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

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Back to my season opening questions....here is the next one.

"Will Nurse shrug off the tough Olympic games to take the leadership roll UConn will need from her?"

I'll try to answer if she will, but UConn REALLY REALLY needs her to become the upper class leader that left with the graduation of the big three. It doesn't mean replacing their statistics. We all know that is impossible for one player to do. But she can pick up the slack as a leader along with her fellow junior Gabby Williams. I also have hopes that Chong can contribute in that regard. But it's Nurses fiery attitude that separates her from the other two. She is very "Kara Lawson" like in that regard.

I do believe she will bounce back from that tough Olympics to excel for the Huskies. She was a little inconsistent last season. She was actually more solid her freshman year with her scoring and shooting percentages down in her sophomore year. I don't think she will ever be a dominant scorer or outside threat, but she certainly has the capability of physically dominating games from the guard position.

One thing to remember. Her play in the Olympics were against women much older and physically more mature. A college sophomore against 25+ year olds. Not an easy task.

Hopefully Geno will work on her confidence and she can put it all together in the 2016-17 season.

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It's not over till it's over!!!! But it's looking bad!

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By David in Naples!!!!!

UConn and Baylor are the only teams with multiple wins in the National Championship game and no losses. Even Tennessee, with their 8 victories in the Final, has lost 5 times trying to be Champions. The fact that 4 of those loses came to the Huskies explains some of the craziness that bubbles up from Vol nation. Notre Dame had their perfect 1-0 record in the National Championship game (2001 winner) crushed by 4 defeats in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015. Of course, those last two were to UConn. 8-)

Three of the 2 time National Championship winners (USC, Stanford and Louisiana Tech) have a combined 7 losses in the biggest game of the season. Baylor has wins in 2005 and 2012, the only times they made the Final. Getting to the Championship game is very hard, winning it is even harder. In fact, since 2000, only 6 different teams have won the National Championship in women's basketball. Notre Dame, Maryland (2006) and Texas A&M (2011) each won the title once. Baylor (2005, 2012)and Tennessee (2007, 2008) each won twice.

That leaves 10 Championships, since 2000, for the UConn Huskies. Add in the first title in 1995 and you have a perfect 11-0 record in National Championship game. That achievement dwarfs Baylor's 2-0 record, Southern California's 2-1 mark, Stanford's 2-2 ledger and Louisiana Tech's 2-4 record. Even Tennessee's 8 wins are slightly tarnished by 5 disappointments.

Geno coaches the whole season to prepare for the Final Four, and in particular the Championship game. That strategy has worked well. You might even say "perfectly."