Doggydaddy's Den: Doggy's Doghouse 3/26/18

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I'm going to keep this here to remind you all to vote for UConn players!!!!!

Lou, Gabby - Women's Citizen Naismith Trophy (vote March 19-30)

http://naismithtrophy.com/vote/

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Here is an action shot of my Granddaughter Noa in her Cheer Competition.

They came in second place!!! A great job!

Image may contain: 15 people, including Juliane Duretz Wolfberg, people smiling, people standing

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Here is my UConn/South Carolina Pregame Report.

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Image result for oil slick

Someone preparing for Andy's Hair

Listening to Andy Landers about South Carolina's chance of beating UConn. Now, I'm not saying that SC can't do it. They can. But when he said "if we see the South Carolina team that played in the SEC tournament and not the team in the NCAA tournament they can do it" my head exploded.

First of all, in the SEC tournament, they played and beat Tennessee 73-62. Big whoop. We all know how overrated Tennessee has been. Beating them is no big deal. Then they hammered Georgia. Yes, the same Georgia that was hammered by Duke. No big deal there either. Last, they did beat Mississippi State, who really struggled in that game. I'll give South Carolina some credit, but Landers made is seem that the South Carolina that won the SEC tournament was some incredible team that could handle UConn.

Now, I'm not saying that South Carolina can't win. We all know anything can happen on a one and done. But really Andy? This is the exact same team that lost to UConn by 25 and the same team that best a 15, 10 and 11 seed and looked underwhelming doing it.

"I'm excited to get back to the Elite Eight. Obviously I don't know a whole lot of people outside of our camp that thought we would be here today, but it's always good to prove others wrong and be odds beaters."

Yes, Dawn Staley really said this. Like I mentioned in the Andy Landers piece, South Carolina played the 15th, 10th and 11th seeds. No one but her camp thought they would win these three games?

She likes to play the "underdog" card, but this one is just stupid. They were a 2 seed. They were supposed to make the Elite Eight. Especially against double digit seeds.

Take a nap Dawn.

Louisville 76 vs Oregon State 43

Louisville earned the first entry into the Final Four with a total dismantling of Oregon State. They had a nice lead after one quarter leading 14-8. Oregon State found their footing in the second quarter and it was 31-24 at the half. OSU had to feel pretty good as they seemed to be in the game. But the third quarter was all Louisville, with the Cardinals outscoring the Beavers 28-12 to build a 23 point lead going into the fourth quarter. Louisville has been great all season pushing leads out to insurmountable amounts and this one was no different. They turned up the defense in the fourth quarter, outscoring OSU 17-7 for the final 33 point margin. A great game for the Cardinals and balanced scoring from the starting lineup with Durr (18), Hines-Allen (16), Fuering (14) and Carter (10). But it was the defense that made the difference.

Mississippi State 89 UCLA 73

Man, Mississippi State is good. They seem to find a way to beat every opponent at their own game. If a team wants to run, MSU will outrun them. If they want to play a slow down game, MSU will pound the ball inside. In this game it was just the McGowan and Vivians show. McGowan had another monster game with 23 points and 21 rebounds. She just makes everyone else on the floor look small. And Vivians had 24 points on 10-17 shooting. She had several nice pullup jumpers in the third quarter to help put the game away. UCLA played hard the entire game and did close the 16 point lead to 6 in the fourth quarter. But it was too much McGowan and then Blair Schaffer his a couple of big threes to stem the comeback for the Bruins. This is just one well coached team. Coach Schaffer is one of the best.

1 UConn 2 South Carolina

Monday 7:00 ESPN

Geno on Dan Hurley: He'll do a great job. (And More) Carl Adamec

Stevens Nervous, Then Steady, Against Former Team Courant

UConn not letting earlier win over SC provide false sense of security Jim Fuller

Jeff Jacobs: Inspiring words build a healthy dialogue NH Register

Women’s basketball gameday: UConn vs. South Carolina NH Register

It's a battle of past champions as UConn faces South Carolina Bristol Press
Geno Auriemma compares pressure UConn faces to Nick Saban Yahoo Sports
No. 1 Huskies to Face No. 2 South Carolina in Elite Eight UConn team site
A Call to the Pen: UConn women should be celebrated, not trivialized Keene Sentinel
Heavyweights South Carolina, UConn spar for trip to Final Four Fox Sports
South Carolina’s A’ja Wilson Opens Up About Her Struggle with Dyslexia Swish Appeal

1 Notre Dame 2 Oregon
Monday 9:00 ESPN

Sabally could be in line for big game for Oregon against Notre Dame Register-Guard
Oregon goes for their first Final Four berth when they meet Notre Dame Register-Guard
For Oregon to reach 1st Final Four means beating Notre Dame USA Today

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By David in Naples!!!!!

Stopping Lexie Brown was the key to UConn's victory over Duke, 72-59. If you exclude the last 2 minutes of the game, Brown had 8 points and 2 assists. Including what she did against the reserves, it was 10 points and 4 assists. In sharp contrast, the top three scorers for the Huskies this season had 39 points. Add in Gabby's 16 and Kia's 10 pts and the balanced attack killed the Blue Devils. The game against South Carolina will need to be played much the same.

A'ja Wilson is the leading scorer for South Carolina by 324 points. Her 720 points are almost twice that of Alexis Jennings, the other SC big. The big difference between Brown of Duke and Wilson is the lack of assists. Wilson has 57 in 32 games. That is less than 2 per game. When she gets the ball, she shoots. The challenge is making her take bad shots.

South Carolina's best ball handler is Tyasha Harris with 218 assists. The next leading assist total for SC is 80 assists. By contrast, UConn has five players with 179, 132, 117, 112 and 99 assists. Just like the scoring for the Huskies, the ball handling is balanced. So, the game plan is simple, make Wilson take bad shots and keep Harris from handling the ball. Look for UConn to double team Wilson every time she touches the ball & watch for Kia to blanket Harris to deny her freedom to dribble and pass. Do that and the Huskies win..!

Go Huskies..!!

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Requiem For A Heavyweight

One could make the argument that she was always fighting up a class and time and the river caught up with her. More likely culprit though is the growth in the game and the growth in the coaching talent pool. Who am I talking about her you ask? Why Kim Mulkey of course, though the diagnosis might apply to several coaches this year; Kevin McGuff for example, though arguably he never “had it” to lose.

Twice now Scott Rueck led teams have bounced Baylor out way early according to the odds makers and pundits. With all the talent she brings in every year, even given her point guard situation this year, it should have been Baylor demolishing the Beavers’ dam. As perhaps the highest paid coach in woman’s basketball, she should be able to work up a team that doesn’t get embarrassed like that.

Today Louisville restored order to the universe with a big hurt butt whipping of the Beavers. That just sheds more light on the wretched job Kim Mulkey has been doing for a while now. She has her excuses. Marie Gulich was a ringer, a WNBA European Pro League class star. Of course she was referred to as “that girl”, then Mulkey caught herself (no Coach P syndrome please) and spit out her name.

But let’s start at the beginning of her presser. You know, the opening statement. “I really don’t have one.” She didn’t finish the sentence, but it was laying right there on the table: “because no way I thought this team would put me in this predicament” So she punted to the players while she worked on some notes! An intrepid reporter nonetheless asked her a really good question and she said ask the student athletes your questions and I’ll work on my responses “okay babe?”!

Perhaps she’s learned that when she’s rattled she’s capable of saying some career threatening stuff: punch in the face mike drop anyone? Some other things she might finally pick up on: 5 freshman - the #1 recruiting class in the country - better not be your excuse for another cupcake schedule. If you need to keep popping Chicklets to be calm enough to do some decent in game adjustments, then ask Dawn who her supplier is, because for a while now you’ve stunk at it. Mulkey, your team is soft - yes, literally soft. Brown may be the center of the year but she’s soft. No excuses for soft when the whistle is paid $1.9M a year to blow it.

Brown to her credit owned up to her being unable “to score the ball”, but Mulkey did you really have to throw the kids to the wolves and look so unraveled in the process. You’ll have time on the ride home to prepare you pitch/excuses for the AD and the Board. Besides, you are bullet proof right? You know where are the bones are buried on the Baylor Quad. If they were going to fire you it would have been off “the mike drop.”

Here’s the Presser if you haven’t seen it.