Doggydaddy's Den: Doggy's Doghouse 2/10/2022

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GO UCONN!!!!!

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Well, the Dog is under the weather. Stomach bug, fever, just a miserable day. I'm feeling a littie better now, so I'll try to put together a blog for tonight.

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UCONN vs DePaul

Day: Friday

Date: February 11 , 2022

Time: 7:00

Location: Storrs, Ct

TV: SNY

No. 8 UConn Huskies DePaul Blue Demons

15-5 (9-1) 19-6 (11-3)

Prior Meetings

DEPAUL | UCONN LEADS 20-1

H: 7-0 | A: 9-0 | N: 4-1

12/28/83 DePaul 70, UConn 64 Coral Gables, Fla.

01/28/06 #5 UConn 84, #12 DePaul 75 Chicago, Ill.

03/06/06 #8 UConn 69, #15 DePaul 57 Hartford, Conn.

01/24/07 #7 UConn 88, DePaul 76 Storrs, Conn.

03/01/08 #1 UConn 77, DePaul 76 Chicago, Ill.

03/09/08 #1 UConn 86, DePaul 67 Hartford, Conn.

01/13/09 #1 UConn 77, DePaul 62 Storrs, Conn.

02/10/10 #1 UConn 95, DePaul 62 Chicago, Ill.

02/05/11 #2 UConn 89, #9 DePaul 66 Storrs, Conn.

01/21/12 #3 UConn 88, #21 DePaul 44 Chicago, Ill.

02/10/13 #3 UConn 91, DePaul 44 Storrs, Conn.

03/10/13 #3 UConn 94, DePaul 61 Hartford, Conn.

12/19/14 #2 UConn 98, #29 DePaul 64 Bridgeport, Conn.

12/02/15 #1 UConn 86, #18 DePaul 70 Chicago, Ill.

12/01/16 #2 UConn 91, #15 DePaul 46 Storrs, Conn.

12/08/17 #1 UConn 103, DePaul 69 Chicago, Ill.

11/28/18 #2 UConn 99, #16 DePaul 63 Hartford, Conn.

12/16/19 #2 UConn 84, #16 DePaul 74 Chicago, Ill.

12/29/20 #4 UConn 75, #18 DePaul 52 Storrs, Conn.

01/31/21 #3 UConn 100, #17 DePaul 62 Chicago, Ill.

1/25/22 #9 UConn 84, DePaul 82 Chicago, Ill.

In their first game this season, UConn came back from a 9 point halftime deficit to beat DePaul 80-78 on a Carolina Ducharme basket with 1.6 seconds left on the clock.

So, how great was it to see Williams back? She was so strong in this game. I was surprised to see her in the starting lineup, but that is exactly where she belongs. She scored 17 points on mostly hard drives to the basket. Exactly what Geno wants from her. And in "limited" minutes. 32....lol.

And speaking of surprises, did anyone expect not only would Fudd warm up before the game, then come into the game for a few minutes, and then come back into the game and be part of the regular rotation? Doubtful there is one person. I predicted she would be back in a week, probably before the Tennessee game. You think Geno had an idea she was ready and didn't want to let Doug Bruno know? 15 points. 3-6 on threes. And she played 22 minutes. I'm speechless. The threes were great, but when I saw her drive into the lane and pull up on a dime for a quick jumper, well, that is what I was waiting to see. She did that at will in high school. It's basically undefensible.

Thank goodness for Caroline Ducharme. She came on on the second half and led the Huskies to victory over a really good DePaul team. She hit a huge three pointer with 2 minutes left in the game and UConn down 2 points, and then of course was the game winner. She again led UConn in scoring with 19 points. She has a new name thanks to my friend Chappie.

Carolina Freakin' Ducharme. I love it.

Dorke Juhasz played tough in this game. In 22 minutes she had 8 points and 12 important rebounds. She is a big cog in this UConn wheel.

Thanks to the refs, who called 19 fouls on UConn to 10 on DePaul, Olivia Nelson-Ododa was not able to play as well as she had in the previous games. She fouled out but Dorka had 4 and Ducharme had 4.

File them under disappointment but Westbrook and Edwards contributed little in this game. Not much more to say about them.

Ok, one more comment. How good is that DePaul freshman Aneesah Morrow? As Geno would say, really really really good. Yes, three reallys. Only 6'1", she can just dominate the game in the post. An incredibly quick leaper, you wish UConn had someone like that on the team. Well, wait a season and take a look at the Ayanna Patterson video in the recuiting section. Those two will have battles for three seasons.

However, the refs were a little helpful for the young lady. She went the line 9 times. UConn went 8 times. Yeah...some home court advantage in this one.

I'm really looking forward to the rematch. February 11th. Will there be a Paige sighting by then???

Game Highlights

So, the question is who will be playing for UConn?

If Ducharme and Nelson-Ododa are out again, the Huskies are in trouble. Having ONO back to me is clearly the more important of the two players, even though Ducharme was the hero in the first matchup.

This is going to be a first for me. I'm not going to predict a winner. I don't know who is playing, so it's impossible to make a fair call on the final score.

I'll just say GO HUSKIES!!!!!

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GAMES

MOST SCORES HAVE CLICKABLE LINKS TO A GAME STORY

UPSETS IN RED

No. 1 South Carolina 59 Kentucky 50

No. 3 Louisville vs Virginia - Forfeit

No. 4 Michigan 57 Michigan State 63

No. 5 NC State 85 Boston College 78 OT

No. 11 Georgia Tech Virginia Tech

No. 13 Tennessee 76 Missouri 62

No. 14 LSU No. 17 Georgia

No. 18 Notre Dame 69 Miami 53

No. 19 Florida 73 Mississippi State 64

No. 20 BYU Pepperdine

No. 21 Ohio State 80 Nebraska 70

No. 23 North Carolina 64 Pittsburgh 54

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Straight from the Dog

UConn dropped to a 3 seed. But they are still in Bridgeport! That is good news.

They would play Texas in the Elite Eight and the winner of NCST Michigan game. I'm ok with those matchups!!!!

But I can promise you that this is not the final seedings. More to come.

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That's all. taking some asprins and going to sleep.

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By PHIL

Followup

Thanks to DD for adding the caveat to my post about the second reveal, yes it was done before last night’s game.

Let’s do a follow-up in an imaginary conversation between me and my friend OMGTSIF (my God the sky is falling):

OMGTSIF: well, your hoity-toity analysis of the next reveal was torn to shreds faster than Tennessee’s brief visit to the land of the one seeds

Me: I’m not going to pretend the loss didn’t hurt, but I haven’t given up on a two seed

OMGTSIF: you need to rejoin reality. Even that optimist DD thinks a 3 seed is a best-case scenario

Me: maybe but let’s look at the evidence

OMGTSIF: evidence, smevidence. The committee’s not going to look at evidence, they are just going to react but I’ll play along. What have you got?

Me: Massey has a good track record at ranking teams, and while UConn dropped after the loss, they only dropped to eighth, which is still two seed territory

OMGTSIF: Massey Smassey, you know the committee doesn’t look at Massey.

Me: not directly, but Massey reflects the wins and losses and strength of the opponents and margin of victory, and they come up with 8th place. Anyone honestly evaluating all the relevant factors is likely to come to the same conclusion

OMGTSIF: but UConn has five losses. You don’t see South Carolina or Stanford with five losses.

Me: we aren’t arguing for a one seed but a two seed. Baylor has five losses.

OMGTSIF: but Baylor plays in the big 12. You like Massey so much, Massey has the Big 12 is the top-rated conference

Me: conference affiliation is overrated. It does indicate who some of your games will be played against because of so many in conference games, but ultimately, it’s your overall schedule that counts

OMGTSIF: you can’t tell me that Baylor’s strength of schedule given all those games against big 12 teams is stronger than UConn’s with all those Big East opponents

Me: I certainly can. UConn’s strength of schedule is currently rated third-best in the nation behind only South Carolina and Stanford, and again were not competing with them for the two seed. It was strength of schedule is ranked 24th of the nation. So that means UConn has exactly the same number of losses is Baylor while playing a tougher schedule

OMGTSIF: you know the committee looks at Net rating not Massey. How’s the NET rating?

Me: it dropped to 11 with the last loss which doesn’t sound like two seed territory, BUT that metric ignores who plays and doesn’t play. UConn was missing four starters: Griffin, Liv, Paige and Caroline. How many teams in this country could beat Villanova picked four starters including the best player to sit?

OMGTSIF: you can’t count Griffin

Me: fair enough because she’s not returning this season. Keep in mind if someone is injured in a game and not going to return for the next game, the team will practice without her. Liv was a game time scratch, and it’s not likely the team tried practicing without her

OMGTSIF: I get that, but they still lost to a team they should have beaten easily

Me: at full strength, you are absolutely right. Neither NET nor Massey adjust for players who cannot play on short notice. But the selection committee knows, whether they want to admit it or not, that if UConn feels a team with Paige, Liv and Caroline, the biggest problem will be handing out minutes not winning the game.

OMGTSIF: I still think the committee’s going to drop UConn, from a two seed two or three seed, but maybe it’s not quite as obvious as I initially thought.

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By David in Naples

Some good Olivia stats from one of UConn's beat writers:

1. With Ono in the game, UConn's +/- rating is +42.
2. THe Huskies shoot 10% better from three range with Liv on the court. (more open)
3. Liv assists on 25% of UConn's baskets.

From me:

1. Olivia has 807 career rebounds, including 156 this season, in 19 games.
2. Liv is #8 all time at UConn for blocked shots with 244.
3. She has scored 1,066 points is 119 games.

Olivia would have made a difference in the game against Villanova in two key areas.

1. Points scored.
2. Defense in the lane, preventing lay ups.

Go Huskies..!!

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