My favorite punching bag, No. 11 Tennessee takes on No. 18 Florida State on the Seminoles home court Thursday night. FSU is led by Super Sophonore Ta'niya Latson, a dynamic 5'8" guard. She averaged 21.3 PPG last season. It should be a great game to see exactly how good this version of the Lady Vols are. Rooting for an upset in this game.

__________________________________________________

Yes, it's time. Only the third day of games and we have a great contender for the UGGY game of the day award.

This times it's Southern, taking a beating from No. 13 Texas.

The Jaguars were just little pussy cats against the Long Horns. They scored only 35 points. Their shooting was so uggy!!! They were 14-48 for 29% and 2-12 on threes. And on free throws? only 5-11. Oh yeah, they added in 22 turnovers and only 3 assists. A great effort by Southern. They get an UGGY AWARD!!

Le Moyne was honorable mention with their 38 points scored against No. 20 Colorado. They shot 29%, 3-19 on threes, 7-12 on free throws and 25 turnovers. It was a tough call.

*******************************************************

By PHIL

Opening Day

As one of the mods pointed out “Did we really want to be reminded?”

ESPN’s coverage of day one had to mention that there hasn’t been opening-day loss by the defending national champion since UConn in the opening of the 1995 – 96 season.

Yes, it was a painful reminder, but there are some differences. Two for certain, and two, well we will have to see how the season shakes out.

Not all losses are created equal

UConn lost to Louisiana Tech in overtime, 83–81. LSU lost to Colorado by 14, and it didn’t seem that close.

Not all opponents are created equal

I don’t want to be too dismissive of Colorado, who looks like they have the potential to be a solid team, but they came into this game ranked number 20. Younger fans won’t fully appreciate this, but Louisiana Tech was a powerhouse. They were ranked number four in the preseason and after the opening day win over UConn, moved to number one in the AP and Coaches poll, and remained number one most of the season, with only three weeks at number two.

How things turned out

UConn’s loss dropped them to number three, and we were ranked to three or four (in the AP poll) throughout the rest of the season. UConn made it to the final four, while Louisiana Tech came up short in the regional finals.

How things will turn out

It’s obviously far too early to know how Colorado and LSU will do this season, but while LSU was the preseason favorite to repeat, they’ve got some work to do. It will be hard to assess how well the new pieces learn to mesh for some time because outside of a 30 November game against Virginia Tech, they won’t be playing anybody until conference season starts next calendar year.

Colorado’s trajectory is difficult to assess. I won’t be surprised if their #20 ranking is the low point of the season. They do have some real opponents on their schedule with Oklahoma State, Kentucky and NC State on the schedule before the very tough PAC 12 schedule.

Milestone watch