Wednesday, March 3, 2021

Doggy's Doghouse 3/3/2021

 







 








                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

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National Coach of the Year Semi-finalists


NAMESCHOOLCONFERENCE
Geno AuriemmaUConnBig East
Adia BarnesArizonaPac-12
Gary BlairTexas A&MSEC
Mike CareyWest VirginiaBig 12
Jose FernandezUSFAAC
Brenda FreseMarylandBig Ten
Wes MooreNC StateACC
Joni TaylorGeorgiaSEC
Tara VanDerveerStanfordPac-12
Jeff WalzLouisvilleACC
This choice is always so subjective to me. You could make a good case for 3 or 4 of these coaches.

My Top 4 Choices in order of odds to win: 

Wes Moore - He's done a great job at NC State. He keeps improving his team every year. And to be on this list is a real positive for him. They won the ACC regular season title. His two losses were to unranked Virginia Tech and North Carolina so that will hurt.  

Gary Blair - He lost his best player, and only lost one game the entire season. They beat Preseason favorite South Carolina for the SEC Regular season title. Joni Taylor of Georgia actually won the SEC COY. But no way she wins National COY.

Tara VanDerveer - Broke Pat Summit's career win record and counting. Sanford has only lost 2 games this season.

Geno - My personal favorite. Surprised?? No seniors, 7 new players, and they only lost one game to a Top 25 team on the road. No. 1 in both rankings, BE regular season title. No. 1 in NET rankings, and the Top seed in the latest reveal.   

Final Four candidates will be selected on March 18th. Look for the conference tournaments to impact this selection. 
    
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The Ludicrous, Unprecedented Greatness of Paige Bueckers

She’s a freshman, and she already might be the best player in the history of UConn women’s basketball.

Ok, I'm as big a fan of Paige Bueckers as any UConn fan. She is fantastic. But even for me, the article I linked in the UConn Link Section was just way over the top. However, I did enjoy reading it. 

Hey, maybe she will hit a few game winners to push UConn to a National Championship and I will change my mind. But until then, I'll settle for the best freshman in UConn history.   

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Top 125 Women's Basketball Recruiting Class Rankings


ASGR Top Recruiting Classes 


UConn was No. 1!!!!

No. 1, 5'11/G Azzzi Fudd 
No. 3, 6'5/PF Amari DeBerry 
No. 9, 6'2/SG Caroline Duchame 
No. 27, 6'2/SG Saylor Poffenbarger (Enrolled)

The Big East did OK in this list. 

DePaul 29 
Marquette 42
Nova 63
GTown 69
Xavier 71
Butler 74
Seton Hall 88
St.J 91
Providence 113

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Only in Tennessee

Hanging out on the Tennessee women's basketball board on Volnation.com is always entertaining. You never know what kind of outlandish statement one of those Lady Vol crazies will post. 

All living in their past glory and woefully trying to make themselves relevant again after so many years between their last championship and now. It's actually sad. 

But sometimes the mind just snaps. Here is an exchange between a Tennessee fan and from what I can tell from prior postings, a Rutgers fan in a thread about the SEC awards. It's actually kinda pathetic.

Memvol44 - Tamari Key is the best all around center in the league!!! Should have been first team.....

Bballnut1952 - Aliyah Boston says hello.

Memvol44 - She can say hello all she wants. Key changed the other teams approach with her defense!! Boston didn't have to share minutes like Key did with Kasi. The difference is Boston has been in the league longer,didn't get many crap calls against her!!!

Memvol44 - There is not a better center in the league!!! Key is much more disruptive!! Boston can get off the ground!!! (I think he meant "Can't get off the ground")

Bballnut1952 -  The difference is that Boston had a better season and is a better player and I doubt anyone but a few Lady Vol fans would agree with you that Key is the best center in the league. Key got some recognition (defensive 5 player team)  and I'm happy for her.    

Memvol44 - Will agree to disagree.....

Bballnut1952 - Boston changed the other teams approach just as much. She had more blocks even if in more minutes per game. Key's minutes were less not because she had to share minutes but the foul trouble she found herself in in many games. She fouled out of four of them. Both are Sophomores. Crap calls are in the eye of the partisan beholder.

Memvol44 - You are so wrong on so many points I don't know where to start..

Bballnut1952 - Well, I didn't make many points here that weren't facts. So feel free to correct. Boston changed the other teams approach just as much. Opinion. She had more blocks even if in more minutes per game. Fact. Key's minutes were less not because she had to share minutes but the foul trouble she found herself in in many games. Partial opinion She fouled out of four of them. Fact Both are Sophomores. Fact Crap calls are in the eye of the partisan beholder. This is pretty much fact.
At this point, there was no response from the Tennessee fan. The TKO goes to the RU fan.


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By David in Naples

The Huskies have a lot of streaks that have been extended this season. For example, 1,014 straight games without back-to-back loses. The last loss was March 17, 1993. No one on the current roster was alive then..!! UConn also has 941 wins during that streak. SO that translates into a record of 1,009-64 in regular season games, since 1992-93. There are also the 229 straight wins over unranked opponents and 156 straight conference wins. That includes conference tourny games.  

The current 21-1 record is the 28th season of 21 or more wins. The shortened season brings that total down to 21. Without this year, UConn has won at least 25 games in each of the last 27 straight  seasons. The current game winning streak is 11 after the Arkansas loss. The Huskies also have scored 63 or more points in every game this year (21). 

Other stats - Paige leads the Huskies in points (415), assists (131), steals (50), minutes (758), field goals (163) and all shooting % (field goal, free throw and threes). I'm starting to think she may be pretty good... 8-)

Go Huskies..!!

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No. 10 Indiana 89 Iowa 80 - Grace Berger, Mackenzie Holmes, and Ali Patberg each scored 22 points as 10th-ranked Indiana rallied from a seven-point deficit in the third quarter for a home victory over Iowa on Wednesday. Iowa freshman guard Caitlin Clark, the nation’s second-leading scorer at 26.9 points per game, led all scorers with 32 points before fouling out late in the fourth quarter. Manika Czinano added 20 points for the Hawkeyes. Berger scored eight of her points in the pivotal third quarter, when Indiana outscored Iowa 27-16. That’s when Indiana clamped down defensively on Iowa’s one-two punch as Clark had just four shots and Czinano missed five-of-seven shots. Nicole Cardano-Hillary added seven of her 13 points in the third as the Hoosiers took a 65-59 edge into the final 10 minutes. Holmes made 11-of-13 shots and had a game-high 11 rebounds for a double-double. Indiana outrebounded Iowa 38-21 and had a 56-38 advantage in points in the paint. The Hoosiers swept the Hawkeyes for the first time since 1994.

No. 20 West Virginia 72 Kansas State 64 - The No. 20 West Virginia women’s basketball team survived a third quarter rally from Kansas State to earn a 72-64 win on Wednesday night. Esmery Martinez posted her second straight double-double with 23 points and 12 rebounds to pace the Mountaineers. Behind her, Kysre Gondrezick and Kirsten Deans added 13 and 12 points, respectively. The Mountaineers started off well, jumping out to a 19-10 lead courtesy of Martinez and Jasmine Carson. After that, Kansas State came storming back with a 10-0 run to take a 20-19 lead, but a Martinez layup gave West Virginia a 21-20 lead after one quarter. West Virginia took a lead in the second quarter with a Carson three-pointer and a Martinez layup. The Mountaineers ended the quarter with two three-pointers, one from Gondrezick and one from Jayla Hemingway, to take a 41-32 lead into halftime. The Wildcats came out firing in the third quarter, with Ayoka Lee adding 10 of her 26 points in the third frame. In the fourth quarter, Kansas State got its final lead of the game with a quick five points, bringing the score to 56-55. With its victory over Kansas State, West Virginia has clinched the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament next week.  

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Tuesday, March 2, 2021

Doggy's Doghouse 3/2/2021

 






 








                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

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What a great freshman class!!!! 

Maybe there have been other great freshmen classes before in WCBB. But I certainly can't remember any as wonderful as this class.

Of course you have UConn's great freshmen. Bueckers, Edwards and Muhl. Amazing how good they are.  But there are others at various colleges around the country.  

Cameron Brink at Stamford. 6'5" and lean, but not skinny, she is coming into her own. Almost 10 PPG, 6.5 RPG, Her defense is impressive with almost 3 blocks per game. She has started the last 11 games for the Cardinal.

Te-Hina Poapoa at Oregon has been very solid. She has started every game for Oregon, taking over the point for the amazing Sabrina Inoescu. She averages 10.2 PPG and 4.4 RPG. Sadly, she is  in a walking boot with a foot/ankle injury and will probably miss the PAC12 tournament. 

Charlisse Leger-Walker at Washington State has done a great job coming in to start every game and lead Washington State in scoring at 19.4 PPG. She has taken a ton of shots but with the team she is on, she has had to do that.

Caitlin Clark of Iowa. Do I have to say more? She is on the all the post season lists. She is second in the country in scoring at around 26 PPG. Great passer and  solid rebounder. Just an all around great player. 

Kamilla Cardoso at Syracuse is also impressive as a freshman big. It's not easy to perform well as a post player freshman. She has started all but one game. She is scoring at a 14.5 PPG clip and grabs 8.5 RPG. And at 6'7"she has blocked almost 3 blocks per game. And she alters a ton more. 

Diamond Johnson of Rutgers has flown under the radar because of Rutgers lack of games. But they just moved into the Top 25 and Johnson is a big part of that averaging 18.9 PPG and shooting threes at 49.5%.   

There are others as well. Maryland's Angela Reese was injured most of the season but she is back and playing well.  Emily Ryan is averaging 5.7 assists per game for Iowa State. 

Maybe the players are just getting better in general. Exciting for WCBB!!!!

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Aaliyah Edwards was named the Big Easr freshman of the week after her 24 point and 14 rebound performance at Butler. She averaged 16.3 points and 9.3 rebounds for the week. She has taken her game to another level the last few weeks. Maybe the most consistent performer for the Huskies.

Congrats to Ms. Edwards. There are many more awards in her future.  

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From a UConn freshman to a UConn recruit that will be a freshman next year.

Caroline Ducharme is one hell of a player. She can do it all. Now, this video highlight clip is against a pretty week team but 47 points is 47 points. Love her game! She is No. 13 in white.


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A great group of 11 players making up the semi-finalist list for the Naismith Trophy. And so excited to see Paige Bueckers there.   

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By David in Naples

Any time UConn doesn't win by 30+ points, critics say they played a lousy game. Marquette lost last night by a score of 63-53, but the same critics say "they really took it to UConn" and "Marquette just showed how to beat UConn." I disagree with the critics. Consider:

1. UConn played lousy - This game was no masterpiece, but it was a tough, gutsy win for a young team at the end of a weird and taxing season. Marquette came in 17-4 and on a 5 game winning streak. They are a good team that have been playing well lately. The Huskies' defense played very well. They held Marquette to 53 points, 19 points below their season average. Their leading scorer, Selena Lott was held to 6 points on 3-12 shooting. Marquette had 11 points in the final period under UConn's smothering defense. Blame UConn's offense for making it ugly, but the defense played very well.

2. Marquette "took it to UConn" - Marquette is a very physical team. It seemed there was physical contact in this game that all season was called a foul, but not tonight. Can you say "moving screens"? Paige in particular was held, grabbed, bumped and mauled. Despite the physical play, UConn outrebounded Marquette 43-25 and dominated the paint, 40 points to 22. The Huskies had 18 offensive boards. The Huskies blocked 8 shots to Marquette's 1. Who took it to whom? 

3. Blue print for beating UConn - Marquette shot 40% from the field and 33% from three point range. Is that how to beat UConn? Their leading scorer was held to 6 points and they turned the ball over 15 times. Is that how to beat UConn? In the final period, Marquette shot 4-13 or 31%. Is that how to beat the Huskies? Paige Bueckers went 6-17 and UConn still won fairly easily. Probably shouldn't count on that happening too often...

It was a good game between two good teams, but UConn was better throughout. Why call it anything else?

Go Huskies..!!

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No. South Florida 65 Central Florida 62 - A 65-62 win over UCF had many anxious moments in the final minute. The Bulls led by 11 with 34 seconds left only to have the Knights make it a one-point game with 1.6 seconds remaining. But they held on and a championship celebration ensued at midcourt. Elisa Pinzan, who led USF (15-2/13-1) with 18 points, hit a pair of free throws to account for the final margin. A three-point attempt by UCF’s Alisha Lewis (game-high 27 points) clanked off the front of the rim as time expired. Elena Tsineke scored 10 of her 12 points in a first quarter in which the Bulls took an 18-5 lead. Fernandez’s team led by as many as 22 in the second quarter and took a 34-17 lead at the half. The win snapped a four-game losing streak to the Knights and a loss Tuesday night would have meant a winner-take-all matchup at UCF on Thursday night to conclude the regular season.

No. 25 Rutgers 74 Penn State 56 -  Ariel Guiranates led Rutgers to a win over Penn State with 21 points with Freshman Diamond Johnson adding in 14 points. Senior Niya Beverley led Penn State with 20 points and dished seven assists. Sophomore Anna Camden followed with 14 points. The first half was a tale of two quarters with Penn State getting off to a an 11-0 start in the first four minutes. PSU went on to hit five of its first seven three-point attempts en route to a 21-9 lead just seven minutes into the game. A Rutgers trey ended the term, but Penn State's hot shooting allowed the Lady Lions to take a 21-12 lead into the second quarter. The Scarlet Knights controlled the second quarter as Rutgers answered right back with an 11-0 streak to open the term and take its first lead of the game at 23-21 with 7:23 left in the first half. Camden's third three-pointer of the first half had Penn State back on top at 28-27 two minutes later, but Rutgers scored 10 of the final 15 points of the quarter to take a 37-33 lead into halftime. Penn State struggled to find its rhythm in the opening minutes of the third quarter as Rutgers surged ahead 50-35 six minutes in. But the momentum swung the Lady Lions' way in the final four minutes of the term as a Camden jumper sparked a 10-2 PSU run to close the term. Beverley converted a pair of and-ones during the stretch as Penn State pulled back within seven at 52-45 heading into the final stanza. Rutgers grabbed the momentum right back in the fourth quarter and Penn State wasn't able to overcome the deficit despite a trio of three-pointers in the final minutes as the Scarlet Knights grabbed the 74-56 victory.

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Monday, March 1, 2021

Doggy's Doghouse 3/1/2021

 





 








                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

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UCONN 63 MARQUETTE 53

Wow, what a heavyweight battle this game was. UConn did enough to win, dominating the boards in a game that they couldn't hit any outside shots.

There has been a lot of talk about Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Aaliyah Edwatds, but UConn doesn't win this game without both of these players.

Nelson-Ododa led UConn with 19 points, 10 rebounds and 6 blocks. What an outstanding game when they needed her most. 

And Edwards was her usual beast self with 16 points and 8 rebounds, 5 of them off the offensive boards. 

Marquette played their hearts out in this game, and I would bet that they win 1 or 2 NCAA games in the tournament. They are just one tough team. Now, the refs helped  a little, letting them play the physical game they needed in order to compete with UConn, but still, they were outstanding on defense in this game.

UConn won the battle of the boards against a terrific rebounding team, 43-25 and that was a huge difference maker in this game. 

No, I'm not going to mention any other players. The rest of the team really struggled. It's been a long stretch with 5 consecutive road games and then on one days rest, playing the second best team in the conference. Now they get the rest of the week off before playing a weak conference sister. Hopefully the time off and then the adrenaline from a tournament game will reinvigorate the team.        


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UConn Marquette Game Highlights

Geno Post Game Interview

Olivia Nelson-Ododa Post Game Interview

Aaliya Edwards Post Game Interivew

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Congrats to Paige Bueckers! She made the cut and is on the finalist list for the Nancy Lieberman Award for the best point guard.

Here are the five players on the list.

Fr Paige Bueckers - UConn
Sr DiDi Richards - Baylor
Fr Caitlin Clark - Iowa
Sr Aari McDonald - Arizona  
RS Sr Tiana Mangakahia - Syracuse

I haven't checked but I'm pretty sure this is the first time that two freshmen are on this finalist list. Amazing.

This could be a tough call for the folks that decide the winner of this award. Let's look at the description of 
the award.

The award is given to a player who exemplifies "the floor leadership, play-making and ball-handling skills that personified Nancy Lieberman during her career".

To me, that means it's much more than scoring although it does come into play. And all of these players show plenty of floor leadership. Play making? That means assists. And ball handling skills? I would say that assist to turnover ratio might be a good indicator. 

Paige Bueckers - 20 games, 20.1 PPG, 130 assists, 49 turnovers, 2.65-1 A/TO
DiDi Richards - 20 games, 7.2 PPG, 140 assists, 44 turnovers, 3.18-1 A/TO
Caitlin Clark - 21 games, 26.8 PPG, 149 assists, 101 turnovers, 1.47-1 A/TO  
Aari McDonald -  19 games, 19.4 PPG, 84 assists, 60 turnovers, 1.4-1 A/TO 
Tiana Mangakahia -  18 games, 11.6 PPG, 135 assists, 85 turnovers, 1.59 A/TO

To me, it's not really a tough call. Bueckers has the best combination of scoring, play-making, ball handling and it's not mentioned, but scoring as well.  

However, I believe they will give it to one of the seniors. 

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6'3" Freshman Aaliyah Edwards seems to be a big topic of conversation lately, and deservedly so. She has had a terrific freshman season and has improved as the season has moved on. Her 24 points and 14 rebounds in her last game was a high water mark for Edwards. 

And of course, fans love to compare current players to players of the past. I have heard comparisons to Swin Cash, Napheesa Collier, and others. But I think there is a current player that Edwards reminds me of, and if she can have the career that this player is having, UConn would be very lucky. 

Ok....enough suspense. Who is this player that I would love to see Edwards emulate? 

None other than Baylor's NaLyssa Smith, their 6'2" junior forward. As a freshman, she averaged 8.5 PPG and 5.1 RPG in only 15.3 MPG. She was on the team with some pretty good front court players, so she didn't see a ton of minutes. Edwards has very similar stats averaging 10.2 PPG and 5.3 RPG, but that is in 20.2 MPG. 


Both are big and strong but also very mobile. If you haven't seen Smith play (Ok, she killed UConn a couple of times) then you are missing something. One of my favorite non-UConn players.   

Last season Smith averaged 14 PPG and 8 RPG as a sophomore. And as a junior this year she is averaging 17.9 PPG and 9.5 RPG. 

I'll take that progression in Edwards game in a heartbeat.   

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What the hell has happened to DePaul. They started the season slow, losing two of their first three game. 

Then they went 12-2, only losing to UConn twice. I think they even were in the Top 20 at one point. But since beating Xavier in a game that was close enough to be a warning on what was to come, they now have lost 3-4 game to end their regular season. Losing to Marquette is not terrible, but they lost to Creighton and then on Monday night they just lost to now 3-16 Butler. To make matters worse, it was a home game and senior night. 

I fell for Dough Bruno. It appears he has lost some Blue Demon magic this year. Can they make a statement in the Big East tournament? Doubtful. 

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By David in Naples

First, my apologies for calling a poster an "idiot" for saying AE is "light years" better than Liv right now. He/she is welcome to have an opinion. I have a different one.

Two points to add to this discussion. 
1. Minutes played - Another poster pointed out Liv has played 120 more minutes than Aaliyah and that will skew the stats. Yes, but why would Geno play Liv an average of 5 more minutes per game if AE was so much better? He wouldn't and the playing time would be in AE's favor. There is no doubt AE is improving as the season goes on. Less fouls, more rebounds, slight improvement in assists... She is very versatile in that she can take over for Olivia or play with her. Nika gets 2 fouls, in comes AE. Liv gets 2 quick fouls, in comes AE. That gives Geno lots of flexibility.

I went back and looked at the last 8 games, including South Carolina. Here's AE's and ONO's stats.
* Olivia - 180 minutes of action. 77 points and 60 rebounds.
* Aaliyah - 164 minutes of action. 84 points and 49 rebounds. 

Looks pretty even to me.

2. Versatility - Aaliyah gives Geno tremendous versatility. She can come in for Nika or Evina and give the team two bigs, (one low, one high). They don't seem to crowd each other like Napheesa and Azura used to...  She also can come in if Liv gets 2 fouls and be the only big. Very handy for Geno to have her coming off the bench. 

Let's see how they play tonight against Marquette.

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No. 7 Baylor at Texas - NaLyssa Smith scored 23 points and No. 6 Baylor used a dominant third quarter to build a lead, then had to fight off a late Texas rally to earn a 64-57 victory Monday night that locked up sole possession of the Big 12 title for the Lady Bears. Smith scored eight in the third quarter when Baylor broke open what had a been a close but sloppy game in a rematch of a 25-point Lady Bears win earlier this season. The Lady Bears stretched the lead to as many as 18 points before Texas rallied midway through the fourth quarter, when Baylor piled up foul trouble. Smith made two 3-pointers in the fourth, the second one giving the Lady Bears a 60-47 lead with just under 3 minutes left.

No. 25 DePaul 81 Butler  86 - No. 25/23 DePaul ran into a hot-shooting Butler team on Monday that put a damper on Senior Day as the Blue Demons came up short 86-81 at Wintrust Arena. Deja Church led the Blue Demons with her second double-double of the season---20 points and 12 rebounds while also adding five assists and five steals. The 12 rebounds tied a career high. Lexi Held also scored 20 points and also tied a career high with seven steals. Jorie Allen scored a career-high 18 points with six boards while Darrione Rogers contributed 13 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds. Butler was shooting nearly 58 percent after three quarters including 50 percent from behind the arc by five early in the fourth quarter. Church answered with a three-point play and followed up with a pair of free throws to tie it 73-73. But the visiting team retook the lead by two at the fourth quarter media timeout. A clutch Held three knotted it up at 76-76 until the Bulldogs matched her shot. Church scored to bring her team within 79-78 but the Bulldogs went on a 5-1 run to lead 84-79 with 1:35 left. Church scored again, but that was the closest DePaul would get.

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