Doggydaddy's Den: Doggy's Doghouse 11/10/19

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We had a grandchildren sleepover Saturday night!

Barrett having one of Grandpa's homemade bagels!

Logan has a frozen mouth after a cherry icicle after dinner.

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Image may contain: 1 person, playing a sport and basketball court

I'm not sure which was colder, Logan's mouth or UConn's shooting against California!

OK, the Huskies weren't the only one cold in this game. My prediction was just god awful. 35+ points and go with the plus is what I said. Moron.

A few things happened that I didn't expect from a Geno coached team.

- Missed layups. I stopped counting after 10. That is something that Geno drills into them. I doubt we will see that again this season.

- Lack of assists. 12 assists in the entire game? Out assisted by the opponent (not names Notre Dame)? Crazy

- Poor foul shooting. OK, they have done this before, but it just looked worse in this game with everything else that went on.

- Allowing the opponent to get so many open threes, especially by one player. Yes, that one player was an Aussie. They are usually good players in college. And yes, she is the one with the funky three point shooting style (off her back leg) that I said was terrible against Harvard. And she was. But after a few makes, Geno usually shuts them down.

- Lack of ball movement was a game killer. Way too much 1-1 stuff. Thus the lack of assists.

Ok, that is enough negativity coming from me. Let's start with the Geno Postgame Interview.

Geno put it in terms we should all pay attention to after a game like this.

"You win and you move on. As far as first games go, I've seen better and I've seen worse "

Something tells me he won't be so philosophical at the next practice.

"It was just a weird game"

He must have said the word "weird" 20 times.

He also said that Crystal came to him and said "I don't think we should run plays today, not everyone knows them". And Geno replied "So they didn't. And it was a good thing they didn't. When your point guard tells you that you better listen".

Now let's hear from the players!!

Geno really recruits great kids!

After listening to the player post game interviews, I won't be nearly as hard on them as they were on themselves. It was good to hear.

Let's get into the player evaluation from the game.

This certainly wasn't the Crystal Dangerfield we are used to seeing. There were some great moments for CD, but for the most part she didn't do her job in getting the offense running smoothly. The comment about the players not knowing the plays was telling. She forced some shots and hit a low percentage of her shots. In her full 40 minutes of play, she scored 14 points, grabbed 5 rebounds and handed out only 2 assists with 3 turnovers. Not very Crystal-like.

Megan had one of the better games on the team. She took over in the third quarter, scoring 14 points. She was also tough defensively and on the boards. In 35 minutes she scored 21 points, hitting 8-16 shots and 2-3 three pointers. She added 10 rebounds. Geno was not happy that she didn't have any offensive rebounds. She is going to be a big star this season.

This has to be one of my favorite pictures. I just love this kid. Christyn was just great on offense in this game. She showed all aspects of her offensive game. She played all 40 minutes, shooting 10-17 from the field scoring 24 points to lead the team. She added 7 rebounds. The good news is she said in the interview she has more to give.

Her overall stats say one thing but Geno says another. I would say that any player with a double double had a very good game. However when Geno was asked about her game, he called it average. I'd take that anytime! She did float around the perimeter too much. I'd love to see her post up more. But she played 37 minutes without fouling out and she scored 11 points, snared 13 rebounds and did a great job passing from the high post with 4 assists. She added 3 blocks and a few intimidations!

Aubrey Griffin had a typical freshman game for UConn. She had her moments but was a little intimidated by the situation. I loved what I saw from her athletically but I'm not sure she knew what she was doing. If she looked like she didn't know where she would be, well, she didn't. Just ask Crystal. She did play 19 minutes but scored only 1 point. He contribution was on the defensive end where she had 2 steals and 2 blocks. It will be her main focus this season. Hopefully she will continue to learn.

Kyla Irwin started. That was the big news of the game. But sadly, she didn't take that opportunity to hold on to that in my opinion. In her 11 minutes, she didn't take a shot and was scoreless. It was a box score full of zeros.

Hey, have you seen Anna Makurat? It appears that she is missing. Geno said that she was nervous the last few days and had some terrible practices. His best lines from the interview were about Anna. He said he didn't start her because he was afraid she would cry. He asked if there was something paler than pale. I have a feeling she will respond well to the criticisms. In her 18 minutes took two shots and missed them both scoring 1 point and adding 2 steals and 2 assists. After rebounding like a demon the two exhibition games, she didn't have ONE rebound in this outing.

I'm sure everyone is glad to have this opening game under their belt and maybe by Wednesday when they play Vanderbilt on the road, they will have worked a few more kinks out. But don't be surprised of this game is another tough one.

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