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Post by bigjohn043 on Jan 20, 2022 20:00:24 GMT -5
An open letter question to long-term SU followers (28+ years here). Did anybody really think there wasn't going to be a downturn after the 2019 class graduated? I mean 2020* (Spring '21; 2-8 record) doesn't really count, and the true 2021 season (19-11; 2nd round) went about how I felt it would, predictively. At Stanford, the probability of deep NCAA runs, plus championships, is the only "bar" which I pay attention to. THOSE are not gimmes...just ask Coach Cook how hard winning an NC truly is: or John Dunning, during "the drought"! I feel getting Rubin/Belardi will be a start to improving the backrow and team D. Keep recruiting! Ignoring the Spring 21 disaster, this years team was one of the worst in recent memory. A quick check of the Stanford website shows the last time we had a record as bad as this year was 2000. I didn't think we would be as good as the 16-19 run, but given the talent I was hoping for a top-10 team.....
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Post by Riviera Minestrone on Jan 20, 2022 20:29:48 GMT -5
An open letter question to long-term SU followers (28+ years here). Did anybody really think there wasn't going to be a downturn after the 2019 class graduated? I mean 2020* (Spring '21; 2-8 record) doesn't really count, and the true 2021 season (19-11; 2nd round) went about how I felt it would, predictively. At Stanford, the probability of deep NCAA runs, plus championships, is the only "bar" which I pay attention to. THOSE are not gimmes...just ask Coach Cook how hard winning an NC truly is: or John Dunning, during "the drought"! I feel getting Rubin/Belardi will be a start to improving the backrow and team D. Keep recruiting! Ignoring the Spring 21 disaster, this years team was one of the worst in recent memory. A quick check of the Stanford website shows the last time we had a record as bad as this year was 2000. I didn't think we would be as good as the 16-19 run, but given the talent I was hoping for a top-10 team..... Yeah, I'm mostly with you. Two caveats: SU did end the regular season at #18 (not too far off tho' I agree with you). Also, 2000 was a transition year, with Denise bridging the turnover from Don Shaw to Dunning. The competitive climate...and athletic proficiencies...between 2000 and now is quite different too! Good answer.
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Post by stanfordvb on Jan 20, 2022 21:29:37 GMT -5
Ignoring the Spring 21 disaster, this years team was one of the worst in recent memory. A quick check of the Stanford website shows the last time we had a record as bad as this year was 2000. I didn't think we would be as good as the 16-19 run, but given the talent I was hoping for a top-10 team..... Yeah, I'm mostly with you. Two caveats: SU did end the regular season at #18 (not too far off tho' I agree with you). Also, 2000 was a transition year, with Denise bridging the turnover from Don Shaw to Dunning. The competitive climate...and athletic proficiencies...between 2020 and now is quite different too. Good answer! I think Stanford will take a step up this year. They return everyone important and add some good pieces. And a lot of the top teams look very different next year (wisco, Baylor, Kentucky, Pitt, Purdue, Georgia tech) just some examples off the top of my head in the top 10 that take massive hits to their personnel
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Post by dokterrudi on Jan 20, 2022 22:08:45 GMT -5
An open letter question to long-term SU followers (28+ years here). Did anybody really think there wasn't going to be a downturn after the 2019 class graduated? I mean 2020* (Spring '21; 2-8 record) doesn't really count, and the true 2021 season (19-11; 2nd round) went about how I felt it would, predictively. At Stanford, the probability of deep NCAA runs, plus championships, is the only "bar" which I pay attention to. THOSE are not gimmes...just ask Coach Cook how hard winning an NC truly is: or John Dunning, during "the drought"! I feel getting Rubin/Belardi will be a start to improving the backrow and team D. Keep recruiting! Ignoring the Spring 21 disaster, this years team was one of the worst in recent memory. A quick check of the Stanford website shows the last time we had a record as bad as this year was 2000. I didn't think we would be as good as the 16-19 run, but given the talent I was hoping for a top-10 team..... McClure, if you would have had her it would have been a different team still not a NC team but really good. The team is in a cultural transition, hopefully with the new hire we'll see Thompson take a more Corlett role. She is big about wellness and dealing with the stress of being an athlete something that is very important to parents now. Which it should be. Stability.
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Post by Riviera Minestrone on Jan 21, 2022 0:15:12 GMT -5
Ignoring the Spring 21 disaster, this years team was one of the worst in recent memory. A quick check of the Stanford website shows the last time we had a record as bad as this year was 2000. I didn't think we would be as good as the 16-19 run, but given the talent I was hoping for a top-10 team..... McClure, if you would have had her it would have been a different team still not a NC team but really good. The team is in a cultural transition, hopefully with the new hire we'll see Thompson take a more Corlett role. She is big about wellness and dealing with the stress of being an athlete something that is very important to parents now. Which it should be. Stability. Yep, agree on the majority of your points. One thing to remember, at the top levels of any sport, is that title runs are often cyclical: it really applies to four-year classes in WVB (Stanford in 1994-7, PSU 2007-10, SU again from 2016-9). None of those mini-dynasties would have occurred without that. Just back-to-back nattys are so hard to pull off! So after Fitz, Gray, Hentz & KP left? It may be awhile.
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Post by stanfordvb on Jan 21, 2022 0:47:09 GMT -5
McClure, if you would have had her it would have been a different team still not a NC team but really good. The team is in a cultural transition, hopefully with the new hire we'll see Thompson take a more Corlett role. She is big about wellness and dealing with the stress of being an athlete something that is very important to parents now. Which it should be. Stability. Yep, agree on the majority of your points. One thing to remember, at the top levels of any sport, is that title runs are often cyclical: it really applies to four-year classes in WVB (Stanford in 1994-7, PSU 2007-10, SU again from 2016-9). None of those mini-dynasties would have occurred without that. Just back-to-back nattys are so hard to pull off! So after Fitz, Gray, Hentz & KP left? It may be awhile. If Baird and Kipp stay through 2023 I think they could have a shot at it assuming everyone is healthy, 2 years is a lot of time to get better and they have all the pieces next season to contend just need some more developing and need to create their own culture
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Post by Riviera Minestrone on Jan 21, 2022 12:43:04 GMT -5
Yep, agree on the majority of your points. One thing to remember, at the top levels of any sport, is that title runs are often cyclical: it really applies to four-year classes in WVB (Stanford in 1994-7, PSU 2007-10, SU again from 2016-9). None of those mini-dynasties would have occurred without that. Just back-to-back nattys are so hard to pull off! So after Fitz, Gray, Hentz & KP left? It may be awhile. If Baird and Kipp stay through 2023 I think they could have a shot at it assuming everyone is healthy, 2 years is a lot of time to get better and they have all the pieces next season to contend just need some more developing and need to create their own culture Yeah...in the context of this convo, for the past page or so, those replying understand that these kids are still pretty young and can improve. Seems to be *crickets* from the usual expert Monday morning, armchair HCs...who seem to feel Stanford's successes are somehow due to their exalted, entitled alum/season ticket status.
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Post by leftcoaster71 on Jan 21, 2022 13:07:57 GMT -5
An open letter question to long-term SU followers (28+ years here). Did anybody really think there wasn't going to be a downturn after the 2019 class graduated? I mean 2020* (Spring '21; 2-8 record) doesn't really count, and the true 2021 season (19-11; 2nd round) went about how I felt it would, predictively. At Stanford, the probability of deep NCAA runs, plus championships, is the only "bar" which I pay attention to. THOSE are not gimmes...just ask Coach Cook how hard winning an NC truly is...or John Dunning during "the drought"! I feel getting Rubin/Belardi will be a start to improving the backrow and team D. Keep recruiting! I was expecting them to be a top 10 team. They had all the pieces to be in that position but youth, injuries, and lack of a real leader hurt them. I also wonder how much of that loss to UCLA effected their psyche. They were pretty much steam rolling until Oglivie got injured and sorta fell apart. Even with the injuries, having McClure back would have made a huge difference for this team. She would have stabilized so much and truly one of the most underrated players ever at Stanford.
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Post by SakiBomb25 on Jan 21, 2022 14:33:51 GMT -5
An open letter question to long-term SU followers (28+ years here). Did anybody really think there wasn't going to be a downturn after the 2019 class graduated? I mean 2020* (Spring '21; 2-8 record) doesn't really count, and the true 2021 season (19-11; 2nd round) went about how I felt it would, predictively. At Stanford, the probability of deep NCAA runs, plus championships, is the only "bar" which I pay attention to. THOSE are not gimmes...just ask Coach Cook how hard winning an NC truly is...or John Dunning during "the drought"! I feel getting Rubin/Belardi will be a start to improving the backrow and team D. Keep recruiting! I was expecting them to be a top 10 team. They had all the pieces to be in that position but youth, injuries, and lack of a real leader hurt them. I also wonder how much of that loss to UCLA effected their psyche. They were pretty much steam rolling until Oglivie got injured and sorta fell apart. Even with the injuries, having McClure back would have made a huge difference for this team. She would have stabilized so much and truly one of the most underrated players ever at Stanford. Well if Oglivie hadn’t gotten injured and if Miner hadn’t been out against the Arizona teams, those are three victories for Stanford. So who knows how the rest of the season would have shaped out.
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Post by bigjohn043 on Jan 21, 2022 15:41:02 GMT -5
I was expecting them to be a top 10 team. They had all the pieces to be in that position but youth, injuries, and lack of a real leader hurt them. I also wonder how much of that loss to UCLA effected their psyche. They were pretty much steam rolling until Oglivie got injured and sorta fell apart. Even with the injuries, having McClure back would have made a huge difference for this team. She would have stabilized so much and truly one of the most underrated players ever at Stanford. Well if Oglivie hadn’t gotten injured and if Miner hadn’t been out against the Arizona teams, those are three victories for Stanford. So who knows how the rest of the season would have shaped out. Will still lose in the second round.....
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Post by bigjohn043 on Jan 21, 2022 15:43:43 GMT -5
Yeah, I'm mostly with you. Two caveats: SU did end the regular season at #18 (not too far off tho' I agree with you). Also, 2000 was a transition year, with Denise bridging the turnover from Don Shaw to Dunning. The competitive climate...and athletic proficiencies...between 2020 and now is quite different too. Good answer! I think Stanford will take a step up this year. They return everyone important and add some good pieces. And a lot of the top teams look very different next year (wisco, Baylor, Kentucky, Pitt, Purdue, Georgia tech) just some examples off the top of my head in the top 10 that take massive hits to their personnel I do think we under-estimate the impact of super seniors. Stanford isn't going to have any because our kids aren't interested in sticking around as an undergrad for six years. But they clearly helped a lot of the top teams... OTOH, my view is that our team last year had some pretty clear problems that a year of experience don't fix. Specifically, players rarely significantly improve their passing later in their career. The real hope for us is Rubin gives us a 6RO OH that he haven't had since McClure....
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Post by Riviera Minestrone on Jan 21, 2022 16:55:58 GMT -5
I think Stanford will take a step up this year. They return everyone important and add some good pieces. And a lot of the top teams look very different next year (wisco, Baylor, Kentucky, Pitt, Purdue, Georgia tech) just some examples off the top of my head in the top 10 that take massive hits to their personnel The real hope for us is Rubin gives us a 6RO OH that we haven't had since McClure.... Yup. I mentioned Rubin (+ Belardi) in the initial post asking for broad takes of Stanford's recent past and immediate future. Of course, Elia is much more than a DS. A well-rounded 6ro OH2 is just what SU can use. Her MaxPreps stats bear this out!
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Post by bigjohn043 on Jan 21, 2022 17:29:10 GMT -5
The real hope for us is Rubin gives us a 6RO OH that we haven't had since McClure.... Yup. I mentioned Rubin (+ Belardi) in the initial post asking for broad takes of Stanford's recent past and immediate future. Of course, Elia is much more than a DS. A well-rounded 6ro OH2 is just what SU can use. Her MaxPreps stats bear this out! Totally agree. And she absolutely passed nails in the UA game.....
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Post by stanfordvb on Jan 21, 2022 18:12:37 GMT -5
I think Stanford will take a step up this year. They return everyone important and add some good pieces. And a lot of the top teams look very different next year (wisco, Baylor, Kentucky, Pitt, Purdue, Georgia tech) just some examples off the top of my head in the top 10 that take massive hits to their personnel I do think we under-estimate the impact of super seniors. Stanford isn't going to have any because our kids aren't interested in sticking around as an undergrad for six years. But they clearly helped a lot of the top teams... OTOH, my view is that our team last year had some pretty clear problems that a year of experience don't fix. Specifically, players rarely significantly improve their passing later in their career. The real hope for us is Rubin gives us a 6RO OH that he haven't had since McClure.... I think some of the ds could see passing improvement as well as Francis. It’s also the sophomores first true spring season and they’ll have a normal summer training block as well. I’m not worried
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Post by bigjohn043 on Jan 21, 2022 18:24:33 GMT -5
I do think we under-estimate the impact of super seniors. Stanford isn't going to have any because our kids aren't interested in sticking around as an undergrad for six years. But they clearly helped a lot of the top teams... OTOH, my view is that our team last year had some pretty clear problems that a year of experience don't fix. Specifically, players rarely significantly improve their passing later in their career. The real hope for us is Rubin gives us a 6RO OH that he haven't had since McClure.... I think some of the ds could see passing improvement as well as Francis. It’s also the sophomores first true spring season and they’ll have a normal summer training block as well. I’m not worried I don't think the DSs passing a bit better solves the problem. Our problem is that Baird is not a good passer and she was targeted relentlessly this year. Baird has had three college seasons so I am skeptical that is going to change. I am open to the idea that Francis can develop into a passer. Skeptical but open to the idea. Rubin of course already is.....
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