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

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Here is my UConn/Temple pregame report.

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I posted the link to the entire story about Katie Lou that Carl Adamec wrote. It's in the UConn link section. But I thought I would share some of the quotes from Katie Lou and Geno.

"It's been tough, but it's what I came here for," Samuelson said. "I never thought this would be easy. I'm going to do what I have to do to get on the court. That starts by working hard in practice. I want him to be able to trust me on the court. I've not played basketball at this level every single day, every week before. I can do it. I know I can. I have to go out and prove it."

"These guys think that they play at a high level in high school, they play all this AAU ball, or they play USA Basketball, and it doesn't mean anything anymore," Auriemma said. "Not when you get here and you have to do it every day from October, November, December, January ... They've been with us four months, that's a high school season almost. USA Basketball for them is six games and it's over. So the amount of time they have to crank it up and get after it is way different than now. It's a shock to their system they have to do it every day, every day, every day, and there's no end in sight. You've never experienced before. It's like a horse that's used to running a mile and a quarter and then it has to go a mile and a half. It's hard. And it's not hard physically, it's the mental part that's hard. You have to grow up and grow up really fast. It's not easy to do. Lou's getting better every day. Every day she does a little more than I think she can do. Every day she gets a little more confident. I've seen her make more different kinds of shots the last couple weeks than in all the rest of the time combined. That's on the offensive end. On the defensive end, it's a constant learning process of how to use her length and her God-given abilities to do certain things. She has a little bit of an edge to her, but I need it to come out more often. She has a toughness somewhere inside of her but I need it to come out more often. She does, too, to reach her potential."

"There's a different level Coach expects me to play at and at all times," Samuelson said. "I have to do it every day in practice. If I don't do it in practice, he isn't going to put me in the game. It's on me to work harder and play the way he wants me to play all of the time.You can't take a play off in a game or in practice. If you do, you get caught. And if you do it, forget about playing. We have to go hard every play and do everything we can to help the team. This team is so talented that the moment you slack off, someone will pass you by."

Great insight to how Geno develops players and how they react to his "prodding".

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From David in Naples

Napheesa Collier has played in all 15 of UConn's games this season and started in 8 of them. She had played exactly 300 minutes or 20.0 minutes per game. On a team that features the best player in women's basketball, the best ball handler in the game, the best low post power forward and the best guard out of Canada, Collier has done well for herself. She has learned Geno's offense and defense as well as any rookie could & adjusted to a support role, where before she was the star. Consider:

1. Napheesa has played more minutes than Katie Lou Samuelson (300 vs 288).
2. She is 1st on the team in offensive rebounds & has more total rebounds (95) than Gabby (94).
3. Collier is 2nd on the team in steals, to Moriah, but only by 31 to 36.
4. She is the best free throw shooter on the team at 91% (20-22).
5. Inside the 3 pt arc, Collier is 38-78 or 48.7%.
6. Her 23 blocked shots are 2nd only to Stewie and 15 more than 3rd place.

Napheesa will continue to adjust, improve and contribute to UConn's success as the season progresses. Come March, she will be a force.

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So, the mid-season Wooden Award Top 20 list has been released.

Three UConn players, Stewart, Jefferson and Tuck were included. So, why do I have this in the "What the ????" section?

My favorite player to bash, Diamond Deshields, made the list. I have to ask of the voters actually looked at any stats, or watched her play in any games. Take a look at this -

While she is averaging 15.3 ppg, a very nice number, what else that she has done says she deserves to be on this list?

She is shooting 40.5% from the field and 24.6% on threes. And she takes a lot of them. She has only 40 assists all year and more turnovers at 55.

It's the same thing I harped on with how Tennessee is favored in the weekly polls. Deshields is a very talented player but does not know how to play. John Wooden would HATE having her on his team.

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So, without further ado!!!

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