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Post by hammer on Mar 20, 2015 19:10:26 GMT -5
I hope Dunning has pulled the coup of all coups, because if he has, then Stanford may roll the entire Pac-12 in 2015. What kind of tease is this?
At least throw a clue out there.
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Pac12 2015
Mar 20, 2015 19:46:34 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by Stanlifornia on Mar 20, 2015 19:46:34 GMT -5
Alade? I thought this was essentially confirmed already?
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Post by ay2013 on Mar 20, 2015 20:03:57 GMT -5
Not as good as the Big 10 2015 but better than all the other conferences. Hopefully Stanford can break through and win the crown. Pac-12 lost A LOT of pin firepower....will be interesting to see how everyone else steps up.
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Post by C on Mar 20, 2015 21:01:40 GMT -5
How do you see Wallace-Ford and Reed fitting in? There will be a lot of talent on the bench. Ford doesn't fit in. She's a bench player with some occasional playing time here and there. I don't really know about Reed, haven't seen much of her.
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Post by hammer on Mar 20, 2015 23:12:11 GMT -5
Alade? I thought this was essentially confirmed already? Stanli, You are missing the point ... Alade is coming.
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Post by mikegarrison on Mar 20, 2015 23:32:10 GMT -5
Alade? I thought this was essentially confirmed already? Stanli, You are missing the point ... Alade is coming. I thought it was winter that is coming.
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Post by cbrown1709 on Mar 21, 2015 0:47:12 GMT -5
Alade? I thought this was essentially confirmed already? Based on what I've seen, Alade won't make an impact for a couple of years.
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Post by redbeard2008 on Mar 21, 2015 14:24:10 GMT -5
I'm torn about USC. They have many excellent players, but they sure didn't do well last year. What has changed that people think they are going to do better this year? Healthy Nwanebu, potentially better setter, PAC not as strong with many team's key players graduating. If they improve setting with what they have they will be top 3 in PAC. Passing was a bigger issue for USC, it seems to me. Their setting struggles were to a large degree caused by lackluster passing.
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bluepenquin
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Post by bluepenquin on Mar 21, 2015 20:23:22 GMT -5
Here's where I see the conference playing out in terms of tiers. Overall the conference will be down a bit in the middle and at the bottom. 1. Stanford - by a mile. Pretty solid bet for the Final Four. 2-4. Should be seeded if they schedule well. Arizona St.: Probably too high, but could not ask for a better situation; they return all 7 starters (and maybe upgrade at setter) - and this is the third year in a row the core 6 offensive players come back. For a team that was short on execution but not talent, the continuity HAS to mean something (or maybe Watson should hang it up). Oregon: 5 really good players coming in; I expect a couple to make immediate impact (particularly Vander Weide). Bettendorf will be asked to do a lot more - can she sustain her offensive success with increased responsibilities? Scott has the talent to do great things in a 5-1, will need to stay consistent. Could fall into the next tier but don't think so. USC: Placing them up here is a bet on their SETTING working out. Also assuming a recovered Nwanebu. Ball control wasn't great last year but that's not what held them back. Also, as bad as last year was, they were still in that 20-25 range nationally - just a lot of schadenfreude exaggerating that. 5. Not sure if schedule will be conducive to a seed (esp. w/o Wisconsin matches) but should be solid tournament team & possible 2nd round bracket buster for BYU or Hawaii. UW: Vansant and Nelson are big losses for the offense. Jones will need to become primary point-scorer. Still a lot of talent, so they get a tier to themselves. Way better than the bottom half of the conference. Do have questions about life post-JMac but those will really come up once the Sybeldon/Wade/Beals/Strickland class graduates. 6-8. Bubble teams all missing something. Arizona: Some great arms, but losing 3 primary passers and 2 most relied-upon hitters and I don't see anyone on the roster who can both pass and hit. Size advantage will be negated by size disadvantage at crucial positions. Colorado: They have too many setters but also have a lot of hitting talent. Will shank away several road matches but can challenge anybody on any given day. Utah: Kinda ballsy to have them this high as they lose 5 starters. I love Anae and Katoa's game, Trueman was very good for a frosh and they do have a big kid coming in for some size. Home court advantage will steal them a game or two. 9-10. Setting is important. Also, if there's a reason the B1G is on its way to being stronger than the PAC, it's because these two public flagships are not Top 10 teams. Cal: Last year was kind of the worst case scenario--law of averages and softer mid/bottom of conference should help them out. Higgins is a loss but they've got plenty of offense. Obvious issues on first two contacts they need to work out. UCLA: Replacing setter is IMO a bigger issue than replacing Lowe. Transfer OH may help, but may not be enough. 11-12. OSU: Losing 4 starters is huge, particularly because of the experience and size they brought. Will not have the defensive presence at the net that made them so hard to score on last year. Marshall will still be good, but she just won't have the support to get it done. WSU: They will be good, and big, but young. Watch out for them in 2 years or so.
I kind of see Washington in that 2nd tier. Logic tells me that Vansant is impossible to replace and a lot of risk associated with the coaching change. But, this team has 7 of their 9 starters returning. 100% of their setting, 75% of their return of serve and 75% of their blocking. They do lose 50% of their hitting - but compared to most teams they have a lot of production returning from a top 5 team last year.
Bottom tiers: I don't know much about what Utah has new coming in - but they are losing a ton of production (same for Arizona, UCLA, Oregon State, and Washington State).
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Post by c4ndlelight on Mar 21, 2015 20:59:18 GMT -5
[/p] I kind of see Washington in that 2nd tier. Logic tells me that Vansant is impossible to replace and a lot of risk associated with the coaching change. But, this team has 7 of their 9 starters returning. 100% of their setting, 75% of their return of serve and 75% of their blocking. They do lose 50% of their hitting - but compared to most teams they have a lot of production returning from a top 5 team last year.
[/quote] Well, I think hitting is significantly more important than the other production you cite. You're going to find that losing Option A (Vansant) and Option B (Nelson) significantly decreases the efficiency of Option C and D, especially as Vansant just got so much attention (even OOS or from the back)... that's really gonna crunch Wade in particular but also the other pins. Losing KV from the passing lineup will have a greater impact than the stats say on passing and floor defense, there's going to be a huge drop off for her replacement and you're only as good as your weakest passer (since they really lost 1/3 of their passing but only 1/4 of the attempts, that shows how she was a comparative strength who was avoided). UW still has some very nice players and will be good, but I think they'll be more vulnerable to the lower teams than those I have in 2-4. Beals' recovery is also a risk factor.
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Post by redbeard2008 on Mar 22, 2015 0:56:47 GMT -5
We'll see. I do agree that Vansant leaves a large hole to be filled. At the same time, however, last year's team had six freshmen, Jones, Scambray, Tanner, Schwan, DeHoog, and Finau, as well as Strickland, a junior, playing her first season at Libero, who together I believe have a great deal of potential for improvement. Will they come up to last season's team's mark? I don't know, but then last season's team might have gone further, if not for Beal's injury.
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Post by hammer on Mar 22, 2015 1:08:43 GMT -5
We'll see. I do agree that Vansant leaves a large hole to be filled. At the same time, however, last year's team had six freshmen, Jones, Scambray, Tanner, Schwan, DeHoog, and Finau, as well as Strickland, a junior, playing her first season at Libero, who together I believe have a great deal of potential for improvement. Will they come up to last season's team's mark? I don't know, but then last season's team might have gone further, if not for Beal's injury. Jones looked pretty impressive when hitting left side last year. I'm not certain if UW has a good LS recruit coming in 2015, but Jones looks to have the size and arm swing to do some real damage at that position. I"m clueless on whether Jones can pass the rock effectively.
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Post by volleyballfann on Mar 22, 2015 1:32:33 GMT -5
If Arizona lands Attea from WVU than Arizona will be reloaded quickly! That team will be tough to beat as they have an all-American setter and great middles and DS.
I have them finishing at middle to top next year.
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bluepenquin
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Post by bluepenquin on Mar 22, 2015 7:31:35 GMT -5
Losing KV from the passing lineup will have a greater impact than the stats say on passing and floor defense, there's going to be a huge drop off for her replacement and you're only as good as your weakest passer (since they really lost 1/3 of their passing but only 1/4 of the attempts, that shows how she was a comparative strength who was avoided). UW still has some very nice players and will be good, but I think they'll be more vulnerable to the lower teams than those I have in 2-4. Beals' recovery is also a risk factor.
[/quote][/p]
Here are the receiving stats for Washington last year:
Vansant, Krista 466 22.9% Scambray, Tia 812 40.0% Strickland, Cassie 619 30.5% All Others 135 6.6%
Now compared to Stanford last year (Stanford has to the team that plays the most straight up uncomplicated player movement and substitution in D1):
Burgess, Jordan 652 31.2% Howard, Brittany 688 33.0% Gilbert, Kyle 645 30.9% All Others 102 4.9%
What does this tell us? Vansant was the best passer so other teams chose to avoid serving to her. Or, Washington set up their receive to have Strickland cover part of Vansant's return area in order to save stamina for Vansant, or allow her to be in better position to hit while on the front row, etc...
I don't know the answer - didn't watch but a handful of matches on TV and this is probably something you have to see in person to know. If it is the former, then Washington is going to have a harder time replacing Vansant's return of serve. If it is the latter, then maybe not so much of a problem.
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Post by redbeard2008 on Mar 22, 2015 11:20:42 GMT -5
Here are the receiving stats for Washington last year:
Vansant, Krista 466 22.9% Scambray, Tia 812 40.0% Strickland, Cassie 619 30.5% All Others 135 6.6%
Now compared to Stanford last year (Stanford has to the team that plays the most straight up uncomplicated player movement and substitution in D1):
Burgess, Jordan 652 31.2% Howard, Brittany 688 33.0% Gilbert, Kyle 645 30.9% All Others 102 4.9%
What does this tell us? Vansant was the best passer so other teams chose to avoid serving to her. Or, Washington set up their receive to have Strickland cover part of Vansant's return area in order to save stamina for Vansant, or allow her to be in better position to hit while on the front row, etc...
I don't know the answer - didn't watch but a handful of matches on TV and this is probably something you have to see in person to know. If it is the former, then Washington is going to have a harder time replacing Vansant's return of serve. If it is the latter, then maybe not so much of a problem.
UW might have tried to shield Scambray a bit, but not so much that opponents weren't able to serve her. UW's best passers should be Strickland and Scambray. The question is who will be the third passer: Jones or Schwan? They could potentially go to a two-receiver passing rotation (Strickland and Scambray), which UW did in 2012 (with Orlandini and Strickland). If they go to a 5-1, it is possible that Beals could be the setter and Tanner an OH (and serve-receiver). Lots of questions with such a line-up, of course, starting with Beals' knee injury, and Tanner's foot injury.
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