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Post by volleyca on Aug 16, 2019 13:34:53 GMT -5
USC has all the pieces this year to finally go back to a final four. I give Crouch one pass for last year, but now the very questionable decisions need to be done with. SC has so much more depth than they did last year, so if they were not Top 10 majority of the season or did not make the Final Four, yes it would be disappointing. Anyways, SC has had good years followed by an off year (2013 points away from the FF, 2014 second rounded, 2015 No. 1 majority of the year but choked in Elite 8, 2016 first rounded, 2017 points away from final 4, 2018 second rounded, you get the trend.) I’m just hoping they have a 2015 kind of year because they have the talent and everyone has gelled for at least a year.
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Post by azvolleydad on Aug 16, 2019 15:24:37 GMT -5
USC has all the pieces this year to finally go back to a final four. I give Crouch one pass for last year, but now the very questionable decisions need to be done with. SC has so much more depth than they did last year, so if they were not Top 10 majority of the season or did not make the Final Four, yes it would be disappointing. Anyways, SC has had good years followed by an off year (2013 points away from the FF, 2014 second rounded, 2015 No. 1 majority of the year but choked in Elite 8, 2016 first rounded, 2017 points away from final 4, 2018 second rounded, you get the trend.) I’m just hoping they have a 2015 kind of year because they have the talent and everyone has gelled for at least a year. USC is definitely loaded, but Final four? Who are the other seven teams in the top ten that USC should leapfrog for that fourth spot?
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Post by jasonr on Aug 16, 2019 16:23:10 GMT -5
USC has all the pieces this year to finally go back to a final four. I give Crouch one pass for last year, but now the very questionable decisions need to be done with. SC has so much more depth than they did last year, so if they were not Top 10 majority of the season or did not make the Final Four, yes it would be disappointing. Anyways, SC has had good years followed by an off year (2013 points away from the FF, 2014 second rounded, 2015 No. 1 majority of the year but choked in Elite 8, 2016 first rounded, 2017 points away from final 4, 2018 second rounded, you get the trend.) I’m just hoping they have a 2015 kind of year because they have the talent and everyone has gelled for at least a year. I watched Crouch at a camp/clinic last summer. He seems like a knowledge guy and players seem to like him. The one thing that doesn't make sense is that his recruiting strategy doesn't seem to jibe with his team play philosophy. He made it clear he's a system guy, as was evident by USC's play last year, but he doesn't recruit to it. Thus far, it's been a "take the best available player" strategy. A lot of coaches do this, but it's usually to mixed results.
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Post by c4ndlelight on Aug 16, 2019 16:25:02 GMT -5
USC has all the pieces this year to finally go back to a final four. I give Crouch one pass for last year, but now the very questionable decisions need to be done with. SC has so much more depth than they did last year, so if they were not Top 10 majority of the season or did not make the Final Four, yes it would be disappointing. Anyways, SC has had good years followed by an off year (2013 points away from the FF, 2014 second rounded, 2015 No. 1 majority of the year but choked in Elite 8, 2016 first rounded, 2017 points away from final 4, 2018 second rounded, you get the trend.) I’m just hoping they have a 2015 kind of year because they have the talent and everyone has gelled for at least a year. I watched Crouch at a camp/clinic last summer. He seems like a knowledge guy and players seem to like him. The one thing that doesn't make sense is that his recruiting strategy doesn't seem to jibe with his team play philosophy. He made it clear he's a system guy, as was evident by USC's play last year, but he doesn't recruit to it. Thus far, it's been a "take the best available player" strategy. A lot of coaches do this, but it's usually to mixed results. Not going to comment on Crouch specifically, but a lot of coaches of his VB-philosophical persuasion seem to overestimate how universal the benefits of their system are and underestimate the benefit of adapting to the individual strengths of their talent.
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Post by ay2013 on Aug 16, 2019 16:29:55 GMT -5
I'll predict the following Pac-12 Finish:
1- Stanford 2- Washington 3- USC 4- Oregon 5- Utah 6- UCLA 7- Arizona 8- Cal 9- Colorado 10- WSU 11- ASU 12- OSU
I'll wait to comment on NCAA tournament berths until I see blue's SOS projection after the preseason. A weaker Pac-12 non conference win loss percentage maybe only gets us 6 or 7 in, a high Pac-12 non conference record (looking at you ASU, OSU, WSU, Colorado, Cal) could push us to 9 or 10 NCAA berths.
I also think UCLA is flirting with their preseason schedule. Nebraska seems like a loss, Baylor too...Hawaii and UCSB are tough matches too. If I were UCLA and the Pac-12 conference, I wouldn't want to enter this conference season with 5-4 record. Zona did a much better job scheduling teams that will help them enter the conference with a strong non-conference record.
I think the top 4 schools are relatively safe. Even if they take losses in the preseason, their opponent record will really increase the opponent-opponent record of the Pac-12 RPI. I think the goal for these four school is to not drop more than 3 matches in the preseason.
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Post by bigfan on Aug 16, 2019 17:35:36 GMT -5
USC has all the pieces this year to finally go back to a final four. I give Crouch one pass for last year, but now the very questionable decisions need to be done with. SC has so much more depth than they did last year, so if they were not Top 10 majority of the season or did not make the Final Four, yes it would be disappointing. Anyways, SC has had good years followed by an off year (2013 points away from the FF, 2014 second rounded, 2015 No. 1 majority of the year but choked in Elite 8, 2016 first rounded, 2017 points away from final 4, 2018 second rounded, you get the trend.) I’m just hoping they have a 2015 kind of year because they have the talent and everyone has gelled for at least a year. USC is definitely loaded, but Final four? Who are the other seven teams in the top ten that USC should leapfrog for that fourth spot? IF USC gets to a regional final it would be great. In what way do they have more depth? Lanier, Botkin, Lazaro, Gross and Baptista are all back. Meyer-Whalley is a big loss for them
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Post by bigfan on Aug 16, 2019 17:36:37 GMT -5
I'll predict the following Pac-12 Finish: 1- Stanford 2- Washington 3- USC 4- Oregon 5- Utah 6- UCLA 7- Arizona 8- Cal 9- Colorado 10- WSU 11- ASU 12- OSU I'll wait to comment on NCAA tournament berths until I see blue's SOS projection after the preseason. A weaker Pac-12 non conference win loss percentage maybe only gets us 6 or 7 in, a high Pac-12 non conference record (looking at you ASU, OSU, WSU, Colorado, Cal) could push us to 9 or 10 NCAA berths. I also think UCLA is flirting with their preseason schedule. Nebraska seems like a loss, Baylor too...Hawaii and UCSB are tough matches too. If I were UCLA and the Pac-12 conference, I wouldn't want to enter this conference season with 5-4 record. Zona did a much better job scheduling teams that will help them enter the conference with a strong non-conference record. I think the top 4 schools are relatively safe. Even if they take losses in the preseason, their opponent record will really increase the opponent-opponent record of the Pac-12 RPI. I think the goal for these four school is to not drop more than 3 matches in the preseason. Flip flop USC-oregon. I really like W. They play so together as a team
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Post by VolleyballFella on Aug 16, 2019 18:11:34 GMT -5
Below is my prediction.
I'm a strong believer that team chemistry and the setting position is key, and is often the reason why offenses can't terminate or why seemingly good teams can't mesh to win. Obviously, passing is the foundation...and setter/hitter connections can form quickly on some teams. However, some teams (on any given year) take a while to mesh or don't have the chemistry as one would have thought.
A lot of these teams lost their long-term setters last year AND have a lot of freshmen/newbies that are highly touted, but haven't proven themselves yet. If we are going to have high expectations of newbies, then why not Colorado's Top 10 recruiting class finishing better? Other teams that did not do as well as CU last year are picked to do better when they lost even more key players from 2018...? For instance... I'm not sure why UCLA is being regarded so high by some. They lost a number of their best players, have a bunch of new coaches, and proved last season that they are vulnerable and can breakdown easily as a team...but who knows. Cal still hasn't shown up with a high-level setter yet, has a new coach, and still has question-mark's at passing. Reputations and past perceptions still seem to resonate with a lot of folks. With that said, I believe this year has more unknowns than previous years and it will be interesting to see how it all shakes out by the end of conference. OSU can surprise us all by November. With the right formula and circumstances, any one of these teams can still beat the other...especially when Stanford is having a very very bad day. :-)
1- Stanford 2- Washington 3- USC 4- Oregon 5- Utah 6- Arizona 6- Colorado (TIE) 8- WSU 9- Cal 10- UCLA 11- ASU 12- OSU
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Post by blue-footedbooby on Aug 16, 2019 19:04:13 GMT -5
Last year USC beat UW with a healthy Lanier and Botkin. If those two stay healthy then USC should own the dawgs. Bustamante should more than neutralize the loss of Garrick and Horin should be an upgrade to MB.
Oregon has better athletes than UW but too much youth. The youth will kill the ducks in OOC but come conference time they will push the ducks to 3rd
Top 5 are tourney locks. 6-11 will be a mad scramble for 3 or 4 additional spots.
1- Stanford 2- USC 3- Oregon 4- Washington 5- Utah 6- Arizona 6- Colorado 6- WSU 6- Cal 6- UCLA 6- ASU 12- OSU
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Post by volleyca on Aug 16, 2019 20:08:12 GMT -5
USC is definitely loaded, but Final four? Who are the other seven teams in the top ten that USC should leapfrog for that fourth spot? IF USC gets to a regional final it would be great. In what way do they have more depth? Lanier, Botkin, Lazaro, Gross and Baptista are all back. Meyer-Whalley is a big loss for them They have depth in the middle this year (Horin, Duff, Denny (not sure if she’s just an OPP or a middle too). Yes, they are a bit thin at backrow people but didn’t Bustamante ball out in beach? This year I’m confident they’ll be alright if an injury occurs
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Post by vollypopaz on Aug 16, 2019 22:07:40 GMT -5
Great job c4ndlelight. You did the homework rigorously that I half assed in my predictions. I’m looking forward to how the pac season plays out!
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Post by ay2013 on Aug 17, 2019 1:49:38 GMT -5
Last year USC beat UW with a healthy Lanier and Botkin. If those two stay healthy then USC should own the dawgs. Bustamante should more than neutralize the loss of Garrick and Horin should be an upgrade to MB. Oregon has better athletes than UW but too much youth. The youth will kill the ducks in OOC but come conference time they will push the ducks to 3rd Top 5 are tourney locks. 6-11 will be a mad scramble for 3 or 4 additional spots. 1- Stanford 2- USC 3- Oregon 4- Washington 5- Utah 6- Arizona 6- Colorado 6- WSU 6- Cal 6- UCLA 6- ASU 12- OSU Washington skips Stanford this year, that one probable loss could prove definitive in the Pac-12 standings. UW also gets to front load their conference schedule @ USC and @ UCLA in the second week of conference play which gives opponents less time to "gel". Also, is Lanier ready to go? what do all the incoming options at MB look like for USC? what does the passing rotation look like for USC? When USC took the match our RS was 5'11, that will look different this year. How often does USC block 4/5 balls per set? never....well it happened in that match last year. Washington is ready to go. Ceiling may be an issue for the dawgs, but returning everyone is still good enough to give any team a run for their money. Also, what does "better" athletes mean in this context? faster? taller? jump higher? hit harder? That's a pretty interesting statement to make.
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Post by Fight On! on Aug 17, 2019 8:27:22 GMT -5
USC is definitely loaded, but Final four? Who are the other seven teams in the top ten that USC should leapfrog for that fourth spot? IF USC gets to a regional final it would be great. In what way do they have more depth? Lanier, Botkin, Lazaro, Gross and Baptista are all back. Meyer-Whalley is a big loss for them The depth is at M2 and RS, also at L/DS
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Post by wonderwarthog79 on Aug 17, 2019 14:15:21 GMT -5
c4ndlelight the colors in the first post hurt my eyes when reading. Can you change them to a more soothing color scheme? LMAO I am going to make my bold prediction "I'm calling it" on 8/23 Change the colors to green and yellow. Those would be appropriate!
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Post by wonderwarthog79 on Aug 17, 2019 14:24:37 GMT -5
I'm hoping that Oregon gains by having the frosh available in the Spring. Also, don't underestimate the difficulties with a new setter. I was never a huge Raskie fan (hated the Minnie Mouse hair!), but she had periods of brilliance and seemed to be a good leader. Most of the PAC was weaker last year, and I don't expect any real improvement this year.
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