****************************************************
It's been a long week working for my caterer buddy at his kosher catering company. He had orders for over 700 Passover dinners.
We filled 9 large refrigerators and several large coolers before we bag them on Friday for pick up.
I'm pretty much exhausted. I'm too old for this...lol. But we have a great time doing it and it's a good deed for all the people that need his wonderful food.
If you ever need a great meal give my friend Paul a call. Here is their website. You never know. I might be making you a dinner to eat while you read my blog.
**************************************************
I want to wish safe travels to my friend Phil, who contributes to this blog with his incredible insight into the game of basketball. I know that when I get my PM from him, I can count on it containing some great info.
Phil is heading to San Antonio for the rest of the games. I would love to know how many Final Fours he has been to. I'm sure he will read this and let me know. Or maybe I could just ask him...lol.
Stay safe and wear your mask and root hard for the Huskies!!!
Looks like good news is coming in regards to Nika Muhl's availability for Saturday.
From Geno - “I saw her today, doing some stuff in the workout room with Janelle [Francisco], our athletic trainer. She seems to be moving pretty well, We have practice coming up, so we’ll see whether or not she can move pain-free, how much she can move. Right now, because I haven’t seen her play, I haven’t seen her go up and down the floor, I don’t know anything. But I know she’s way better than she was two days ago, and two days from now, she’ll be way better than she is today. I just don’t know where she is today right now.”
And how do you now love this!!!!!
He’s BACK pic.twitter.com/lrQoSx6tfs
— UConn Women’s Basketball (@UConnWBB) March 24, 2021
Here is my UConn/Iowa Pregame Report.
**************************************************
MERCADO REGION
Sweet Sixteen
HEMISFAIR REGION
Sweet Sixteen
ALAMO REGION
RIVER WALK REGION
Sweet Sixteen
**************************************************
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.
And here is the link for the Naismith player of the year.
It's open now.
********************************************************
By David in Naples
For the record, UConn actually NOT bad at defending the 3 point shot. This year, in 27 games, the Huskies held opponents to 26.3% shooting from beyond the arc. In turn, the Huskies made 34.7% of their tries from long distance. Yeah, but that figure is far less without Paige. Well, without Paige the rest of the team is at 31%. As long as we are playing the "without Paige" game, without Liv, Aubrey, Saylor and Anna the rest of the team is back up to 33.1% from beyond the arc. In fact, without everyone but Nika, the made three % is 34.8%, better than the team 34.7%. 
Back to the "lousy" team defense on opponents shooting threes. UConn makes opponents miss 73.7% of their threes. How is that lousy? Iowa, the Saturday opponent only holds their opponents to 34.6% accuracy. That is far worse than UConn. They must really suck at 3 point shot defense..!! Yes, but their 3 point shooting is better than UConn..! True, they make 40.4% of their threes, while UConn makes 34.7%. But if you compare Paige (46.7%) with Caitlin Clark (40.5%), UConn has the advantage.
All of this speculation is silly. Iowa has not faced a defense like UConn's this season. They have feasted on weak defenses, while their own defense is not even average. Iowa scored 84 points and lost. They also scored 93 points and lost.
This game will come down to UConn's defense against threes and the Huskies offense against a weak defense. Those match ups favor the Huskies.
Go Huskies..!!
Back to the "lousy" team defense on opponents shooting threes. UConn makes opponents miss 73.7% of their threes. How is that lousy? Iowa, the Saturday opponent only holds their opponents to 34.6% accuracy. That is far worse than UConn. They must really suck at 3 point shot defense..!! Yes, but their 3 point shooting is better than UConn..! True, they make 40.4% of their threes, while UConn makes 34.7%. But if you compare Paige (46.7%) with Caitlin Clark (40.5%), UConn has the advantage.
All of this speculation is silly. Iowa has not faced a defense like UConn's this season. They have feasted on weak defenses, while their own defense is not even average. Iowa scored 84 points and lost. They also scored 93 points and lost.
This game will come down to UConn's defense against threes and the Huskies offense against a weak defense. Those match ups favor the Huskies.
Go Huskies..!!
********************************************************
By Phil
Part I
I heard a stat mentioned during one of the UConn games that I thought was astounding. I'm sure you all heard it, but I'll repeat it as a way to introduce my topic.
In the years starting with the 2008-09 season through today (not counting the current season because it's not completed and last year because it didn't exist) the Huskies went to 11 consecutive NCAA tournaments, not just showing up but making the final four. In those 11 years, they only lost to two teams, Notre Dame and Mississippi State, neither of which earn invitations to the tournament this year.
That's an astounding stat but I thought I would look back at the complete history of the 31 years in which UConn participated in the tournament. The run starts with 1988 – 89; the team has earned an invite to every subsequent NCAA tournament.
Over those 31 years, only 14 different teams have emerged victorious over Connecticut. I suspect in some of the early years, the victory was barely noted by the opponent, who were more focused on their next opponent, after all, who the heck is Connecticut. Today, I would not be surprised if LaSalle proudly points out that their resume includes knocking Connecticut out of an NCAA tournament.
Eight, more than half, of those 14 teams didn't earn an invitation to this year's tournament:
In the years starting with the 2008-09 season through today (not counting the current season because it's not completed and last year because it didn't exist) the Huskies went to 11 consecutive NCAA tournaments, not just showing up but making the final four. In those 11 years, they only lost to two teams, Notre Dame and Mississippi State, neither of which earn invitations to the tournament this year.
That's an astounding stat but I thought I would look back at the complete history of the 31 years in which UConn participated in the tournament. The run starts with 1988 – 89; the team has earned an invite to every subsequent NCAA tournament.
Over those 31 years, only 14 different teams have emerged victorious over Connecticut. I suspect in some of the early years, the victory was barely noted by the opponent, who were more focused on their next opponent, after all, who the heck is Connecticut. Today, I would not be surprised if LaSalle proudly points out that their resume includes knocking Connecticut out of an NCAA tournament.
Eight, more than half, of those 14 teams didn't earn an invitation to this year's tournament:
Virginia
Vanderbilt
Notre Dame
Mississippi State
LSU
LaSalle
Duke
Clemson
One team, North Carolina, made the tournament and lost the first round
Two teams, Tennessee and Iowa State made the tournament one again and lost in the second round.
Three teams, Stamford, NC State, and Louisville are still active.
We all know that Connecticut, under Geno, has been impressive for a long, long time. This may be just another way of expressing the same point, but it also illustrates the temporary nature of dominance in this sport. Teams are engaged in a multiyear game of king of the mountain, where you try to get to the top of the mountain but do so by pushing other contenders away. Many different teams get to be near the top of the mountain at various times, but staying near the top for an extended period of time is incredibly tough. This will not last, so let's all enjoy it while it is still active.
Vanderbilt
Notre Dame
Mississippi State
LSU
LaSalle
Duke
Clemson
One team, North Carolina, made the tournament and lost the first round
Two teams, Tennessee and Iowa State made the tournament one again and lost in the second round.
Three teams, Stamford, NC State, and Louisville are still active.
We all know that Connecticut, under Geno, has been impressive for a long, long time. This may be just another way of expressing the same point, but it also illustrates the temporary nature of dominance in this sport. Teams are engaged in a multiyear game of king of the mountain, where you try to get to the top of the mountain but do so by pushing other contenders away. Many different teams get to be near the top of the mountain at various times, but staying near the top for an extended period of time is incredibly tough. This will not last, so let's all enjoy it while it is still active.
Part II
Kudos to Charlie Creme for writing the article:
I like the idea and the insights. I found myself in large agreement with most of his points especially the top seven, but I had some disagreements further down the list. He did all 32 teams, I wrote some commentary on just the first 10:
1. Stanford Cardinal (Original seed: No. 1. Reseed: No. 1)
Stanford looked awesome, enough said.
2. UConn Huskies (Original seed: No. 1. Reseed: No. 1)
No question
3. South Carolina Gamecocks (Original seed: No. 1. Reseed: No. 1)
South Carolina was expected to win by 33 and won by 26, so slightly underperformed expectations, but not by enough to justify dropping a seed. I watched most games but not this one so don't have an opinion on what the test revealed.
4. Baylor Lady Bears (Original seed: No. 2. Reseed: No. 1)
Absolutely, they were one of the most impressive performance in the opening rounds.
5. Maryland Terrapins (Original seed: No. 2. Reseed: No. 2)
Maryland was expected to win by 35 and won by 53. if they had originally been seated a number one, would that performance merit a drop to number two? is only room for four number ones, with Baylor UConn and Stanford easily taking three of those spots, so the only question is whether Maryland's performance was better than South Carolina's. I'd say yes but it's a close call.
6. NC State Wolfpack (Original seed: No. 1. Reseed: No. 2)
6. NC State Wolfpack (Original seed: No. 1. Reseed: No. 2)
The article was originally written before the Wolfpack struggled against South Florida, so it's unfair to include that in my review. They did end up beating NC A&T by 21 points, but they struggled in doing so, and definitely deserve to be receded lower. It might be that they deserve a three but I have the benefit of the second came so I'm fine with the drop to a 2 seed
7. Louisville Cardinals (Original seed: No. 2. Reseed: No. 2)
7. Louisville Cardinals (Original seed: No. 2. Reseed: No. 2)
Although Marist gave the Cardinals a bit of a scare in the first quarter, the ship was righted quickly, and Louisville won by 31 compared to an expected margin of 23, so am I fine with leaving them at the same seed
8. Georgia Lady Bulldogs (Original seed: No. 3. Reseed: No. 2)
8. Georgia Lady Bulldogs (Original seed: No. 3. Reseed: No. 2)
Did we watch the same game? I know Georgia was picked to win by 18 points and won by 14, but just looking at the numbers, the question is whether they should move down or remain the same, not move up. if you actually watch the game you remember that Drexel won the first quarter, was tied at the half, and only down five points as they entered the final quarter. both teams ended up with 24 field goals, but Georgia had 18 more shots from the free-throw line. Those are earned by playing well but this was a much closer game than a three seed should be delivering. I'd be hard-pressed to say that they absolutely deserve to drop to a number four but the debate is whether they drop to a four core remainder the three. I get that they accomplish this missing a lot of Stati, but she did play 19 minutes, it's not like she missed most of the game. Sorry I'm not buying this one. (It's arguably unfair that I know what's coming next, what is my wife can tell you, when she asked for potential upsets for Wednesday, I immediately responded "Georgia". (I also said Iowa State might be a close call.) That means I interpreted George's first round is not living up to three seed status.
9. Texas A&M Aggies (Original seed: No. 2. Reseed: No. 3)
9. Texas A&M Aggies (Original seed: No. 2. Reseed: No. 3)
They absolutely deserve to drop the only debate is whether it should be one line or two.
10. Arizona Wildcats (Original seed: No. 3. Reseed: No. 3)
10. Arizona Wildcats (Original seed: No. 3. Reseed: No. 3)
Can't argue with this one.
********************************************************
UCONN LINKS
Sorry if some links need a subscription
*******************************************
Message Boards
UConn Territory - The best UConn women's message board ever!!!
College Fans Only - WCBB board where no holds are barred
Vol Nation - Tennessee women's basketball board
ND Nation - Notre Dame women's basketball board
Rebkell - WCBB for everyone that thinks they are smarter than everyone else
I'm always open for suggestions. Just please reply to this blog or email me at:
No comments:
Post a Comment