Doggydaddy's Den: Doggy's Doghouse 2/5/19

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I had a wonderful day with my Grandson. We went to the mall and did a lot of walking. Well, I did anyway. He was in the umbrella stroller. Do they make these things for only short people or people with long arms? I had to hunch over while pushing it around. Not good for my sensitive back. But he was the hit of the mall. Everyone looked at him and they couldn't help but smile. I'm glad we could make to many people happy!!!

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There are no Top 25 games Tuesday night and only one on Wednesday night. No. 5 UConn takes on one of the weaker sisters in the AAC in East Carolina. The Pirates broke a 5 game losing streak with a 63-61 win over Tulane. They had lost to Tulane earlier in the season by 9 points. UConn beat the Green Wave 75-33 mid-January so you can see that this shouldn't be a very close game.

ECU plays everyone. Close games, blow outs, it doesn't matter. They have 11 players with double digit minutes. Look for at least 9 of them to do the same in this game.

The Pirates are a terrible shooting team, hitting at a 35% clip from the field and 24.7% on threes. Their assists/turnovers are just as bad with 236/328. UConn is going to want to really pressure them and put a positive taste in their mouths after the last few games of unusually weak play. Home games help and this is the first of three consecutive.

Looking for Katie Lou to figure it out soon. Let's hope it starts here.

The Huskies should take this one by 40+ points.

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UConn landed two on the late season Wooden Award list. As bad as some UConn fans seem to think they are playing, both Napheesa Collier and Katie Lou Samuelson were both chosen. Great news for two of my favorite young ladies.

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By David in Naples!!!!!

Part I

Apparently, Katie Lou Samuelson has forgotten how to shoot a basketball. Just read any of the many posts from "fans" and there is no escaping the reality that Lou is over-hyped, over-used and over-appreciated. For goodness sake, she is only shooting 44.3% from the field. That sucks, right?

Not so fast. Arike Ogunbowale, the greatest basketball player ever, only shoots 45.8% from the field. Well, she is a better 3 point shooter, right? No, Lou is way better, 34.5% to 29.8%. oh.... In fact, Samuelson has more rebounds than Ogunbowale (145 vs 112), more made threes (51 vs 31) and fewer turnovers (29 vs 60). What about free throws, Arike is better right? No, Lou is way ahead 85.3% vs 77.5%. The only thing Arike leads in is shots taken, 378 vs 305. That right, Arike has taken 73 more shots than Lou.

What about that L'ville sharp shooter, Asia Durr? Well, she makes 45.1% of her shots from the field. Lou was 44.3%. Durr makes 35.0% of her threes, Lou was at 34.5%. Free throws, 82.8% for Durr, 85.3% for KLS. Wow, pretty even. I guess Lou, Arike and Asia all suck...or maybe over the course of a season, great shooters go thru slumps.

Part II

Couldn't help but notice that Katie Lou finished last season with 145 rebounds in 32 games. This year, she has 145 rebounds in 21 games. Last year she had 6 blocked shots. This season, already 12. Free throw shooting? Last year, 83.5% vs this year 85.3%. Points per game? Better this season, 18.3 vs 17.4 last year. Minutes played up this year too, 32.4 per game vs 29.7 last year. Turnovers? Last year Lou had 44. So far this season, only 29.

So Katie Lou is playing more minutes, scoring more per game, and already equaled her rebound total from a year ago. Wow, she sure does suck this season... 8-)