Doggydaddy's Den: Doggy's Doghouse 12/8/2021

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GO UCONN!!!!!

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This guy is good. I feel so much smarter

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I posted this for the team, not the fans. Our lives go on. But the players? Man, this has to be so difficult.

As others have pointed out, Geno has been through this before with his team. I believe some cost UConn a championship. Certainly Shea's injury. And Sveta's injury did as well.

For this team, the shear numbers of injuries, one piling on to another, has to be emotionally crushing.

This is a true test of each and every players will. Their will to do what they can to play their best. To play stronger and tougher than they have before. To not feel the self pity. That is a hard one.

But after reading a few of the articles with quotes from Geno and some of the players, I'm buoyed by their attitudes. As a fan I will give them plenty of support. For me that means positive vides through my blog.

Read the articles I linked and you will feel as I do. This team will come together and perform well, not for the fans but FOR EACH OTHER.

Evina Westbrook and Christyn Williams Media Availability

Geno on the injuries and how UConn will adjust

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No. 2 UCONN No. 30 Georgia Tech 5-1 6-2

December 9th, 7:00 PM

ATLANTA, GA. / MCCAMISH PAVILION

TV: ESPN2 RADIO: UCONN SPORTS NETWORK

All Time Series Results

UCONN LEADS 2-0 H: 1-0 | A: 1-0 | N: 0-0

11/16/08 #1 UConn 82, Ga. Tech 71 Storrs, Conn.

11/21/10 #1 UConn 71, Ga. Tech 52 Atlanta, Ga

Not much to go on based on based on history between the two programs. They haven't met in 11 years.

The Yellow Jackets come into this game off of an upset win over now No. 21 Georgia 55-54. Huge win for Georgia Tech. Before that they have had a pretty mediocre season. They beat the really weak teams on their schedule, Central Michigan, Kennesaw State, Belmont, East Tennessee State, and Hofstra by an average of 25 points. They lost to Auburn 59-51, and to Purdue 53-52 on a buzzer beater. Massey has Auburn as rated No. 87 and Purdue rated No. 70. With Georgia Tech rated No. 40 those would be considered upsets.

I posted some game videos the other day so I won't repeat that. But here are who I expect to play against UConn. The first five listest are the starters.

No. 20 Nerea Hermosa

6'5" Junior Center

11.6 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 1 BPG

52% FG

No. 24 Eylia Love

6'1" Sophomore Guard/Forward

10.5 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 1 APG

40.5% FG, 5-9 3PT

No. 31 Lotta-Maj Lahtimen

5'9" Senior Guard

10.2 PPG, 4.5 APG

37.7% FG, 33% 3PT

No. 13 Lorela Cubaj

6'5" 5th year Forward

9.4 PPG, 12.3 RPG, 4.1 APG

38.5% FG

No. 45 Digna Strautmane
6'2" 5th year Forward

7.3 PPG, 5.1 RPG

51% FG, 28.6% 3PT

No. 3 Sarah Bates

5'9" RS Senior Guard

4.6 PPG

24% FG, 24% 3PT

No. 10 Elizabete Bulane

5'7" Freshman Guard

2.9 PPG

40% FG, 44.5% 3PT

No. 15 Avyonce Carter

5'10" Sophomore Guard

3.4 PPG

31% FG, 0-11 3PT

I listed 8 players, but if the box scores in the games against the best teams on their schedule mean anything, they will really only go 6 players. Ironically, that could be as deep as UConn goes in this game.

They pretty much played a man-to-man in all the games I watched, and so will UConn. Although with the short bench, they could "rest" a little in a zone defense here and there.

Here is my best guard as to how they will match up.

Hermosa vs Nelson-Ododa

Cubaj vs Edwards

Love vs Westbrook

Strautmane vs Ducharme

Lahtimen vs Williams

I find it hard to pick a matchup that UConn doesn't have the advantage.

Off the bench, GT comes in with a guard Bates, and UConn with a forward, Duhasz.

Will the Huskies play Mir some minutes to give the top 6 players a rest. I would think they will. And her athleticism will give her a big advantage. I'd like to see it.

As a team Georgia Tech is a poor shooting group. They shoot 39.9% from the field, 27.8% on threes and 65% from the line. Not very good. They are big so they rebound well. I expect them to get their share of offensive boards. And they do have a positive assist/turnover ratio so I don't expect them to turn the ball over that much. UConn's defense could prove me wrong.

Even as short handed as they are, UConn should win this game going away. With everyone healthy? A 40 point win. But with 4 players on the sideline, including the best player in WCBB?

UConn by 12+.

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Straight from the Dog

Injuries, Injuries, Injuries. It's not just UConn, althought it feels that way sometimes.

In Baylor's win Wednesday, Queen Egbo left the game with 6 minutes remaining in the third quarter and did not return. It appears to be an ankle injury. Hope not the high ankle sprain that could mean weeks off the court. In that same game, the Baylor coach removed her star, Nalyssa Smith, from the game early in the second half with a big lead. She specifically mention that the Bueckers' injury factored into her decision.

The Battle of Iowa played out with two stars in the spotlight, Caitlin Clark and Ashley Joens. ISU upset (not a big upset) beat Iowa 77-70. Definately two of the best players in the country and both players scored 26 points. A high volume shooting affair with Clark taking 26 shots and Joens taking 28 shots. Clark was 10 of 26 and Joens was 9-28. The three point shooting wasn't much better with Clark going 4-12 and Joens going 1-9. The big difference is turnovers. Clark had 6 and Joens didn't turn the ball over. Not very effienct but I'm sure it would have been fun to watch. Clark hit one from 35 feet!

I bet you all are wondering what the UConn haters on Volnation.com had to say about Bueckers' injury, right? No? Oh well, I'll tell you anyway!

Wow - Geno issues a statement like he lives in the White House or something. Sounds like he's trying to convince people of something he's unconvinced of. It's more of a political statement. It doesn't read as genuine or sincere - just what he thinks people want to hear him say.

Geno hasn't seemed to me to be having a good time for several seasons now. Just seems like a grumpy old man, almost pissed off to have to be there. I'm interested to see if he's up for the challenge. Premature to call the decline of the Geno Era?

It’s a chance for Evina Westbrook to bring up her 5 PPG😂

Ok, that's enough.

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UPSETS IN RED

MOST SCORES HAVE CLICKABLE LINKS TO A GAME STORY

No. 5 Baylor 94 Alcorn State 40

No. 8 Maryland 86 Purdue 71

No. 12 Iowa 70 No. 15 Iowa State 77

No. 21 Georgia 69 North Florida 40

No. 22 Notre Dame 73 Valparaiso 56

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By PHIL

Must and must not see TV

When I look to see what games are available for any given day, there’s a wide range of games that might pique my interest.

Obviously, a UConn game no matter whom they are playing. Beyond that, just about any ranked team playing any other ranked team. After that, teams where I have a rooting interest in the team and the game has the potential to be competitive (Massey predicted margin of victory in single digits). So Vanderbilt with Shea Ralph, Wisconsin with Marisa Moseley and Carolina Doty, Princeton with Carla Berube, and a handful of others. I’ll follow up on scores for all of those teams but may not bother to watch the game if it’s not expected to be competitive.

Thursday isn’t shaping up to be a great day for must-see TV. There are 27 games on the schedule, and I can only find two I would like to watch. The tipoffs start at 11 AM (why?) and go through 10 PM, but the only two games with real interest are the UConn game and DePaul versus Kentucky, both of which tipoff at 7 PM. Oh well.

I’m interested in Arkansas, but they are playing number 200 Jackson state. I’m interested in Arizona but they are taking on number 145 North Dakota State. Indiana is ranked but they are taking on number 193 Fairfield. I try to follow FGCU but Massey has them as 47 point favorite over Palm Beach ATL whomever they are. Texas A&M is ranked but they are taken on number 311 Texas Southern. Ranked Michigan against Wisconsin is potentially intriguing but not projected to be in single digits, so I may take a glance at the game if it’s on but probably will just check the score.

However, at the other end of the spectrum, I found a game that has UGGY potential. Southern Utah is ranked number 228 and they are under 500 on the season. I don’t know who Life Pacific is, but Massey has Southern Utah is a 61 point favorite. Massey thinks that if Life Pacific played South Carolina on a neutral court, the best estimate of the final score would be 107 – 15. We discussed before the drop off on the women’s side is a good example of it. We are seeing some signs of increased parity among the top 25 but there appears to be a significant gap between the very top teams and the weakest teams in this country.

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By David in Naples

* on edit, David had Nika playing when he wrote this. I removed those references.

Tomorrow night, Geno will name a player to start in Paige's spot. However, it will take a committee to REPLACE the production of Bueckers. As hard as that will be, it can be done.
Consider:

1. Points - Paige scored the most points (127) thru 6 games, but also took the most shots (96). Her 16 shots per game and 21 points per game will need to be spread between the new starter and the 4 regular starters. 21 points spread over 5 players is 4+ points each of extra production. Possible, but more likely UConn scores 5-8 fewer points. Evina and Christyn are top candidates to up their production. Olivia is only taking 6 shots per game. Step up Liv and take 3-4 more.

2. Assists - Paige's 6 assists per game were often full length court passes or "no look" bullets that left the crowd in awe. Those will be hard to replace, but the bread and butter feeds to cutting players orinto the post can be replaced. Evina need to try to cover this aspect.

3. Three point shooting - Oddly, Paige was hitting only 31% of her three tries (9-29). Caroline Ducharme is at 43% accuracy and Azzi is at 44.4%. Short term, Caroline and Christyn need to take PB's 5 threes per game. Longer term, Azzi is needed.

4. Rebounds - Paige has the 2nd most rebounds, but 0 offensive boards. Christyn usually "leaks out" on the break, so Ducharme and Evina seem likely candidates to crash the defensive boards. Obviously, Liv and Aaliyah need to step up as well. Edwards had 0 rebounds last game.

5. Steals - Paige was #1 in steals with 16, well ahead of 2nd place Evina (7). Christyn (3) also has room for improvement. Aubrey could really help when she comes back.

The team will miss Paige on the court, but can rally to improve their individual play and still win. When Paige returns, the sum of the parts will be dramatically improved.

Go Huskies..!!