Doggydaddy's Den: Doggy's Doghouse 2/5/2022

****************************************************

GO UCONN!!!!!

*************************************************

Paige Bueckers on sideline watching @UConnWBB practice. For what it’s worth she’s not wearing brace on her left knee
— carl adamec (@CarlAdamec) February 5, 2022

Geno says Paige Bueckers has an appointment tomorrow with team doctors and her surgeon to determine next steps in terms of when she can be incorporated into workouts. He says her rehab is going well
— Alexa Philippou (@alexaphilippou) February 5, 2022

Geno says Bueckers has gone through a range of emotions having been sidelined but is “stronger for it” and “more determined than ever”
— Alexa Philippou (@alexaphilippou) February 5, 2022

So, let's see. Paige has an appointment with the team doctors and her surgeon to determine next steps in starting workouts with the team. ui

She has no brace.

She is "stronger for it" and more determined than ever".

I don't know about you, but I am so excited about this news. She is closer to returning than I thought. Once she is working out with the team, I would guess it's DAYS until she can play again.

The rest of college basketball should be very afraid.

********************************

GREAT NEWS FOR SUNDAY!!!!!

Dorka Juhasz practicing today for @UConnWBB — good sign for tomorrow’s game with Tennessee I guess!
— carl adamec (@CarlAdamec) February 5, 2022

Geno said if they are practicing they are playing. Everyone but Paige is available. That hasn't happened very often. A full 8 player rotation.

**************************************************

Here is my UConn/Tennessee Pregame Report.

Geno Pregame Interview

Caroline Ducharme Pre Game Interview

Azzi Fudd Pregame interview

**************************************************

Girls 4A Sectional
Homestead 62
Columbia City 51
FINAL
Ayanna Patterson with 35 points, 14 rebounds and 6 blocks
— Homestead Athletics (@Spartytweets) February 5, 2022

Ayanna with one of her SEVEN insane blocks!!!! Homestead Girls go to the Sectional Championship!!! @ayannap34 @Homestead_Bball pic.twitter.com/iqQVB3KtyE
— HHS📷Photog (@HhsPhotog) February 5, 2022

KK Arnold: 21 points (8-18 FG, 1-5 3-PT, 4-5 FT),

8 rebounds, 14 assists, 5 steals, 20 minutes played

**************************************************

GAMES

MOST SCORES HAVE CLICKABLE LINKS TO A GAME STORY

UPSETS IN RED

No. 11 Iowa State 76 Oklahoma State 58

No. 16 BYU 62 Gonazaga 50

No. 18 Oklahoma 101 West Virginia 99

No. 22 Florida Gulf Coast 73 Lipscomb 55

No. 25 Kansas State 82 Texas Tech 75

**************************************************

Straight from the Dog

After writing the Game Report I noticed something from last year's box score that I thought was interesting.

UConn only has 2 starters this year that started last year. Nelson-Ododa and Williams. The other three starters in that game were Griffin, Westbrook and of course, Bueckers.

Tennessee only has 3 starters this year that started last year. Key, Horston and Burrell. The other two were Suarez and Davis.

UConn only has 4 players in total that played in that game. New this year is Fudd, Ducharme, Muhl and Jurasz.

Tennessee only has 4 players in total that played in that game. New this year is Dye, Miles, Puckett, Darby

Returning points for UConn - 48

Returning points for Tenn - 34

Returning rebounds for UConn - 22

Returning rebounds for Tenn - 23

I'm really liking who UConn is adding to the lineup for this game.

_______________________________

Tennessee fans are running the gammet on who will win the UConn/Tennessee game. You have some that are totally dispondent and predicting the Lady Vols dimise and some are holding on for dear life, predicting a Tennessee win with their backs against the wall.

Just a few examples of the Orange Idiots comments.

"Tennessee has played three consecutive bad games, including two horrifically bad games. Tennessee 50, UConn 73"

"Lady Vols need to stop Buechers and Westbrook tomorrow to have a shot at winning."

That guy has no clue...lol.

"Horston ALWAYS shits the bed against UConn, and pretty much single-handedly lost the game last year. I'm not expecting that to change tomorrow. UConn is having a "down" season, while Kellie has what most have touted her best team ever and yet I still have no faith she will pull out a win. Geno is the master at exploiting weaknesses and the book is clearly out on Tennessee. I don't think UConn even has to play that well to win. Just sit back, watch the pucker factor take over for the Lady Vols when it comes to UConn, and Horston and co. will self-destruct for them as usual..."

Wow, what a bolt of sunshine there....

"I like Tennessee in this matchup because we will not be dealing with guards that have speed and will pick your pockets, Plus UConn has no bench TN 64 - 58"

Clearly this guy didn't read my blog. No bench??

There are several more but I'm sure you get the drift.

********************************************************

By PHIL

I mentioned that I wanted to do a deep dive into the top 16, as revealed by the NCAA selection committee on 27 January. This is a continuation of that discussion.

Kansas State

Kansas State was the last of the 16 seeds at the first reveal but even that selection seemed a little strained. The decision is even tougher to justify now. Since that selection they beat TCU, but only by nine points against a triple digit ranked team they were expected to beat by 15. A win is a win but that win didn’t improve their ranking. They follow that up with a loss to Iowa State. The loss was understandable, but they lost by 15 when they were expected to lose by seven, so this is two in a row underperforming against expectations. Massey now has them ranked number 22, which sounds about right, and is well outside the top 16. If there’s any good news, it’s the remaining games include Baylor, Texas and Oklahoma, so they have several chances to improve their standing. I think they would have to win two of those big games plus all the rest, in order to justify a top 16 seeding and that doesn’t seem likely.

Georgia

Georgia was ranked 15 in the original reveal, probably a little bit generous but fueled by their win against NC State. That’s definitely a quality win, but a team looking for a top 16 ranking out not to be losing to Georgia Tech, LSU, and Kentucky. Anyone of those could be an off day but all three is a bit much.

Since the reveal, they beaten Mississippi and Vanderbilt, both decent wins but neither solid enough to move them up very much. They’ve only got one game left against the team ranked in the top 16 but that’s against South Carolina. If they can knock off South Carolina I will happily slap them in the top 16 but I’m not counting on it.

I don’t see Georgia making the next top 16 reveal.

LSU

LSU was on a roll early in the season. They notched notable wins over Iowa State and Georgia at Georgia. They lost to South Carolina, but only by six. The early-season accomplishments, along with the reputation of their new coach, earned them a 12 seed in the AP and an 11 seed in the coaches poll. There were slotted at 12 giving them a three seed alongside UConn in the first reveal.

The most recent results have been less lofty. This started just before the reveal where they lost to Florida. That said, let’s keep our eye on Florida as they may be better than their early-season record suggests. They then lost to Arkansas, which is a not a horrible result, except that they lost by 14. Then they beat Kentucky. There was a time that beating Kentucky would be a nice addition to a resume, but this is a Kentucky team that’s not even in Cinderella territory.

They still have some games left which can help the resume, but Massey has them at 20, comfortably outside the top 16, and definitely a long way down from number 12. They are favored in the next six games, none of whom are top 16 teams, so they have to run the table, then win at Tennessee to even earn a discussion among the top 16. Not impossible, but not exactly likely.

********************************************************

By David in Naples

Nobody has a cooler or more symmetrical season stat line than Amari DeBerry.

Her # is 42 and her minutes played is 42.

Four is the number of her total threes shot, free throw attempts and personal fouls.

Two is her baskets made, free throws made and offensive rebound total.

Four plus two is 6 and that is how many games she has appeared in.

6 is also her point total, # of assists and defense rebound total. Her turnovers and steals are 3 each, so that equals 6.

two, four, six, eight....who do we appreciate...? Amari..!

Go Huskies..!

**************************************************