Doggydaddy's Den: Doggy's Doghouse 2/25/2022

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GO UCONN!!!!!

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Barrett after enjoying the outdoors, waiting for his hot chocolate!

That is his face after he was told Paige was playing Friday night

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No. 7 UConn St. John's

93 38

Heeeeheeeeeheeeheeeeeeeheeeee.......

Yes, I just giggled. I can't help it. This is the team (minus Aubrey) that I envisioned before the season started. Only better.

The big news is Paige Bueckers is back. She only played 12 minutes in the game but I'm not sure it could have gone any better. She looked like Paige. No limp. No problem cutting. If they have a highlight video from this game and I told you it was from last year you would say typical Paige. Right? I admit, I held my breath a little when she would leave her feet, but I didn't see any hesitation from her. She just needs minutes.

I said in my preview that UConn would eventually have a game they would explode out of the gate, and this certainly was it.

At the half, it's hard to say which was more impressive.

The offense that scored 51 points, shot 64.7% from the field, 6-11 on threes (54,5%), and 15 assists and only 4 turnovers? Or the defense, that held a high scoring St. John's team to 19 points, 29.6% from the field, 2-10 on threes, and forced 10 turnovers.

Geno played his now 9 player rotation like a Stratavarious, making substitutions and never losing any momentum.

The second half was not much different. The offense continuted their domination of St. John's, scoring 27 points and the defense was just as impressive, holding the Johnnys to 9 points in the thrid quarter. They were even better in the third quarter, shooting 12-15 from the field and 3-5 on threes. And they added 8 more assists. Wow!

Geno again liberaly mixed his lineups, and the passing was just unbelievable. Maybe the most unselfish teams I've seen. And all are such great passers.

The fourth quarter was a typical slowdown type quarter. Geno told Evina to let the air out of the ball and she did that to perfection. I hate that, but I certainly understand it. Geno doesn't like to rub it in. Westbrook did her best to get Gabriel her looks and same for DeBerry.

UConn finished the game shooting 63.5% from the field and 47.6% on threes. They had 27 assists and 13 turnovers. They held St. John's to 26.4% from the field and 20.4% on threes. The Huskies forced them into 19 turnvers and blocked 11 of their shots.

It was a complete game on both sides of the ball and certainly the best game for UConn this season. Let's take a look at each player in order of points scored.

Gotta give the player of the game to Azzi Fudd. It's kinda scarey how good she is. Fudd is so much more than a shooter and every game she plays shows us that. In this game, sitting most of the second half and playing only 20 minutes, she still scored 19 points. Her three points shooting is just so sweet. She was 5-7 from deep. But I really loved her defensive effort in this game. She only had 1 steal and 1 block, but her on the ball defense was outstanding. She just understands the game.

Aaliyah Edwards had one of her best games of the season. She did have two turnovers in about a minutes, but outside of that, she was just outstanding. In her 19 minutes, she scored 16 points on 8-10 shooting. She is unstoppable down low. She added 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block. She ran the court like a young colt.

Christyn Williams was one of three players with 13 points. She played 25 minutes and was 5-7 from the field. I loved that she was 2-3 on threes. When she hits those shots, UConn is a much better team. She said that she is playing her best basketball because she is in such great shape. You can see that on the court. She had a "snatch" rebound and blocked two shots. She has brought a new level of toughness to her game, and to the entire team.

Olivis Nelson-Ododa also scored 13 points on 5-6 shooting and hit her only three pointer of the night. She played 23 minutes and was so under control. As usual, she had some spectacular assists showing once agains that she is the best passing big in the country. And she added 3 blocks. Having a great senior season.

The third player with 13 points was Caroline Ducharme. She does like to shoot and led the team with 13 in her 24 minutes. Her season long issue is her three point shooting, going 1-5 from deep. She has great body control in finishing at the basket. Go Go Gadget arms!!!!

Looks who comes in next in the scoring column. Paige "Buckets" Bueckers. Geno said he wanted to get her 15 minutes, but she only played 12. That will slowly increase game by game. And as I already said, when she was on the court, it was like she didn't miss 10 weeks. She hit a buzzer beater to end a quarter. She dropped a dime for Edwards on a perfectly executed pick and roll. She drove to the basket and scored, she was on the receiving end of a great pass from Edwards. She left her feet and landed hard on both legs with no issues. I would have loved to see a couple of outside shots, but she let the game come to her.

Dorka "the lip" Juhasz only played 15 minutes in this game, but she didn't lose any intensity from getting her faced smashed on a no foul call against Marquette. She only scored 4 points, but she was strong in the paint and had 4 rebounds and 3 blocks. AND 3 assists. Everyone passes on this team.

Nika Muhl let the team with 26 minutes played and she was her usual whirling dervish on the defensive end. She hit a three pointer for her only points but that wasn't her maincontribution. She had 3 assists and 5 steals. He defense is a weapon for the Huskies.

Evina Westbrook was scoreless. But I've never seen a player be intentionally scoreless. And there is no doubt that is what happened. She had the ball on a fast break with no one in front of her and intentionally slowed down to allow a teammate to catch up so she could pass the ball. And there were several other times where she turned down open shots. So, 0-0 from the field. But she joined the double digit scorers with her own double digit. 10 assists. Just the perfect team player. She really wants that National Championship. And will go scoreless the rest of the season if it means they get it.

Piath Gabriel and Amari DeBererry had a tough time in their limited minutes, but it's hard to contribute when the ball is being passed around to kill the clock every possesion.

Up next is Providence on Sunday in the last regular season game of the year. It's 2:00 and being played in Storrs. Senior Day!! Starters will be Westbrook, Nelson-Ododa, Williams, Dorka and ?? Maybe Muhl? That would be my guess.

Game Highlights

Geno's Post Game Interview

Paige and Azzi Post Game Interview

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GAMES

No. 10 Indiana 64 No. 13 Maryland 67

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So much angst about how Geno will distribute minutes for a 9 player rotation. It's clear he has a plan and did a great job exectuting that plan in this game.

Paige had only 8 minutes and Dorka had 15. But the rest of the team was between 19 and 26 minutes. He will have to steal enough minutes from everyone else to get Bueckers over 20 in a game.

In blowouts it easy. It should be interesting if Geno can stay with the plan in more competative games.

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Charlie SECreme finally did it. He has done everything he can to keep UConn out of the Bridgeport region.

This time he has them as a 3 seed in the Greensboro Region. A rematch with Baylor in the Sweet Sixteen and a rematch in the Elite Eight against South Carolina .

He's had them in every region. Make up your friggin' mind Charlie. Or at least admit you do this to annoy UConn fans.

I'm tired of having to make the case for UConn being a 2 seed. It really doesn't matter. If Paige can knock off the rust before the Sweet Sixteen game, I like UConn's chances of getting to Final Four for the 14th consecutive time.

Paige will have 2 regular season games, three BE tournament games and two NCAA games before UConn hits the Sweet Sixteen level. That's 7 games. Plenty of time to get her up to speed and Geno figuring out the minutes for the 9 player rotation.

A rotation more talented than ANY team including South Carolina. Yep, I said it.

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UConn fans. Some are great. Some are not. Here are some quotes from those that are not.

"I hate to be a killjoy, and no I'm not a doctor and no I don't think that Geno or the med staff want PB to get reinjured but.......I really don't get it........she was favoring the leg a week ago, doesn't seem to be moving that comfortably the other day and now she's coming back with two games left in the regular season against St Johns when she's clearly not needed? My preference would be for her to continue to practice with the team at least until the first or second game of the Big East Tournament........"

Talk about clueless. She had this HUGE brace on so of course it looked like she was favoring it. She looked great in that video. She is coming back because she was cleared and she needs game time to get ready for the NCAA's. Every game helps.

"too much risk to reward imo, what would waiting one more week have done except be overcautious? What's wrong with that? A game against a bad St John's team in a regular season game is not going to tell us much."

More of the same. Why wait one week? Why not two? Sigh....just stupid.

"This is where I am. Just last week she was at practice with a huge brace on her knee and no one was allowed with 20 feet of her and now all of a sudden she's ready to run the floor with defenders up in her face???? She might be medically ready but that isn't close to being game ready. As my late Dad used to say, "the graveyards are full of medical mistakes"."

This one is just amazing. Plenty of hyperbole and ignorance. And the quote from his late dad is so inapproriate.

Just the idea that Geno would play her even one minute if he thought there was a chance for reinjury is just ludicrous.

One more time -

It's ten weeks since the surgery. Two weeks more than the initial estimate for her return. Clearly no one rushed it.

It appears she has been practicing full time for several days now. We only saw pieces of that, but from what I understand, there have been no restrictions for her at the practices. She's not wearing a "no contact" jersey like they do for quarterbacks in football practices.

The appointment on Thursday with her doctors and UConn medical staff cleared her to play in games. So what does that mean.

It means that her MCL surgery has heals completely. My guess that was healed a few weeks ago. And all the scans they do reveals that the bone that was fractured has completely healed as well. For all the worry warts who think there could be a reinjury, stop worrying. Bones that heal are as good as new. Certainly when the fracture is as minumal as this one appeared to be.

Everything I've stated here is from all the articles and Geno interviews about Paige. She is ready. And if anyone can come back and look like she never left it's Paige.

And she did!

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Can't leave off the Orange Idiots.

"Wonder what's going on at Uconn. Gino played 11 players tonight and 9 of the 11 got extended minutes. Maybe you can teach old dogs new tricks......."

What a dope. They are finally healthy.

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By David in Naples

UConn may have played their most near perfect quarter of basketball in their victory over St John’s, 93-38. For starters, the Huskies scored 30 points. Do that four times and your final score is 120 points.

In addition to 30 points, consider:

1. Seven players for UConn scored in those first 10 minutes.
2. The Huskies started 6-6 from the field and ended up shooting 72% from the field.
3. The defense smothered the Johnies and held them to 8 points.
4. The defense, in just 10 minutes, had 8 rebounds, blocked 4 shots, grabbed 3 steals and created 6 turnovers.
5. Azzi Fudd had 13 points, while St John’s managed only 8.
6. The offense had 9 assists on 13 baskets, shot 67% from three range and had only 1 turnover.
7. Paige played and went 1-1 from the field and added 2 rebounds.

Not perfect in a perfection sense, but as close to “basketball perfect” as a team can be in the first 10 minutes of a game. Score after that period was 30-8 and the only question was the final margin. It was 55 points..!

Go Huskies..!

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