Katie Kabbes to Penn State

[ESTRELLA]

keystonekid said:

Estrella, D'errico (incoming) is one of the best ball handlers, defenders, competitors in the country, ask anyone who has seen her play.

Key,
that is only ONE. You need to have at least three good ball people on the floor at all times. I can tell you it is not coming from the two OH mentioned.

Sorry.....like them as net players but beside that they need lots of work!

ESTRELLA

[rocket]

I wonder how many Big Ten matches Estrella watched last year to make his criticism? With Holehouse, D'Erico, Fawcett, Price, and Hodge, the N-Lions will have adequate ball control to be one of the top three teams in the nation.

[jewel]

how much big10 ball can anyone watch? at a certain point, someone's going to have to take you to the hospital to be rehydrated.

[foreignball]

rocket said:

I wonder how many Big Ten matches Estrella watched last year to make his criticism? With Holehouse, D'Erico, Fawcett, Price, and Hodge, the N-Lions will have adequate ball control to be one of the top three teams in the nation.

I wouldn't call Estrella's comments "critisism", I think there is a better word and it is "realism".

Here are some facts (not that there is a vball fan who doesn't know them):
As we all saw this last season, with all the talent that PSU had at the beginning of it, they couldn't advance to the FF. They actually had a leftover of "talent" - they didn't use B. Brown and Yanz (both were ranked among the best of their class nationwide). They also practically didn't use K Price (Big 10 FOY and a starter at the last WCU20). As many other people have already posted the major problem of this team was passing/ball control and specifically the lack all around players (at least 1).

Judging by what people say about their new recruits - K Kabbes and A D'Errico (since I have never seen them in person), PSU is simply enforcing positions where they are good at but they still have their weakness exposed (all around OH's). My prediction is: yes, they will have a good season but I don't see them winning the NCAA. So here I see the point why some people seem to be so critical - for hundreds of teams a Elite 8 finish is a dream that may never come true. For PSU though, with all the names they have in their roster, anything less than runner up (or at least a FF appearance) is underachievement.

[Gorf]

jewel said:

how much big10 ball can anyone watch? at a certain point, someone's going to have to take you to the hospital to be rehydrated.

You sound like someone trying to mimic (R)ufda!'s sense of humour while leaving out his panache and self deprecation.

[Ye Olde Dawg]

While I wouldn't disagree with any of foreignball's points, I wouldn't discount last year's or next year's Penn State team -- at least not based on losing that Regional in Seattle. They ran into three things that combined to stop them:
-- Freshman jitters.
-- A hot-and-cold opponent that was hot that weekend.
-- 6,000+ screaming Husky fans.

The two other Pac-10 teams that made the final four both lost in Seattle. There may be reasons to knock Penn State, but with respect, being knocked out in that particular regional isn't one of them.

[BOTE]

It is truly amazing how little some people that profess to know what they are talking about really don't know much about the inner workings of the teams they talk about. The 06,05,04,03 Big Ten champs will do just fine in 07 and will most likely make the final 4 if the key players stay healthy. Russ puts the best 6 on the floor at any given time regardless of what foreignball, brybry and others think. Unless they are at practice everyday their opinion means zilch on who should or should not play. What the player was or did in HS has very little bearing on how they progress and inmprove in college.

[Keystonekid]

Still chuckle at people saying PSU underachieved in 06. They lost to the defending champion and top regionally seeded Washington on their home court. Starting a freshman setter, freshman L1 and two sophs? PSU is clearly one of 4 teams in my opinion that can win it all, they have the talent. I am sure anything short of a FF and a good effort once they get there will be be unacceptable to them..

[foreignball]

I may have to clarify: my previous post was based on the assumption PSU fans, coaches, players and staff had higher ambitions than Elite 8 finish (at least that was the impression at the beginning of 2006 season), but I could be wrong. I’m not a PSU fan nor I have something against the program, I just put 2 and 2 together.
I haven’t said anything about who should/should not play or have questioned coaches’ decisions regarding that matter. I have pointed out the fact that at certain positions PSU are packed with so much talent they practically can't utilize it but at the same time they do miss a certain type of player that they need to become unbeatable.

Normally I try to stay away from predicting sports results but when I do that, I truly believe in what I say. So far I’ve made 2, here they are again:
a) The easiest way for NU not to repeat their title is to run 6-2 next season.
b) If PSU coaches don’t solve their “all around” problem, a 2007 FF appearance doesn’t seem likely.
I stay behind my words and if next December it turns out I was wrong I’ll apologize here at VT.

On a side note: I don’t need to be an “insider” in order to find out the strength/weakness of a team just like one doesn’t need to know all design techniques, materials and technology methods used by computer manufacturers in order to be proficient in PC use.

[icon]

everytime i watch the katie and peter reality show on e! - i cannot help but think of katie price on the psu team -- and this is before i found out that the reality show star on e! is named katie price as well

www.katieprice.co.uk/