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Post by SportyBucky on Oct 23, 2014 9:19:17 GMT -5
What was up with Chapman last night? Out of system sets? Not swinging? Her numbers are pretty bad.
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Post by badgerbreath on Oct 23, 2014 9:26:01 GMT -5
Who wants to lay money down that we will lead the B1G (or the universe!) in blocking at the end of the year?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2014 11:08:38 GMT -5
Quotes for the #Sheffsayswhat and @quotesbyhaleigh from the news article: “Her dream is to be the libero,” Sheffield said. “She’s coming around. Early on she would try to make some digs and you’d worry for her health and her teammates’ health because she’d be flopping around like a whale out of water" The digs are awesome,” said Nelson, who came up one short of her personal high for digs. “I love playing the back row. Kelly’s almost got it right. My dream is not to be the libero, my dream is to be a six-rotation middle. “I love playing the back row and my teammates are so supportive of me when I get digs because they know I hit the ground pretty hard. So when I get a dig, they’re pretty happy I haven’t broken any bones.” Read more: host.madison.com/sports/college/volleyball/badgers-volleyball-uw-sweeps-iowa-for-th-straight-victory/article_41e103ff-ab4b-5c95-a7b9-97eb9981159d.html#ixzz3GyOL4yFwNo way, Shef called Nelson a beached whale? He seems to shoot off his mouth once in a while.
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Post by Wiswell on Oct 23, 2014 11:19:50 GMT -5
No one is immune...he's said some things about the small players too. I think they probably find it amusing or motivating.
Admittedly, last year Nelson's ability to dig was limited (in fact a few times she ran away). She's made great strides and last night she was really impressive. These weren't just "I'm a middle and I accidentally got a dig." She was diving and really aggressive!
I was surprised on the number of attempts by Chapman because I don't even remember that many. IIRC, she didn't have many "clean" shots - I think a lot were out of system. But generally this year she hasn't too many games where she has "gone off" like at the tail end of last year. But Thomas has!
Every time Thomas does something amazing (set, dig, exciting kill) I wonder how we will survive 2015.
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Post by badgerbreath on Oct 23, 2014 11:57:22 GMT -5
Me too.
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Post by SportyBucky on Oct 23, 2014 12:24:28 GMT -5
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Post by badgerbill on Oct 23, 2014 20:13:46 GMT -5
Plus Morey, Nelson, Bates... Thomas is the biggest loss, Chapman and Thomspon will be missed as well, but three of the 2015 recruits could easily see playtime. Badgers will be fine
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Post by rainbowbadger on Oct 23, 2014 20:45:20 GMT -5
We'll have to redesign the offense, to be sure. But word on the street is that Hannah Juley is a solid passer, so perhaps she plays some back row? Then we'd have someone to take some of the OOS sets.
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Post by wiscvball on Oct 23, 2014 21:32:40 GMT -5
I am in the camp that the badgers will probably be better next year than this year. I think 2016 will be the year they have the best shot at a national championship (w/Carlini). The success this year is impressive... Thomas, Morey and Nelson have all elevated their games tremendously and Bates has been a pleasant addition. Really excited to see Kriskova crank it next year.
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Post by badgerbreath on Oct 24, 2014 9:52:30 GMT -5
Well, I believe the badgers may well have more raw talent next year and in the future, but this team has had time to figure out how to integrate with each other into a pretty well oiled machine that knows what it is -- basically a really good scrappy defensive team with a pretty effective and balanced offense that doesn't need to be spectacular to win. Definitely the balance between offense and defense had changed this year from last, which is down to the coaching team and Carlini developing a more diverse offensive attack, and the hitters, particularly Thomas and Nelson, becoming better. Bates also is a less problematic, and possibly more game changing, option than Deme was last year at L2. Add a competent block like we've seen lately and we become hard pretty darn hard team to prepare for.
Next year we won't have nearly that level of integration and sophistication in attack simply because of the lack of time together. Also, we won't have someone like Thomas who is at once an offensive threat, defensively capable and an alternative setter on the floor. She really frees the offense in a lot of ways. We have a second setter on the court without having to sacrifice a hitter. It's like having an extra half person on the floor. Sheff will have to rethink our schemes because there is noone to replace her. Maybe one of the setters, but none of them would seem to have the potential as hitters tat Court has. Maybe Saunders? She's supposed to be an all rounder, but I don't think has ever played as setter. That's a harder transition to me.
Next year Kriskova and the young ones will be facing their first year in the big ten. As PSU has shown (and if you think about it Kelli Bates as well), freshman can be great for a period, but may have a hard time sustaining that over a season. Teams adjust and freshman have to mature and learn to be resilient when they realize good teams can actually figure out ways to stop you. Kriskova is still a question mark to me, and more so now with the injury. I agree, 2016 may be the year when things really come together for that team, but I have a hard time seeing how we will be better next year than this.
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Post by badgerbreath on Oct 24, 2014 12:37:41 GMT -5
What was up with Chapman last night? Out of system sets? Not swinging? Her numbers are pretty bad. This is what Sheff had to say after the match ”You know, she was hitting the right shots, they made some really good plays on Chap tonight. There's times that she has a lot higher hitting percentage that I sit there and say "what in the world were you thinking out there?" Tonight wasn't one of those. The defense they were throwing at her, she was hitting the right shots, she was playing smart. They made some great plays and you know it's funny when those things happen. Low kills for her, low hitting percentage for her, but I thought she was under control and I thought she played okay tonight.” Thing is, I have such a hard time telling Bates and Chapman apart that I can't often say for sure what kind of match Chappy had other than by looking at the stats! Seems Sheff is not worried. You get the impression teams are setting up their defences specifically to stop Chapman. Why she should be on the short end of the pick-your-poison dilemma is a mystery to me.
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Post by Wiswell on Oct 24, 2014 12:47:38 GMT -5
I think Bates and Chapman read this and say "those dorks over on VT can't tell us apart so we'll keep it that way by wearing matching headbands."
I think Bates has a faster arm swing and is more powerful in her shots.
I agree that I don't see the 2015 team as better than this team. Even the miracle run of the 2004 Fab Freshman to the round of 8 was after a so-so, but better than expected regular season. So in that respect it could have a winning pattern similar to the 2013 team.
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Post by badgerbreath on Oct 24, 2014 12:51:20 GMT -5
Another thing I've noticed in the statistics for the B1G is that the badgers now tend to give up fewer blocks than we make, even if we don't get a ton of blocks (though suddenly we now are). We also have a lot fewer hitting errors/set that any other team. Seems like we always opt for putting the ball in play. This is apparently something the coaching staff is really emphasizing. Quoting Sheff again after the Iowa match...
"You know we had a few more attack errors than what we normally have, but I thought for the most part those were shots that were the right shots they just weren't going in...I thought we played pretty smart, but there's good misses and there's bad misses. Sometimes you try to go for the right shot and it just misses, and we're not going to get upset about that.
You know we are a low hitting error team, you know we are not a team that hits a lot of balls out of bounds. We don't get blocked a ton. I'd say in the past, Courtney and earlier this year, Kelli, people that would get blocked a little bit more but their games have expanded a lot. Their shot repertoire has expanded a lot. They don't go onto those getting housed as much as they have done in the past. First of all, we are a low hitting error team and then second of all, our blocks are improving a lot. We're typically under, by quite a bit, what our opponents usually are.”
Forgetting the fact that I don't know what "housed" means...this isn't just pablum...he's basing these comments on real outcomes and I think those outcomes reflect a real emphasis that may be a bit different than that on other teams. Our defense allows it to be effective...we don't have to hit the floor with every attack. It was not true when we played Washington earlier in the year, for instance, so the team has measureably grown. This game against Nebraska will be a real test to see if this net blocking low hitting error approach can work against a truly good blocking team.
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Post by SportyBucky on Oct 24, 2014 13:07:44 GMT -5
I think Bates and Chapman read this and say "those dorks over on VT can't tell us apart so we'll keep it that way by wearing matching headbands." I think Bates has a faster arm swing and is more powerful in her shots. I agree that I don't see the 2015 team as better than this team. Even the miracle run of the 2004 Fab Freshman to the round of 8 was after a so-so, but better than expected regular season. So in that respect it could have a winning pattern similar to the 2013 team. This is a "duh" but the higher the skill level and competition level of the high school athlete transitioning to college, the better their freshman years generally go. I think when you're talking about kids in high school who have already been recognized as one of the top 15 athletes in their class, they're elite and will do well, generally speaking, right away. Middle and setter may be harder positions to predict success because of speed of college, but OH and RS high level athletes usually adapt quickly. I believe we're upgrading talent. With Carlini setting, I believe they'll adjust faster because they're hitting better balls than they've likely ever seen in their lives. I don't know if it's final four talent, but I think there's that potential.
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Post by badgerbreath on Oct 24, 2014 13:29:50 GMT -5
I think Bates and Chapman read this and say "those dorks over on VT can't tell us apart so we'll keep it that way by wearing matching headbands." I think Bates has a faster arm swing and is more powerful in her shots. I agree that I don't see the 2015 team as better than this team. Even the miracle run of the 2004 Fab Freshman to the round of 8 was after a so-so, but better than expected regular season. So in that respect it could have a winning pattern similar to the 2013 team. You don't really think they read VT, do you? That's a terrifying thought.
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