These Huskies are good

 

Ducks Set for Monday Showdown with UCONN

 

Can the Women complete the perfect Basketball UPSET Weekend?  And watch for the female TALL FIRS line-up of Sabally, 6'5", Prince 6'7" and Kyei at 6'8"!  I salute Kelly Graves for trying it as it worked against Arizona...

 

They are only rumors, but Arizona players and coaches all say Kelly Graves was not behaving like and adult during their game.  There was an incident at the end of their game that had the Arizona coach giving the 1 finger salute to Kelly.  Both Arizona players and coaches were saying he was continually cussing towards the Arizona bench.  

 

With the Arizona coach also giving the 1 finger salute last year, it makes it just a bit more difficult to believe.  No word on if the Pac 12 is investigating the incident(s).

 

If Kelly was cussing at the Arizona bench, that isn't a good look.

On 1/17/2022 at 1:53 PM, Tandaian said:

They are only rumors, but Arizona players and coaches all say Kelly Graves was not behaving like and adult during their game.  There was an incident at the end of their game that had the Arizona coach giving the 1 finger salute to Kelly.  Both Arizona players and coaches were saying he was continually cussing towards the Arizona bench.  

 

With the Arizona coach also giving the 1 finger salute last year, it makes it just a bit more difficult to believe.  No word on if the Pac 12 is investigating the incident(s).

 

If Kelly was cussing at the Arizona bench, that isn't a good look.

 

It is natural that there will be some bad-blood developed with so many good teams in one conference, and when players leave your team to join another.  Perhaps Graves isn't pleased with out-right recruiting of his players?  Yet he has done pretty well by USC players transferring.  But I am guessing...

 

Let's hope it was just a rumor.

A fast and furious start. UCONN gets a 10-0 lead before the Ducks close it to 12-8. Loved it when Sabally took the ball right out of the UCONN player's arms!

Ducks play D. Oregon goes on a 15-4 run to finish ahead after the 1st quarter, 15-14, UCONN 1-12 on its last shots. 

 

It's loud in MKA, 24-4 run by the Ducks= Time Out UCONN

Kelly goes 10 deep on his players in the 1st half, and a 15 point lead at halftime!

Great teaching moment for the Ducks, they didn't worry when they were down 10-0 mothing at the start when the shots weren't falling.  The defense stayed constant, and UCONN did look like they were blitzed during the 39-14 run. Great defense for the Ducks along with some really nice passing. 

 

 

Wow!  This would be incredible!

The Lady Ducks looked the Kamikaze Kids!! First Sabally takes it coast to coast, then 1 Duck gets a steal, the ball is loose, and all the Ducks hit the floor, finally ending with a lay-up!

All 10 of the Lady Ducks have found the scoring column, led by Paopao with 19.

Oh no, Sabally goes down and needs assistance off the floor. 

Sabally is back on the bench with ice on her knee. Hope that's good news. 

72- 59 final. What a weekend for our basketball teams. Back to back victories against top 10 teams.  Our women played a smothering defense and kept pressure all game long.

I was worried at 10-0.

 

Paopao was awesome. Prince was a scoring machine... get the pass, turn around, and shoot!

 

Sabally hopefully is OK. It did not look good. She was still struggling after the game.

It was really fun to be there with my beloved spouse, Jan, an inveterate women's BB fan.  When we first started watching Duck Women play, way back when Bev Smith was leading the charge, guys would sneer at me saying "Chick Hoops?"  I replied: "They play a game I can relate to"; meaning on the floor, rather than in the air.

 

The 30-Duck comment above about Kamikaze Kids is what was actually happening.  I counted three UConn turnovers where Duck players went to the floor and came up with the ball.

 

Yes, UConn was down two of their stars, Paige Brueckers (she of the NIL million $$$ endorsements, mostly from Gatorade) was dressed down but in a full leg brace and not running.  Christyn Williams was out with Covid.  Also Frosh Guard Azzi Fudd is out with an injury.   All three of those players are 5'11" Guards.  UConn started three other guards, including regular Nika Muhl and Salem Oregon's Evina Westbrook of similar height.  It wasn't Guard play that made the difference.  

 

The Ducks won this game with hustle, rotating 10 players and getting boards.  Only one of the Ducks' tallest players started, Nyara Sabally, 6'5, going against a UConn lineup with Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Dorka Juhasz, both 6'5".  With the Ducks down 10-0, Graves brought in 6'7" Sedona Prince and the turn around began.  Using a classic zone breaker with high and low post led to threes by Sydney Parish and Sabally.  The Ducks fought back to 6 second mark where Te-Hina Paopao was fouled on a drive and hit both free throws to take a 15-14 lead at the quarter break that was never relinquished.  

 

To me the big difference was on the boards, especially on the defensive end.  Our big players blocked out the UConn bigs so that our guards could crash and get the rebound.

 

Well, my wife is chomping at the bit to watch the recorded game so I'll go share that experience and come back with more comments after the stats are published.  I want to see just how much they support my impression of the board play. 

Edited January 18, 20223 yr by Grandpa Duck

 

On 1/17/2022 at 1:53 PM, Tandaian said:

They are only rumors, but Arizona players and coaches all say Kelly Graves was not behaving like and adult during their game.  There was an incident at the end of their game that had the Arizona coach giving the 1 finger salute to Kelly.  Both Arizona players and coaches were saying he was continually cussing towards the Arizona bench.  

 

With the Arizona coach also giving the 1 finger salute last year, it makes it just a bit more difficult to believe.  No word on if the Pac 12 is investigating the incident(s).

 

If Kelly was cussing at the Arizona bench, that isn't a good look.

Hey if both sides were acting badly like that then both should get a warning.

That was one serious ass whuppin'! Ducks were swarming on defense, excellent ball movement at the offensive end.

Paopao looked unstoppable, and Prince was deadly with the mid-range jumper.

Seeing them play with this much effort is fun to watch, and if they continue to play like this, they may become a juggernaut.

Sure hope Sabally didn't have a serious injury.

So I watched the game again, and reviewed the stats.  My perception about rebounds was just flat wrong, 36-34, UConn.  But they had more opportunities because the Ducks shot better (for those wondering what that means, there is no reboud when the ball goes in the basket and Oregon made a higher percentage of their shots and took two more shots).

 

The most significant stat was turnovers, Ducks 12, UConn 19, and the ensuing points off turnovers, where the Ducks led by 12.  There were three times Duck players went to the floor to gain possession from the Huskies, once leading to a held ball with the arrow favoring the Ducks and the other two both led to almost immediate Duck buckets.

 

And, the Ducks were 9 of 24 beyond the three-point line and the Huskies only 3 of 18.  Announcers said that UConn is not know as a three point shooting team.  Today they had little choice but to shoot from out there because the Duck "D" kept them from getting the ball inside and many of their threes were just to beat the shot clock.

 

Ultimately, this game was won by outstanding defense, particularly our four tallest women, Sabally, 6'5", Prince 6'7", Phillipina Kyei, 6'8" who had a significant block as time ran out at half, and the almost unrecognized Kylee Watson, 6'5".  Watson takes up a lot of space in the paint, moves well and quickly.  In a game like today, where the officials are letting the women play and bounce off one another, she shines bright.  Lots of touches on the ball that don't show in the stats.

 

Twice in the game Kelly Graves went with a small line-up, at the beginning of both halves.  He did not stay that way long either time because it did not work.  Our taller women dominated on the UConn end of the court.  

 

Paopao led with 22 points followed by Prince with 14.  Both of these players and Sabally have had extended time away with injuries, so the team is just now beginning to work well together.  

 

Ten players scored.  

 

My feeling for the rest of the season is that if our taller players stay healthy the Duck women are going to cause a lot of teams a lot of problems.  The whole team works hard the entire time they're on the court.  Really fun to watch.  Chick hoops?  Hardley.

 

If you are not watching the Duck women play basketball, you should try it.  You'll like it!