Doggydaddy's Den: Doggy's Doghouse 3/17/2021

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Out of an abundance of caution, assistant coach Shea Ralph has decided to depart San Antonio and return home after a member of Ralph's family tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday.

Ralph has tested negative for COVID-19 daily since March 9.https://t.co/UjQQezPlfE
— UConn Women’s Basketball (@UConnWBB) March 17, 2021

This is not related to Geno's Covid issue, so keep that in mind when you start to panic. Shea doesn't have it. This is just a precaution.

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Ground Hog Day!!!

Congrats to UConn freshman supergirl, Paige Bueckers for being named to the AP First Team AA team. She had the most votes. Period. Hard to believe she doesn't win the AP Player of the Year. We shall see.

Christyn Williams and Olivia Nelson Ododa were All-American Honorable Mention. Congrats to them as well. It's a terrific honor.

The other first team members were Dana Evans of Louisville, Aliyah Boston of South Carolina, Rhyne Howard of Kentucky and NaLyssa Smith of Baylor.

Congrats to all the players that were recognized.

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Warning bad language ahead - Predictions are like assholes. Everyone has one and some stink more than others.

Her Hoops Stats, a website with some great information has an opinion on the River Walk Bracket. And it really stinks. Like a big ole fart, it fills the air.

"No. 2 Baylor will make the Final Four. It’s easy to forget that the Lady Bears are the defending national champions. It feels like a generation ago that they knocked off Notre Dame in the 2019 title game. If they want to become the first team since Breanna Stewart’s UConn to repeat as champions, they’ll likely have to get past Paige Bueckers’ UConn in the Elite Eight first. Then again, assuming the Geno-less Huskies make it to the second weekend, they could have Rhyne Howard or Caitlin Clark waiting for them, so nothing is guaranteed. If UConn and Baylor do meet up in the Elite Eight, we’ll finally get to see a matchup that the pandemic robbed us of in January. UConn will be the favorite, and not just by virtue of their better seed, but DiDi Richards might be one of the few defenders in the country who can match up with Bueckers one-on-one. If she can turn it into a game of four-on-four, Baylor could end UConn’s run of 12 straight Final Fours."

Ok, you've laid it out there Her Hoops Stats. Lets see if it holds up.

Yes, they are the defending national champs. But that is now two seasons ago. Do you know how many of the players that squeaked by Notre Dame are still on the team? Well, ONE starter on that team is on this roster. That's Didi Richards. And the two bench players on that team now start. That's NaLyssa Smith and Moon Ursin. That's it. They have 8 new players since winning that championship. Ok...I made my point. Winning that Nation Championship has no impact on the ability of Baylor to beat UConn.

Assuming they GET to the Elite Eight? Yes, of course UConn could lose in an upset. But they don't mention that Baylor would have to get by a tough Tennessee team. That "GET" comment was just a dig. The Kentucky team that lost to DePaul? Lost by 17 to Tennessee? Lost by 12 to Ole Miss? TWICE? And Iowa is a fun story with the second best freshman in the country leading them to a fast finish to the season. But they were 2-7 against ranked teams this year, losing by 20+ against Maryland in the Big Ten championship game. Please.......

They got one thing right. UConn will be the favorite and not just because of the seeding. DiDi Richards is a very good defender. But Bueckers is all-world offensively. I published a Baylor/UConn PreGame report back in January but it was a moot point as the game was cancelled. I'll republish it if they do end up meeting. But here was my stinky opinion.

Sometimes the outcome is clear as day to me. This is a bad match up for Baylor. They lost too much from last year in Cooper, Landrum and especially Cox. UConn has replaced their losses of Walker and Dangerfield with Westbrook and Bueckers. And while they have some size, Egbo is an Enigma and Gusters needs a guster of wind behind her to stay with Nelson-Ododa. I can't imagine Nelson-Ododa going 0-8 from the field again like last season, can you?

Their guard play is good but a step below UConn's level. Baylor has a dilemma. If Richards covers Bueckers then who covers Williams. Overall the advantage that UConn has over Baylor is it's guard play.

I'm going with UConn by 8+.

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I'm going to leave the regions up all week with the match ups and time and station.

When I have time, I'll add links that take about different games.

Then I will post results starting Sunday and of course more detail on the UConn games.

MERCADO REGION

1 NC State vs 16 North Carolina A&T Sunday 4:00 ET ESPN

8 South Florida vs 9 Washington State Sunday 9:30 ET ESPN2

5 Gonzaga vs 12 Belmont Monday 4:00 ET ESPN2

4 Indiana vs 13 VCU Monday 2:00 ET ESPNU

6 Rutgers vs 11 BYU Monday Noon ESPNU

3 Arizona vs 14 Stony Brook Monday 2:00 ESPN2

7 Iowa State vs 10 Michigan State Monday 6:00 ET ESPN

2 Texas A&M vs 15 Troy Monday 6:00 ET ESPN2

HEMISFAIR REGION

1 South Carolina vs 16 Mercer Sunday 6:00 ET ESPN

8 Oregon State vs 9 Florida State Sunday 7:30 ET ESPN2

5 Georgia Tech vs 12 Stephen F. Austin Sunday 4:30 ET ESPNU

4 West Virginia vs 13 Lehigh Sunday 8:00 ET ESPNU

2 Maryland vs 15 Mount St. Mary's Monday 4:00 ET ESPN

7 Alabama vs 10 North Carolina Monday Noon ET ESPN

6 Texas vs 11 Bradley Monday 8:00 ET ESPN

3 UCLA vs 14 Wyoming Monday 10:00 ET ESPN

ALAMO REGION

1 Stanford vs 16 Utah Valley Sunday 10:00 ET ESPN

8 Oklahoma State vs 9 Wake Forest Sunday 1:00 ET ESPN2

5 Missouri State vs 12 UC Davis Monday 7:30 ET ESPNU

4 Arkansas vs 13 Wright State Monday 2:00 ET ESPN

2 Louisville vs 15 Marist Monday 8:00 ET ESPN

7 Northwestern vs 10 UCF Monday 4:00 ET ESPNU

6 Oregon vs 11 South Dakota Monday 10:00 ET ESPN2

3 Georgia vs 14 Drexel Monday Noon ET ESPN2

RIVER WALK REGION

1 UConn vs 16 High Point Sunday ET 8:00 ESPN

8 Syracuse vs 9 South Dakota State Sunday 5:30 ESPN2

5 Iowa vs 12 Central Michigan Sunday Noon ET ESPN

4 Kentucky vs 13 Idaho State Sunday 2:00 ET ESPN

2 Baylor vs 15 Jackson State Sunday 4:00 ABC

7 Virginia Tech vs 10 Marquette Sunday Noon ESPNU

6 Michigan vs 11 Florida Gulf Coast Sunday 3:00 ESPN2

3 Tennessee vs 14 Middle Tennessee Sunday 2:00 ABC

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The Hoop Hall Awards is open for voting. It's a position by position ballot.

Paige Bueckers is on the list for the Nancy Leiberman Point Guard award.

Olivia Nelson-Ododa is on the list for the Lisa Leslie Center award.

I believe you can vote once a day per email address.

Here is the link.

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By David in Naples

Sunday, UConn will face High Point University from North Carolina. Doggy will no doubt do a complete review, but her are a few stats to hold fans over.

1. High Point was 22-6 this year and lost to Liberty, Longwood and Presbyterian. I've never heard of them either...
2. HPU took almost 800 three point shots this season, in just 28 games. That's 28.4 threes a game..!!
3. They made 37% or 294.
4. Four players took over 100 threes, including Skyler Curran who took 214. She made 42%.
5. 50% of their shots were threes.

UConn is not as dependent on the three point shot as HPU. The Huskies took 489 threes or 18 per game. Paige took the most at 116 attempts & made 47%. Overall, UConn made 35% of their threes.

This game will be the shorter HPU kids shooting 50+ threes versus UConn pounding the ball in to Liv, Aaliyah and Aubrey. Look for the tall people to score a lot.

Go Huskies..!!

DD here - I'm not sure I can add much to what David said here about High Point U. They will fire up their threes and UConn will score like crazy. I would at that it's not just Liv, Aaliyah and Aubry that will score alot. UConn's defense will turn into offense over and over and over again.

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UCONN LINKS

Sorry if some links need a subscription

I know these look like links to the same articles,

but not all of them are the same

UConn's freshman leads AP AA voting

UConn's Bueckers name first team AP All American

Bueckers named AP All American

Bueckers named first team AP All American

Chasing Perfection: NCAA Tournament Predictions

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