Sunday, January 9, 2022

Doggy's Doghouse 1/9/2022

  






 








                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
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GO UCONN!!!!!

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Well, this is a first. Our grandaughter Noa texted us and asked if we wanted to go out for suishi for dinner. She said she would drive and pay! 

Well, we had to drive to her house because she only has a learner's permit and needs a licensed driver. And she used her dad's charge card (although it does have her name). But it was just wonderful. A great kid and yummy sushi!!!!   

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Ahhh.....what a relief. I bet all of you were as nervous about this game that I was. But now that it's over, let's take a look at the 63-55 win by the Huskies.

I think it's important to put this win in perspective. Yes, Creighton closed the gap late in the game but the victory was never in question. And they did this - 

* Missing Azzi Fudd and Paige Bueckers, probably their two best guards (sorry Evina and Christyn).
* 21 days off without playing
* Playing with little 5-5 practice
* Four player recovering from Covid

I mean, how could any fan in their right mind complain about anything in this game. They played hard against a really, really good Creighton team.  So, with that in mind lets just talk about all the good things. You can go on the UConn message boards for all the bad things that happened.

Defense - Geno was thrilled with the defense. David writes about the details in his Stats and he nails it. Let's just say here that UConn held a good offensive team to below their averages in EVERYTHING.

Geno said it earlier and we have all said it before. Paige's and Azzi's injury has given Carolina Ducharme the opportunity to get the minutes to show what she can do. In this game she played 38 minutes and led the Huskies in scoring with 17 points. She also added 3 blocks. She is a complete player!!

I'm mentioning Aaliyah Edwards next because she hasn't played like this since last season. And her contributions were huge in this game. In her 22 minutes she scored 12 points on 5-10 shooting and added 3 steals. Her post moves were the aggressive kind that Geno wants to see out of her. 

Dorka Juhasz was just solid in this game with 10 points 3 assists and 3 rebounds, but she with Edwards give UConn a tough 1-2 punch in the post. Her 31 minutes were huge in this game. She adds the emotion to the frontcourt that Nika Muhl adds to the backcourt. Love her!! 

Speaking of Nika,  she was really aggressive and emotional on the court, part of what UConn was missing the three games she was out. And she managed to play 16 minutes that might have been more if not for her four fouls. A few of those were really fun to watch, especially her reactions after!!  

I'm sure there was plenty of trashing of Olivia Nelson out there in the Web World, but she was everything UConn needed in this game. In her 22 minutes, she had 7 points, 7 rebounds and added 3 assists with only 1 turnover. 

One of the other seniors, Christyn Williams played 38 minutes and was second in scoring with 13 points. It took me a few minutes to recognize her with her new hairdo. Wow, what a change. 

No one looked more rusty than Evina Westbrook, who played 33 minutes and only took one shot, missing that one. She had open looks but just couldn't pull the trigger. Hopefully just a one game thing. UConn needs her to take and make three pointers until Fudd and Bueckers are back.

Overall, a great to start their "second" season.

Sadly, one piece of bad news. Aubrey Griffin is undergoing back surgery. She will likely miss the rest of the season. 

Up next is at Butler on Wednesday. The Bulldogs are the worst team in the league with a 1-11 record and 0-3 in the Big East. It's really good timing for a UConn team that has more kinks to work out.        
 
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UCONN VIDEOS


Game Highlights

Geno's Post Game Interview

Post Game Interview
Ducharme, Williams and Edwards

Paige Injury Update


Straight from the Dog

I only talked about two games in yesterday's blog, but I pretty much nailed it.

No. 1 South Carolina beat No. 21 Kentucky pretty easily 74-54. I said that Kentucky star Rhyne Howard would have to do better than her 30 point previous outing. Well, she only had 9 points on 2-14 shooting. Horrible outing but South Carolina will make you do that. 

No. 7 Tennessee kept their run going beating Ole Miss 70-58. I didn't think Ole Miss had the chops to win this game and they didn't. The Lady Vols keeps doing enough to beat the teams they should beat. I don't think they have played one game where they weren't favored. 

There were a couple of upsets on Sunday.

No. 25 Texas A&M had a brutal loss after getting slapped around by Tennessee, this time to unranked Florida in double overtime 97-89. The Aggies finally ran out of gas at the end and the Gators made their foul shots to close it out. A&M will be out of the Top 25. Probably out of the Top 30.

The big upset was No. 4 and previously undefeated Arizona losing to unranked USC 76-67 on the Trojan's home court. This was a make up game for a previously postponed game due to Covid. The Wildcats joined North Carolina as the last Top 25 teams to be undefeated. 

However, unranked Colorado is still undefeated but just on the cusp of the Top 25. They take on No. 2 Stanford in their next game. Should be interesting.       

Ya gotta love how you can get two different looks at the same game. UConn fans seem to be upset with the game that they easily won and if you look at the article from the Creighton team web site, well, they couldn't be more thrilled. 

"The Creighton women's basketball team pushed No. 11 Connecticut to the end in Storrs, delivering #11 Connecticut's closest game since rejoining the BIG EAST last season, but ultimately fell 63-55 on Sunday, January 9."

I guess that is a moral victory, right?  

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By David in Naples

After 21 days without a game, the Huskies took on a good Creighton team and came away with a comfortable victory. Comfortable, because UConn led virtually the whole game and played into the middle of the 4th period with a 12-15 point lead.  That won’t stop the crybabies from criticizing the Huskies’ play. 

But, this was a great defensive effort by the Huskies. Creighton averaged 70 pts per game and shot well from 3 range all season. Today they scored 55 and made only 5 threes. Four of those threes were by a player (Maly) who jacked up 13 bombs. Only one other Blue Jay made a three & 6 other players combined to go 0-7.

Consider some other great defensive stats:

1. CU shot 37% from the field and only 20% from three range.
2. UConn forced 16 turnovers, including 9 steals.
3. Caroline D had three of UConn’s 5 blocks.
4. UConn held CU to only 6 free throws. 
5. The Huskies starters had only 6 fouls & switched brilliantly at the defensive end of the court.

Cry all you want, but UConn played very well at the defensive end despite injuries, transfers and COVID issues.

Go Huskies..!!

PS- UConn has now gone 1,033 games without back to back loses..!

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UCONN LINKS


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Message Boards

UConn Territory - The best UConn women's message board ever!!! 
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

UCONN Information



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