Doggydaddy's Den: Doggy's Doghouse 2/21/19

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These pictures are from the day I forgot my Laptop at their house.

Can you blame me for being distracted???

I have lots of links from Wednesday's UConn game and I'll add my own opinion.

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Here is a great start in discussing the UConn/Memphis game. A few post game interviews!!!

And here are the highlights!!

And the full game without commercials!

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You knew that Katie Lou would bounce back from her 0-5 with vengeance. Against Memphis, she pretty much made three pointers from her seat on the bench. She was so hot, on one three pointer, I thought it was an air ball until they showed the replay and the net barely moved. In her 30 minutes she scored 32 points on 11-19 shooting, 8-11 on threes (two were down and spun out), and she added 10 rebounds and 7 assists. If UConn gets to the Final Four, two games like this and UConn is the champion.

But it wouldn't be her alone, because you know you will get 20/10 from Napheesa every game. She is as steady a player as UConn has ever had this season. You know you will get a high percentage of shots made, from jumpers in the lane, to her great footwork to get layups to running the break to posting up to even hitting the occasional three pointer. Her rebounding instincts are as good as anyone. Against Memphis, she just did whatever she wanted. Her stats were great. In only 27 minutes she had 22 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists. She kept up her efficiency by going 8-12 from the field and 1-1 on threes.

The little engine that runs this UConn train is of course Crystal Dangerfield and once against she didn't disappoint. She played a team leading 32 minutes, helping the bench players be more involved, and scored 15 points on 5-10 shooting and 3-6 on threes. Again, she is the best pure point guard in the country. With her outstanding court vision, she was able to hand out another 8 assists and had ZERO turnovers. Again. Her 157/46 assists/TO ratio is unreal.

Not a great game for Walker and Williams. The "W" girls just couldn't get it going in this one. But sometimes it's easy to drift when Samuelson and Collier are so dominating. Look for a bounce back game the next time out!!

The bench....ahhh…..the bench. They were ALL terrific in this game led by Olivia Nelson-Ododa, Molly Bent, Mikayla Coombs and Kyla Irwin.

ONO is really starting to find her game. She is looking much more like the film I've seen of her in HS. She is getting stronger in the paint on both offense and defense. In her 21 minutes, she was 5-7 from the field for her 10 points, and she added 8 big rebounds. I see only 2 blocks in the box score, but I thought she had 4. Even Geno is starting to say good things about her. That is new. She is going to see more minutes against the weak AAC and early NCAA games. Hopefully it gets her ready to contribute in the later rounds.

I loved Molly's game in this one. She was aggressive and her back cuts were pure UConn. Too bad she missed one! In her 8 minutes she was 3-5 from the field and 1-1 on threes for 7 points. AND she handed out 3 assists. Big for her was that she had no turnovers. In a real pinch, I do believe she could provide a few important minutes in a big game.

Mikayla is ready to be part of the regular rotation on defense. Because of that Geno might used her at times in big games. But her offense just holds her back. If she ever could develop any kind of offensive game she would be starting next season. She is just that good on defense. She played 22 minutes off the bench and was a real disrupter. She had FOUR steals. I thought she looked better on offense in regards to helping run the offense. But she just can't shoot. Sigh.

Kyla seemed to be wherever the basketball was after a missed Memphis shot. In her 13 minutes she only scored 3 points, but she snagged 7 rebounds.

Overall, just a terrific game for the Huskies. 55% from the field, 52% on threes, 32 assists on 39 baskets and only 11 turnovers.

Up next is Tulsa on Sunday at 3:00. The Golden Hurricanes are 11-14 overall and 5-7 in the AAC. But they have really struggled, going 2-7 their last nine games. They only averaged 52 points per game in those 9 outings. Not good to have a bad offense when you play UConn.

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Several interesting games Thursday night in the SEC and ACC. I'll comments on them as they complete as the evening goes on.

No. 5 Notre Dame beat up on this really poor version of Duke winning 89-61. THREE players for Notre Dame scored 20+ points, Ogunbowale with 25, Shepard with 24, and Turner with 21. But that means that the rest of the team only scored 19 points. Their bench only had 8 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists in a 28 point win. Congrats to Ogunbowale, who became Notre Dame's all time leading scorer.

No. 16 Kentucky traveled to No. 13 South Carolina for a 65-57 win. So how did the Gamecocks only score 55 points after scoring 79 points against UConn? Well, maybe some was better defense by Kentucky. But South Carolina was just so hot in that first quarter against the Huskies and shot 9-22 on threes with Cuevas-Moore scoring 25 points on 4-9 from distance. IN this game she was 1-11 from the field and 0-6 on threes.

No. 14 Miami, who upset both Louisville and Notre Dame in recent weeks was upset by unranked Virginia Tech 73-65. Just another example of the parity in WCBB.

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By David in Naples!!!!!

Part I

The top 4 of the UConn all-time scoring list looks like the following:

1. Maya 3,036 pts

2. Stewie 2,676 pts

3. Tina 2,346 pts

4. Katie Lou 2,220 pts

So, Lou is 126 points shy of Tina Charles and 3rd place. Certainly not out of reach after last night's 32 point performance. A possible 13 games left in the season. The rest of the all-time scoring list looks as follows:

5. Kaleena 2,178 pts

6. (tie) Nykesha 2,178 pts

7. Kerry Bascom 2,177 pts

8. Diana 2,156 pts

9. Kara Wolters 2,141 pts

10. Rebecca 2,133 pts

11. Napheesa 2,125 pts

So, Pheesa is 8 away from Lobo, 16 from Wolters and 31 from Taurasi. Heck, that might be only one or two games. Kaleena and 5th place are only 53 points away for Collier. With 4 regular season games against AAC opponents, that might be reachable before the season ends and tournaments start.

Part II

The game against Memphis was what they call a “Stat Stuffer.” Everyone pads their stats and the box score looks like a three game total.

1. Katie Lou swishes 8 threes.
2. UConn with 32 assists on 39 baskets.
3. Memphis misses 49 shots.
4. The Huskies grab 54 rebounds.
6. The UConn bench scores 24 points, grabs 21 rebounds & has 7 steals.
7. Napheesa and Lou score 54 points.
8. All 10 players for UConn score in the game.
9. UConn scores 62 in the 1st half.

Great effort that will look even better in the box score..!!

Part III

The new Coaches poll has Baylor ranked #1 and UConn #2. The next three are Oregon, Louisville and Notre Dame. Then comes Mississippi State and Stanford. The key to understanding these rankings is to look at each team's loses, where the game was played and when those loses occurred.

1. Baylor (23-1) lost to #7 early in season

2. UConn (23-2) lost to #1 and #4 on the road

3. Oregon (24-2) lost to unranked MSU & just lost to #8, both on road

4. Louisville (23-2) lost to #4 and just lost to #14 at home

4. (tie) Notre Dame (24-3) lost to #2 at home, unranked UNC, & #14 on road

6. Miss. State (23-2) lost to #3 on road, lost to #25 at home last week

7. Stanford (21-4) lost 4 times, they are 4-3 in last 7 games, lost to 3 unranked teams

It is hard to make a case that any of these teams should be higher ranked. Losing to unranked teams or low ranked teams hurts your standing. When the loss occurred and where the game was played are huge factors. The only ranking that doesn't make sense is Stanford. They stay highly ranked because of the name.

Go Huskies..!!