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The kid in my wife always comes out with a new snow!!
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If you are on a phone the videos I post don't appear to work.
As a workaround I made any video descriptions link-able.
Just click on it.
Sorry about that!!!
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UConn plays St. John's at home on Wednesday night. Game time is 6:30. The teams are playing at Gample. You can find the game on SNY if you get it!
So, do you know anything about this year's St. John's team? I didn't either until I did a little research.
Just some facts to start with. The Johnnies (I can't call them the Red Storm) come into this game with a 5-9 record, 2-7 in the conference.
St. John's has a few problems in facing UConn. They are not a deep team and they just lost their second leading scorer Quaddashi Hoppie to a season ending shoulder injury. She only played 8 games but hit three pointers at 40%. They will miss her for sure.
Leading scorer Correa Leilani is a sophomore 6' guard. Tough for her to take all the scoring load. They also start Kadaja Bailey, a 6' junior guard, Unique Drake (great name!!), a 5'7" sophomore guard, Emma Nolan, a 6'1" sophomore forward, and Rayven Peeples, a 6'3" junior forward. Off the bench they bring in Raven Farley, a 6'4" senior.
How Unique, they have two Ravens.
They have played several teams that UConn has played as well, so you can sometimes correlate the scores and come up with a margin of victory. It's not an exact science, but it's something!
Butler - UConn +68
Seton Hall - UConn +27
Villanova - UConn +28
DePaul - UConn +23, +33
Butler - St. John's +8
Seton Hall - St. John's -23
Villanova - St. John's -9, -3
DePaul - St. John's -17
Oh boy....this could get ugly!!! Using my math skills and iPhone calculator I figure that UConn will win by grand total of 50.6 points.
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Ok, I've pretty much had it. I can't believe how much crap Olivia is getting from the fans. UConn fan!!
Even after a great win against DePaul, many of the comments are trashing her. I mean, just trashing.
Now, I get it. No player is perfect. Every player has a bad game or two. But she is a great player that I'm thrilled to have on the Huskies and I expect her to continue to play well and even improve.
So, similarly to my FOY post from my last blog, I'm going to do a player-to-player comparison to the centers on the top 5 teams. And I mean true centers. That means no Stanford, UCLA, Texas A&M, Arizona or Maryland players on my list. These teams have some very good forwards but no true centers.
That leaves Olivia Nelson-Ododa, Aliyah Boston, Elissa Cunane, Olivia Cochran and Queen Egbo.
I'm pretty sure that some comments I get, if I get any, will talk about how the schedules compare. Well, I will list the Massey SOS. I like his site. But I don't focus on that. Some will comment about players might do in the games against other good bigs. I'll add a comment on that for each player as well.
But mostly, this is going to be a stats driven comparison. Hope you find it interesting.
WCBB best center comparison - Top Teams
Aliyah Boston - No. 2 South Carolina - Net Rating 3 - SOS 8
MPG 29.0, PPG 13.7, RPG 11.5, APG 1.6, BPG 3.1, TPG 1.5, FG% 47.7 , 3FG% 26.9, FT% 71.1
Boston has played the most minutes and plays the toughest schedule. So, how did she do against their toughest games?
Against NCST in their only loss, she didn't play very well. Only 9 points on 4-14 shooting, 9 rebounds and only 1 block. All below her average. She had 20 points, 12 rebounds and 7 blocks against Kentucky, 26 points, 16 rebounds and 6 blocks against Arkansas.
Elissa Cunane - No. 4 NC State - Net Rating 7 - SOS 44
MPG 24.6, PPG 16.2, RPG 7.5, APG 1.0, BPG 1.4, TPG 1.9,FG% 58.2, 3FG% 46.2, FT% 84.0
Clearly the best mid range and long range shooter, teams can't afford to foul her. It's pretty much an automatic two points.
In the same game where Boston struggled, Cunane didn't do much better. She scored 14 points on 3-13 shooting. She did go 8-8 from the foul line. And she added 4 blocks. Against Louisville, she scored 16 points on 7-9 shooting, hit her only 3 and grabbed 6 rebounds. The rest of the schedule? Really weak.
Olivia Cochran - No. 1 Louisville - Net Rating 6 - SOS 54
MPG 21.3, PPG 12.3, RPG 6.4, APG .9, BPG 1.0, TPG 1.7, FG% 62.7, 3FG% 25.0, FT% 77.0
She doesn't lead in any categories, but she is the only freshman on the list. She had a great game against DePaul, scoring 19 points on 8-9 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds. That was absolutely the toughest game on their schedule until losing to NC State in their last game. In that game she had 8 points on 5-7 shooting and 9 rebounds. Problematically she also had 5 turnovers.
Queen Egbo - No. 8 Baylor - Net Rating 5 - SOS 80
MPG 19.7, PPG 11.0, RPG 6.9, APG 1.0, BPG 1.3, TPG 3.2, FG% 51.7, 3FG% 0.00, FT% 59.0
Egbo's issue is that she is a foul machine, which is why her minutes are so low. Her first tough game was against Arkansas where she only played 11 minutes before fouling out. She had 6 points, 7 rebounds and 5 turnovers. In her next tough game she only played 14 minutes against West Virginia. She had 5 points and 4 rebounds. Against Iowa State in their first match up she stayed on the court for 20 minutes (still had 4 fouls) and scored 11 points and grabbed 5 rebounds. In the second Iowa state game she had 4 fouls again limiting her to 17 minutes. She had 8 points and 6 rebounds.
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Olivia Nelson-Ododa - No. 3 UConn - Net Rating 2 - SOS 71
MPG 22.8, PPG 14.2, RPG 7.2, APG 1.8, BPG 2.0, TPG 2.0, FG% 64.2, 3FG% 37.5, FT% 58.7
Olivia has the best assist numbers, but that is not surprising since UConn is such a good passing team. She also has the best FG percentage. Second in blocks behind Boston, ONO is a very good defensive player who occasionally gets in early foul trouble. But only 4 fouls once and never fouled out.
Let me add that Chari Collier has the best season scoring and rebounding stats. But Texas is not ranked so I didn't include her. She does disappear in the tougher games. In fact while she averages 21 PPG on the season, she only averages only 12.5 in their losses and has fouled out of 3 games.
So who do I think is the best center on a top team? I have to tip my hat to Aliyah Boston. Her physical presence is just about everyone else on my list. And she has the most ability to dominate a game on both ends of the court.
No. 2 on my list is Nelson-Ododa. She has terrific time on the defensive end of the court, blocking shots and altering many more. Her slight frame prevents her from doing more in the paint, but shooting 64% is not an accident. She can finish nicely with either hand. And she does a great job passing out of the post, well until the Arkansas game that is..lol.
These two matched up against each other last season and it was a great match up. Boston was her usual presence down low. ONO held her own.
Boston played 40 minutes, shot 6-14 from the field, 1-5 on threes, scored 13 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. She also had 1 assist, 2 blocks and 3 steals.
ONO played 39 minutes, shot 5-12 from the field, 0-1 on threes, scored 10 points, snared 9 rebounds, and handed out 4 assists and blocked 3 shots.
Looks pretty even to me.
Bottom line? UConn is lucky to have Olivia and the many comments disparaging her just seem way off base to me. I'm sorry she is not the best center in the country. I'm sorry she's not Tina Charles. Or Stef Dolson. But she is just pretty damn good. Just read David's Stats.
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Congrats to Azzi Fudd for being one of the final ten players for the High School Naismith Player of the Year. Fudd won the Gatorade HS Player of the Year her sophomore season.
I tried to find some info on her season to date but like most HS teams I'm thinking her season has been cancelled. But just a reminder of what we are adding to the roster next year.
I don't think I've posted this video before!
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No Top 25 games impacted Tuesday Night
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By David in Naples
UConn's much maligned juniors are quietly making a mark on UConn's all time scoring and blocked shots lists. Christyn, who apparently can't shoot, is now #43 on the Huskies all time scoring list with 1,111 points. She just passed some nobody named Kelly Faris at 1,109. 
Next up are more obscure players and then at #40 Megan Walker (1,244) and #39 Morgan Tuck (1,298). Too bad she can't shoot.
Olivia Nelson-Ododa, who can't play the post, is now #10 in career blocked shots at 178. Next up is Kelly Schumacher at 181 and somebody named Maya at 204. With at least a season and a half to go in her career, Ono might make it to #6 and replace Naphessa Collier and Stef Dolson. To bad she can't play the post position...
Go Huskies..!!
Next up are more obscure players and then at #40 Megan Walker (1,244) and #39 Morgan Tuck (1,298). Too bad she can't shoot.Olivia Nelson-Ododa, who can't play the post, is now #10 in career blocked shots at 178. Next up is Kelly Schumacher at 181 and somebody named Maya at 204. With at least a season and a half to go in her career, Ono might make it to #6 and replace Naphessa Collier and Stef Dolson. To bad she can't play the post position...
Go Huskies..!!
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No. 19 Gonzaga 63 BYU 56 - Using a big second quarter, Gonzaga continued to roll in their conference, still undefeated. The BYU women’s basketball team threw a scare into No. 19 Gonzaga Tuesday night at The Kennel. But ultimately the Zags prevailed, 63-56. After trailing most of the game, the Cougars roared to life in the fourth quarter, cutting into their 44-34 deficit thanks in part to a couple of 3-pointers by Tegan Graham. Later, Shaylee Gonzales buried a 3-pointer with 1:50 remaining to tie the score at 54-54. However, the Zags answered with a couple of 3-pointers of their own by Cierra Walker to propel them to a 60-54 advantage with 58 seconds remaining. BYU could get no closer. Gonzaga is now 16-2 with their only losses in two of their first three game. They lost to South Carolina 79-72 and to South Dakota State in overtime. 75-72. They are on a 15 game winning streak, the longest in the country.
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A lot of Debbie Downer fans. Tough to find something to really complain about with the DePaul game on the heels of Arkansas. Can you say the “difference between night and day”? This team is still evolving especially given the relatively few games played
ReplyDeleteloved this whole report. great to read the analysis of centers, and remind us that not every center is going to be a Stef or Tina. Thanks, DD.
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