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Post by machura on Nov 27, 2015 13:53:55 GMT -5
I'd mark it down to several factors (in no certain order): 1. Improvement in five freshmen who are now sophomores: Jones, Scambray, Tanner, Schwan, DeHoog. 2. Special season by Sybeldon, with strong contributions from the rest of the seniors (Strickland, Beals, Wade, Condie, Magraw). 4. Strickland's "won't lose" attitude. 5. Cook's more relaxed/less perfectionist coaching style, more willingness to sub players in, shaping his offense to fit his players, including unleashing Sybeldon with his "slow one" offense (the obverse of the traditional offense, with "slows" to the middles and "quicks" to the outsides). He's also put more stress on fluidity and immediacy (see the "pepper drill" in warm-ups), although also with retaining a strong "kinetic" foundation from JMac. They have far exceeded my expectations and even surpassed my hopes. This could have gone badly so many ways, but instead we fans have been gifted with a very successful season to watch, with a lot of potential for much more. Is it too soon to start discussing Pac12 COY? Yes, I think Cook deserves it and will win it!
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Post by redbeard2008 on Nov 27, 2015 14:03:21 GMT -5
They have far exceeded my expectations and even surpassed my hopes. This could have gone badly so many ways, but instead we fans have been gifted with a very successful season to watch, with a lot of potential for much more. Is it too soon to start discussing Pac12 COY? Close to a lock, assuming Wazzu doesn't trip them up (beware rivalry matches). The closest competition would be what Haley has done at USC. POY will almost certainly go to USC, FOY to Stanford.
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Post by machura on Nov 27, 2015 17:07:37 GMT -5
I am watching Washington at WSU in Pullman last year as it is being shown in Pac 12 WA. It just reminded me how good Vansant was and the whole team last year with Beals setting. This year's team is good too, but I think what makes them good or even better, despite of lesser talent is the relax coaching and being players' coach demeanor of Keegan Cook. I don't mean to put down Coach McLaughlin I am just expressing my observation.
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Post by mikegarrison on Nov 27, 2015 17:12:14 GMT -5
I am watching Washington at WSU in Pullman last year as it is being shown in Pac 12 WA. It just reminded me how good Vansant was and the whole team last year with Beals setting. This year's team is good too, but I think what makes them good or even better, despite of lesser talent is the relax coaching and being players' coach demeanor of Keegan Cook. I don't mean to put down Coach McLaughlin I am just expressing my observation. I watched the first of those two, but I didn't want to watch the second one. (I didn't want to see Katy get hurt again.)
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Post by alwayslearning on Nov 27, 2015 17:12:48 GMT -5
They have far exceeded my expectations and even surpassed my hopes. This could have gone badly so many ways, but instead we fans have been gifted with a very successful season to watch, with a lot of potential for much more. Is it too soon to start discussing Pac12 COY? Close to a lock, assuming Wazzu doesn't trip them up (beware rivalry matches). The closest competition would be what Haley has done at USC. POY will almost certainly go to USC, FOY to Stanford. I'm not sure Cook is "close to a lock" in light of the fact that USC and UW have virtually identical records, USC had the tougher non-conference schedule, and USC had further to climb in terms of preseason rankings. Also, Haley gets credit for radically changing USC's offense while relying heavily on freshmen. None of this diminishes Cook's season, which is remarkable and certainly surpassed my expectations.
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Post by redbeard2008 on Nov 27, 2015 17:40:00 GMT -5
Close to a lock, assuming Wazzu doesn't trip them up (beware rivalry matches). The closest competition would be what Haley has done at USC. POY will almost certainly go to USC, FOY to Stanford. I'm not sure Cook is "close to a lock" in light of the fact that USC and UW have virtually identical records, USC had the tougher non-conference schedule, and USC had further to climb in terms of preseason rankings. Also, Haley gets credit for radically changing USC's offense while relying heavily on freshmen. None of this diminishes Cook's season, which is remarkable and certainly surpassed my expectations. If USC were to win the Pac-12 title, then yes. If co-champions, I think it goes to the young dog rather than old dog learning new tricks. USC will still have POY.
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Post by redbeard2008 on Nov 29, 2015 17:12:29 GMT -5
The Huskies finished top three in every Pac-12 statistical category but one:
Hitting Percentage:
1. UW .286 2. Stanford .283 3. USC .269
Opp. Hitting Percentage:
1. USC .155 2. UW .165 3. UCLA .185
Assists/Set:
1. Oregon 13.84 2. USC 13.70 3. UW 13.67
Kills/Set:
1. Oregon 14.60 2. UW 14.54 3. USC 14.46
Blocks/Set:
1. UW 2.98 2. WSU 2.94 3. ASU 2.84
Aces/Set:
1. USC 1.42 2. UW 1.32 3. Stanford 1.10
Digs/Set:
1. UCLA 17.05 2. Arizona 16.86 3. USC 16.68 6. UW 15.45
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Post by cjb950 on Nov 29, 2015 17:55:54 GMT -5
consider these UW - USC comparisons ...
DAWG set win percentage: PAC-12 = 82.6% (57-12); OA = 86.1% (87-14)
USC set win percentage: PAC-12 = 73.7% (56-20); OA = 80.7% (92-22)
Conference Head to Head (Home to Home, Away to Away)
Advantage UW = 7 Advantage USC = 3 Push = 8 No equivalent = 4
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Post by luckydawg on Nov 29, 2015 18:33:54 GMT -5
Coach of the year should go to the whoever did the most wIth the last talent. That's what good coaching is.
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Post by ay2013 on Nov 29, 2015 18:55:00 GMT -5
Coach of the year should go to the whoever did the most wIth the last talent. That's what good coaching is. Most top half Pac-12 teams are littered with Senior Aces.
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Post by luckydawg on Nov 30, 2015 2:45:21 GMT -5
Coach of the year should go to the whoever did the most wIth the last talent. That's what good coaching is. Most top half Pac-12 teams are littered with Senior Aces. And yet the recruiting classes are still analyzed and ranked as are the quality of players (look at all the posts about how their team wouldn't have lost a set if __________ hadn't gotten hurt.)
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Post by playingwithfire on Dec 7, 2015 1:47:27 GMT -5
As a Huskies fan, I am so proud of what this team has accomplished this season! No matter what the outcome of this tournament, it has been a great ride this season and over the past four years with our amazing seniors! A rare, exhilarating experience we Huskies fans will not soon forget. Kudos and much respect for the entire Huskies coaching staff, especially Tui (Leslie) for her amazing blocking coaching prowess. Her ability to consistently develop one of the top blocking teams in the nation is a true gift. A true unsung hero. We love what Coach Keegan brings to the team and admire and respect what he's been able to accomplish in such a short time. It will be exciting to see what the future of Washington will bring!
Go, Dawgs!!!
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Post by tomclen on Dec 7, 2015 15:18:59 GMT -5
Attendance graph from UW Volleyball Twitter feed:
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Post by mikegarrison on Dec 7, 2015 15:24:11 GMT -5
Doesn't look like it is adjusted for the number of home dates. That makes it kind of an "eh" stat.
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Post by alwayslearning on Dec 7, 2015 15:28:29 GMT -5
I find the variation interesting. What would account for a 50% increase between 2010 and 2011, for example?
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