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Post by rainbowbadger on Aug 24, 2019 22:00:50 GMT -5
Is she not playing in France again this Fall? I don't think Kelli or Haleigh had their contracts renewed. IDK about Nelson, but Bates had a few other offers for this season. She chose to come back to the US, and moved to Phoenix to be with her family. She’s working in sales at BSN Sports.
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Post by bball on Aug 24, 2019 22:05:21 GMT -5
Do we think Wisconsin can take down Stanford? Someone has to make sure they dont win the title again. .
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Post by badgerbreath on Aug 24, 2019 22:46:08 GMT -5
Do we think Wisconsin can take down Stanford? Someone has to make sure they dont win the title again. . Somebody takes down Stanford every year. They just have to do it at the right time. So, sure, the badgers could do it, among several other teams. Would I favor them? Probably not. But I need to see them play real competition first. How Hart and Barnes fit in will be key, as will Haggerty's form.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2019 23:04:46 GMT -5
I am almost never one who would take a "Stanford vs. the field" kind of bet for a championship. I would be tempted to do so this year. The champs from a year ago added more than anyone else, and lost less than its closest competition. The strongest favorite I think we've seen since the glory years of Penn State.
I have to see more terminal ability on the pins, especially OOS, to give Wisconsin a chance against Stanford. They should have the serving, ball control, passing, setting and middles to match up with anyone. Without Haggerty back in form, and Loberg taking the next step I would question Wisconsin's ceiling. They'd have to show me before I give them much of a chance vs. Stanford. But, they have played them before back in 2017 and seemed to hold up better than expected. So, they have a fighting chance.
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Post by TuesdayGone on Aug 24, 2019 23:16:21 GMT -5
Loberg needs to play like an All American for that to happen
She’s shown against the best teams she can (Stanford and Texas)
But she’s Wildly inconsistent
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Post by badgerbreath on Aug 24, 2019 23:16:41 GMT -5
You're right that it's OOS where the badgers have problems relative to the other big teams. In system they are pretty strong, so passing is especially key for them, and it tends to break down for periods. Barnes may help in that respect. But it's definitely more important for Haggerty to get back to her past form and surpass it. Loberg can be decent OOS (watch the PSU match end of last year, or that 2017 Stanford match), but her problem is consistency. She can look pretty good one match, and then seem to lose confidence and not do so well in another.
I think the badger block may add something to their arsenal this year. It was decent last year, but I think it will be better. One reason is that I think the service game is also likely to be better, based on Barnes and initial reports about Ashburn. I expect to see a few extra wrinkles in offense this year too.
Finally, the badgers need to get a lot stingier in defense this year. They were OK at times last year, even great in some matches, but they need to get more consistent.
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Post by lovebugsm on Aug 24, 2019 23:24:33 GMT -5
So I did a little internet sleuthing to figure out what Kelli Bates was up to. I didn't figure it out. Then I thought, let's see what Haleigh Nelson is up to! If any of you saw the "hair dryer" that Hart was using on her shoulder, it appears to be made by Hyperice, where Nelson now works. Not clear whether any of the other technology we saw in a couple of tweets from a few days ago are also made by this company. Is she not playing in France again this Fall? Because At Minnesota they all work every position, still annoyed she switched over to badger country.
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Post by badgerbreath on Aug 24, 2019 23:27:53 GMT -5
Is she not playing in France again this Fall? Because At Minnesota they all work every position, still annoyed she switched over to badger country. Wut?
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Post by bucky415 on Aug 25, 2019 0:35:22 GMT -5
I think the scrimmage reinforced what I already thought about the Badgers coming into the year, with some good things and some questions. First, Barnes is definitely a good get for them and may be the starting libero. She was impressive all around today. Second, Ashburn is ready to play this year, if needed. That is comforting with the team's significant lack of depth in the front row, which could make Hilley an option on the right side if someone gets hurt. Third, I was thinking that even a couple of hitting errors by Haggerty late in the match were encouraging, since she hit from a pretty high point of contact and made aggressive swings. She missed, but the confidence is a good sign. Fourth, the Badgers missed too many serves, but there was definitely some nastiness coming from the service line, and some of it got passed really well, which is a positive sign.
On the negative side, the pin offense from the players with eligibility left was a bit hit or miss. Loberg needs to avoid pounding the ball into set blocks, which led to most of her errors. I am wondering if they will want the pin hitters to avoid aggressive swings out of system, since I think they will have the defense to slow down teams and get the ball back a lot. I will say that some attacks that would have been kills in a lot of instances got dug due to good defense, which is encouraging. At this point, I am not sure Hart is the offensive threat Williams was capable of being when going well, but she is a solid blocker and can hit a variety of attacks. The biggest question, in my opinion, is the front row depth, as expected. I think the expected lineup could be very good, but there is little depth. Wohlert's two best swings were on a slide and a middle attack in front of the setter, both of which went pretty much straight down. She didn't look as powerful on the right, but they also didn't set her much in system. MacDonald had a bit of a rough outing, but it is kind of hard to adjust to trying to dig Rettke, as her hitting percentage over the first two seasons would attest. Ultimately, as I said, I think today reinforced what I thought about the team, but I thought Barnes and Ashburn were better than I expected at this point. I am hoping year 7 of the Sheffield era will be the one in which they finally stay as healthy as they entered the season, and otherwise it just comes down to winning the crucial points. There is clearly a lot of upside here.
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Post by bucky415 on Aug 25, 2019 0:39:23 GMT -5
I am honestly glad I don't have to decide who serves and plays the back row rotations for this team, because those will be tough choices.
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