Doggydaddy's Den: January 2017

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

DoggyDaddy's Dailies 2/1/17

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Crazy day in Florida. We were supposed to move out of our rented condo and into my son's house for the last week of our vacation. Well, things change......

Both of my granddaughters have a stomach bug. I'll spare you the details, but we really didn't want to move into a germ infested house. So we called the landlord where we are staying and she has another condo in the building available for a few days. So we are here until Friday when hopefully we will be staying with my son until we fly home Tuesday.

Other than that, we had a great day at the beach. Blue sky and 70 degrees!! I'm really gonna miss this!

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Here is my UConn/Temple Pre Game Report.

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Tennessee Women's Basketball: Back on Track to Challenge UConn for National Supremacy

No, the headline in this link is not from The Onion. Not from Mad Magazine. Not from some alternative fact site. Someone actually wrote an article about this possibility.

You can read it for yourself, but let me help this writer out with a few facts.

"The Lady Vols are on the verge of powerhouse status once again."

Uhhh....no. One controversial win over the No. 4 team in the country does not put a team on the verge of powerhouse status. Not a team that has lost to Penn State, Virginia Tech (loser of 4 in a row), Ole Miss and Auburn.

"Summitt drew up the blueprint in Knoxville that UConn architect Geno Auriemma replicated to build his juggernaut in Storrs."

Geno did NOT replicate what Summitt did. They took totally different paths to their success.

When the Tennessee Lady Vols pulled off a 76-74 upset win over 4th-ranked South Carolina on Monday -- rallying from an 11-point deficit in the final six minutes to snap the Gamecocks' 29-game SEC home win streak -- it seemed like the start of something big for a program that was once the biggest and baddest machine in women's basketball.

I guess he didn't even watch the game. It was Tennessee that had an 11 point lead with 5 minutes left which they proceeded to blow and let South Carolina tie them with 14 seconds left in the game. If that makes it seem like the start of something big....well.....keep dreaming.

He also fails to mention that Deshields and Russell will be able to leave after this season for the WNBA and with their potential, more than likely be first round picks.

Yes, Tennessee has talent. And if Deshields and Russell come back, they will be a top team. But it's yet to be seen if Warlick can coach them to enough success to be anything close to a powerhouse.

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By David in Naples!!!!!

One of the trademarks of this season's UConn team is versatility. For example, all five of the starters have led the team in scoring at least once. Saniya had the high total of 20 points against USF, Kia Nurse hit for 33 versus DePaul and Gabby just led the Huskies with 19 points against Houston. Obviously, Katie Lou has led the team in scoring several times this season. Nine times in fact, with 34 as the highest total versus Tulsa. Napheesa has been high scorer seven times with her 28 points in the season opener vs FSU being her best.

UConn's individual game rebounding leader has been shared by four Huskies. Gabby has led or tied for the lead 11 times. Her highest total was 16 against East Carolina. Napheesa also had a 16 rebound total versus SMU. That was one of eight times Collier was the leading rebounder in a game. Katie Lou has twice led or tied for the lead and Natalie was highest in the Tulane game with 8. The assist leader also rotates among the starting Huskies. Gabby has the season high with 10 against East Carolina, followed by Crystal Dangerfield's 9 assists versus Dayton. Both Kia and Saniya have had games with 8 assists. In no game was the ball sharing more evident than against Kansas State when three Huskies led with 5 assists and two others had 4 and 3 assists.

Having many players who can lead the team in scoring, rebounding or assists makes the Huskies very tough to defend and hard to score on. That's a formula for going 20-0..! 8-)

Go Huskies..!!

More Fun with Numbers...
1. Kia Nurse has had 23 assists since her last turnover against SMU. That is 141 minutes without a mistake.
2. Saniya Chong has just 17 turnovers in 486 minutes on the court.
3. UConn has a team assist to turnover ratio of 1.74, and the 5 starters have one of 2.06

4. Opponents have an assist to turnover ratio of 0.53
5. UConn has 455 assists, or 71% of all baskets.

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UCONN LINKS

Former assistant Cardoza not shocked that Huskies are still undefeated Jim Fuller

Women's Basketball Hosts #1 UConn on Wednesday Owl Sports

Huskies Travel to Temple Wednesday UConn Team Site
Saniya Chong's Emergence As Senior Worth Wait For Auriemma, UConn Women Courant
Nation's top player Megan Walker focused on fun at McDonald's All American Game USA Today
Megan Walker honored by McDonald's All American Games Richmond Times

Reed graduate Williams thriving at UConn Reno-Gazette Journal

Here’s a surprise … American-Republican

Upsets in Red

Late games in Green

No Top 25 Games Tuesday

Will another down year in the Big Ten continue to hurt the Terps? ESPN

Women's basketball: Baylor Lady Bears named Team of the Week NCAA

Duke Guards Ranked Among Top Pairs in College Basketball Ball Durham

Maryland women's basketball landed the 5th-best 2018 recruit Yahoo Sports

South Carolina gets a much-needed wake-up call against Tennessee SB Nation
South Carolina AD Tanner wants final call of USC-Tennessee reviewed The State

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Statistical Sites

National Statistics

Rankings and RPI Sites

Realtime Daily RPI

Massey Rankings and Matchups

Jeff Sagarin Basketball Ratings

NCAA D1Women's RPI

ESPN AP and Coaches Poll

ESPN Conference Standings

Warren Nolan RPI and SOS

Message Boards

UConn Territory - The best UConn women's message board ever!!!

College Fans Only - WCBB board where no holds are barred

Vol Nation - Tennessee women's basketball board

CockyTalk - The upstart South Carolina women's basketball board

ND Nation - Notre Dame women's basketball board

Rebkell - WCBB for everyone that thinks they are smarter than everyone else

Videos

BBallnut's Games from the 90's/00's

UConn Women replays

UCONN Information

2016-17 Online Media Guide

UConn 2016-2017 Roster

UConn 2016-2017 Statistics

UConn 2016-2017 Schedule

I'm always open for suggestions. Just please reply to this blog or email me at:

doggydaddy.UConn@gmail.com

Monday, January 30, 2017

DoggyDaddy's UConn/Temple Pre Game Report

UCONN @ Temple

Wednesday, February 1st, 2017

Temple University
Philadelphia PA.

Time: 7:00
TV: SNY/ESPN3

No. 1 UConn 20-0 (8-0) Temple 16-4 (6-1)

Head to Head games

UConn has played Temple 9 times in their history, winning the last 7 after losing twice in the PG era (pre-geno).

1/16/81 L 68-71 A
1/16/82 L 49-62 H
3/23/10 W 90-36 N
1/11/14 W 80-36 H
1/28/14 W 93-56 A
1/14/15 W 92-58 H
2/1/15 W 83-49 A
1/16/16 W 104-49 H
2/14/16 W 85-60 A

First Temple game last season

Second Temple game last season

Overview

Temple comes into this game after a tough loss to No. 20 South Florida, 55-51. In this game, Temple was down 47-31 with 8:09 remaining in the fourth quarter. They hit 4 of 5 three points to close the gap to 2, 51-49 but could get no closer. Prior to that, Temple had won 12 consecutive games and were undefeated in the conference before this loss. Their best game of the season was a 84-74 win over No. 17 DePaul. I watched that game and Temple was terrific, but DePaul had their worst shooting night of the season, going 3-25 on threes.

Still number one and undefeated, UConn is coming off what many have described as a lack luster effort in beating Houston 91-42. I know, hold back your laughter. Yes, they were slow out of the gate, even down 6-4 five minutes into the game. I guess lack luster is in the eyes of the beholder. I just didn't see it.

Stat by Stat Comparison

Leader is bolded

UCONN Temple

85.6 Points Per Game 70.5

54.0 Opp Points Per Game 59.0

.517 Field Goal % .394

.349 Opp Field Goal % .377

.419 3 Point Field Goal % .314

.251 Opp 3 Point Field Goal % .284

.771 Free Throw % .716

39.1 Rebounds Per Game 42.5

32.8 Opp Rebounds Per Game 37.4

22.8 Assists Per Game 14.4

13.1 Turnovers Per Game 14.1
1.7 Assists/Turnover Ratio 1.0

10.5 Steals Per Game 7.7

4.5 Blocks Per Game 2.9

UCONN

UConn Starters

33 Katie Lou Samuelson

6'3" Sophomore Guard/Forward

Games - 20, MPG 31.5, FG% .500, 3PT% .459, FT% .831, PPG 21.6, RPG 4.0, APG 2.7

24 Napheesa Collier

6'1" Sophomore Forward/Guard

Games - 20, MPG 29.3, FG% .660, 3PT% .400, FT% .783, PPG 18.8, RPG 8.2, APG 2.0

15 Gabby Williams

5'11" Junior Forward

Games - 20, MPG 28.4, FG% .554, 3PT% .200, FT% .698, PPG 13.3, RPG 8.7, APG 5.4

11 Kia Nurse

6' Junior Guard

Games - 20, MPG 32.7, FG% .454, 3PT% .436, FT% .864, PPG 13.3, RPG 2.5, APG 4.3

12 Saniya Chong

5'8" Senior Guard

Games - 18, MPG 27.0, FG% .494, 3PT% .422, FT% .692, PPG 6.8, RPG 2.1, APG 3.8

UConn Bench

5 Crystal Dangerfield

5'5" Freshman Guard

Games - 14, MPG 23.0, FG% .415, 3PT% .314, FT% .636, PPG 6.1, RPG 2.6, APG 3.2

51 Natalie Butler

6'5" RS Sophomore Center

Games - 20, MPG 18.0, FG% .490, 3PT% .000, FT% .750, PPG 5.7, RPG 5.1, APG 1.2

10 Molly Bent

5'9" Freshman Guard

Games - 18, MPG 11.6, FG% .292, 3PT% .444, FT% .625, PPG 1.3, RPG 1.7, APG 1.3

25 Kyla Irwin

6'2" Freshman Forward

Games - 167 MPG 7.9, FG% .387, 3PT% .250, FT% .684, PPG 2.3, RPG 1.4, APG .5

20 Tierney Lawlor

5'7" Senior Guard

Games - 16, MPG 3.3, FG% .000, 3PT% .000, FT% .500, PPG 0.0, RPG .3, APG .1

UCONN TEAM STATS

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Tonya Cardoza

Head Coach

Tonya Cardoza recently completed her eighth season on North Broad Street, after proving time and again that she was the right person for the job of continuing and building upon the success of Temple women’s basketball.

Temple's 2015-16 season marked the second-straight 20-win campaign, as Cardoza guided the Owls to an overall mark of 23-12. In the tough American Athletic Conference, Temple finished third, compiling an impressive 13-5 record, the best finish for the team in American history. During the regular season, Temple made waves with a six-game win streak, including a thrilling 68-66 win over #20 USF. The culmination of the 2015-16 season again saw the Owls earn a post-season bid. The team advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2016 WNIT, before a narrow 77-76 loss at Michigan. Individually, Cardoza's guards again shined, as sophomore Alliya Butts earned the program's first American Athletic Conference first team nod, while also being named a first-team All-Big five selection.

COACHING EXPERIENCE
Temple University (2008-present)
Head Coach Five seasons
Season     Overall     Conf.     Postseason
2008-09     21-10     11-3 A-10        NCAA
2009-10     25-9     11-3 A-10        NCAA
2010-11     24-9        13-1 A-10     NCAA
2011-12     23-10     13-1 A-10        WNIT
2012-13    14-18        5-9 A-10
2013-14    14-16       8-10 American
2014-15 20-17 12-6 American WNIT Final Four
2015-16 23-12 13-5 American WNIT Quarterfinals
Totals        164-101 86-38

2011 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year
2011 Philadelphia Big 5 Coach of the Year
2010 Philadelphia Big 5 Coach of the Year
2009 Philadelphia Big 5 Coach of the Year

Temple Starters

15 Alliya Butts

5'4" Sophomore Guard

Honors: 2015 American Athletic Conference Third Team... 2015 American Athletic Conference All-Freshman Team (unanimous selection)... 2015 Philadelphis Big 5 Rookie of the Year... 2015 Philadelphis Big 5 Second Team... American Freshman of the Week [1/26/15; 2/16/15]... Philadelphia Big 5 Honor Roll [11/24/14; 1/26/15; 12/14/15; 1/3/16; 1/11/16]... American Athletic Conference Player of the Week [12/14/15; 2/1/16]... American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll [1/3/16; 1/11/16] ... 2016 First Team All-American Athletic Conference ... 2016 First Team All Big 5 ... Philadelphia Big 5 Player of the Week [2/1/16]2015-16: Led the team in scoring for a second year, averaging 15.1 ppg and collecting a team-high 80 steals …Had career-highs in assists (7 vs. Delaware State), blocks (2 at SMU), and minutes played (50 at Memphis) … started in 34 games for the Owls … named to the American Athletic Conference First Team … named to the Philadelphia All-Big 5 First Team … selected to American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll for the week ending 1/3/16 … named to the Philadelphia Big 5 Honor Roll twice (12/14/15, 1/3/16).

Games - 20, MPG 34.4, FG% .332, 3PT% .313, FT% .813, PPG 15.1, RPG 2.5, APG 3.0

2 Feyonda Fitzgerald
5'7" Junior Guard

Honors: 2014-15 Pre-Season Second-Team All-Conference pick... 2014 American Second-Team All-Conference selection ... unanimous All-Freshman Team pick ... 2014 All-Big 5 Second Team ... 2014 PhillyCollegeSports.com Rookie of the Year and All-Philly Second Team ... American Fourth Team All-Conference by College Sports Madness ... American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Week [3/4/14; 1/27/14; 12/23/13; 12/1/13; 11/18/13] ... Philadelphia Big 5 Player of the Week [12/23/13; 12/2/13; 11/17/14; 11/16/15; 11/23/15] ... American Athletic Conference Honor Roll [2/24/14] ... Philadelphia Big 5 Honor Roll [3/3/14; 2/24/14; 1/27/14; 1/13/14; 12/8/14; 11/30/15; 1/18/16; 2/29/16] ... PhillyCollegeSports.com Honor Roll [3/6/14; 1/13/14; 12/23/13; 12/16/13]... American Athletic Conference Honor Roll [11/17/14] ... 2016 Second Team All-American Athletic Conference ... 2016 Second Team All Big 5 ... American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll [11/16/15; 11/23/15]2015-16: Played in all 35 games for Temple, averaging 13.6 points … had a career-high 32 points in the season opener win over Florida … led the team with 186 assists (5.3 per game), which ranks second in a single season at Temple … tied career-highs in rebounds (9) and assists (11) … recorded two double-doubles this season … named to the American Athletic Conference Second Team … selected to the Philadelphia All-Big 5 Second Team.

Games - 20, MPG 36.6, FG% .399, 3PT% .313, FT% .821, PPG 17.9, RPG 3.7, APG 7.5

12 Ruth Sherrill

6' Senior Forward

Honors: 2016 President's Honor Roll2015-16: Averaged 1.1 ppg and 1.6 rpg in 29 games for Temple … notched career-highs in points (8 at UCF), rebounds (6 at Drexel), and assists (3 vs. Houston).

Games - 19, MPG 22.6, FG% .531, 3PT% .000, FT% .571, PPG 5.2, RPG 7.2, APG .5

35 Safiya Martin

6'4" Senior Center

Honors: 2016 Athletic Director's Honor Roll2015-16: Played in 27 games for Temple, averaging 1.1 points and 1.9 rebounds … Recorded 19 blocks and four steals on the season.

Games - 20, MPG 15.6, FG% .421, 3PT% .000, FT% .583, PPG 2.0, RPG 3.4, APG .2

32 Donnaizha Fountain
6'0" Sophomore Guard

Honors: Big 5 Player of the Week [12/7/16]

2015-16: Started in 29 games for Temple … averaged 10.4 ppg and 6.7 rpg … led the team in three-point percentage, making 35 of her 94 taken (.372) … Recorded four double-doubles this season … Notched Temple career-highs in points (20 vs. Houston), rebounds (15 vs. Houston), steals (5 vs. Memphis and Ohio ) and blocks (3 vs. #19/17 USF).

Games - 18, MPG 28.7, FG% .421, 3PT% .338, FT% .851, PPG 13.5, RPG 7.8, APG .7

Temple Bench

22 Tanaya Aikenson
5'9" Sophomore Guard

Honors: 2014 Hall of Fame Game MVP... American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Week [3/3/15] ... American Athletic Conference Honor Roll [12/1/14; 12/21/15] ... Philadelphia Big 5 Player of the Week [12/22/14; 2/15/16] ... Philadelphia Big 5 Honor Roll [12/1/14; 12/21/15; 2/22/16] ... 2016 Second Team All Big 5 ... American Weekly Honor Roll [12/21/15; 3/1/16]2015-16: Started in 34 games for the Owls, averaging 13.0 points and 7.0 rebounds … set career-highs in points (27 vs. Houston) and rebounds (20 at Memphis) … recorded three double-doubles this season … named to the American Athletic Conference Honor Roll for the week ending 2/15/16 … selected to the Philadelphia Big 5 Honor Roll for the week ending 12/15/15 … named to Philadelphia All-Big 5 Second Team.

Games - 18, MPG 28.8, FG% .467, 3PT% .091, FT% .596, PPG 11.8, RPG 8.3, APG .7

21 Kadijiah Berger

5'10 Sophomore Guard

2015-16: Played in all 35 games, averaging 3.3 points and 2.7 rebounds … tied a career-best seven boards against SMU … Scored a season-high 12 points against Tulane, making four three-pointers.

Games - 20, MPG 21.0, FG% .293, 3PT% .354, FT% .714, PPG 4.4, RPG 2.9, APG 1.5

Temple Stats

Game Analysis

In putting together the stats, we once again have a team that is playing pretty much as they did last season. All the numbers are so similar, you can't say they are better or worse than last season.

Temple is led by 5'7" Feyonda Fitzgerald. She is a very quick player and a terrific passer averaging 7.5 assist per game. Last season Nurse did a nice job defending her. Fitzgerald is not a great outside shooter, making only 31% of her threes. But she uses the threat of a three pointer to give her driving opportunities.

Her backcourt mate is their 5'4" dynamo, Alliya Butts. The junior guard continues to take her game to another level. She loves the three pointer, with over half of her shots coming from beyond the arc. She takes around 40% of the Owls' three pointers at about at about 8 per game. The problem is she only makes 31% of them.

This duo is what I would call Ohio State lite. These two guards dominate the play in a similar fashion to OSU's Mitchell and Ashton. UConn will work hard to limit their scoring and force the others to put points on the board. These two also take care of the ball well, so UConn can't expect to turn them over like the other and more sloppy AAC teams.

Temple loves to throw the ball around the perimeter until a drive opportunity shows up. They will either go to the basket or kick out for a three. But they generate most of their offense from their defense. You can see the "Geno" influence in their aggressive defensive play. They will run off misses and off turnovers and they are really really good at it.

UConn has a big advantage inside. Temple's only size is 6'4" Safiya Martin, who only gets around 16 minutes each game. She is just not capable of staying with the UConn front court. There is no one on Temple to cover Williams, Collier and Samuelson and all three should have big games, but expect Collier to dominate play. UConn's defense should be able to contain the guard duo of Temple with Nurse and Chong. And we should see Dangerfield help keep them under control.

Final Prediction

Temple plays hard and is real scrappy. They are quick and can score in bunches if they can turn the other team over. They like to force the tempo and so does UConn. UConn's defense is just too good. Temple was able to play with UConn for some of the second game last season at home. I can see them playing tough again. But based on the South Florida game, I can see Temple getting their doors blown off. Tough one to call a final margin.

I'll go with UConn by 35+. UConn is just too........UConn.

DoggyDaddy's Dailies 1/31/17

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Better weather in Florida today as we enter our final week of our very long stay in the sunshine state.

Took my daughter and her family to the airport Monday. It was such a great visit with both my kids and their families. I'm a lucky man.

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Here is my UConn/Temple Pre Game Report.

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My eyes hurt. My ears hurt.

My eyes hurt from watching the terrible team basketball that Tennessee and South Carolina play.
My eyes hurt from watching the incompetence that is WCBB officiating.
My ears hurt from listening to Doris Burke have an orgasm while watching Diva Diamond Deshields play.

Now, I don't want to say that there wasn't some good basketball. There was the occasional nice pass and some great individual plays by some of the stars, especially DDD. But this was as close to watching NBA teams play with their one-on-one play.

Let me also give credit where credit is due. Tennessee just flat out beat South Carolina. They just played harder and smarter for most of the game.

South Carolina looked firmly in control in the first quarter, pushing out to a 26-20 lead. But both bigs for the Gamecocks, Wilson and Coates, both left the game with two fouls allowing Tennessee to run out to a 39-36 lead at the half. South Carolina was only able to score 10 points in the second quarter. They just had no idea where to get points from with both Wilson and Coates out. They were just lost. And Tennessee crashed the boards with their size advantage and was able to get out on the break for easy baskets.

The third quarter was close. South Carolina actually had a three point lead early in the quarter when A'ja Wilson was called for her third foul. The ref made a bad call here and Wilson let him know with a few "that's bullshit"s. I guess the ref had enough and called a technical foul on Wilson. That meant she had four fouls and was out of the third quarter and most of the fourth quarter. A huge blow for South Carolina.

Tennessee again took advantage of the absence of Wilson and continues to stretch out the lead, pulling away for an 11 point lead, 67-56, with just under 6 minutes left. At that point, Tennessee reverted to their bad ways, allowing South Carolina to tie the game at 74-74 behind two three pointers by Cuevas.

This left Tennessee with 14 seconds left to try to win the game. Sadly, the refs again were the difference makers, calling a blocking foul on Gray of South Carolina, putting Nared on the line to make the two foul shots that gave Tennessee their 76-74 lead with 5 seconds left. A desperation three pointer by Cuevas bounced off the rim and the game was over. Looks like Tennessee will sneak back into the Top 25 in the next AP poll.

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And as one SEC team looks to enter the top 25, another will be dropping out.

Kentucky is sitting at 25 in the new poll that came out Monday. And they then proceeded to play a really crappy game against Missouri, losing 69-62.

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By David in Naples!!!!!

Most fans know who leads the Huskies in points, rebounds and assists. (Katie Lou, Gabby and Gabby) But who is leading in the less glamorous stats? For example, minutes played leader is Kia Nurse with 653, almost 33 minutes per game. How about the rest...

1. Baskets made = Napheesa with 157
2. Steals = Gabby with 54
3. Turnovers = Gabby with 51
4. Defensive rebounds = Pheesa and Gabby at 113.
5. Assists to turnover ratio = Saniya at 4.0
6. Bench scoring = Natalie with 114 points
7. Blocked shots = Collier with 33

Lots of Huskies contributing in many ways to keep UConn undefeated and playing well.

Go Huskies..!!

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