Doggydaddy's Den: DoggyDaddy's Dailies 3/8/17

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If you haven't seen it yet, here is my full UConn/South Florida Post Game Report

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If you peruse the message boards enough, you can always find something to disagree with. And sometimes you want to punch someone in the face....lol. Ok, not really, but close.

Here is a beauty!

"over hyped Samuelson.....a whisker better than Nurse. Samuelson was to be KML+++ shooter. She isn't even the best shooter on this team.

"So far she is not threatening KML or Sue Bird as the best UCONN shooter; let alone the best 3FG. She is not the best shooter on this team. Volume shooter to score, she is."

Well, let me say this about that......

Over hyped? I'd say she is and was correctly hyped. No. 1 player coming in, she was terrific once she got her sea legs in her freshman season. Her performance was foreshadowing of her terrific sophomore year. I love Kia, but Samuelson is more than a whisker better.

She came to UConn as one of the best shooters in HS and she has done nothing to say that didn't transfer to college.

So, how has she compared to KML in her first two seasons? I'd say it was pretty close.

Freshman Season

Scoring KML - 15 ppg, Lou - 11 ppg
FG percentage KML - 43.2%, Lou - 49.3%
Three point percentage KML - 38.4%, Lou - 39.4%
FT Shooting KML - 83.3%, Lou - 83.7%

Interesting that he called Lou a volume shooter. If you look at the number of shots their freshman years, KML was clearly the one that took more shots. Lou took 100 less shots and 50 less three pointers. And all of Lou's shooting percentages were higher.

Sophomore season

Scoring KML - 17.6 ppg, Lou - 21 ppg
FG percentage KML - 48.0%, Lou - 49.4
Three point percentage KML - 49.2%, Lou - 43.7%
FT Shooting KML - 89.5%, Lou - 84.5%

No doubt KML had an amazing sophomore season. Her three point shooting and foul shooting was spectacular. But Katie Lou's season in anyone's evaluation would have to be considered excellent. She has taken a lot of shots. But that is her role on the team.

So far, has Lou been KML? Not really. She is a totally different player than KML outside of their similar shooting abilities. Different, but so far, just as great.

If you can't see that you are just an argumentative putz....!

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Thanks to Wbbfan1 for posting this on the UConn message board.

Women’s College Basketball Final Overall Player Rankings for 2016/2017 – Class by Class!

Juniors Gabby Ranked 10th and Kia Ranked 17th.

Sophomores Katie-Lou and Napheesa Co-Ranked #1

Freshmen: Crystal Ranked 9th.

I think what should scare the rest of the WCBB teams is that UConn has the best two players in the sophomore class. That means the best two players the next two years. We know how that worked with Stewart and Jefferson.

Then add in the 2017 recruiting/transfer class for those two years and you have an unbeatable team...again.

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By David in Naples!!!!!

Two seasons ago, much was made of UConn having five players, each get over 100 assists. Led by Moriah's 191 assists, the Huskies averaged 21.2 assists per game on their way to 828 total dimes. Don't look now, but the current Huskies are just 5 assists away from five players having 100 assists. Gabby, Kia and Saniya are already over the mark with 168, 111 and 116 assists respectively. Right behind them are Katie Lou at 98 and Crystal with 97. If Lou gets two and Dangerfield adds 3, UConn will have five players with over 100 assists.

For the 32 games so far, UConn has 747 assists for an average of 23.3 per game, ahead of that special season two years ago. Last night, against USF, the Huskies had 31 assists on 38 baskets. This year, on their 1,048 baskets, UConn has assists on 71.3% of them. In sharp contrast, opponents have just 331 assists against the Huskies. That is just 48.7% on their 680 baskets. Given that UConn has 328 steals, those 331 assists look pretty paltry. 8-)

Having unselfish players, who each can score, making the extra pass, gives UConn balance and flexibility on offense. Having five unselfish players who can do that, makes for a special team.

Go Huskies..!!

And another -

Here is a quick look at assist totals for this year's team vs their performance last season.

1. Gabby - Improves from 51 assists to 168 so far.
2. Saniya - Went from 34 assists to 116 so far.
3. Kia - Similar to last season, from 104 to 111, so far.
4. Katie Lou - From 82 to 98 so far.
5. Crystal - From 0 to 97, so far.
6. Napheesa - Improves from 34 to 70, so far.

Last season, the above players had a total of 305 assists. Clearly, Kia, who started 38 games, had over 1/3 of the total. Taking her out, shows improvement from 201 assists for Gabby, Saniya, KLS and Pheesa to 452. Equally important, the 4 players who more than doubled their assists to 452, have held the increase in turnovers from 182 to just 251. Many more assists and just a few more turnovers is a great formula for winning. 8-)