Doggydaddy's Den: Doggy's Doghouse 2/19/18

*****************************************************************************

Days until Florida!!!!

Yep, leaving Monday afternoon at 5:11!! So excited to see my son and his family.

But I will miss my daughter, her husband and my LOGAN!!! Thank god for FaceTime!

Yes, we have an alarm system, nosey neighbors and a great local police department. So don't even think about it!!

***************************************************************

I had a great time at the UConn game today. I got to sit next to one of my favorite UConn fans!

Carol is not only a really nice person, she is a terrific puppeteer. That dog can dance!!!

I also got to meet another really nice reader of my blog and a BIG UConn fan, Colleen. Great meeting you!!!!

I went to the game with my friend Dan. He had an interesting experience there. During one of the "Tee Shirt throwing" point of the game, where the cheerleaders toss shirts to the fans, he was able to lean over the empty row in front of us and snag the shirt away from the people who were leaning back. In the process, he dropped his phone. The lady who picked it up said "the tee shirt for your phone". After a quick look, my friend thought it best he just make the trade. I was pissed off at that lady. He should have kept the shirt and said "give me my damn phone". He was nicer than I would have been!

Just a few comments on the game as I'm not sure I will get to a post game report.

As you will read in David's numbers (if you haven't already), UConn played extraordinary well in the first quarter. I kept reading quotes from the players that they were working in practice on tightening up things, working on a few shortcomings. Well, you could see it in their play. They passed the ball as good as they have all year. They shot the ball really well too. And their defense was as sharp as it's been.

I thought that Stevens played a little stronger in the paint, but it's clear it's something she needs to work on in the off season. She shouldn't be losing the ball once she has her hands on it and if she was stronger she could create more room to shoot when she gets the ball down low.

Speaking of strength, can you believe how much stronger Katie Lou is compared to her even last season but so much more than when she arrived at UConn. She had three traditional three point plays, finishing strong after contact. She is a complete player. I would take her right now over A'ja Wilson in the POY contest.

The Huskies had an incredible 7 players with 3 or more assists. I would bet that not one other team in the country has had that statistic in their box score in any game this season.

Dangerfield still looks out of sorts. She is not the same player she was earlier in the season. When you can't put in the time in practice (she only practiced 30 minutes in their last practice) it's really hard to be sharp in the game.

The crowd was really into it in the fourth quarter as the bench played really well and showed everyone that there is some talent there ready to eventually shine in prime time. Three players in particular stood out.

Walker, in scoring 10 points and grabbing 6 rebounds, played really well in this game, showing off her athleticism. She still made a couple of "high school" plays, just trying to do too much on her own. But you can see how good she is going to be.

Irwin was so solid. She had perfect rebounding form, a nice shot, plays really tough on the boards. She had 7 points, hit a three pointer and grabbed 4 rebounds. The crowd went crazy when she hit the three pointer.

Camara really surprised me in this game. She had 8 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists in 11 minutes. had I think she would have been part of the regular rotation if she was healthy from the beginning of the season. You can see her skill set and she brings something different to the table than any other Husky. She is really tough rebounding in the paint. She can carve out space better than anyone on the team. She can really drive to the basket, using her shoulder to get separation for her defender. And I saw a great ball fake to open up the lane for a drive to the basket. She might surprise everyone and get some earlier minutes. I hope so.

Lastly, a shout out to the UConn fans this year. In this game, I looked around and thought it had to be over 12,000 in attendance. It ended up 13,110. The Huskies are averaging 12,458 per game in the XL center game. Fan-tastic!!!!

Like I said, I'll try to put together a post game report but I might not have the time.

***************************************************************

Several top 25 games with a couple of upsets, my thoughts:

No. 2 Mississippi State stayed undefeated and clinched the SEC regular season title with a convincing 76-55 win over No. 17 Texas A&M. The good news is that the MSU's starting five all had double digit scoring efforts. The bad news is that the bench was scoreless. Not only scoreless but they had in total 2 rebounds and 1 assists. UConn fans who complain about the bench should remember that this MSU team had to play 1 starter 40 minutes, 2 starters 37 minutes and the other two played 33 and 31 minutes. And this was in a game that MSU went into the 4th quarter with a 19 point lead. Vivians was spectacular with 26 points and 12 rebounds.

No. 4 Louisville escaped an upset in Chappell Hill, beating North Carolina 67-57 on a solid fourth quarter, turning a tie game into a 10 point win. Asia Durr was her usual inefficient self, scoring 19 points on 17 shots. She appeared to land on a defender's foot on a jump shot and was helped off the court with a possible ankle injury. This would be devastating to the Cardinals NCAA chances. Let's hope she is ok.

No. 10 Maryland lost their second consecutive game to an unranked conference opponent, getting beat up by Minnesota 93-74. The Golden Gophers were on fire from the outside, hitting 14-24 three point shots. It's a real battle for the Big Ten regular season crown with 4 teams within one game of each other.

In another "upset", No. 13 Missouri defeated No. 11 Tennessee in a tightly contested game. Missouri ran out to a big 25-13 lead after one quarter. Tennessee closed the gap to six points at the half. The Lady Vols continued to battle, eventually tying the game up in the third quarter. They actually had the lead with five minutes left in the quarter, but Missouri pulled ahead to take a two point lead heading into the fourth quarter. The Tigers took a 5 point lead with 4 minutes left on a Cunningham jumper (Missouri's last basket of the game) and two free throws. And they held on to win by hitting 7 of 9 free throws to close out the game. Tennessee did have a chance to tie, down three with 2 seconds left and Missouri inexplicably fouls the freshman Davis on a three point shot attempt. Unfortunately for Tennessee, she only made one of the free throws.

After the game, the infamous SEC lover and creator of "Bracketology", stated after the game that Tennessee was still a three seed. Even after losing two games this week, one at home to unranked Alabama. Ridiculous. I have them as a four seed and they should lose two more games heading into the NCAA tournament.

In a fun AAC Florida matchup, No. 22 South Florida was able to beat a tough (as UConn found out) Central Florida team in overtime 77-68. Laksa again was hot, scoring 32 points and Jesperson had a double double. Looking forward to playing USF again, this year on Senior night on Saturday.

**************************************************************

By David in Naples!!!!!

In Brasil, they call soccer the Beautiful Game. The first 10 minutes of the Temple game was equally beautiful. Consider:

1. UConn shot 75% from the field w/ 12-16 made shots.
2. The Huskies were even better from the free throw line at 5-5.
3. They had 10 assists on the 12 baskets and only 2 turnovers.
4. Katie Lou went 4-4, Gabby hit 3-3 and Pheesa was 3-4 for 25 total points.
5. Temple only scored 13 points on 4 baskets. They shot 27%.
6. UConn has 4 steals, 3 blocked shots and only 1 foul.
7. Lou had 11 pts, Temple scored 13.

The 32-13 lead was enough to put away any doubt about a Huskies’ win. Geno feels UConn is playing near-March basketball. It is a beautiful thing..!!

Go Huskies..!!

****************************************************************