Doggydaddy's Den: DoggyDaddy's Dailies 1/10/16

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Here is my UConn/South Florida Pregame Report.

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Since I didn't have a post game report here are the quotes from Geno I usually share.

“There is no substitute for making shots. That is the perception out there, that we are such a good offensive team that every time that we shoot the ball it is going in. The reality of the situation is that it is not going to happen every night; some nights you are just not going to make shots and you have to do other things. I was happy with the way that group responded that was together for a long time. That 33-2 run was without [Breanna] Stewart on the floor, that is a good sign to be able to do that without Stewart and [Morgan] Tuck on the court. I saw some really good things from that group.”

On UConn’s game play
“They used what they had to their advantages. They used their length and we kept them out of the lane. The objective that they had going in was to put the ball on the floor and get into the lane. Going zone really helped us, keeping the ball out of the lane really helped us, and because we rebound more in that situation we were able to get out in transition more. When you are not making jump shots you have to find other ways to score. They played together. They played really well together. It looked like a real cohesive unit out there. I was happy. I saw a lot of good from that club.”

On forward Tyler Gilbert’s big night
“Coming into the game I didn’t know she was having those kinds of numbers, 16 points - 8 rebounds; but our players knew this. They know that no matter how people play against anybody else the rest of the year they are going to play differently against us; and our players know that. It is not that we are surprised when players have their career games against us. It has happened to us in every game this year it seems like. She played real hard, she worked hard and she got what she deserved; she played a great game."

On 15-0 run to end the first half
“Things start defensively, so when you are getting stops at one end you have an opportunity to get easier shots at the other end. That is what we pride ourselves on, we pride ourselves on our defense, and we if we keep getting stops, then eventually the shots are going to go down on the other end. Going on a little bit of a run made everyone just take a deep breath and say ‘yeah they will go in.’ If you are not careful then you will start to think that there is a lid on the basket and it is not going to go in. That run put everybody at ease.”

On Moriah Jefferson’s first game back from injury
“Obviously she was a little rusty, a little tentative, it seemed liked she wasn’t really getting some spots like she normally gets, and I can understand that. She was probably a little tentative mentally and not wanting to push it her first game back. I tried to go with gut feelings and leave it up to her, and she came up to me at one point and said that she was good to go because I wanted to rest her a little bit longer, so I put her back in. Then the coaching staff would say ‘hey it’s time to get around.’ There wasn’t a definitive amount of time, but if I thought she didn’t look comfortable then I wouldn’t have played her as much as we did. I didn’t want her going into Sunday not feeling like she wasn’t good to go.”

On the health of forward Morgan Tuck
“When we came over here to shoot around, she started warming up and going around, and she went over to Rosemary and said it doesn’t feel good. We said that we would give her a little bit more time to get loose, and then a couple more times walking through stuff and jogging, but she said it doesn’t feel good. So we said why make it worse. Let’s take some precautions and not do it.

Tomorrow she could wake up and feel great. We had a conversation with her on the plane down here, and I said ‘Morgan, do you ever know when it is coming,’ and she said ‘No. I will wake up in the morning, go to practice, and I won’t even know it, then the next day I will walk to class and it hurts.’ It is just one of those weird things.

That is the one thing that we talked about. With all the things that she has been fighting through it always seems to show up at game time. It’s a long season and you just want everybody to be healthy, good, and 100 percent come the end of March.”

On Sunday’s game against South Florida
“Obviously we are playing a really good team that is starting to play really well again. They play great, they had a little bit of a stretch where they were down, but they are playing great again. Playing down there is never easy. They have a lot of experience back from a team that had a lot of success last year. Courtney Williams might be as difficult a player to guard as there is in the country. We know that we have our hands full on Sunday.’

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Texas is looking like the real deal. Still undefeated after beating up in-conference rival Oklahoma State on the road 78-48. What I like about them is their terrific defense. Holding a decent offensive team in Oklahoma State to 48 points, 20% shooting and 22 turnovers is the way you go deep into the tournament. UConn might have beaten them by 50 last year. The game would be much closer this year if and when they meet in the NCAA's.

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From David in Naples

Yesterday, against Houston, the Fun with Numbers stat line wrote itself. Consider:

- UConn had 8 personal fouls
- The team gave up only 9 turnovers
- They had 10 blocked shots, 2nd game in a row.
- Huskies stole 11 steals
- UConn assisted on 12 baskets
- Four players scored 13 points and UConn is now 13-0
- 14-14 perfection from the free throw line
- #15, Gabby Williams, was the hero w/ 13 pts, 7 rebs & 2 steals

the win was the 50th straight for the Huskies..!!

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During the course of a UConn/ND/Stanford/Texas A&M/Maryland game, the players are told to not shoot the three and drive the basket. If the players don't listen and hoist up 22 threes, how do you think Geno/Muffett/Tara/Gary/Brenda would handle it?

I'm pretty sure after the first few threes, these coaches would call a time out, take out the guilty
player(s) and they might not see the light of day for that game again.

Lady Vols guard Andraya Carter said Tennessee's coaches constantly reminded guards to penetrate rather than shooting 3-pointers. The Lady Vols had 22 3-point attempts anyway.

"That was not our game plan," Warlick said. "We were on our own agenda tonight. I'm telling them to drive, and they're shooting 3's."

And not ONE player was benched because of it. Does she realize she is no longer the assistant coach to Pat and the confidant of the players? The good cop to Pats bad cop? It doesn't look like it to me. She is hanging on to the past with how she teaches the players offense, defines defense and rebounding is the winning formula, and screw scoring points off a well run half court offense.

It's ugly in Tennessee and the players are running the asylum. If Warlick doesn't take control, Tennessee is just as likely to lose a game as winning it. This stress game after game might push the Lady Vol fans off the ledge.

Now where did I put my popcorn?

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So, without further ado!!!

Ladies and Gents, DD looks at the news........