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Post by Smooth "954" Mike on Mar 18, 2004 12:13:18 GMT -5
IPFW has made the impression to everyone in the MIVA that they are the team to beat, but it has appeared to become that they are over achieving. A few people have talked about the bus rolling through Fort Wayne, will that happen…..probably not.
Loyola, Lewis, Ball St. & Ohio St. continue to show that its not about man for man on the court, its about who shows up that night and wants it more.
When Midwest teams travel out to the west coast it’s to get top competition, and to better prepare themselves for the MIVA conference tourney.
I know one thing for sure, Zbyszewski has to have some back problems from carrying his team. I haven’t seen ANYONE offensively step up to help him.
I predict a return trip of 0-5 if things don’t change.
Where’s our informant Vbfanatic ? He must be somewhere warm on spring break away from a computer…
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Post by diggger33 on Mar 18, 2004 14:32:45 GMT -5
IPFW is doing about as well as I thought it would....it just shows what down year it is in the MIVA. Matty is a great player but has NO help. Even Yuval Katz had Milo, Metgzer had Nihipali.... Matty has got NO ONE.... IPFW has made the impression to everyone in the MIVA that they are the team to beat, but it has appeared to become that they are over achieving. A few people have talked about the bus rolling through Fort Wayne, will that happen…..probably not. Loyola, Lewis, Ball St. & Ohio St. continue to show that its not about man for man on the court, its about who shows up that night and wants it more. When Midwest teams travel out to the west coast it’s to get top competition, and to better prepare themselves for the MIVA conference tourney. I know one thing for sure, Zbyszewski has to have some back problems from carrying his team. I haven’t seen ANYONE offensively step up to help him. I predict a return trip of 0-5 if things don’t change. Where’s our informant Vbfanatic ? He must be somewhere warm on spring break away from a computer… |
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Post by midwestfan on Mar 18, 2004 20:35:37 GMT -5
I've been trying to figure out exactly what you're trying to say ... I'm still at a loss! ;D If you are talking about their last two matches, those were against the #7 and #4 teams in the nation. I thought that they might have a chance against SB, but I think the traveling and time change was too much for them, plus SB needed a win pretty badly, having lost 3 in a row. I think they're getting the tough competition and experience that they need to make them a more competitive team, either for this year or for next year. If these two matches are your idea of a skid, I must disagree with you. I can't imagine that there are very many who actually thought they had much of a prayer on this trip. Until the two Ball State losses to Lewis and Loyola, they seemed like they were the team to beat (seeing as how they beat IPFW on the road and were undefeated in the conference) and not IPFW. Now if you want to talk about skid's, that's a different road that we could go down.  As far as the "bus rolling through FW", who the h*** knows. I'm sure IPFW, as well as the other teams, hope that they can host the MIVA semi's and finals. That doesn't seem unrealistic. A return trip of 0-5 ... I don't think so! They return from sunny Cal and they play BS, Mercyhurst, Findlay, Loyola and Clarke in that order. So your prediction of 0-5 seems totally out of line. You are right however, that winning is about who shows up that night and wants it more. Seems like that is the key to any sport! ;D By the way, VBFanatic has been online on this forum, a couple of times, since IPFW has been on their westcoast road trip.  |
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Post by midwestfan on Mar 18, 2004 20:43:21 GMT -5
I also meant to say that I think Loyola has the momentum right now. I'm waiting to see what happens with them and Ohio State this weekend.
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Post by lalalaluuuke on Mar 18, 2004 22:38:42 GMT -5
It's hard to believe a team with the top 3 blockers in the nation and the #1 leader nationally in kills and ppg can't hang with a team like UCSB. I think playing against east coast teams might help pad their stats some but it sounds like they are still a tough team.
What is going on? Are the west coast teams that much better? Is it having to go on the road? Would the results be different if they were playing at home? A few teams have ventured east and only UC Irvine has lost (to my knowledge). BYU swept their Ohio State series. Pepperdine dominated their trip out. I know this is a hot debate between the west, midwest, and east coasters. This deep into the season is a good time to ignite it again.
Voice your opinion on the matter.
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Post by midwestfan on Mar 18, 2004 22:56:57 GMT -5
This is very obviously one of those years where the East and the Midwest are finding it tough to compete against the West. It has been stated several times that the MIVA is very down talent wise this year and Penn State seems to be the same. We just don't have the bench depth that you folks have. If one of your "star" players is having an off night, you can put anyone of 2 or 3 guys into the lineup and they will probably do a great job. We don't have that luxury.
I also think traveling that far plays a roll as well. Remember IPFW and Rutgers were both playing at 10:00 p.m. their time and it is even worse when we go to Hawaii. With that being said, I still think we should have given SB a better match. It looks like we did a little better against Northridge, at least stat wise.
There have obviously been years when the East and Midwest competed more evenly but with that being said, the teams from the West have dominated and typically are "that much better."
USC and UCSD also lost back East but then UCSD turned around and beat Penn State.
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Post by Beachy on Mar 18, 2004 23:19:00 GMT -5
Can all the MPSF teams use the same "time zone" excuse when they visit Hawaii? I definitely agree that there is a factor when traveling but excusing the losses exclusively to time zone is bogus.
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Post by midwestfan on Mar 19, 2004 0:29:15 GMT -5
Oh Annoying One  ;D , was I excusing their loss exclusively to travel? NO, I don't believe that's what I said! I doubt that anyone on the team would say that as well. |
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Post by JKnight12 on Mar 19, 2004 0:52:37 GMT -5
Knowing that the east coast teams are weaker than the west, do you still think it's fair to automatically send two teams from the east to the final four, when that doesn't make up the top four teams in the nation?
Why not have an interspersed playoff leading up to the final four so that the best teams can be there?
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Post by Beachy on Mar 19, 2004 1:01:56 GMT -5
Oh, midfan, I am not annoying....just bitchy, oops I mean , Beachy ;D
so true for you, you did say that IPFW did better agin CSUN....I stand corrected. But you can't claim playing 10pm EST when hopefully the coaches have planned the trip to accomodate jet lag. I do think travel is hard no matter which way you go.
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Post by cougarize on Mar 19, 2004 3:10:39 GMT -5
It's hard to believe a team with the top 3 blockers in the nation and the #1 leader nationally in kills and ppg can't hang with a team like UCSB. I think playing against east coast teams might help pad their stats some but it sounds like they are still a tough team. These stats like this are really meaningless. The blocking stats more than anything else. It's great to be a the best rated blocking team, but where is BYU ranked in everything? How many individuals do they have in the leaders? Attack percentage would be a good indicator of things, and BYU is at or near the top, but you've got to look at who the teams have played too. It's just a fact that the East is far less talented than the West. I've gotten into it with vbfanatic over this before, but I guarantee BYU's second team would lead any league outside the MPSF. If you want to argue, how can you argue with the fact that BYU's second team goes up against the nation's No. 1 team everyday in practice.... |
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Post by cyberVBmidwest on Mar 19, 2004 8:45:52 GMT -5
It's just a fact that the East is far less talented than the West. I've gotten into it with vbfanatic over this before, but I guarantee BYU's second team would lead any league outside the MPSF..... Is the BYU second team made up of the over 30 year olds returning from their mission? |
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Post by midwestfan on Mar 19, 2004 9:44:58 GMT -5
Good one cyberVBmidest!
JK: In a "perfect volleyball world" there would be a playoff tournament that included the top 12 teams or so. This however, is not a perfect volleyball world and to continue to argue this point is meaningless. All of you who think this is soooooo important and "unfair", do what we told Babyborn to do, contact the NCAA. Maybe if they have enough people contact them, they'll change it. Until then, the system we have is what we have.
Cougar:
If BYU's 2nd team is sooooo good, maybe you should play them against Lewis and GM when they are out next week. That would prove your meaningless point and settle this arguement once and for all. While your at it, maybe you should also play them against USC and UCSD, since they are probably in the same catagory as teams from the east. Without that occuring, it is impossible to prove your hypothesis now isn't it. ;D
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Post by vballguy2001 on Mar 19, 2004 10:27:00 GMT -5
Is the BYU second team made up of the over 30 year olds returning from their mission? No they are made up of 19 yr olds that you won't get to see play til 2010 and 25 yr old foreign pro players. ha ha .........just kidding to all those sensitive BYU fans |
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Post by lalalaluuuke on Mar 19, 2004 14:09:05 GMT -5
It's good to see all of the negative attention that you all are giving BYU. It is a good indication that BYU is doing well. Thanks for your support.
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;D , was I excusing their loss exclusively to travel? NO, I don't believe that's what I said! I doubt that anyone on the team would say that as well.
