Doggydaddy's Den: DoggyDaddy's Dailies 1/11/16

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UConn defeated USF, 75-59 after another slow start. They were down by eight in the 1st quarter before taking a lead they would never lose at the 10 minute mark.

Here is my UConn/South Florida Post Game Report. In addition, my friend and number's guy David in Naples attended the game and here are his thoughts.

Quick observations and opinion...
1. My daughter goes to USF and I've never seen the Sun Dome louder or more into a women's basketball game. This was their Super Bowl and their early success in the 1st period had the place rocking. Both teams were pumped on adrenalin. The frantic pace early seem to wear on USF in the 3rd & 4th period. Playing in this loud & very competitive environment will help UConn in South Carolina.
2. Stewie needs to just file a police report. No District Attorney outside of Tennessee would not press charges. Stewie was grabbed, pushed, held, bumped and maybe even bitten. #20 must be pre-med. She gave Stewie quite the complete physical.
3. Courtney Williams is the real deal, and more. She can score on anyone (and did) and from anywhere (and did). The UConn zone had to pass her off as she cut thru and when she had an inch, she scored. Usually UConn can shut down the leading scorer. Not tonite. (And she can rebound like Gabby!!!) wow...!
4. USF packed the lane more and more as the game went on. UConn must have missed a dozen 3s in the first half. By the mid-3rd period, USF was giving Mo, Kia and Lou wide open looks. Making those 3s will pay huge dividends later in the season and at tournament time.
5. For the 3rd game in 5 days, on the road, against a tough physical team, this was a great win. Not good, great!!
6. Geno is getting everything done early in the season he could possibly want. Lots of minutes for the young players, games w/out Stewie, Mo and Tuck, playing on the road in hostile environments, having to make critical baskets (3s) under pressure. All this will mold this team come tournament time. I bet he plays a great round of golf tomorrow knowing his experiments are working. But don't look for him to admit.

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This is a Kyla Irwin mix tape. I know she is competing against HS kids, but Geno is really high on this kid.

At 6'2" she is a solid frontcourt player that can step out and hit the three pointer. She fits perfectly in the mold of what Geno is looking for, versatile players.

In watching this video, you will see a variety of ways that she can put the ball in the basket. For a big girl, she can handle the ball. A little slow, but she was able to dribble full court, using both hands and with a tricky dribble getting to the basket. She has nice post moves and looked Tuck like around the basket. I really liked her step back jumper.

Of course, mix tapes only shows made shots, but if you watch the tape to see what skills she has, you will be very pleased as a UConn fan. Can't wait to see her in a Husky uniform next season.

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I watched much of the No. 2 South Carolina vs No. 20 Missouri Sunday and I think I deserve a medal for watching as much as I did.

South Carolina won this game 83-58 over the Tigers mostly because they took 43 fouls shots on 34 Missouri fouls. South Carolina also had 22 fouls and Missouri took 21 free throws. What an ugly game.

Not only were there way too many fouls, there were way too many misses shots. Missouri was 4-21 on threes while SC was 3-14. Stinky.

I just don't know what to make of this version of South Carolina. I'm not impressed.

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There were four upsets in the bottom 10 of the top 25.

No. 15 UCLA lost to USC.
No. 16 Northwestern lost to No. 23 Michigan State
No. 18 Duke lost to Louisville
No. 21 California lost to Utah.

This should jumble up the bottom of the rankings Monday.

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From David in Naples

UConn has missed 403 shots heading into the USF game. But, they have 172 offensive rebounds. That means UConn gets their own missed shots about 43% of the time. Opponents get an offensive rebound 29% of he time. Of course, they miss more shots, but only have 142 offensive rebounds.

By far, the best offensive rebounder for UConn is Napheesa Collier w/ 35. Tuck is 2nd at 27, Gabby 3rd w/ 26 and Stewie is 4th at 25. With Collier taking only 72 shots vs Stewie's 157, she has more opportunity to get a missed shot.

Interestingly, at the defensive end, the order is reversed w/ Stewie leading at 70, Gabby 2nd w/ 57 and Collier 3rd grabbing 50.

Go Huskies..!!

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I rarely call for a coach to be fired. It's an incredibly difficult job at the highest levels of WCBB.

Today is an exception. I'm calling for Coach Joanne McCallie to be let go from her job at Duke and they need to do it soon.

It's not that they are just losing, but their last two losses have been just horrific. They lost to unranked Syracuse 86-50 two games ago and Sunday they lost to unranked Louisville 65-48, but it was only that close because the Blue Devils scored the last 8 points of the game. There is no excuse for Duke to be manhandled like this be two decent but nothing special teams.

It's much more than that though when it comes to my opinion that she needs to be let go.

Over her eight full seasons as coach of Duke, she has had some success. I don't want to belittle those accomplishments. Her teams have won 30 games four times, won the ACC four consecutive seasons (2009-2012 pre ND), four straight elite eight appearances those same seasons. But my opinion is that based on her teams talent level, they have constantly underperformed. They certainly have been talented enough to make a final four or two.

The last two seasons have been worse. Two years ago they were eliminated in the second round by 7 seed DePaul. Last year they lost in the sweet sixteen to 1 seed Maryland. Not an upset, but her poor regular season put them in position to play a one seed in the sweet sixteen.

This year, they have been just bad against the better teams, with 4 of their 5 losses by double digits. And to lose by 36 and 17 in their last two losses is showing me that they are going to have

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After a steal and a layup by Alexis Middleton a substitute guard for Tennessee make a layup on the break after a pass from Diamond Deshields, the announcer said "wow, it's like watching an all-star game". Really? An all-star game? I know she meant that Tennessee is so friggin' amazing they all play like all-stars. But have you ever watched an all-star game? They play no defense and that is how Auburn was the entire game against the Lady Vols. Then on the replay she exclaimed "my goodness, nifty layup". Oy.

All game long, these SEC shills that are working for ESPN were saying similar things about the conference and Tennessee. Compliment after compliment.

They can't even get their compliments right. I guess the Alumni players were visiting this weekend and spoke to the team without the coaches there. They are making a big deal on how much better Tennessee is playing in the Auburn game.

The announcer stated what was at stake in this game. That Tennessee hadn't lost two games in a row since 1993. The truth is they lost two games in a row last season. But they hadn't lost two games in a row AT HOME. Dope.

I guess my UConn fan bias is showing, but it is my blog. I only watch that SEC dreck so I can report it back here for you guys! You're welcome!

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So, without further ado!!!

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