Friday, December 31, 2021

Doggy's Doghouse 12/31/2021

 








 








                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
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GO UCONN!!!!!

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HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!!


The boys enjoying the great outdoors!!!

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COVID CONFUSION!!

So, on this past Monday my wife and I both took PCR tests at a local lab. We pretty much knew that I had had it based on symptoms and we weren't sure of my wife's status. 

24 hours later we are at the pool and my wife gets a phone call. She is positive. We were surprised. When she asked about me they said I was negative. Ok....that sounds weird. So we decided to take the rapid antigen test. 

Well, in those tests, I was clearly positive and my wife was negative. Based on what we know about the rapid tests, a false positive is pretty rare. So......did they somehow switch our results? Nahh....yet....

We went to the same lab at the same time. We sat in chairs side by side when the technician swabbed me first and then my wife. 

So to help us verfiy what happened, my wife took another PCR test. Yes, the same lab where she was positive. It took longer to get the results, but as of 4:30 on Friday, she was NEGATIVE. 

Yes, they switched our results and messed us up all week!!! I will be going to that lab next week to complain. 

CRAZY!!!      

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UConn's game on January 5th at Georgetown is postponed. That's three straight games. Marquette, DePaul and now Georgetown. The next game on the schedule is a week from today, Friday January 7th against Villanova. Hopefully they will be able to play this one, but I'm not confident with this version of the virus flying through our communities. You would think that at the least, Fudd and Muhl will be back for whatever game they play next. I can't imagine how frustrated the team is.   

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GAMES

MOST SCORES HAVE CLICKABLE LINKS TO A GAME STORY


No. 2 Stanford at Washington - Postponed

No.4 Arizona at USC - Postponed

No. 11 UConn at DePaul - Postponed

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Straight from the Dog

Only one top 25 game today due to 3 Covid postponements and that was between No. 9 Michigan and the soon to be out of the Top 25, No. 25 Ohio State.  Superstar Naz Hillmon had another double double, her 40th of her career with 29 points and 15 rebounds. Several positive COVID-19 tests limited the bench for the Buckeyes, who were without senior starting guard Braxtin Miller for the first time this season. 

I was admonished by my friend Bulkey for congratulating Tennessee on their win, even though I trashed their opponent, Alabama to diminish the Lady Vol win. Some people are never happy...lol. So, let me get back to my usual hammering of the Tennessee women's basketball team.

Their latest crowing is about their freshman point guard Brooklynn Miles. She was not highly ranked coming out of high school so now they are going on about how much better she is than her rankings. Now, I haven't seen all her games, but I will admit she can be a pest on defense. But she does NOT wear down the oppossing point guards with her pressure. So, what is the tale of the tape?

21.6 MPG, 3.2 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 2.6 APG, 33 assists/22 turnovers. She is shooting 43.2% from the field and is 5-17 on threes. She also averages around 1 steal per game. Not bad for a freshman point guard, but as usual, the Tennessee fans are over the top with their praise.

The jury is still out on this Tennessee team. 12-1 is great. At Arkansas, at home against Texas A&M and then at Ole Miss in their next three games will tell us more.        

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By Phil 

And then there were three

I told you early in the season by New Year's Eve, the number of undefeated teams in the country would be down to three you wouldn't be surprised.

If I told you that one of them had "Carolina" in their name, and two were from the Pac 12, you'd be equally unimpressed by my prognostications.

"Okay I'll bite, South Carolina, Stanford and who else? Oregon or Oregon State?"

When I explained that the answer is North Carolina, Arizona and Colorado, you probably note that this means Arizona wasn't a flash in the pan last year, but North Carolina and Colorado? Seriously?

Arizona is favored every one of their remaining games other than their game at Stanford. I'm guessing they will have a stumble somewhere else — Massey expects almost 4 losses, but they have the best chance of running the table of the remaining undefeated teams.

North Carolina faces a tougher schedule; their next game is at NC State (if the bugs don't bite) on 6 January. They are favored in every other one of their remaining games, but there are a large handful of games where they are favored by single digits. Massey expects them to lose four before the end of the season.

Colorado has the toughest route to an undefeated season. In fact, they were originally scheduled to play at Oregon State tonight, where they were expected to lose but the game has been postponed. The game after that is against Oregon on 2 January, where Oregon is expected to win but if they survived that, they have games against Stanford, Arizona State, Arizona, and Utah all of which they are expected to lose. They may pull off some surprises but Massey thinks they're going to have 10 more losses this season so I don't count on them remaining undefeated much longer.

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By David in Naples

Weird stats of the day.

1. The best free throw shooter on UConn is Amari DeBerry at 100%. Ok, she is only 2-2, but that is still 100%. How tall is Amari? Yes, 6'5" and growing. The worst free throw shooter on the team is Dorka Juhasz at 50%. She is only 9-18, so 50%. How tall is she? Oh yeah, 6'5"... Can Amari maybe work with Dorka...?

2. Caroline Ducharme is 2nd on the team with 5 blocked shots. In only 139 minutes. Aaliyah Edwards has only 3 blocks in 199 minutes. Dorka has just 1 blocked shot in 185 minutes of play. Evina and Christyn have a combined 4 blocks in a combined 700+ minutes. Oh yeah, Paige has 5 blocks in her 218 minutes before being injured.

3. UConn has 134 turnovers vs 115 for opponents. That is backwards to most seasons.

4. UConn has made 85 free throws vs 86 for opponents. 

Weird....
Go Huskies..!!

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Thursday, December 30, 2021

Doggy's Doghouse 12/30/2021

  








 








                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
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GO UCONN!!!!!

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I fought the Covid and the Dog won, I fought the Covid and the Dog won......

Well, Friday is Day Ten since I first had symptoms and I'm feeling close to 100%. At least as 100% a 69 year old man can feel!!

Thursday was my Birthday and it was a really nice day. Walks, swimming, lounging at the pool and then out to dinner with my lovely wife. 

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So, I temporarily lost my motivation to post my blog. No UConn women's basketball can do that. All the cancellations added to it. Then I remembered this.
 

AND WCBB. So, I looked at Thursday's schedule and there were some interesting games coming up. And a few worth commenting on.

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And if Paige can put up shots on one leg, I can certainly post about it!!!  



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GAMES

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Straight from the Dog

I tried to change the color of the Top 25 upsets to red but for some reason, the software won't let me do it. But trust me, there were three upsets, and one was kinda big.

No. 13 Georgia lost to No. 19 LSU in a road upset by the Tigers. Kim Mulky is showing her stripes with her move from Baylor to LSU and is turning them into a solid Top 15 team if not better. You just can't downplay a well motivated team. With a shortend roster, the Tigers had to play 3 players 40 minutes and nother 37 minutes. LSU only played Gusters off the bench for 10 minutes. Khayla Pointer led the Tigers with 21 points. They are now 13-1 while No. 13 Georgia falls to 11-2 with their only other loss to UConn killer Georgia Tech.

No. 15 Duke was obliterated by unranked Virginia Tech 77-55 in a game that wasn't even that close. It was 59-31 going into the fourth quarter and only a 24-18 final 10 minutes allowed the game to be as close as 22 minutes. It also helped Virginia Tech that they went 20-20 from the foul line. WOW!! And this was a Hokie team that lost by 19 points to Libery. A really bad loss by the Blue Devils and should drop them several spots.

The final upset was the big one!!! Unranked Missouri, missing one of their best players, beat No. 1 and undefeated South Carolina 70-69 in overtime. What a game!! Missouri was missing leading scorer Aijha Blackwell and four other palyers while South Carolina had their full compliment of players available. Missouri had a 6 point halftime lead but the Gamecocks were able to tie it after three quarters. The Tigers had 6 point lead with 3 minutes remaining the South Carolina was able to tie it with 21 seconds left. Neither team could score to finish the fourth quarter. The Gamecocks scored the first five points of the OT period in the first 1:25 but failed to score the rest of the game. And Missouri fought tooth and nail to get the ball with 23 seconds left after a miss by Destinee Henderson and converted on a great layup by Lauren Hanson with one tenth of the second remaining. Boston make a shot on the inbound pass, but that was waived off as after the buzzer went off. You can't catch and shoot in only .1 seconds. An east call by the ref. BIG win by Missouri and while I'm sure the South Carolina fans will shrug it off, a bad loss for the Gamecocks.

While I'm at it, congrats to No. 7 Tennessee for their 62-44 win over Alabama. I was thinking that David's prediction of an upset was going to happen with the score 38-37 after three quarters. But in a recurring happenstance, Tennessee turned up the defense to beat the Crimson Tide 24-7 over the final 10 minutes. Tennessee still can't shoot the ball, with two of their inside players shooting 8-11, but overall they were only 42.9% from the field, 4-15 on threes. I thought holding Alabama to 44 points and an UGGY worth 26.9% from the field and 5-29 on threes was impressive until I looked at who Alabama played and who they lost to. They lost to this Duke team that was gobsmacked by Virginia Tech and to Tulane. Yep, AAC's Tulane. They have beaten a bunch of really bad teams. So, my congrats to Tennessee are tempered by their opponent. Blech!!!!         

       
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By David in Naples

If we can't watch UConn play and win, the next best thing is watching teams we hate play and lose. Several possible upsets are on tap for tonight as ACC and SEC conference games begin.

1. Syracuse (8-4) vs North Carolina (11-0) - Always fun to see the Cuse get schmized...
2. Alabama (9-2) vs Tennessee (11-1) - Upset prediction. Alabama is 7-0 in last 7 games and Tenn. is nt as good as their record might indicate.
3. South Carolina (12-0) vs Missouri (11-2) - SC must go down to Missouri and risk an upset.
4. LSU (12-1) vs Georgia (11-1) - Two ranked teams, one must lose. LSU has played cupcakes all year.

Of note, 8 games postponed or cancelled due to Covid.  :o

Go Huskies..!!

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Tuesday, December 28, 2021

Doggy's Doghouse 12/28/2021

 








 








                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
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GO UCONN!!!!!

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Covid is hitting everyone hard. The Omicron variant is running rampant through comminuties all through America (and the world) and has reached the focal point of my blog, UConn women's basketball. The two games this week, Marquette and DePaul have both been postponed and the DePaul game is due to Covid withing the UConn program. No surprise since the Men's team has the same issue. 

But I'm here to tell you that it hit close to home!!


 Yes, DoggyDaddy was a victim of Covid. That wonderful Bat Mitzvah for my granddaughter Mya turned into a mini-super spreader event. My Daughter-in-law, her mother, a few of their friends and unfortunately me ended up with Covid. 

Thank god for the vaccince and booster. My case was a cough, a low grade fever and some, shall I say, bathroom issues, for a few days. Like a mild flu. 

I've been quarinteening in the condo and my last day is my birthday on 12/30. Going a little stir crazy. 

I've decided to keep my blog in a short term hiatus while the world of WCBB tries to figure out how to handle all the cancellations. Maybe the occasional appearence, but certainly not an every day thing 

But just like the schedules, this is subject to change at any time.

Damn, I hate this.     
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Straight from the Dog

I suppose the silver lining is if they somehow extend the season, maybe the walking wounded for UConn will be back. But who knows if the NCAA will actually do this. Will March Madness turn into April Absurdity?


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Friday, December 24, 2021

Doggy's Doghouse 12/24/2021

 







 








                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
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GO UCONN!!!!!

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Logan just LOVES snow.

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Merry Christmas to all my fellow UConn fans!!!!

Well, I've been a little busy the past few days with family.  


We stayed at my son's house all week to take care of his three dogs while they are on a cruise. Back to my Florida condo today so I've had some time to write a blog!!

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The Mir has landed!! So happy for this terrific kid. Still in a major conference and she should see playing time next season. Certainly more than with UConn. Good luck Ms. McLean! 

Geno watching 2022 recruit  Ayanna Patterson

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GAMES

UPSETS IN RED 

MOST SCORES HAVE CLICKABLE LINKS TO A GAME STORY

I'm sure you have all followed the games you were interested in. 

This feature will start again on 12/27 when Top 25 games resume. 

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Straight from the Dog

I didn't think I could dislike McGraw, the former Notre Dame coach, more than I did. But I do after this.


My friend, Cat, put it out there really well. 

"Muffet grinding the axe again. Agreeing with Parker, media bias, ESPN bias. She throws the entire kitchen sink in one breathless answer. She's been dragged on twitter by UConn fans who know and understand the reality of ESPN and UConn athletics (and the Big East), a reality she is clueless about. Love how she throws NBC and Notre Dame in her answer, a silly nod to the decades of media bias shown to her university over the years. ESPN favors TV ratings and clicks and UConnWBB delivers it TV ratings and website clicks. That's why ESPN loves DukeMBB. ESPN acts to benefit ESPN. ESPN has done zip to favor UConn athletics which is especially painful considering the tax breaks it receives for its corporate headquarters."

The idiots at Volnation.com are having a field day with this. From one of their morons.

"Thanks Coach Muffett for saying what has been needed to be said for years. Biased, yes, yes, Candice Parker is certainly proof of that. To be truthful Gene is an absolute A...hole. Several years ago he told the mother of a Georgia recruit that he and Pat Summit wanted that she was getting a divorce because she was a Lesbian in order to gain an advantage...Summit filed for divorce because he husband was having affairs with other women. That incident by Geno is precisely why later Summit refused to play UConn."

Geno NEVER said that. It was 4th hand gossip. 

"He hasn’t won since 2016 so everyone kind of has beaten his brains in the past 5 years."

Yeah, getting to the final four every year they had the tournament since winning his last championship is getting his brains beaten out.

2016–17Connecticut36–116–01stNCAA Final Four
2017–18Connecticut36–116–01stNCAA Final Four
2018–19Connecticut35–316–01stNCAA Final Four
2019–20Connecticut29–316–01stPostseason not held[1]
Connecticut Huskies (Big East Conference) (2020–present)
2020–21Connecticut28–218–01stNCAA Final Four
And only losing 10 games in those 5 years? Just horrible. 

Such a bitter fan base.

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By PHIL

Poll Prediction

Next Monday and Tuesday, the polls will be updated.

Predicting polls is often tricky, but you can't get a more guaranteed lock than predicting that South Carolina will remain number one.

The interesting question is what happens to Stanford.

Before we get to that, let's talk about what happens to UConn, currently number 11 in both polls. UConn doesn't play again, so their record will be unchanged next week. The only changes will be a result of teams near them moving up or down based on results. Baylor and Michigan are one and two spots up in the AP poll, but not playing this coming week. Texas is one spot behind UConn, playing unranked Princeton at noon. A big win would be a positive, but UConn and Texas are separated by 22 points. It seems unlikely that a win over an unranked team would move them up. Georgia is just behind UConn in the coaches poll, and beat South Alabama, but it seems unlikely that an expected win over an unranked team would gain them the 28 points that need to pass UConn. Thus, it seems very likely that UConn's position will not move much next week.

Now let's discuss what happens to Stanford.

The team has three losses, and the current rankings of the team that defeated them are as follows:

UConn Stanford 
1               1
3             12
17           18

A lot of ink was spilled noting that UConn lost to an unranked team, but this early in the season, rankings are still settling in. Even without factoring in the challenge of adjusting to the loss of the number one player in the game, Georgia Tech's 9–2 record places them at a plausible number 17 rankings. Note that I am given the same credit to Stanford. When they lost to Texas, they lost to a team that was just barely ranked in the top 25, and subsequent events, and an 8–1 record suggests that that early ranking was too low and they come in at number 12. 

If you want to make any adjustments to the rankings, note that UConn's loss to number three Louisville is almost certainly going to be a loss to number two Louisville next week. Plus, Stanford's loss to number 18 USF will look a little different after USF's loss to Mississippi makes it into the rankings next week. That means based on ranking alone, UConn's three losses are higher quality than Stanford's now, and likely to look even better next week.

Based on that alone, one could argue that Stanford ought to drop just behind UConn.

I don't think that will happen.

In fairness, I must point out that the UConn loss to South Carolina looks worse than Stanford's loss. Both games shared some similarities. In both games, the eventual loser started out strong, opening up a double-digit first half lead. Then both teams faded down the stretch with UConn failing more decisively in the fourth quarter. However, while one could come away saying that Stanford's loss to SC was more impressive than UConn's loss, we are talking tiny differences. Those differences aren't zero, and if I were a poster I would move Stanford down but not below UConn.

My guess is that pollsters will treat Stanford more kindly, but we will see soon enough.


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By David in Naples

Geno and his Uconn teams have not had many bad seasons. 

Consider:

*Back in the 1992-93 Geo and the Huskies went 18-11. They made the March Tournament, but lost in the 1st round.

*In 2004-05, the Huskies managed a 25-8 record and made the Sweet Sixteen before losing.

*More recently, UConn in 2011-12 had a record of 33-5 and lost in the Final Four.

Today the Huskies are 6-3, but there is hope the walking wounded are healing and will be back shortly. They have until next Wednesday, the 29th, to heal and return to help against Marquette at home.

UConn needs lots of help. The team is shooting 46.4% from the field. Last year, they made 51.1%. Same kids, minus Dorka and Caroline, but before injuries. Three point shooting is down from 39.9% to 31.8%. Made three point shots per game is off from 8.8 to 5.4. As a result, scoring is off from 78.7 points per game to 69.6 ppg. Even the defense has suffered. Points against is up from 52.8 ppg to 61.6 ppg. 

Heal and hurry back Huskies..!!

So, we now find out Muffett, late of Notre Dame, is bitter at Geno. Very rude accusations about UConn, ESPN and Olympic basketball. Why is she so bitter...? 
 
Consider:

1. Geno has 11 National Championships and Miss Muffet has only 2.

2. Notre Dame has lost in the final game 5 times, including back to back losses to UConn in 2014 & 2015.

3. ND's 2 Championships have come versus Purdue and Miss. State, not Geno.

4. UConn leads the all time series with Notre Dame 38-13.

5. Since April of 2013, Geno is 10-2 vs ND. 

6. In addition to 11 trophies, Geno has been undefeated 5 times. Muffett has 0 undefeated seasons.

7. In her last season at Notre Dame, Muffett had a record of 13-18 and finished 9th in her conference.

Muffett has a lot to be bitter about, but none of it is Geno's fault. His teams have been better than her teams. Get over it and move on...

Go Huskies..!! 

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