Friday, March 24, 2023

Doggy's Doghouse 3/24/2023

 








 




GO UCONN!!!!!

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It's been a brutal week for me. Thank goodness for the UConn Huskies, both Men and Women teams to give me a spark.

This damn fever kept coming back but I think I finally licked it. Maybe...lol.

Twelve hours in the car driving back from the mountains of Georgia with my wife, son, daughter-in-law and two granddaughters and I'm finally back in my condo in Florida. Exhausted but alive!!!

I followed the Villanova/Miami game in the car and then a few more before I collapsed. I'll post some highlight videos and a few words on each game.  And here are some good pregame interviews for you to enjoy!!!

And in case you haven't seen it, here is  my UConn/Ohio State Pregame Report.  

Nika Muhl Pregame Interview

Dorka Juhasz Pregame Interview

Azzi Fudd Pregame Interview 

Geno Pregame Interview

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Sweet Sixteen - Elite Eight Update 

The games so far on Friday have been so competative. And no 1 Seed to be found! Amazing. The women's game is getting better and better.

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In the first game, which I followed while on the road back from Georgia, 9 Seed Miami continued their upsetting ways, beating the 4 seeded Villanova Wildcats 70-65. The Hurricane build a huge lead, 21 points to be exact before Nova mounted a crazy comeback to actually take the lead. But the Wildcats just couldn't put Miami away. Maddy Siegrist looks to have finished her college career with a 31 point 13 rebound effort. But she had a tough time shooting, going 8-29 from the field. Not good. And a couple of tired late misses. Jasmyne Roberts led Miami with 26 points on a more efficient 10-16 from the field. Great season for Nova who made the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2003.     

Miami moved on to the Elite Eight for the first time in their history. Quite the accomplishment. They will be walking into a buzzsaw with the winner of the LSU/Utah game. And that was....... 

Miami/Villanova Highlight Video

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Well, the SEC keeps on rolling. 3 Seed LSU hit their foul shots at the end while 2 Seed Utah did not. The Tigers beat the Utes 66-63 in a game that was close throughout. LaDazihia Williams was the surprise hero in this game. She scored a team high 24 points on 11-14 shooting and superstar Angel Reese added 17 points and 12 rebounds for her 37th double double of the season. They just dominated the paint. And it was painful to watch Jenna Johnson miss both freethrows with four seconds left and Utah down 64-63. I can't imagine how she is feeling tonight. Utah grabbed the offensive rebound on the second miss but turned the ball over before getting off another shot. LSU is in the Elite Eight and proving the naysayers wrong about that weak Kim Mulkey schedule.


They should have penalized LSU at least 10 points because of the outfit that Kim Mulkey made us all watch.
2 Seed Utah/ 3 Seed LSU Game Highlights

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2 Seed Iowa vs 6 Seed Colorado - It looked like this was going to be the one blowout game. After a tight first half, Iowa jumped out 15-2 to start the third quarter to take an eleven point lead going into the fourth quarter. Credit to Colorado as they closed to 76-70 with 4 minutes left but it wasn't to be for the Buffaloes. Caitlin Clark did her thing once again scoring 31 points and handing out 8 assists in leading the Hawkeyes to the 87-77 win and into the Elite Eight. They will take on the winner of the 5 Seed Louisville vs 8 Seed Ole Miss game later Friday night. 

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Yes, there were lots of upsets in the Women's tournament but it pales in comparson to the Bracket Busting games that happened in the Sweet Sixteen and before on the Men's side. It's just crazy.

Thursday No. 2 UCLA and No. 4 Tennessee lost, with both No. 1 seeds losing before this round. 

Friday BOTH no. 1 seeds lost to their respective 5 seeds.

So there are zero 1 seeds heading into the Elite Eight. None.  

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By David in Naples 

Some cool stats for UConn in the first two NCAA tournament games. Both victories were well played and showed Huskies' style basketball.

Consider:

1. Vermont missed 40 of 60 shots and finished shooting 33.3%. Baylor missed 40 of 61 shots and only made 34.4%. Defense..!!
2. Baylor was up 6 points after making 6-11 threes in 1st period. They only made 6-18 the rest of the game and lost by 19.
3. Azzi has shot 4-28 in the 1st half of the last 5 games. (BE tourny plus 2 NCAA games) She shot 16-32 (50%) in 2nd half of those games.
4. Baylor shot 47% in the 1st period & then only 19% in the 4th period.
5. Caroline Ducharme shot 8-10 in the two games, scored 22 points, went 4-6 from three, grabbed 11 rebounds, and had 5 assists. All off the bench.
6. UConn scoring by period = 45 - 48 - 44 - 35. Consistent..!
7. Huskies defense in 4th period = 19 pts in two games.
8. UConn with 50 assists in two games. Nika with 20 of those assists.
9. Aaliyah shooting 22-26 for 47 points in two games. That's 85% from the field.
10. Points in the paint in 2 games = UConn with 90 pts, Opponents with 22.

And.......

Saturday can't come soon enough..! So, here is a quiz on the Huskies season stats to pass the time.

1. Nika leads the team with 279 assists. Who is 2nd?
2. How many Huskies are averaging double digits in points per game?
3. Who leads the team in steals, Nika or Aubrey?
4. Who has played in more games, Dorka or Ayanna?
5. Who has more personal fouls, Nika or Lou?
6. Azzi and Lou are the best free throw shooters this season. Who is 3rd best?
7. Has Nika scored more or less than 250 points?
8. Who has blocked the most shots this season, so far?
9. How many different players have fouled out of a game this season?
10. UConn's average points per game is 76.3 ppg. How many times have the Huskies scored exactly 76 points?

Answers:

1. Aaliyah is 2nd with 89, but Dorka is close with 88.
2. Five (Aaliyah - 17, Lou - 15, Azzi - 15, Dorka - 14 and Aubrey - 12)
3. Trick question, they both have 49.
4. Ayanna = 29, Dorka = 28.
5. Nika with 81, but Lou is close with 80. (Aaliyah has the most with 92)
6. Ines with 83.3% (5-6). Aubrey is close at 80.7% (88-109)
7. Nika has scored 253 points.
8. Aaliyah has 41, but Dorka is close at 39.
9. Four players have fouled out a total of five times. (Lou leads with twice fouling out.)
10. Exactly 0 times. (High was 103 vs Seton Hall & low was 52 vs Marquette)

How did you score?

Go Huskies..!

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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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Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Doggy's UConn/Ohio State Sweet Sixteen Pregame Report

 



                                                     
2 Seed UConn Huskies                 vs       3 Seed Ohio State Buckeyes
31-5                                                                 27-7


Saturday, March 25th, 4:00 PM
Climate Pledge Arena
Seattle, Washington
TV - ABC

OHIO STATE | UCONN LEADS 6-0 
H: 2-0 | A: 2-0 | N: 2-0 

12/19/10 #1 UConn 81, #11 OSU 50 New York, N.Y. 
12/01/13 #1 UConn 70, OSU 49 Springfield, Mass. 
11/16/15 #1 UConn 100, #6 OSU 56 Columbus, Ohio 
12/19/16 #1 UConn 82, #12 OSU 63 Hartford, Conn. 
11/11/18 #2 UConn 85, Ohio State 53 Storrs, Conn. 
11/24/19 #4 UConn 73, Ohio State 62 Columbus, Ohio

Ohio State Overview

Ohio State has had an up and down season, like a few other teams this year. The Buckeyes  started out winning their first 19 games of the season, moving as high as No. 2 in the polls. In those 19 games they beat Tennessee, Oregon, Michigan and Louisville. They looked like world beaters. Then they seemed to hit a wall. 

They lost their next three games, losing to Iowa, Indiana and Purdue. They actually went 2-5 over their 7 games after the 19 game winning streak. It wasn't that they were losing games, but they were gettting hammered in those games. They lost by 11, 13, 8, 35, and 24 points. Something was definately wrong with the team.

Ohio State fans will tell you that losing Jaci Sheldon to injury was a big reason, but she was injured several games before the losing started. 

They seemd to right the ship somewhat winning four of the next five games before losing to Iowa in the Big Ten Tournament final by 35 points. When they lose, they don't mess around. 

Entering the NCAA tournament on a downer, but beat 14 seed James Madison and then squeaked by 6 seed North Carolina to get to the Sweet Sixteen.

19-0 to start the season and 6-7 the last 13 games. Which Ohio State team will we see in this game?    

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Ohio State Buckeyes


Kevin McGuff


   Ohio State Starters
Ohio State Bench 

1 Rikki Harris
5'10" RS Junior Guard

23 Rebeka Mikulasikova
6'4" Senior Forward

 
OHIO STATE TEAM STATS


 Game Analysis

This is a tough to analyize. Ohio State has been a hard to to figure out. Are they the team that started the season 19-0? Or the team that finished 6-7? The team that beat Tennessee, Louisville, Indiana or the team that lost by 36 to Maryland, 24 points to Indiana, or 33 to Iowa. Those are some embarrassing losses. Really good teams don't lose like that. Let's look at the players.

Taylor Mikesell, a 5'11" senior guard, is the leading scorer for Ohio State. I'd look for her to play all 40 minutes in this one. She is averaging 17.2 PPG and is a terrific shooter. She is 40% on threes and 86% from the free throw line. However she just doesn't get to the line very often. Her game is outside. She takes more than half her shots from deep. She is the main focus of the offense taking 25% of the team's shots.  

6' freshman forward Cotie McMahon is the second leadng scorer for the Buckeye, averaging 14.8 PPG. Cotie won the Big Ten freshman of the year award. She is a very aggressive player, using her strong body to get to the basket. She doesn't shoot very often from the outside and because of that she is shooting 51% from the field. She is second on the team in rebounding at 5.3 per game. Even though she is just a freshman, she is an emotional leader on this team. And a very good defensive player.

Taylor Thierry, a 6' sophomore forward, is the leading rebounder on the team at 6.7 RPG. She is third on the team in scoring at 14 PPG. She is very good at getting to the basket on the break. She leads the team in steals at over two per game. 

Jacy Sheldon, 5'10" senior guard has only played 10 games this season, most of those early in the season. She is recently back from her injury and back into the starting lineup. She is a big part of the teams offense. She averages 12 PPG and is a better shooter than her 23% from deep shows. She does a good job getting the ball to the right player at the right time.

Ebony Walker, a 6' senior forward,  is the fifth starter for the Buckeyes. She has been starting the last few games as Ohio State has gone small in their starting lineup. She is only averaging 4.5 PPG and 3.5 RPG. She is also only playing around 14 minutes per game. 

The only size on the team is 6'4" forward, senior Rebeka Mikulasikova, who has started 25 of their 33 games. And she may start against UConn. She is a big body in the paint with very good footwork and can finish with either hand. She is averaging 10.7 PPG and takes the second most three pointers on the team shooting them at 33.1%.      

Rikki Harris, a 5'10" RS junior guard, is the leading assist maker on the team at almost 4 per game. While Sheldon was out, she started at point guard position and will see plenty of timme in this game. She averages 7 PPG and 4.3 RPG. 

The Buckeyes love to press. It's a huge part of their game plan. They not only press to speed  up the game but they want to force turnovers and score off of those mistakes. They did that well against James Madison and North Carolina so far in the tournament scoring 37 points off of 37 turnovers in the two games. You'd think that would be an issue for UConn as they have had trouble with turnovers all season. But I've mentioned before, when Fudd is in the game, it's a different story. They average almost 18 turnovers per game without her and 14 with her playing. And I haven't seen a team press UConn into turnovers. It always seemed to be just sloppy play. The Huskies have every player on the court to help break the press. You can bet Geno will have them working hard on doing that.

UConn has a big advantage in the paint with Juhasz and Edwards. The Buckeyes have no one to guard Aaliyah. Muhl will be looking for that post pass all game long. And Fudd is back. The Huskies will be looking for the kick out to the open Azzi, Lou or Ducharme.     

Final Prediction

This game will be decided on who can impose their style of play on the other team. Ohio State will press and try to force UConn to turn the ball over for easy buckets. UConn will try to use their size advantage to get easy buckets on the inside. The Huskies advantage is that they can play multiple ways, scoring inside and outside with their excellent three point shooting. 

UConn has been pressing on their own with their new found rotation length of seven players. I'd look for them to try to press the pressers.

Ohio State is not a very good rebounding team and UConn is an excellent rebounding team. That will go a long way in deciding who will win this game. 

The Huskies are just the better team and it will take a big effort on the Buckeye's part to keep it close enough to win at the end of the game. It's their only chance.

I see UConn continuing their excellent play in the tournament and taking it to the Buckeyes. It could be close for a while but UConn will pull away at the end. 

UConn by 10+.

GO HUSKIES!!
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Monday, March 20, 2023

Doggy's Doghouse 3/20/2023

 







 




GO UCONN!!!!!

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One more day in bed. Hopefully I stay awake for the late game!!  

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Ok....how many of you thought this just wasn't UConn's night. I mean, a great defensive team like UConn gave up 24 points in the first quarter. A team like Baylor that was hot from three point land in their last game turned it on again and couldn't miss. 

Yes, down 24-18 and thoughts of losing before the Sweet Sixteen danced in my head. And it was mostly like the Bristol Stomp. It didn't feel good. Baylor hit 6 first quarter three pointers. Crazy!

But this team has been through so much this season wasn't going to let a first quarter 6 point deficit get them down. They jumped out to a 9-0 second quarter to grab a lead they wouldn't lose. Yes, give Baylor credit. They stayed with the Huskies for the half. UConn was only up 40-35 after 20 minutes. It would have been only two points but for this play.



The Huskies held Baylor to 11 second quarter points that was portending to what was to come.

We all know that teams can't keep shooting at a ridiculous percentage and certainly after going 6-11 in the first quarter, they went 6-18 to finish the game. And the Huskies just put the clamps down on any inside scoring. Baylor was 12-29 on three and 9-32 on twos. Yes, they made more three pointers than two pointers.  

UConn outscored Baylor 22-15 in the third quarter to take a 12 point lead going into the fourth quarter and then put the squeeze on them defensively even more in the fourth quarter outscoring Baylor 15-8 to finish out the game and win 77-58. A tidy 19 point win. Crap, I predicted a 20 point win. Oh well.

Just a few more comments and then I'm heading to bed. Getting up early to fly to Atlanta to meet up with my son's family. Still under the weather but I'm going anyway.

Leading the was was Azzi Fudd with 22 points. She  took control of the offense taking 22 shots. She still is missing a lot of threes, going 3-12, but she was 6-10 on two point shots and it's just so good to see her aggressive. 

Edwards finished strong and had 19 points on 9-11 shooting, Juhasz hit some clutch shots and had 11 points,  7 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.

Nika was Nika. Missed a couple of bunnies, but she got her 10 assists and ran the show as usual. 

Maybe the story of the night but the bench was outstanding. And by bench I mean Griffin and Ducharme.

Aubrey was great on the boards, grabbing 12 rebounds. She only scored 4 points but she only took 5 shots. She just did what UConn needed.

And Caroline is looking great AND healthy. She brings that three point shooting off the bench going 2-4 from deep. She had 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists.

So, on to the Sweet Sixteen where they meet 3 Seed Ohio State. I'll be working on the Pregame Report while in the mountains of Georgia!!         




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3 Seed Ohio State took on 6 Seed North Carolina in the 4:00 game. It looked like the Tarheels thought the game started at 4:30. The Buckeyes jumped out to an 11-2 lead after 5 minutes behind a couple of three pointers by Taylor Mikesell. But once awake, they closed on a 12-5 run the last 5 minutes to make a game of it. 16-14 after the first quarter. The second quarter was similar to the first. Ohio State jumped on the Tarheels again taking an 8 point lead after a 6-0 run to start the quarter. North Carolina settled the ship and closed the quarter on a 14-11 run to close the gap to 33-28 at the half.  What stuck out to me was one number. Or maybe two. Ohio State had 12 turnovers and North Carolina had 11. Really sloppy basketball. The second half saw Ohio State increase there lead to 44-36 with an 11-8 start to the third quarter. Freshman 6' forward Cotie McMahon is a really good player with NO fear in going to the basket. Fortunately for her, North Carolina doesn't defend the paint well. Like the other two quarters, North Carolina came back and closed to 51-46 after three quarters. Turnover count is Ohio State 17 and North Carolina 16.  

The last quarter was similar to the others. Ohio State increased their lead and then North Carolina came back to close the gap. Fast forward to the three minute mark and the Buckeyes are still up by three points. North Carolina was fouled and Kelly hit two free throws to close the game to 66-65. On the next posession, the Buckeyes turned the ball over one more time and the Tarheels scored to take their first lead of the game 67-66. Wow!! Ohio State hit the go ahead basket with 38 seconds left to take the lead on a three point play by Sheldon 69-67. North Carolina's Key turned the ball over. Of course, Ohio State then turned the ball over, their 21st of the game, with 16 second left to give North Carolina another chance to tie or take the lead.  And tie it they did on a Kelly jumper with 11 seconds left.  And that was too much time left on the clock. Jaci Sheldon hit a clutch jumper with 2 second left for the final lead of the game. Wow...great game to watch even though it was very sloppy.        

As you can tell, I watched this game fom tip-off to final buzzer so I was able to produce details. Not so with the rest of the game other than the Huskies against the Lady Bears. 

4 Seed Tennessee did the expected and beat up on 12 Seed Toledo, doubling up the Rockets 94-47. Iowa State would have been a better game. Yes, that is all I have to say about this game. Tennessee is going to the Sweet Sixteen to play Virginia Tech. On the path to play UConn again?  

4 Seed Villanova used a big second half to bring down 12 Seed Florida Gulf Coast 76-57. The Eagles put up a great fight in the first half, closing to 39-33. But a big third quarter extended the Wildcats lead to 16 points. Siegrist had her 37th straight 20 point game finishing with 31. Amazing. And the player I love to hate Lucy Olsen came close to a triple double with 23 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists. They get to take on Miami in the Sweet Sixteen. Great break that they need to take advantage of.

4 Seed Texas was hammered by 5 Seed Louisville 73-51. This game was never a game. Louisville played incredible defense from the jump, holding Texas to 23 points in the first half, and 7 points in the second quarter. The Longhorns could never get their offense going and you have to give credit to the Cardinals. Louisville was led by Hailey Van Lith with 21 points.   

Texas-Louisville Highlights 

Wow....talk about Upsets!!!! 1 Seed Indiana lost to  9 Seed Miami 70-68 on a jumper by Destiny Harden with 3 seconds left after Indiana hit a three pointer with 12 seconds left to tie the game. The Hurricane stormed to a big first half lead, going up 41-29. But Indiana was not going to get blown out and like another No. 1 seed Stanford, they came back to tie the game. It's just hard to believe that two No. 1 seeds lost.   




3 Seed Duke lost to 6 Seed Colorado 61-53 in another upset. Wow....what a crazy tournament. Sorry, too late for details. 

4 Seed UCLA 5 Seed Oklahoma - Late  game 

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

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