|
|
Post by badgerbill on Dec 11, 2006 17:54:56 GMT -5
I just can't help myself. I know the Badger season has just ended but I can't help but start thingking of next year, and what the Badger's will look like. The key to next season is really the development of Katherine Dykstra and how much she can mature in the off season. If she doesn't look for Jeffers to move to the middle and Salow to the right side. Salow on the right would provide a good block (granted she needs to refine some of her blocking skill) and then we could see Allison Wack or Caity Dupont fill the O2 position. It sounds like Allison Wack has more refined skill on the outside than Dupont., however Wack is not as big of a jumper as Dolgner. The Badgers should soar to elite status with their back row play. With Kim Kuzma, Jocelyn Wack, Megan Mills, Amanda Berkley, and with the solid back row skills of Dolgner and Wack look for the Badgers to have fewer passing lapses. Blocking should be solid again next year, but again depth might be an issue with the middle blocking position.
Another positive will be the likelihood of Wisconsin hosting regionals, according to Waite Teh badgers will be applying to host and it sounded like a certainty according to what he said.
The Badgers should be a preseason Top 10 team and definite top 3 team in the Big Ten.
The Big Ten should be even better next year with all of the talent coming in.
I agree the 2 remaining scholarships will be offered to very physical players capable of playing either middle or right side. It would be interesting to see if Pete Waite is recruiting Colleen Ward, Michelle Bartsch or Kelly Murphy.
Also does anybody know if Nyla Ware is a senior of Junior. I have heard her name thrown around on this board, but don't see her on any recruting lists.
D
|
|
|
|
Post by Reach on Dec 11, 2006 18:17:03 GMT -5
The rumor on Kelly Murphy ( possible #1 recruit ) is that Stanford has her locked up. Another one for BASTA!
|
|
|
|
Post by bomber on Dec 11, 2006 18:50:29 GMT -5
I just can't help myself. I know the Badger season has just ended but I can't help but start thingking of next year, and what the Badger's will look like. The key to next season is really the development of Katherine Dykstra and how much she can mature in the off season. If she doesn't look for Jeffers to move to the middle and Salow to the right side. Salow on the right would provide a good block (granted she needs to refine some of her blocking skill) and then we could see Allison Wack or Caity Dupont fill the O2 position. It sounds like Allison Wack has more refined skill on the outside than Dupont., however Wack is not as big of a jumper as Dolgner. The Badgers should soar to elite status with their back row play. With Kim Kuzma, Jocelyn Wack, Megan Mills, Amanda Berkley, and with the solid back row skills of Dolgner and Wack look for the Badgers to have fewer passing lapses. Blocking should be solid again next year, but again depth might be an issue with the middle blocking position. Another positive will be the likelihood of Wisconsin hosting regionals, according to Waite Teh badgers will be applying to host and it sounded like a certainty according to what he said. The Badgers should be a preseason Top 10 team and definite top 3 team in the Big Ten. The Big Ten should be even better next year with all of the talent coming in. I agree the 2 remaining scholarships will be offered to very physical players capable of playing either middle or right side. It would be interesting to see if Pete Waite is recruiting Colleen Ward, Michelle Bartsch or Kelly Murphy. Also does anybody know if Nyla Ware is a senior of Junior. I have heard her name thrown around on this board, but don't see her on any recruting lists. D After the Texas debacle, back row has me more concerned. The only thing the Badgers dug in Austin was their own grave. I think after Wack, the rest of the back row is wide open competition next year. Also, depending on Dykstra has me nervous.....she's really showed nothing really positive so far.....nothing really negative either, except maybe her foot speed. What bothers me the most is that sh'e still a huge question mark, after two full years on campus. I still think moving Jeffers back into the middle is the way to go. |
|
|
|
Post by wiscvball on Dec 11, 2006 20:36:26 GMT -5
To be fair to Dykstra, she has been injured for much of her time at UW so far. She has a tremendous upside if she can get better at closing the block.
I think UW's biggest problem is that they don't have an athletic do-everything middle like a Nelson or Harmotto. Granted that those girls don't grow on trees, but when they had Livingston and to a lesser extent Shaw, they had serious offensive threats in the middle. Reineke is a solid middle, but she's never going to be an offensive force. She's pretty one dimensional as a middle blocker. Dykstra has the ability to be that offensive force that the Badgers need, but needs to be less of a liability on the block. I honestly think she can come in next year and be a step up from Bladow... nothing against Amy, but she didn't set the world on fire with her hitting OR blocking this season. She was just solid and was the more experienced option in the middle.
If you move Jeffers back to the middle, you'll severly limit the amount of sets she sees. That spells trouble for Wisconsin. I think the coaches really like her on the right where she can get plenty of sets as well as bringing her into the middle on good passes and utilizing her there. Jeffers was on fire towards the end of the year and finally showed what she can do when she's healthy. She could be the go-to player next year.
Dolgner will be the other go-to option. If she improves at just an average rate from freshman to sophomore year, the Badgers will really have a star player - and a big force attacking from the backrow.
Simpson, Wack, and Reineke will all be returning as the core of the team for their senior year. Ball handling should improve with the younger Wack, Kuzma, and both DS's returning from this season.
DuPont did a nice job hitting while Carlini was out, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Salow start at the beginning of the season over her. Morgan is a much bigger block and hits a heavy ball. She's definitely not as athletic as DuPont, but the Badgers will need someone to replace Carlini's block. I'd be surprised if Allison Wack sees much front row action next year. I think DuPont is probably a better hitter than her at this point, but Wack could be a nice option to sub out Salow or DuPont in the backrow.
Overall, the Badgers should be a stronger team next year, but they really need to work on their defense and passing in the big matches. When they play poorly, they do so because they can't get in an offensive flow due to lack of transition opportunities and poor side-out serve reception.
IF the Badgers do get a regional (which I think they will), then they have a shot to go to the final four, as they are very tough at home. It would be great for the senior class if they could go out on a high note - they've probably been the most impactful class for the UW ever.
|
|
|
|
Post by bomber on Dec 12, 2006 9:44:24 GMT -5
To be fair to Dykstra, she has been injured for much of her time at UW so far. She has a tremendous upside if she can get better at closing the block. I think UW's biggest problem is that they don't have an athletic do-everything middle like a Nelson or Harmotto. Granted that those girls don't grow on trees, but when they had Livingston and to a lesser extent Shaw, they had serious offensive threats in the middle. Reineke is a solid middle, but she's never going to be an offensive force. She's pretty one dimensional as a middle blocker. Dykstra has the ability to be that offensive force that the Badgers need, but needs to be less of a liability on the block. I honestly think she can come in next year and be a step up from Bladow... nothing against Amy, but she didn't set the world on fire with her hitting OR blocking this season. She was just solid and was the more experienced option in the middle. If you move Jeffers back to the middle, you'll severly limit the amount of sets she sees. That spells trouble for Wisconsin. I think the coaches really like her on the right where she can get plenty of sets as well as bringing her into the middle on good passes and utilizing her there. Jeffers was on fire towards the end of the year and finally showed what she can do when she's healthy. She could be the go-to player next year. Dolgner will be the other go-to option. If she improves at just an average rate from freshman to sophomore year, the Badgers will really have a star player - and a big force attacking from the backrow. Simpson, Wack, and Reineke will all be returning as the core of the team for their senior year. Ball handling should improve with the younger Wack, Kuzma, and both DS's returning from this season. DuPont did a nice job hitting while Carlini was out, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Salow start at the beginning of the season over her. Morgan is a much bigger block and hits a heavy ball. She's definitely not as athletic as DuPont, but the Badgers will need someone to replace Carlini's block. I'd be surprised if Allison Wack sees much front row action next year. I think DuPont is probably a better hitter than her at this point, but Wack could be a nice option to sub out Salow or DuPont in the backrow. Overall, the Badgers should be a stronger team next year, but they really need to work on their defense and passing in the big matches. When they play poorly, they do so because they can't get in an offensive flow due to lack of transition opportunities and poor side-out serve reception. IF the Badgers do get a regional (which I think they will), then they have a shot to go to the final four, as they are very tough at home. It would be great for the senior class if they could go out on a high note - they've probably been the most impactful class for the UW ever. I don't make a habit of this, wiscvball, but I have to disagree with you about Reinecke's offensive capabilities. I think she is an athletic, do everything middle like Nelson or Harmotto. Nelson is a wonderful scoring middle, but she was under 1 BPG this year. And believe it or not, though she led both Nelson and Harmotto in BPG, Reinecke was very close to Harmotto's KPG average this year. At her present hitting percentage over the first three years, she is due to graduate with the third All-time highest hitting efficiency in Badger history, significantly better than Shaw. She led the team (again) in that department this year. And she averaged over 3.2 KPG and .375 hitting for the NCAA tourney this year. With just a few more kills than she finished with this year, she'll go over 1000 kills for her career next year, in addition to being the odd's on favorite to finish as Wisconsin's All-time career block leader. But at her present rate, she's usually only getting the fourth or fifth highest amount of attack attempts each year. Sounds like the Badgers need to get her the ball more often, not less.(Though with the Badger's present passing capabilies, that may be difficult) But to call her just a "solid middle" is doing her a major disservice, though I'm not surprised. Though she's already made first team All Big Ten the last two years in a conference with a lot of great middles, the kid always seems to be off the radar scope when people talk about the better middles in the college game. All I know is that she is probably the one (with Dolgner) irreplaceable player the Badgers will have next year, and when she graduates, Wisconsin fans will realize what a huge part she's played in their success over the four years she was there. In addition to also dealing with the sudden reality that they will have no one ready to step into her gym shoes. |
|
|
|
Post by wiscvball on Dec 12, 2006 10:03:19 GMT -5
I don't make a habit of this, wiscvball, but I have to disagree with you about Reinecke's offensive capabilities, At her present hitting percentage over the first three years, she is due to graduate with the third All-time highest hitting efficiency in Badger history, significantly better than Shaw. She led the team (again) in that department this year. And she averaged over 3.2 KPG and .375 hitting for the NCAA tourney this year. With just a few more kills than she finished with this year, she'll go over 1000 kills for her career next year, in addition to being the odd's on favorite to finish as Wisconsin's All-time career block leader. But at her present rate, she's usually only getting the fourth or fifth highest amount of attack attempts each year. Sounds like the Badgers need to get her the ball more often, not less. But to call her just a "solid middle" is doing her a major disservice, though I'm not surprised. Though she's already made first team All Big Ten the last two years in a conference with a lot of great middles, the kid always seems to be off the radar scope when people talk about the better middles in the college game. All I know is that she is probably the one (with Dolgner) irreplaceable player the Badgers will have next year, and when she graduates, Wisconsin fans will realize what a huge part she's played in their success over the four years she was there. I agree that the Badgers will miss her when she's gone - especially for what she does defensively on the court with blocking and disrupting the opponents attackers. And yes, to call her just a solid middle is doing her a disservice... many teams would love to have her patrolling the net for them. However, to call her in the same offensive league as Shaw is a bit misguided... just look at their comparative stats from year to year: Shaw's freshman year: 167 kills, .310% Reineke's freshman year: 155 kills, .317% Pretty close stats there. Shaw's soph year: 335 kills, .325% TR's soph year: 271 kills, .312% Shaw with a pretty big edge Shaw's junior year: 438 kills, .291% TR's junior year: 285 kills, .307% TR with a small lead in efficiency, but Shaw with over 150 more kills. Shaw's senior year: 373 kills, .313% TR's senior year: TBD Shaw totaled 1313 kills, and hit around .309 for her career. So far, Reineke has 711 kills, and is hitting around .312. Reineke would need a monster senior year to get anywhere near where Shaw is kill-wise. I agree that Reineke does need to get set more, but I disagree that she can be the offensive force that Nelson or Harmotto are for their teams. Teams don't need to camp out on her like they do against the Shaw, Nelson, Harmotto, Meyer middles of the big ten - teams can afford to single block her and stack up on Jeffers or the outsides. She definitely changes the game on the defensive side of things and her abilities there are invaluable to the Badgers and will be a huge loss after next year. I just wish that Wisconsin had a consistent middle threat that could average 3.5kpg and take some of the pressure off of the outside hitters. In Reineke's best year she's only averaged 2.54 kpg - Shaw's best was 3.81. |
|
|
|
Post by bomber on Dec 12, 2006 10:47:48 GMT -5
I don't make a habit of this, wiscvball, but I have to disagree with you about Reinecke's offensive capabilities, At her present hitting percentage over the first three years, she is due to graduate with the third All-time highest hitting efficiency in Badger history, significantly better than Shaw. She led the team (again) in that department this year. And she averaged over 3.2 KPG and .375 hitting for the NCAA tourney this year. With just a few more kills than she finished with this year, she'll go over 1000 kills for her career next year, in addition to being the odd's on favorite to finish as Wisconsin's All-time career block leader. But at her present rate, she's usually only getting the fourth or fifth highest amount of attack attempts each year. Sounds like the Badgers need to get her the ball more often, not less. But to call her just a "solid middle" is doing her a major disservice, though I'm not surprised. Though she's already made first team All Big Ten the last two years in a conference with a lot of great middles, the kid always seems to be off the radar scope when people talk about the better middles in the college game. All I know is that she is probably the one (with Dolgner) irreplaceable player the Badgers will have next year, and when she graduates, Wisconsin fans will realize what a huge part she's played in their success over the four years she was there. I agree that the Badgers will miss her when she's gone - especially for what she does defensively on the court with blocking and disrupting the opponents attackers. And yes, to call her just a solid middle is doing her a disservice... many teams would love to have her patrolling the net for them. However, to call her in the same offensive league as Shaw is a bit misguided... just look at their comparative stats from year to year: Shaw's freshman year: 167 kills, .310% Reineke's freshman year: 155 kills, .317% Pretty close stats there. Shaw's soph year: 335 kills, .325% TR's soph year: 271 kills, .312% Shaw with a pretty big edge Shaw's junior year: 438 kills, .291% TR's junior year: 285 kills, .307% TR with a small lead in efficiency, but Shaw with over 150 more kills. Shaw's senior year: 373 kills, .313% TR's senior year: TBD Shaw totaled 1313 kills, and hit around .309 for her career. So far, Reineke has 711 kills, and is hitting around .312. Reineke would need a monster senior year to get anywhere near where Shaw is kill-wise. I agree that Reineke does need to get set more, but I disagree that she can be the offensive force that Nelson or Harmotto are for their teams. Teams don't need to camp out on her like they do against the Shaw, Nelson, Harmotto, Meyer middles of the big ten - teams can afford to single block her and stack up on Jeffers or the outsides. She definitely changes the game on the defensive side of things and her abilities there are invaluable to the Badgers and will be a huge loss after next year. I just wish that Wisconsin had a consistent middle threat that could average 3.5kpg and take some of the pressure off of the outside hitters. In Reineke's best year she's only averaged 2.54 kpg - Shaw's best was 3.81. Since you brought out the stats, you should have at least brought out the correct ones: Shaw's frosh year: .310%, 167 kills, 336 ATT, .83 BPG Reineke's .317%, 155 kills, 360 ATT, 1.25 BPG Pretty close offensive numbers, though blocking numbers don't compare Shaw's soph year .313%, 373 kills, 828 ATT, .76 BPG Reineke's .312%, 271 kills, 666 ATT, 1.72 BPG Almost identical hitting %'s, Shaw had 162 more ATT's, blocking, no comparison...again. Shaw's junior year .291%, 438 kills, 1018 ATT, 1.36 BPG Reineke's .307% , 285 kills, 684 ATT, 1.62 BPG Hitting % favors Reineke, Shaw had 334 more ATT, but starts to approach Reineke on BPG Shaw's senior year .325%, 335 kills, 720 ATT, 1.49 BPG Reineke's  ?? You can't really speak about both player's total kills intelligently unless you also include attack attempts. Through their first three years, Shaw had 472 more attack attempts that TR did. But admittedly, Reineke has played on teams that generally had a more balanced offense. Don't kid yourself. With the outsides PSU has, nobody is camping on either of their middles defensively. Take a look at Harmotto's and Walbridge's hitting %'s. My point here is not to see who here of the above players is better. The point I'm trying to make here is that if you get TR the ball more, there's a good chance she'll put it down for you. And that if you are looking for, as you said before, "an athletic, do everything middle", you really don't have to look any farther than the one you have patrolling the middle for the Badger's right now. Of course, none of this does anything to address the more serious question of who will play the other middle spot for the Badgers next year. Or pass the ball better. |
|
|
|
Post by journeylad on Dec 12, 2006 11:07:10 GMT -5
My point here is not to see who here of the above players is better. The point I'm trying to make is that if you are looking for "an athletic, do everything middle", you really don't have to look any farther than the one you have patrolling the middle for the Badger's right now. Good lord!!! We're back to the "Reinecke is just a blur" attitude. Riiiiiiight. We saw all of this both times she played Minnesota. Simply put, she wasn't much of a factor. And she wasn't in the same league as either Nelson or Jones. She's a decent middle -- she just shouldn't be deified. |
|
|
|
Post by bomber on Dec 12, 2006 11:17:51 GMT -5
My point here is not to see who here of the above players is better. The point I'm trying to make is that if you are looking for "an athletic, do everything middle", you really don't have to look any farther than the one you have patrolling the middle for the Badger's right now. Good lord!!! We're back to the "Reinecke is just a blur" attitude. Riiiiiiight. We saw all of this both times she played Minnesota. Simply put, she wasn't much of a factor. And she wasn't in the same league as either Nelson or Jones. She's a decent middle -- she just shouldn't be deified. One, this is a Badger thread. Two, we could expect a negative comment from a Gopher fan, and......we got one. Probably more to follow. Three, nobody's deifying anybody. Four, true, TR didn't have her usual type of game against Minnesota either time this year. Jones and Nelson had better games. Five, obviously a majority of Big Ten coaches didn't agree with you regarding Jones. And six, if either of your better middles played like TR did against Penn State in the Badger's victory, you might have gotten a win from them instead of going 0-2. And you sure wouldn't have lost to Michigan. |
|
|
|
Post by silver7 on Dec 12, 2006 20:46:36 GMT -5
All this talk about Reineke? She has flown under the radar her whole career as a Badger. You put her with a top notch setter like Spicer or Brin Kehoe, and you'ld see stats out of the stratosphere. As for her play against Minnesota, she was a casualty of the lousy back row Wisconsin has to offer and a very narrow minded setter. And the comparison of TR and Shaw??? Shaw had an awsome setter her freshman year, one who did amazing things with her middle offense! Shaws stats and sets began their trickle down as Simpson came on board. She's a major dumper, one who doesn't see how it is affecting her players geared up to hit, only to watch it go over by the setter herself. SELFISH. I am hoping Waite and Co. had a reality check in Texas and work with Klingsporn to help the Badgers next year. A solid, committed dimensional setter.... As for the back row, I'd be telling Mills to concentrate on her studies and not bother coming back , as she was overheard saying it was a relief that the tourney was over in Texas 'cause she had an enormous amount of work left to fiinish up her semister. Who didn't??? Where is the comittment??? She should hang it up there! |
|
|
|
Post by volleynut on Dec 12, 2006 21:09:46 GMT -5
Silver7 you seem to have an axe to grind with Simpson as is noted by all your previous posts and many other posters.
Look at the stats. You said Shaw had an awesome setter freshman year (I'm not claiming she wasn't, big fan of Shields) Shaw's freshman year: 167 kills, 336 attempts, .310% with Shields setting
Shaw's senior year: 373 kills, 720 attempts .313% with Simpson setting
Seems to me both did a great job of setting an exceptional Middle.
|
|
|
|
Post by volleynut on Dec 12, 2006 21:11:17 GMT -5
By the way I also think Reineke is a great Middle. Will go down in Wisconsin history as one of the best. She was grossly overlooked by the Regional committee.
|
|
|
|
Post by bucky415 on Dec 13, 2006 1:26:44 GMT -5
I think Reineke is one of the best middles in the Big Ten and a possible All-American candidate next season. I don't know if her upside offensively is as high as Shaw's, but she is the best blocker the Badgers have had since I started watching them a lot in 1999. She is really effective at running the back slide and had some big offensive matches. I hope the Badgers can get her more involved from the middle next year, both on quicks and the middle slide. The connections on those weren't great at times this season. Reineke had a few off matches offensively when Simpson set her too low, especially early in the year. When Jackie really got in the groove in midseason, Reineke had some big matches, especially against Ohio State.
I think Taylor ended the regular season in a bit of a slump, but she played pretty well in the NCAAs, as per usual. She seemed frustrated with her blocking at times against Notre Dame and ended with seven blocks. Nice off night. Her blocking numbers were down slightly for the year, but I think a lot of that is that Big Ten hitters have figured out they can't overpower her (I wish they would try more often) and hit around her, often out of bounds or to the Badger defense. To summarize, I don't think the Badgers have any concern with that middle slot next year as long as Reineke is healthy. The other one is a big question mark. I would hope Jeffers can stay at right side so they can set her more, as someone already said. I think she would be a good middle too, but I think she is the biggest matchup problem at right side. We will see.
I also hope that Mills gets all her work done and comes back to make other teams look bad with her serve. You can never have too many experienced back row players, no matter what trolls might say.
|
|
|
|
Post by cbrown1709 on Dec 13, 2006 1:41:19 GMT -5
The rumor on Kelly Murphy ( possible #1 recruit ) is that Stanford has her locked up. Another one for BASTA! I would like to know where you heard that, she just visited Nebraska a couple of weeks ago. And since she is a junior, she paid for the visit herself. |
|
|
|
Post by rudepa on Dec 13, 2006 9:54:17 GMT -5
Interesting ideas that are getting put out there about Reineke. Having seen her play lots of times, i can say she's a solid middle. She definately though was not a dynamic player on the court. Sure, she'd have some great blocks and some good slides. She is not the impact player that Wisconsin has had in the middle though. Shaw and Livingston are prime examples of that. I would doubt that Reineke will ever be an AA though. She just isnt there and needs a lot of work to get there.....
Jeffers is turning out to be a awesome force developing. Lets hope she stays healthy so she doesnt lose the timing that it takes her soooooo long to find. I think she'd be a great middle, but would definately get more swings if she stays on the right.
|
|
??
