Post by roy on Nov 18, 2006 4:39:00 GMT -5
bucky415 said:
It looks like a less than great ball control night, from the set distribution. You have to think they would have gotten Gregory more sets if they could have, given how effective she was. Why doesn't Kanoe attack more? It seems like it might be a way of keeping the defense honest and prevent it from keying on Houston and Mason. I have to wonder about the lack of sets to the right side as well. I know they have an inexperienced player there, but I think you have to at least have the threat of a right side attack. Maybe they could run Kaufman to the middle and have the middle run the slide to spread out the defense. Wisconsin has had some success doing that. Of course, the timing isn't easy, and you do have to have a good pass or dig to do it. Well, as you said, part of the problem is that if they pass isn't anywhere near the net or if Kamanao has to chase down the ball, it makes it even harder to set the middle or have the setter attack the ball. Kamanao has done a great job considering the passing this year. She is running down a lot of balls in almost all the matches. When the set is off the net near the 10 foot line, the only thing she can do is try to put up the perfect set for the outside (or pipe set) for her hitters. She can't attack or set anywhere else.
Kaufman has hit out of the middle on occassion. In the past, Hawaii has used middles as right side hitters and run combination attacks. The most recent was in 2003, where Tano and Duggins were next to each other. They used combinations of double quick attacks and double slides. So its not out of the ordinary. However, Kaufman seems most comfortable hitting the slide than the quick set.