Doggydaddy's Den: DoggyDaddy's Dailies 3/26/17

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Standings in the DoggyDaddy's Dailies brackets.

Rank	Bracket, OwnerBracket	R64	R32	S16	ChampionChamp	TotalTot	PCT
1	espn41965188 1 connboy77espn41965188	290	300	240	UConn	830	99.7
2	PinotBear 2PinotBear	290	280	240	UConn	810	98.6
3*	linkster1 1linkster1	280	240	280	UConn	800	97.6
3*	UConnChapette 2Chapinsfan	280	280	240	UConn	800	97.6
3*	Janice9342 1Janice9342	280	280	240	UConn	800	97.6
6	Romeo and JulietJBB1985JBB1985	270	280	240	South Carolina	790	96.1
7*	Husky1974espn74005316	260	280	240	UConn	780	94.0
7*	espn16111129 1espn16111129	280	260	240	UConn	780	94.0
7*	Chuck 7espn76827413	280	260	240	UConn	780	94.0
7*	Synfulsynful	300	280	200	UConn	780	94.0

Bracket

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Image may contain: 3 people, people playing sports

I mentioned this right after the last game. I was tired of saying that this game was the best performance I've seen, blah blah blah. Well, that certainly wasn't true in this game.

UConn did manage to keep a double digit lead once they took one early in the second quarter, but the slow start and the slow finish should be proper motivation for this team to play with even more intensity and smarts against Oregon.

Not a lot of time for me to write a post game, so I'll just make a few brief comments and start working on the Oregon Pre game report. It would have made my life a lot easier if Maryland won as I have my previous pre game report I could use as a shell. Now I have to do some research on a team no one thought would be in the Elite Eight against the Huskies.

I had to watch the game after it happened as I was working in Norwalk at the time they played. I'm listening to the game on the radio when I realized I was driving right by the exit for Harbor Yard. Boy, was I tempted to go to the arena and see if I could get a ticket and watch the second half.

Two stars for me in this game. Napheesa Collier was star number one. In spite of her poor decision when she picked up her 5th foul (Geno really gave it to her), she put up some great numbers. She had 27 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks. Tremendous game. And Saniya Chong was star number two. She had 16 points, hit 3-5 threes, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.

Gabby Williams had a solid game as well with her 17 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists.

Another bad matchup for Butler. Geno just doesn't trust her against the quicker post players.

Jordan Canada is one heck of a player. So quick, and she really has some great court vision. A great double-double with 20 points and 11 assists. She had only 2 turnovers.

Monique Billings was as advertised. You could say she lived up to her "billings". Sorry. She had a double-double in the more traditional sense with 17 points and 16 rebounds.

I'm pretty sure that Oregon's Cinderella NCAA run comes to an end Monday. I'll had all the stats, analysis and predictions sometime on Sunday.

Here are a few videos. Some highlights and interviews.

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Oregon? Really?
Maryland? Really?

I don't know which is more surprising. Oregon winning or Maryland losing. But maybe the selection committee was right about the seeding for Maryland. When you play a schedule as weak as Maryland, how is a team supposed to be analyzed?

I'm happy that we won't have to hear about the rematch, how Maryland was kinda close in the first game, blah blah blah. Brenda's team lost. I'm thrilled.

It's shocking how well the youth of Oregon has played so far in this tournament. They beat a Duke team that had no chance to adjust to the loss of their point guard to an injury and now a Maryland team that was clueless in how to defend them.

Freshman Sabrina Ionescu was terrific. She reminds me of Taurasi. She makes her teammates better, this young woman can really shoot, has great court vision and is as cool as the other side of a pillow.

Their other freshman starter, 6'4" forward Hebard has a nice game as well. She posts strong and can shoot a turnaround jumper. She is also a pretty good rebounder.

For Maryland, the freshman point guard Slocum really struggled in this game. She only had 9 points and had 3 assists and 5 turnovers in one of her weakest games of the season.

Boy, this one really did surprise me.

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By David in Naples!!!!!

Consider the following ill informed opinion about Napheesa Collier:

"As far as making good decisions with the ball, Collier is not put in a position where she has to make a difficult pass as she is hesitant and usually turns it over."

The part about Collier "usually turning it over." Napheesa has 47 turnovers, same as Kia Nurse. She has fewer that Crystal (61), fewer than Katie Lou (66), fewer than Gabby (76) and fewer even than Natalie Butler (49). The only regular with less is Saniya (38).

Right on schedule, Collier dominated today with 27 points and 14 rebounds. Amazingly, despite the dumb assertion that she "usually turning it over", Pheesa had 5 assists and ZERO (0) turnovers. Maybe she reads this web site..! In fact, she was the only player today for the Huskies without a turnover.

The same poster said this as well, "Gabby makes more difficult shots than Collier which why her % is lower." Gabby has tried 6 threes and made 1. Napheesa has tried 48 and made 42%. Today she made 50% (1-2). Aren't threes harder than closer in shots..? Collier shot 9-14 (64%) from inside the arc, her season average. She made shots from all over the floor..!

Does anyone else remember Gabby blowing passed her UCLA defender, elevating high and gently banking the ball off the backboard..? Gabby is a superstar, but her range is way more limited that Collier. Today she made 7 shots and missed 5. Most of the makes were in close. Her season average is a very respectable 58%.

It is sad what passes for analysis with some fans. Oh well, all opinions are welcome, even wrong ones...