DoggyDaddy's Dailies 2/8/17

                                                                                                                                                   

                                                                                          

                                                                                 

                                                                                                                                                  

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WIFI on the plane!!!! As long as I'm connected, I'll try to finish this blog!

What a great 5 weeks in Florida. The weather was amazing. Believe it or not, only one bad weather day. I got to golf 9 times!!! And the time  I spent with my son and his family was priceless.

Back to cold Connecticut and a snowstorm on Thursday. Pray for me...lol.

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I got to watch most of this game on my phone while Lyft brought us to the airport and then while waiting to board. Even on the small screen Napheesa looked HUGE. She was 10-10 from the field and ended up with 24 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists and 5 blocks. What a line!!! It's hard to believe that she is getting better and better.

Katie Lou struggled from long range again. Looks like a February slump. My guess is she breaks out of that real soon. She still ended up with 20 points.

What makes me real happy is that Kia Nurse is starting to really putting some nice games together. She had 17 points and 5 assists with no turnovers.

Not an easy game for Jamelle and the Bearcats. Geno didn't go easy on her as the starters were all around 30 minutes each.

I should be able to put together a post game report on this game.

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The only other top 25 game was No. 19 Oklahoma against West Virginia. The Mountaineers recently dropped out of the rankings so this was a big game for them.

It was 56-44 in favor of West Virginia going into the fourth quarter. But Oklahoma was not ready to lose this one. They outscored West Virginia 22-9 to take a 66-65 lead with 1 minute left in the game. WV then scored with 44 seconds left to take a 67-66 lead on two free throws. 2 seconds later, Oklahoma was fouled but only made 1 of 2 free throws to tie the game.

The game eventually went to OT where the two teams battled back and forth. WV hit two free throws with 27 seconds left to take a 2 point lead and then Oklahoma hit two free throws to tie the game with 11 seconds left. West Virginia missed a jumper with 3 seconds left and so on to the second overtime.

Oklahoma finally put away West Virginia with some clutch shooting at the end of the game to win this tough outing 90-87. WV missed a three pointer with 3 seconds left for the final margin.

Whew!!!

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By David in Naples!!!!!

Fun with Numbers has some player updates. Here is the latest on the starting five:

1. Katie Lou is 9 points away from passing Renee Montgomery for 12th spot on the sophomore scoring list at UConn. Her 471 points work out to 21.4 per game.
2. Napheesa has led the Huskies in points 9 times this season and in rebounds 10 times. She led in both categories in the same game five times, including the last two games against Temple and Tulsa.
3. Saniya leads the nation with a 4.3/1 assists to turnover ratio. She has 81 assists and only 19 turnovers. In addition, her 152 points works out to an average of 7.6 per game.
4. Gabby has 7 double doubles this season and 16 total in her career. She also has the elusive triple double for points, rebounds and assists.
5. Kia is 1st on the team in minutes played (716) and free throw % (85.7), 2nd in assists (93) and made threes (44) & 3rd in points scored (288).

UConn goes for win number 98 in a row tonight against Cincinnati, road win number 36 in a row and AAC regualr season win number 65 in a row.

Go Huskies..!!


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UCONN LINKS

UConn takes care of Cincinnati with ease in 96-49 win Carl Adamec

UConn's Samuelson on Dawn Staley Award watch list Jim Fuller

UConn back on the road Jim Fuller

UConn women get 98th straight win, 96-49 over Cincinnati Atlanta Journal

Collier's 24 points help UConn women's basketball pick up win No. 98 CT Comm

UConn women defeat UC, win 98th straight game Cincinnati

The Huskies' record 98-game win streak (and counting) by the numbers NCAA

Canfield: Is 100 wins too much to ask of the UConn women? Register Citizen

A Little Rest And Williams Is Back On Her Game Courant

UConn Women Are No. 1 Tournament Seed In Latest NCAA Rankings Courant

Collier On Target, Leads UConn Women Past Cincinnati Courant

   

Upsets in Red

Late games in Green

UConn 96 Cincinnati 49 (Links in UConn Section)

19 Oklahoma 90 West Virginia 87

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 Statistical Sites

National Statistics

Rankings and RPI Sites

 Realtime Daily RPI 

Massey Rankings and Matchups

Jeff Sagarin Basketball Ratings 

NCAA D1Women's RPI 

ESPN AP and Coaches Poll

ESPN Conference Standings

Warren Nolan RPI and SOS 

Message Boards

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

College Fans Only - WCBB board where no holds are barred

Vol Nation - Tennessee women's basketball board    

CockyTalk - The upstart South Carolina women's basketball board  

ND Nation - Notre Dame women's basketball board

Rebkell - WCBB for everyone that thinks they are smarter than everyone else

Videos

BBallnut's Games from the 90's/00's

UConn Women replays

UCONN Information

2016-17 Online Media Guide

UConn 2016-2017 Roster

UConn 2016-2017 Statistics

UConn 2016-2017 Schedule 

I'm always open for suggestions. Just please reply to this blog or email me at:

doggydaddy.UConn@gmail.com

DoggyDaddy's Dailies 2/7/17

                                                                                                                                                   

                                                                                          

                                                                                 

                                                                                                                                                  

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Well, heading back to Connecticut Tuesday. If there is WIFI on the plane I should be able to blog after the UConn game. If not, talk to you Wednesday!!!!

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Sorry, no time for the Pre Game Report for the UConn/Cincinnati game.

It that changes, you will be the first to know.

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"Collier averaged 24.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game while shooting 82-percent (22-of-27) from the floor during a 2-0 week for top-ranked UConn. The sophomore started the week with 25 points, 10 rebounds, four blocks and three steals in UConn’s win at Temple on Wednesday.  The O’Fallon, Mo. native was 12-of-14 from the floor and the double-double was her seventh of the season. Collier followed that up with a 24-point, nine-rebound, three-assist effort in the win over Tulsa on Sunday."

Congrats Napheesa!!!!!

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Congrats to Napheesa, Lou and Gabby for being added to the Wade Watch list. Kia Nurse was on the list at the beginning of the season.

Wow....four starters on this list? Amazing.

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I'm so happy that the No. 2 Baylor vs No. 11 Texas game was on FS1. It was fun to watch two teams that UConn beat play each other. Texas ran out to an early lead and held on to it heading into the 4th quarter taking a 67-54 lead. Then it happened. Baylor woke up. They put on a great defensive display and slowly but surely closed the gap. After Texas took a 71-56 lead the Lady Bears went on an 18-3 run to tie the game at 74 with 2 minutes left. Texas looked shell shocked and ready to collapse. After an exchange of baskets Texas took a time out. They put the ball in the hands of their terrific freshman Joyner, who hit a jumper to give Texas a lead they would never lose again. The Longhorns put the game away from the foul line to finally win 85-79. Wonderful win for Texas on the road.  

No. 5 Florida State beat No. 16 Miami 80-71 in the battle for Florida in the ACC. FSU continues to make a case for a No. 1 seed. How far will Baylor drop? Will the Seminoles move into the top 4? We will see in the coaches poll on Tuesday. 

No. 7 Notre Dame beat up on No. 12 Louisville 85-66 in a game that was never competitive. The Cards were led by Asia Durr with 31 points and Mariya Moore had 18. The rest of the team? They scored 17 points combined. Notre Dame was terrific in this game with four players in double figures. Westbeld has been terrific since being moved out of the starting lineup and coming off the bench. She had 14 points on 7-8 shooting along with 4 assists. Freshman Jackie Young had 16 points on 6-8 shooting and 7 rebounds. Notre Dame shot an unusually bad three point shooting night going 3-16. Yet they still won by 19 points.  

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In non-top 25 action on Sunday, Tennessee played Georgia in Athens and I neglected to talk about the game in my last blog. You know how I love to post about the Lady Vols.

I was watching the game, avoiding all the pre-Super Bowl stuff and was disappointed that Tennessee had built a 6 point lead with just over a minute left and had the ball. At that point I turned off my computer and turned on the TV. Another Tennessee win and more Lady Vol love on the internet to make me crazy.

After about an hour, I was looking at the scores and was SHOCKED to see that Tennessee had lost in double overtime 81-78. Stunned! After the Super Bowl, I watched the reply of the game from the point I left off to the end. It was amazing to watch this team blow the lead and then blow another one in the 1st overtime. But I wasn't surprised. On the road, this team has a tendency to wilt in late game situations. Even in their best win at South Carolina, they almost blew an 11 point lead in the fourth quarter.

DDD had 34 points and when she was good she was great. But when she was bad she was horrid. Deshields turned the ball over 10 times, many in crucial game situations, and some of those were totally unforced. It's hard to figure her out. The announcers thought she hurt her leg but I didn't see any indication of that. She sat down on the bench away from the huddle late in the game. Not good.

I thought it pretty funny to read the Tennessee fans talk about fatigue from playing 3 games in 7 days. Funny, but so did Georgia and ironically so did UConn. Then one fan totally misrepresented the roster of UConn saying they play all ten roster players significant minutes. We all know that is not true.

In spite of losing to Georgia, Tennessee moved into to the top 25 at No. 24. I suppose it was because the other teams suck so bad.

It should be interesting the rest of the regular season to see how this tough loss effects this team.

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By David in Naples!!!!!

Tulsa scored 11 points in the 1st period against UConn's defense. They had 5 baskets versus 6 turnovers, only 2 assists and 0 offensive rebounds. Tulsa also had two shot clock violations and an airball shot. In what alternative universe is that a "bad quarter" for UConn ? Well, what about the offense ? UConn had 6 assists on 7 baskets, 14 rebounds including 7 on offense, and only 2 turnovers. Kia, Pheesa and Saniya went 5-10 and scored 11 points. How is that "bad" ? Yes, but UConn shot poorly only making 33% of their shots. No, Katie Lou shot poorly, going 2-10. Be specific..!!

There is a huge difference between a player having a tough shooting game and "UConn having a bad period"..!!!  Not being specific in criticism is lazy and stupid. For example, Napheesa had 17 points at the half, UConn shot 42% and the lead was 17 points. How is similar play going to result in a loss at South Carolina ? One critic claimed UConn has only had one good half in the last five games. Does he mean the last five games where the Huskies scored 100, 91, 91, 97 and 96 points ? So UConn averaged 95 points per game, in just one good half ? Amazing what passes for intelligent analysis...

Katie Lou went 0-7 from beyond the three point arc against Tulsa and UConn won by 46 points. Her tough shooting from three point range did NOT result in a UConn loss. She shot 8-13 or 61.5% from inside the arc and scored 16 points in 26 minutes. For the season, KLS is still hitting 44% from 3 point range and has 74 threes. What are the odds she goes 0-7 in a game again ? Before answering, remember she has 21 games where she scored a three and one where she didn't. Also remember, she made 7 three point baskets against Tulsa, the first time UConn played them.

UConn is 22-0. They have played some great quarters, and some good quarters. They have not scored less than 82 points in 13 straight games. The average margin of victory is now 32 points per game. Any critic that labels the Huskies as having played "bad" or "poorly" should be ignored.

Go Huskies..!!

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UCONN LINKS

Geno marvels at Boeheim milestone Carl Adamec

UConn dominating more than just its own conference Jim Fuller

3 UConn players named to Wade Trophy watch list Jim Fuller

UConn signee Megan Walker among semifinalists for Naismith List Jim Fuller

Cincinnati’s Elliott knows what all are up against vs UConn Augustus Chronicle

UConn Women: Saniya Chong Exceeding Expectations; Other Things Learned Courant

UConn remains in the overall No. 1 spot in committee's top-16 latest reveal ESPN

Geno Auriemma surprised by UConn’s success on the road NH Register

Bearcats Welcome Top-Ranked UConn Tuesday Cincinnati Team Site

UC Bearcats women to host No. 1-ranked UConn Cincinnati

UConn's Collier takes over South Bend Tribune

   

Upsets in Red

Late games in Green

No. 11 Texas women hold on for rare win at No. 2 Baylor USA Today

No. 5 Florida State holds off No. 16 Miami 80-71 USA Today

Ogunbowale leads No. 7 Notre Dame rout of No. 12 Louisville USA Today

Canada, No. 15 UCLA snap No. 8 Stanford’s 7-game win streak SF Gate

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 Statistical Sites

National Statistics

Rankings and RPI Sites

 Realtime Daily RPI 

Massey Rankings and Matchups

Jeff Sagarin Basketball Ratings 

NCAA D1Women's RPI 

ESPN AP and Coaches Poll

ESPN Conference Standings

Warren Nolan RPI and SOS 

Message Boards

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

College Fans Only - WCBB board where no holds are barred

Vol Nation - Tennessee women's basketball board    

CockyTalk - The upstart South Carolina women's basketball board  

ND Nation - Notre Dame women's basketball board

Rebkell - WCBB for everyone that thinks they are smarter than everyone else

Videos

BBallnut's Games from the 90's/00's

UConn Women replays

UCONN Information

2016-17 Online Media Guide

UConn 2016-2017 Roster

UConn 2016-2017 Statistics

UConn 2016-2017 Schedule 

I'm always open for suggestions. Just please reply to this blog or email me at:

doggydaddy.UConn@gmail.com

DoggyDaddy's UConn/Tulsa Post Game Report

Post Game report

Well, another interesting game for the Huskies. While the talk of the fans was the bad defensive second half against Temple in their last game, this game was a slow start against Tulsa in the first quarter.

It's no surprise to me when this UConn team has a bad quarter here and there. It's easy to forget how young this team is. And it's easy to forget that these are young women, not machines. Sometimes they look so efficient you just can't imagine them missing so many shots, including wide open layups. But it happens. And it happened in the first quarter against Tulsa. Geno was so upset with Williams, he just sat her for 13 minutes in the first half. Now THAT was surprising.

In that quarter, the NCAA leader in three point shooting was 1-8 from beyond the arc. Overall they were 7-21 from the field and scored only 16 points. Katie Lou herself was 2-10 and 0-4 on threes. They only got to the line four times, all by Gabby where she was only 1-4. Hey, it happens.

The second quarter was much better. While they still couldn't hit from the outside going 1-5 on threes (that's 2-13 for the half!), they got to the FT line going 7-7 and their shooting percentage overall was much better shooting 53%. They scored a more reasonable 24 points taking a 40-23 lead after the first half.

The second half was a great offensive and defensive show for the Huskies. Williams shrugged off the first half benching and took it out against Tulsa. UConn was 24-33 from the field (72%) and 6-10 on threes. I think Geno got their attention at the half. The one stat that stuck out to me was the 32 assists on 39 baskets. That is just remarkable.     

Game Highlights

 Game Stats and Box Score

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Game Quotes From Geno

"Sometimes you get so used to shots going in that you forget that there are times where it doesn't. As a coach you have to decide if your taking bad shots or if your taking good shots and they are just not falling. I don't think I would trade any of the shots we took in the first half. They were the same shots we have been taking all year they just were not falling today."

"I don't know if it's physical or mental but Gabby's just not herself right now. It's been like that the last couple days she's just a little bit out of sorts. I thought it would be best to give her a chance to sit and watch for a little and then she played great in the second half."

"Our 2 sophomores are very impressive. With Lou your dumbfounded every time one of her shots doesn't go in and with Napheesa every time she gets the ball in the lane and does not score your like, what wrong with her?"

Game Quotes from Coach Matilda Mossman

"We felt like after what Shug did the first time that she would be defended tougher. They had (Napheesa) Collier on her a little bit, they had Kia (Nurse) on her a little bit and we couldn't really get anything. Even when we would hand off and force them to switch, she couldn't get by (Saniya) Chong. Defensively they did a great job on her. Kendrian just didn't get a lot of touches in the second half."

"We tell our kids to enjoy the atmosphere. This is why you play college basketball, to play in front of crowds like this. I think after the game gets going, they don't think about it anymore. We just try to get them to play off of the electricity of the crowd."

"Offensively we're better at being patient, moving the ball side to side and getting post touches. Obviously we scored 100 against East Carolina last week so offensively I think we've gotten better."

Player Evaluations

Katie Lou Samuelson

What a horrible start for Lou. 2-10 from the field. 0-4 on threes. She ended up the game 0-7 on threes. Crazy!!! But was we have learned about Katie Lou this season, she is much more than just a shooter. She went 6-7 on two pointers in the second half, on the receiving end of some terrific passes from her teammates. She only played 26 minutes and was able to score 16 points and had 1 block and 1 steal along with 4 rebounds. Her on the ball defense was great. There where times where Lou was guarding players that were 6+ inches shorter and quicker. Who would believe that she would adapt to playing "UConn" defense so quickly.

Napheesa Collier

A star in the making no longer. Just a star. In a game where her teammates struggled early to make a basket, she carried the offense. In her 31 minutes she scored 24 points, had 9 rebounds, and three assists. On her way to 20 PPG average?     

"I think we came out a little slow today so maybe we weren't as focused as we needed to be. Coach really stressed that we need to treat every game the same, so we tried our best to come out with a little more energy."

"All of us, if someone is having a bad game, we try and pick them up however we can. The team has been doing a good job giving it to me in the post, so you know, I just shot it."

Gabby Williams

Interesting game for Gabby. Geno thought she just "didn't look right" in the first half and took her out of the game. She only played 7 of the 20 minutes available. She only played 17 minutes overall, but she was just incredible in the second half. In her 10 minutes she had 9 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 block and 5 steals. I think the benching had her looking right in the second half....lol.   

Kia Nurse

The Rock was rock steady again. In her 31 minutes she had 14 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assist and a block. And other than the brace on her ankle, I didn't see any sign of an issue in her play. She is one tough cookie. Her defense was excellent as usual. I love her post game interviews. She is smart and basketball wise. 

"I think that Napeesha does a great job putting herself in a situation where she can be successful. For us, anytime she has someone on her back it is easy for us to put the ball in there and she will make something happen."

"I mean obviously we didn't have a good shooting half in the first. I think it wasn't something that slowed us down, but we needed to execute better"

Sanyia Chong

The better she plays, the more confident she is and the more confident she is, the better plays. If she  keeps improving exponentially she will soon be the best player on the team. She is reminding me a little of Keitia Swanier, who had a run in the WNBA. I think it's possible she makes a roster after this season. Don't count her out. In this game she played a team high 36 minutes, and was just terrific. She scored 17 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and ZERO turnovers. She hit all her foul shots, was 3-6 on threes and added 2 steals and a block.    

"I was just trying to go out there and play my hardest and things didn't go so well in the first half, but as long as we were all working hard and doing what I can do, helping out my teammates in some type of way, then it would help out"

"Because I am a senior and I can't get the past years back, I try to work hard and stay consistent."

Crystal Dangerfield

Geno was really pleased with her play, so who am I to argue? She was 2-3 on threes scoring 6 points. But her calling card was the pick and roll with Napheesa. Crystal would thread the needle with a bounce pass allowing Collier to score an easy basket. She had 6 assists and only one turnover in 27 minutes. It was good to see her get that many minutes.  

Natalie Butler

Natalie just contributes every game. Nothing spectacular, but she will do a lot of things. Her screen setting is maybe the best on the team and her 10 foot "jumper" is almost a guaranteed basket. I loved her post defense in this game. Geno didn't play her as many minutes. Only 12. It's usually about matchups when he does that. But she had 4 points, 2 rebounds and THREE blocks. She was a real presence in the paint on defense. 

Molly Bent

Molly had a quiet game. Her minutes have gone down since the return of Dangerfield and I don't see that changing much. She played 6 minutes and 2 assists.    

Kyla Irwin

Kyla is looking like she is getting it. From setting solid screens to hitting from the outside, she is settling into a nice role for this team. In 11 minutes she had 5 points, hit her only 3 pointer, had 2 rebounds and 2 assists.  

Tierney Lawlor

Tierney only played 3 minutes in this one. No stats but she always looks good! 

 Final Thoughts

So, how many games has UConn this season where Samuelson didn't hit a three and Collier didn't have a block?

I'll leave that to David in Naples to figure out. I'm thinking none....until this game.