Doggydaddy's Den

Thursday, February 2, 2017

DoggyDaddy's Dailies 2/3/17

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

One more beautiful day in Florida. We are getting closer to coming back to cold cold cold Connecticut.

Golfed again today. Shot a 40-44 for an ok 84. Weird course. It's called Park Ridge, but the nickname is "the dump". It's built on top of an old landfill. Nice conditions, and a light wind moves along the occasional methane smell. It's one of the few courses around with different elevations.

Then dinner with my lovely wife at a place called "Fish Depot". It's a fun place to eat! I had some incredible fish tacos. I recommend it highly if you are in the Boynton Beach area.

******************************************************************************
If you haven't seen it here is UConn/Temple post game report.

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

Here is a fun video from the AAC on playing for Geno. Enjoy!!

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

Image may contain: 1 person, playing a sport and text

Congrats Katie Lou!!!!!!!!

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

A ton of Top Twenty-Five games Thursday night. Here is my take on a few of them.

No. 4 South Carolina bounced back from a loss to Tennessee with a 75-63 win over No. 25 Kentucky. Alana Coates had a monster game with 20 points and 18 rebounds. A'ja Wilson had 20 points, 9 rebounds and 5 blocks. Great game for the front court. The rest of the team? Meh. As for Kentucky, I haven't been impressed with them all season and now they have lost two straight after beating up on several weak SEC opponents. Out of the top 25 they go again. I don't think they will be back.

In a crazy back and forth game with a wild ending, No. 19 NCST upset No. 9 Louisville in overtime 72-70. Each quarter was like a new game. The first quarter went to Louisville 24-10, the second quarter went to NCST 18-7, the third quarter stayed with NCST 24-14 and the final quarter went back to Louisville allowing them to tie the game with 6 seconds left on Asia Durr's two free thows, 16-9 . With 10 seconds left and the score tied at 70, Louisville turned the ball over. NCST took advantage of that and Miah Spencer hit a shot at the buzzer to win it. Whew!

In a game that should knock them out of the top twenty-five, Mid-Major Green Bay lost to a pretty bad Oakland team 74-71. It was a horrible finish for the Phoenix. They had tied the game up at 71-71 before Sha'Keya Graves stole the inbounds pass and scored while being fouled for the final margin. A terrible loss for Green Bay.

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

By David in Naples!!!!!

All UConn fans know that Napheesa Collier is playing well this season. Just how well..?? Pheesa has more assists than turnovers, 42 vs 29. She also has more steals than turnovers, 43 vs 29. Even more amazing, she has more blocked shots than turnovers, 37 vs 29. Collier has more offensive rebounds than turnovers, 52 vs 29 and more made free throws than turnovers, 55 vs 29. Why compare everything to turnovers? Turnovers are the most visible mistake a player can make. You had the ball, now they have the ball.

Pheesa's 29 T.O.'s come in 620 minutes on the court. That is a turnover every 21.4 minutes. The only starter with fewer turnovers is Saniya with 19. What else is Napheesa doing well..? She is 2nd in points with 401, 2nd in rebounds with 174 and 1st in made baskets with 169. Inside the three point arc, Collier is shooting 70%..!! Let me repeat, 70% on shots from the field, inside the arc, for the whole season so far..!! That's Phee-nominal..!!

Go Huskies..!!

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

UCONN LINKS

UConn women's basketball ratings on SNY are flourishing Carl Adamec

UConn gets Louisville back on schedule Carl Adamec

Geno Auriemma Show presented by UCONN Health: Geno on motivation SNY

Collier, Samuelson pave road to UConn's 96th straight win Carl Adamec

Impressive ratings for UConn/Temple game Jim Fuller

Brilliant first half powers UConn to record victory Jim Fuller

Versatility has been a hallmark of top-ranked UConn New Haven Register

The Huskies' record 96-game win streak (and counting) by the numbers NCAA

Temple having great season despite run in with No. 1 UConn Metro International

Record-Setting 35th Road Win In Row Starts With Early Dominance Courant

Collier doubles down for UConn women Journal Inquirer

Upsets in Red

Late games in Green

Brionna Jones' double-double leads No.3 Maryland past Purdue Chron

No. 4 South Carolina women coast past No. 25 Kentucky, 75-63 USA Today

Vivians, Chinwe, McCowan power No. 5 MSU past Auburn, 77-47 USA Today

Thomas' 20 points leads No. 6 Florida State to rout over BC USA Today

No. 7 Notre Dame women surge past Virginia Tech 76-59 Chicago Tribune

No. 19 NC State defeats No. 9 Louisville with Miah Spencer's buzzer beater in OT NCAA

Greenwell has 21, No. 15 Duke rolls Clemson USA Today

Meier wins 300th as No. 16 Miami tops Wake Forest 79-56 USA Today

Oakland beats No. 21 Green Bay women on Graves' steal, layup USA Today

Day has 31 with 15 boards, No. 24 Syracuse rips Pitt 94-65 USA Today

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

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/Temple Post Game Report

Image may contain: 2 people, people playing sports

Post Game report

Well, being the glass is half full kinda guy, I'm going to focus on the best first half of basketball I've seen this team play so far this season. They shot an amazing 77% from the field in creating a 52-18 lead at the half. The offense was fantastic and the defense was equally great.

They were led by the two super sophomores, and it's so comforting to know that we will be watching Samuelson and Collier lead this team for two more seasons after this one.

You can read more about them and the other players in the player evaluations.

96 straight wins, 35 straight road wins. It just keeps on going.

Game Highlights

Game Stats and Box Score

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

Game Quotes From Geno

"It was flawless, that first half,"

"The way we started the game on the defensive end, the way we approached every switch and every rotation and everything that we wanted to do to keep them off balance, we got it done. And what that did was, it led to some really good stuff down the other end because we wanted to attack them off the dribble because we knew the defensive pressure they want to put on you on the perimeter."

"We were very, very efficient. We got great shots. We didn't rush anything. We got the right people getting the right shots at the right time. I can't think of one thing, when we went in at halftime, [that] we said, you know we got to do a better job."

“That was probably the best first half of the season. That and the South Florida game was probably the best halves of basketball we played this year"

"We try not taking anyone for granted. We don’t look at the opponent and say tonight because it’s a great team, we’re going to play great. ... We try to treat everyone the same.”

"I hope they recognize that both South Florida and Temple are good teams, NCAA Tournament teams, and teams in our league that are going to be a bigger factor in the race and in the tournament. I think they know."

“Considering Crystal hasn’t practice except a day or two and hasn’t played in a long time I thought there were some good signs there. Her being out there helps out, gives us a chance to rest a couple players.”

Game Quotes from Coach Tonya Cardoza

“I watched us play them last year and I am watching Samuelson miss wide open shot after wide open shot and we are leaving her open. Well, there is no way you leave her open this year. Same with Gabby, she just played a role where she came in and worked hard. Now she is dominating games on both sides of the basketball. Napheesa, you didn’t even know who she was last year and it is just a credit to them. I know they spent all summer working on their game because you could totally tell. It is credit to Geno, I am sure he put the pressure on all of them, ‘everybody thinks this is the year and sure enough they turned it into something you certainly didn’t expect if you were from the outside world.”

“The first 20 minutes we were caught up in the hype allowing them to do what they wanted. Second half we just threw that out the window and played with them and competed with them. Found some success. I thought when we did that the game turned around a little bit for us.”

Player Evaluations

Katie Lou Samuelson

From the moment she scored UConn's first basket with a hard drive down the lane with her left hand being tightly defended, you knew Lou was going to play a strong game against Temple. In her 32 minutes, she scored 24 points on 9-14 shooting and 2-4 on threes. She lived up to her quote below. Katie Lou game out playing hard and fast.

"We knew coming into this game what we had to be really ready to go. We didn't have the best energy the past couple of games, so we wanted to come out and just have a good start."

Napheesa Collier

Napheesa was clearly the player of the game with another double-double. She played a team leading 25 points along with 10 rebounds. She also added 4 blocks and three steals. The only negative was her going 0-2 on threes. Temple left her open for those shots and she wasn't able to make them. They continued to leave her open and other than those two times, she refused to take the bait. It would be nice if she could make them as teams will see this and do the same. She needs to make them pay for that strategy. I loved her hard drives to the basket from the left side. With her length and quickness, she is close to impossible to stop.

Gabby Williams

Gabby has really turned into a leader on this team. You can see it in the huddles, in the increased intensity on her face and you can read it in her quotes. She did get 2 first half fouls which limited her minutes but in the 24 minutes she played, she was terrific. She scored early with 8 points and set the tone defensively with 3 blocks. Her overall stats were excellent, as she scored 14 points and added 6 assists along with 4 blocks and a steal. Her rebounding was down, as were the entire team. I'd call that a product of UConn hitting such a high percentage of shots so there were no offensive rebounds available and Temple being hot in the second half, limiting the defensive rebounds available. And of course, Collier grabbed the one's that were there for the taking.

"It was a response to having come out against Houston. That's not what we want. We're trying to make it a habit to come out like that every single game. We want that to be normal for us."

"Ideally, we want every single game to be us at our best. But we definitely are aware of how good this team is. … We've just got to get in the habit of, no matter who we're playing, we come out with our best energy. For the entire game, too. We can't let up."

Kia Nurse

As the announcers said, Kia is nursing a sore ankle. But she still played 32 minutes. She scored 8 points, but struggled with her shot, going only 1-5 on threes. In spite of the sore ankle, she added 4 assists and only 1 turnover along with 2 steals. This young woman constantly leads by example both on and off the court.

Sanyia Chong

Steady Sanyia had a nice game against Temple. She was aggressive to the basket and it paid off in 7 foul shots and she made them all. Her FT shooting percentage is now up to over 75%. Much more like it! She ended up with 12 points and 6 assists with only 2 turnovers in her 31 minutes. She is fully integrated into the starting lineup as a big time contributor and not just a "role" player.

Crystal Dangerfield

It was great to see Crystal back in the line-up and she looked pretty good considering this was her first game action in a few weeks. I just love her hesitation dribble. It totally locks up the defender. And once she finds her outside shot again, she will be a handful. In this game, she played 18 minutes and scored 6 points and had an assist and a steal.

Natalie Butler

After a slow first half, Natalie had a another solid performance. She was 3-5 in the game and scored 8 points and grabbed 4 rebounds. She also added 2 blocks. All this in only 19 minutes. She is really working hard out there.

Molly Bent, Kyla Irwin, Tierney Lawlor

Quiet night for the end of the bench so no game pictures. Temple's second half play dictated that. But it was great to see Kyla's mom and dad in the crowd. I'm sure they loved seeing her in person!!!

Final Thoughts

The players you saw in this game is what you will see against South Carolina and in the NCAA tournament. A solid seven player rotation. They showed what they are capable of in the first half.

Up next is the rematch with Tulsa, who UConn beat 98-58 on January 17th. I'll have a pre game report out soon. It won't look much different than the first one. Both the game and the pre game report...lol.

It was great to see a picture of my friend Danny on the UConn team site.

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

DoggyDaddy's Dailies 2/2/17

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

So, we moved into our new rental today and we are so happy!!! It's nicer than the first one. Bright, great view, just a great situation.

Before we moved I played golf in the morning and had my best round of my vacation, shooting a tidy 77.

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

And to top the day off, I watched UConn play their best half of the season against the Temple Owls on their way to a 97-69 win.

UConn ran out to a 52-18 lead at the half, hitting 77% of their shots. They also forced Temple into a very poor shooting percentage. The effort was amazing and the execution was even better.

The second half? Well, the offense was still very good. But the defense? It's hard to keep up that intensity when you have such a big lead and to Temple's credit, they never let up. And they started hitting a high percentage of their shots. For a while it looked like they wouldn't miss, especially their three point shots.

Temple outscored UConn 29-22 in the third quarter and UConn barely out scored them 23-22 in the fourth quarter. It was quite the different half for both teams.

You'd think by some of the comments of the fans, Geno would be upset with his team. In the post game interview, he was not. In fact, he said that in spite of the high number of points UConn gave up in the second half he called his team "tremendous" for the game.

Collier led the team with 25 points, and Samuelson added 24. Williams and Chong both had double figure scoring.

In spite of only going 4-16 on threes, they scored 97 points. They shot 61% from the field. And an amazing 34-46 on two point baskets. That's 74%. Wow.

I'll leave the nitpicking to others. I loved every minute of this game!!!

Here is UConn/Temple post game report.

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

Speaking of nitpicking, here is a beauty I read in a game thread on a UConn board.

"Her penchant for foul trouble is probably her most salient liability right now."

I guess that is maybe true. I don't know about "salient", but it might be her only liability. I do remember a couple of games where she had 2 in the first half like she did in this game. But let's take a closer look at the numbers.

In 21 games she has had 39 fouls. 39. Less than 2 per game.

To call that a "penchant" is just looking for something to worry about. Just silly.

Here is another brainiac

"Atrocious half. Start like this against South Carolina and we're toast. "

This is just the most idiotic logic and I see it over and over again. Anytime UConn has a bad quarter or even 1/2 a quarter, someone invariably says this. I don't know about you, but I find this so annoying.

Last one -

"1st half... A+ 2nd half... D+"

This was posted by my friend Eric. Sorry buddy. But that is so far from the truth.

UConn had a very good offensive second half. And Temple was on fire. Just because a team is hot and shoots way over their heads making 8-16 three pointers doesn't make that a D+ second half.

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

I remember back when I was around 10 years old, I was in a kids bowling league. They gave out a trophy for bowling exactly the same score all three games. I was lucky enough to win that award with three 104 games.

Well, Wednesday night, I am awarding Cincinnati the Quadruplicate Award . In their 72-52 loss to No. 20 South Florida, the Bearcats scores 13 points in all four quarters.

I'm sure they would have preferred the win.

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

By David in Naples!!!!!

Uconn's win over an outmatched Temple team was actually decided in the 1st quarter. The smothering defense held Temple to 3 baskets and created 8 turnovers. The Owls shot 15.7% in the quarter and gave up 25 points to the Huskies on 11-12 shooting.

It only got a little better for Temple in the 2nd period. They did scored 4 baskets and cut the turnovers down to 5. But the Huskies scored 27 points on 6-6 shooting by KLS and 5-6 shooting from both Gabby & Pheesa. For the half, UConn shot 77%, had 12 assists and only 3 turnovers. Temple managed only 19% shooting and 18 points. Game over, 52-18.

UConn is now 21-0, winner of 35 straight road games (a record) and winner of 96 consecutive overall games (also a record).

Go Huskies..!!

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