Doggydaddy's Den

Monday, November 28, 2016

DoggyDaddy's Dailies 11/29/16

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Lucky me!!! Going to the game Tuesday night to see UConn take on Chattanooga. Love watching in person. It's hard to blog while I'm at the game, but I get a totally different perspective. Then I get to go home and watch the game again while putting together my post game report.

Looks like Dangerfield might miss this one due to Concussion Protocol. They don't mess around with these things. I have links in the UConn section.

In case you missed it here is my UConn/Chattanooga Pre Game Report.

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It's going to be tough to get all the blogging done this week. I'm working hard in my part time catering job, which is turning into full time for this week. Today I made 12 full pans of Noodle Kugels. 144 eggs, 20 lbs of egg noodles. Lots of mixing and some heavy lifting for this old man to handle.

Yes, I took a nap this afternoon. Naps are great!!

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It keeps getting more and more bizarre in Knoxville. Just watch the two postgame interview videos of Coach Warlick and Diamond Deshields.

Some really telling quotes in these videos.

Holly to reporter Dan Flesser - "I don't know Dan. I don't know Dan. I don't know Dan....."

That is clearly the case.

Holly - "I have no idea what to say or what to do. I tell them what to do and am ignored."

Wow. So, why are you a head coach? There must be 5 players that listen to you. Play them.

Holly - "the majority of our practices are on defense"

So, does that explain how poorly they are on offense?

Holly - "If you watched that game you would have thought we lined up and didn't know what we were doing"

Yes, that was obvious.

When asked if defense is the main concern Holly said - "yep, that and making layups and turning the ball over".

What is left? Oh yeah, the players actually listening to you. That would help!

Holly - "Our schedule is unbelievably hard. Nobody plays the schedule we play "

UConn's is tougher.

The Deshields interview is a real insight to the mindset of this young lady.

On her turnovers - "I didn't feel too much pressure, honestly. When I'm playing against smaller guards they don't really affect me."

Well, ten turnovers say something different. It was clear the smaller guards were bothering you.

On why so many turnovers - "That's where the overthinking comes in. I'm out there just.....overthinking. (heavy sigh) Just gotta get better and get ready for the next one"

Wow...what a sad interview. The sigh was telling. And the lack of determination in her voice was obvious.

On how to stop the turnovers - "I'm not looking for my shot, not looking to attack.....if I'm looking to attack I don't make those passes to get the ball up. My job is to score. I've been passive lately and that's going to stop real soon.

So, back to the old Diamond? This year she is the leading shot taker, but not by much. Last year she took a ton more shots than anyone else. And we saw how effective that was (14 losses). This poor young lady needs some serious coaching and she is not getting it from Clueless Holly.

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By David in Naples!!!!!

So far this season, only two Huskies have recorded a double-double with double digit points and rebounds. Gabby Williams scored 19 points and had 11 rebounds versus Dayton. The only other double double was Napheesa Collier's 10 points and 11 rebounds against Baylor. Katie Lou came close with 28 points and 8 rebounds in 35 minutes in the LSU game. Crystal also came close with 19 points and 5 assists versus Baylor.

Overall, Gabby now has 10 double-doubles for her career. Napheesa has now reached two double-doubles, both in points and rebounds. The only other player with a UConn double-double is Saniya Chong with one. Kia Nurse and Katie Lou Samuelson have never reached double figures in two statistical categories in a single game. Natalie Butler has 25 career double-doubles, but all came at Georgetown as a freshman.

For those who want to know, Stewie finished with 42 double-doubles, including one in the National Championship game against Syracuse. How fitting...

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UCONN LINKS

Peoples a recruit with plenty to offer Carl Adamec

Dates announced for Geno Auriemma Show on SNY Jim Fuller
Women’s basketball gameday capsule: Chattanooga at UConn New Haven Register
Bent could see extended minutes as Dangerfield deals with concussion Carl Adamec
Crystal Dangerfield to miss UConn’s game against Chattanooga New Haven Register
Dangerfield Could Miss Chattanooga Game; Bent Ready To Step Up Courant
Women's Basketball: Huskies look for 80 in a row at XL Daily Campus
UConn’s Gabby Williams ‘more versatile,’ playing to her strengths on offense WTNH Channel 8

Upsets in Red

Late games in Green

No Games Tonight

Notre Dame Fighting Irish, UConn Huskies remain Nos. 1-2 in AP poll ESPN

Notre Dame stays just ahead of UConn in latest WBB poll KMA Land

Irish and Huskies still atop AP women's basketball poll Connecticut Post

Baylor Sweeps Women’s Basketball Honors Big 12 Sports

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Statistical Sites

National Statistics

Rankings and RPI Sites

Realtime Daily RPI

Massey Rankings and Matchups

Jeff Sagarin Basketball Ratings

NCAA D1Women's RPI

ESPN AP and Coaches Poll

ESPN Conference Standings

Warren Nolan RPI and SOS

Message Boards

UConn Territory - The best UConn women's message board ever!!!

College Fans Only - WCBB board where no holds are barred

Vol Nation - Tennessee women's basketball board

CockyTalk - The upstart South Carolina women's basketball board

ND Nation - Notre Dame women's basketball board

Rebkell - WCBB for everyone that thinks they are smarter than everyone else

Videos

BBallnut's Games from the 90's/00's

UConn Women replays

UCONN Information

2016-17 Online Media Guide

UConn 2016-2017 Roster

UConn 2016-2017 Statistics

UConn 2016-2017 Schedule

I'm always open for suggestions. Just please reply to this blog or email me at:

doggydaddy.UConn@gmail.com

DoggyDaddy's UConn/Chattanooga Pre Game Report

UCONN vs. Chattanooga

Day: Tuesday

Date: November 29th, 2016

Location: Hartford
Time: 7:00

TV: SNY/ESPN3

No. 2 UConn Huskies Chattanooga Lady Mocs
4-0 3-5

Prior Meetings

In last years matchup, the first between these two team, UConn showed Chattanooga and the rest of the country that they were not only the best offense in the country, they were the best defense in the country. They hammered the Lady Mocs 79-31. They used both a 19-1 run and a 16-0 run to put the game away.

It was just another example of how dominating the 2015-16 team was on their quest for the perfect season and another national championship.

Last seasons game highlights

Overview

UConn comes into this game with a record of 4-0. They won their last game against Dayton by 33 and in their four wins there seemed to be a different star in each game. Clearly the star of stars so far is Katie Lou Samuelson. Napheesa Collier, Gabby Williams, and Crystal Dangerfield have all played well along with the emotional leader Kia Nurse. The team seems to be getting better every game.

Chattanooga come into this game with a record of 3-5, losing to Maine 49-39 in their last outing in Springfield Mass at the Hall of Fame Classic. They beat Rutgers 66-53, Lafayette 68-43 and Bowling Green 54-49. Their losses besides the Maine game have been against difficult opponents and they played them tough losing to at the time No. 19 Florida 72-61, No. 23 Indiana 79-76 , No. 4 Louisville 63-47 and a pretty good Green Bay team 71-55.

Comparative Team Statistics

UConn Chattanooga

81.0 PPG 61.0
63.8 Defensive PPG 61.4

17.2 Scoring Margin -.4

48.3 Field Goal % 40.0
36.6 Defensive FG% 44.7

44.7 Three Point % 29.5
30.2 Defensive 3PT% 35.6

78.9 Free Throw % 77.6

39.2 Rebounds/game 32.0

3.8 Rebounding Margin -2.6

19.8 Assists per game 11.0

14.3 Turnover per game 12.6

1.4 Assists/TO ratio .9

6.0 Steals per game 6.1

4.0 Blocks per game 4.6

UConn Starters

33 Katie Lou Samuelson

6'3" Sophomore Guard/Forward

It's difficult to see a game where Katie Lou doesn't score a ton of points. Between her quick release and her height advantage, she can almost always get her shot off against any defender. Now that she has added an inside game she is doubly dangerous. Chattanooga has no one to guard her.

24 Napheesa Collier

6'1 Sophomore Forward/Guard

It's great to see the Collier I watched in USA basketball. She has added a three point shot, although I hope she doesn't fall in love with it. She just needs the defender to respect it and then the can drive by and score. I expect her to guard Joyner, who at 6'2" is a handful.

11 Kia Nurse

6' Junior Guard

Kia is still not 100% in the groove yet, but her season stats to date are getting better. She is leading the team in assist with 20 and only has 8 turnovers. But her shooting stats are just not good. Well, except for her foul shooting where she is 11-12 for the season. UConn really needs her to start playing more consistently and this would be a great game to start.

15 Gabby Williams

5'11" Junior Forward

This is the kind of game that Williams has excelled in the past. She can just dominate the boards when UConn is facing smaller teams. I expect her to do just that against Chattanooga. An overall solid start to the season for Gabby.

12 Saniya Chong

5'8" Senior Guard

Well, we all know she can play better. But she is playing to her strengths and that is what Geno wants. She needs to play better positional defense, but if she doesn't her minutes will be limited. Look for more solid ball handling and making the open shot. If so, 20 minutes could be in her future.

UConn Bench

51 Natalie Butler

6'5" RS Sophomore Center

The often maligned (by some message board posters) Butler had a decent game against Dayton. But the facts remain that she can still play better. I love her rebounding skills. She keeps the ball high and when UConn is running she can really throw a mean outlet pass. She continues to take and make the elbow jumper. If she could just 1) stay on her feet and 2) keep her emotions under control I believe she could have the occasional double-double. I'm not sure how much time she will see against the smaller Mocs. Geno tends to sit her against teams like this.

5 Crystal Dangerfield

5'5" Freshman Guard

I loved Geno's quote. To paraphrase, you either get Chris Paul or Les Paul. But she has been much more of the former than the latter. She brings a very unique skill set to the table. Quickness, speed, court vision, and deep shooting. I would bet she gets plenty of minutes in this game.

Latest news is she will probably miss this game due to concussion protocol. Hopefully a quick rest and then back for DePaul.

10 Molly Bent

5'9" Freshman Guard

If UConn has a big lead, she will see lots of time. My guess is double digit minutes. Just keep playing great defense and her time will increase.

25 Kyla Irwin
6'2" Freshman Forward

This young lady has found a niche. A banger in the paint, she is defending the heck out of the post when she enters the game. Not much call for it in this one, but she will see plenty of playing time if UConn has a big lead.

20 Tierney Lawlor

5'7" Junior Guard

GO TIERNEY!!!!!!

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Chattanooga Head Coach

Jim Foster

Coach Foster is a good friend of Geno since Geno began his career as an assistant to Forster when the pair were together at St. Joseph’s (Pa.) during the 1978-79 season. He is also a terrific college basketball coach. Here is his Bio from the Chattanooga web site. It's long, but a great read. There is a reason Coach Foster was elected to the WCBB hall of fame.

Chattanooga Starters

3 Jasmine Joyner

6'2" Senior Forward

Joyner is the clear star and leader of this team. Named All-Conference First Team by the SoCon coaches and media and was named to the SoCon All-Tournament team. She was a three-time SoCon Player of the Week and a two-time College Sports Madness SoCon Player of the Week

Joyner started all 32 games and led the SoCon in blocked shots for a second straight year. At only 6'2" and ranked second in the nation for blocked shots with 3.94 per game.

So far this season, she is doing more of the same. She is second on the team in scoring and first in rebounding. She also has 33 blocks in 7 games.

20 Keiana Gilbert

5'11"Junior Guard

Last season Gilbert was named to Southern Conference coaches All-Conference Second Team and the SoCon Media All-Conference Second Team. She started all 32 games and was second on the team in scoring (12.6) and rebounding (5.7). She shot .486 percent from the field and .421 from beyond the arc and averaged 2.2 assists and 1.3 steals per game with 22 blocked shots.

33 Queen Alford

5'10" RS Senior Guard

In the 2015-16 season Queen was named to the SoCon coaches all-conference second team and was named to SoCon media all-conference second team. She was also selected to SoCon All-Tournament first team. Alford played in 32 games and started 22 and was third on the team in scoring with 10.9 points per game. She was also first on the team in 3-pointers made with 35.

35 Aryanna Gilbert

5'9" RS Junior guard

In the 2015-16 season Gilbert returned to the court after an injury and played in 27 games and started 25. She was fifth on the team in scoring with 5.9 points per game and pulled down 2.8 rebounds per game. Gilbert played 27.6 minutes per game and shot 26.7 percent from beyond the arc (8-of-30) and was 12-of-16 from the free throw line. She was also fourth on the team with 43 assists and had 31 steals and 15 blocked shots.

Lakelyn Bouldin

5'8" Freshman Guard

In her senior year in HS Bouldin led her team to their first-ever state tournament appearance in girl’s basketball in the 2015-16 season . She was the 2016 Tennessee Class A Miss Basketball. She was also four-time District 6A MVP and Player of the Year, three-time Region 3A MVP and three-time Tennessee Sports Writers Association All-State Player … four-year starter for Van Buren County … led her team to four District 6A championships. She was the all time school record holder for scoring with 2,948 career points and in her senior campaign compiled 707 points, 266 rebounds, 128 assists, 101 steals and shot 78 percent from the free throw line.

Chattanooga Bench

23 Moses Johnson

6' Senior Guard

Last season Johnson played in all 32 games and started seven. She averaged 18.1 minutes per game. Johnson was third on the team in rebounding with 4.8 per game. She also averaged 4.6 points per game and shot 39.6 percent from the field and 22.2 percent from beyond the arc. She had 23 assists and 16 steals along with 11 blocked shots.

22 Shelbie Davenport

6' RS Sophomore Guards

Davenport sat out last year as a transfer from Clemson. Her last season there she played in 29 games for the Tigers and started 20. She was second on the team in scoring with 8.6 points per game, 28.0 minutes per game. Davenport was second on the team for 3-pointer made with 43 and attempted with 143.

21 Sydney Vanlandingham

5'11" RS Senior Forward

As a Redshirt Junior she played in 24 games for Chattanooga where she averaged 1.6 points, 1.3 rebounds per game and dished out 15 assists with seven steals and a blocked shot.

25 Chelsey Shumpert

5'4" RS Junior Guard

Shumpert sat out last year as a RS sophomore. She started all 33 games the previous season. She was second on the team in scoring with 11.5 points per game and led the team in 3-point shooting with 68 .and had 81 assists and 40 steals.

She has missed the last few games so I don't know if she will be playing against UConn

Game Analysis

The first three years at Chattanooga Foster did a great job coaching his teams to 29, 29 and 24 wins with several upsets during the regular season. This year, he just doesn't have the players to repeat that success.

There are lots of issues for Chattanooga in playing UConn. Because they are a really well coached team they are usually able to handle teams with similar talent levels. And more talented that are not well coached (hi Tennessee) are also teams the Lady Mocs can compete with. But like last season, a team as talented as UConn and as well coached is a huge problem for Chattanooga.

Chattanooga has some issues that they just can't disguise. They play a very small lineup with the 6'2" Joyner the only player over 6' tall. The remaning players are only 5'11", 5'10", 5'9", 5'8", 5'4" with 6', 6' and 5'11" coming off the bench. All but one are listed as guard.

They also don't handle the ball well. They have very few players with a positive assist to turnover ratio. The entire team has 86 assists and 104 TO's.

If they fatigue, struggle to make shots, turn the ball over and lose the rebounding battle in a big way, UConn will just hammer them into submission.

UConn will do what they do best. Pressure defense, rebound misses and run run run. I can see Collier and Williams playing big off the boards in posting up in the paint. Chattanooga will struggle to stop that. And they have no one to stay with Samuelson on the outside.

Shumpert didn't play in their last few games, so it doesn't look promising for the UConn game but if Shumpert at 5'4" is playing, I'm looking forward to her matching up with the 5'5" Dangerfield. Maybe Crystal will be posting her up?...lol.

Final Prediction

I know that Coach Foster is a wonderful coach. But there are just too many BIG advantages for UConn. I don't see UConn starting slow like the last couple of games. They run out to a big lead. Only Geno's friendship with Jim Foster might make the game closer. The problem is the 2nd five are just too good to keep the score down.

I had UConn wining by 35+ before I saw the results of the Maine game. My guess now is UConn rocks the Mocs by 45+.

Sunday, November 27, 2016

DoggyDaddy's Dailies 11/28/16

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UConn's next opponent, UT Chattanooga played Sunday in the Basketball Hall of Fame Classic in Springfield, Ma. against the Maine Bears. Maine came into this game 2-4 with a win against a Big Ten opponent in Purdue. But they lost to Hampton and Harvard.

Well, Maine easily handled Chattanooga 49-39. The Mocs really struggled offensively in this game and defensively they allowed Maine to shoot 45%.

This is not how Jim Foster wants his team to be playing when they visit UConn. I see a lot of pain for the Mocs. A lot!

Here is my UConn/Chattanooga Pre Game Report.

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Former UConn Big East rival Rutgers won their first game of the season, moving to 1-5. They beat Bryant College 50-42 at home. Boy, how far has this program fallen since the move to the Big Ten. Their football team is as bad as UConn's and C Vivian Springer is probably going to retire soon. This has to be making her crazy. It's a pretty sad situation.

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As painful as it was, I watched much of the Tennessee game today. The No. 17 (and dropping) Lady Vols lost to Virginia Tech 67-63. It was not as bad as the home loss the Hokies put on Tennessee last season, but this game was just more of the same from the 14 loss team from last season.

Diva Diamond Deshields was one rebound short of a triple double, but it wasn't the good kind. She had 15 points 9 rebounds and 10 turnovers. You really have to work at it to have that many TOs.

In looking at the box scores, there is an entire "Fun with Numbers" article right there! I'll take a stab at it.

Tennessee is only going 6 deep in the rotation with Meme Jackson the only bench player getting rotation minutes. They only have 9 available players. The freshman Harris, the only HS recruit in the class of 2016, didn't get off the bench. Shaquilla Nunn played only 3 minutes. She must be thrilled to be spending her extra season that she had available on this dysfunctional team. Dunbar played only 3 minutes as well. Similar to Ekmark of UConn, she would be better off moving to a team where she could get minutes, but with being a junior, she will probably stay.

Tennessee held VT to 36% from the field, 2-20 on threes, 13-23 from the FT line, outrebounded them by 10 and blocked 10 shots. And lost.

Tennessee had 10 assists and 21 turnovers. They were 3-12 from threes.

Three players had double-doubles, Mercedes Russell had 17 points and 14 rebounds, Jamie Nared had 11 points 10 rebounds. Diva Diamond Deshields was one rebound short of a triple double, but it wasn't the good kind. She had 15 points 9 rebounds and 10 turnovers. You really have to work at it to have that many TOs.

After a reprieve from their tough OOC schedule with a home game against Tennessee State, they play Baylor at home and on the road against Texas. They very well could be 4-4 after 8 games.

I'm not sure why anyone would think this Tennessee team would be better than last year's team. They lost their starting point guard, and their starting power forward and didn't replace them. They are definitely less talented than last year.

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No. 3 South Carolina showed today that they are one of the top teams in the country by dismantling No. 4 Louisville 83-59.

The Gamecocks have 4 really really good players in Coates, Wilson, Gray and Davis. Any one of those four players could score 20+ points in any game they play. The are big, long, strong and are starting to play better and better together every game.

Cuevas-Moore (did she get married) is still the same player that plays too fast and tried to do too much. She only played 17 minutes and was 1-7 from the field. The point guard slack was picked up by freshman Tyasha Harris, who had 6 assists and only one turnover in 29 minutes. She didn't score and was 0-3 from the field and 0-2 on threes. She doesn't need to score to help this team, but it wouldn't hurt.

Mikiah Herbert Harrigan, their 6'2" freshman forward had a nice game with 11 points in 17 minutes.

I'm sure that in closer games the rotation will shrink, but other than Harrigan's contributions, there is not much help coming off the bench.

The Gamecocks defense is terrific. They use their size to make it really tough to score inside so if you don't hit a high percentage of threes and get to the foul line, you won't score enough to beat this talented South Carolina team.

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One of my favorite coaches took on one of my least favorite coaches Sunday when Doug Bruno of No. 18 DePaul took on Quentin Hillsman's No. 11 Syracuse Orange.

Both teams like the three point shot, but DePaul was just much better at that in this game. The Blue Demons were 19-39. That is just a crazy amount of attempts. Basically that is taking one three pointer ever minute.

NINE different players made a three pointer. The starters were 12-28 on threes. More amazing, the bench was 7-11.

UConn will have it's hands full, just like last season, with DePaul. I'm sure Geno is NOT looking forward to this game.

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By David in Naples!!!!!

Free throw shooting is apparently all about technique and repetition. The shooter can stand calmly, not bothered by the defense and shoot from 12 feet away. During the many months of the season, free throws can be practiced for hours and hours. Why then, is UConn always so much better than opponents at shooting free throws?

For the season, the Huskies have made 60 of their 76 free throws, or 78.9%. Opponents have only made 41 of 61 attempts, or 67.2%. That is a huge difference for identical shots, taken from the exact same spot. Last season, UConn made 80.0% of their shots from the charity stripe and opponents only 67.5%. Two seasons ago, UConn's accuracy was 72.6% vs opponents 68.7%. In 2013-14, opponents had their lowest free throw accuracy rate at 65.9%. UConn is not just better, they are way better..!!

The answer is probably due mainly to three reasons. First, better shooters make more of their shots, whether from the field or the free throw line. Katie Lou Samuelson (13-16) has made 81.3% of her free throws and is regarded as the best shooter on the team. But, Kia Nurse leads the team with a 91.7% rate, (11-12), and she is only making 28.6% from the field. So maybe the key is to practice until every free throw is exactly the same motion. Practice, practice, practice. A third factor is fatigue. Teams that play UConn probably run more than in other games, more than in practice and more than they thought possible. Players with tired legs, out of breath and losing big just don't make as many shots from the charity stripe.

What ever the reason, UConn wins the free throw battle every year. Last season, the Huskies scored 281 more points from the free throw line than the other teams. This year, UConn already has 19 more points after four games. Probably not a good plan to give the Huskies extra tries from the free throw line.

Go Huskies..!!

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UCONN LINKS

UConn lands No. 7 recruit in the country SB Nation
Charli Collier first from Class of 2018 to commit to UConn Middletown Press

Upsets in Red

Late games in Green

No. 3 South Carolina Beats No. 4 Louisville 83-59 ABC News