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Post by aaronic on Jan 5, 2007 21:00:49 GMT -5
Any thoughts?? Predictions???
Hope we get to see Grgas and the international players tonight, regardless of how good or not so good they are...
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Post by aaronic on Jan 6, 2007 0:37:46 GMT -5
UBC wins Game ONe: 30-25.
UH played close, but UBC is just too good right now. Plus there just a few unforced errors by Hawaii, and Krause is on fire with around 4-5 kills right now- he's unstoppable, hence my comment on UBC being just too good right now.
Cervantes needs to be more vocal out there...
Grgas is playing considerably well right now.
Ribeiro needs is inconsistent....like someone else mentioned, he's just too raw.
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Post by aaronic on Jan 6, 2007 0:48:26 GMT -5
Hawaii up 15-9 so far in Game two!!!!
I know... unbelievable!
C'mon guys let's win this thing!!!
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Post by aaronic on Jan 6, 2007 1:12:25 GMT -5
Hawaii wins game two: 30-22.
I think the key to winning between these two teams seem to be getting out to a lead before the other team.
Grgas played well.
Bad news though for Hawaii as Ribeiro went down after landing awkwardly on his left leg. But at least he was able to walk off the court- which is a positive sign. So Vanzant is playing in his place.
China started over Cervantes which could have helped a little, but overall Hawaii was doing a really good job at slowing down the UBC offense.... ANDD serving errors have been reduced profoundly after Beckwith and company have resorted back to their floaters which has been extremely productive for them so far.
HOpefully the success continues!
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Post by bunnywailer on Jan 6, 2007 1:47:24 GMT -5
Ribeiro needs is inconsistent....like someone else mentioned, he's just too raw. Just watching him last season on the bench and during warm-ups, he doesn't strike me as someone who is gonna work hard and put out the extra effort to take his game to the next level. He definitely needs some skill work. Who knows? He could prove me wrong. But...I don't see it and I don't ever project seeing him starting or getting significant playing time during his career at UH.
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Post by roy on Jan 6, 2007 2:53:54 GMT -5
British Columbia won in 4 tonight. The scores were something like 30-25, 22-30, 30-17, 30-25. British Columbia played well aside from the lapse in the second game.
Hawaii played much better than last night, even though they still lost. Passing was much better, though it was still a bit shakey. Cervantes and China both played and China did very wel. I think he could be challenging Cervantes for the starting spot. China seems to have better instincts to where the ball is going to and made some nice digs. Passing seems about even.
Hakala and Schkud did not play as both have the flu. Wilton replaced Hakala with Grgas and Schkud with Ribeiro. I think Ribeiro played better than Schkud on the first night (however BC was on fire the first night and could do almost no wrong). Riberio settled down and started to swing better as the night wore on. After his injury, he came back but you could tell he wasn't doing as well as the first half. Wasn't sure if it was just nerves after the injury or if he was still hurt but he wasn't getting the height he did in the first 2 games. Grgas started hot but cooled down as the night wore on. It looked like he spent all his energy in the first 2 games and didn't have much left after that. The rest of the outside hitters are a year away from challenging for the starting position but all showed some bright spots. I liked seeing Clar in the match but he hasn't really improved since last season. He was better than Ribeiro last year, however it looks like he just hasn't developed. Then again, he only played for part of games 3 and 4, so it could be just nerves.
The back row digging was much better. The players were moving for the balls and made some really nice digs. Some minor miscues in passing, digging, and setting assignments, but that is expected in the preseason. Serving was better but they still made a lot of careless errors. As I said in the previous match, they need to be aggressive to compete, however they made critical service errors, such as the service error on match point.
The only other problem I saw was blocking. This team is having a hard time blocking. They didn't do much to slow down the opposing hitters. Just a guess but BC made a lot of their own hitting errors that Hawaii didn't really force. And Hawaii couldn't stop the middle attack. The BC middles couldn't be slowed down all night. On the other hand, the Hawaii middles in Dante and Klinger also did a really nice job out of hitting in the middle.
So to sum up, Hawaii's weaknesses that I see are passing, consistent serving, and blocking. But they did show that if they are in system, they can still run that fast offense that they did last year to win a lot of matches. Should be a good season.
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Post by aaronic on Jan 6, 2007 3:15:31 GMT -5
I hope the reason why Wilton completely switched up the lineup in games 3-4 was to give everyone as much experience as possible because if he thought he was going to win making those personnel changes he should be fired or something.
Some randomish thoughts:
Anyway, I think Hawaii really had a chance to win the match if it hadn't been for Grgas. I think he was the key. When he was on Hawaii was very much competitive with UBC, but when he went cold the Warriors really suffered.
China came in and made some pretty impressive saves during rallies, but there were points where his passing really went off kilter. I don't think he was as efficient as Cervantes was on passing. Though Cervantes did make some crucial errors in Game one, I think he has a lot more of the technical stuff down. China is a good digger, but he's not so great of a passer.
I think it's a shame when Hawaii can't get any good passing when Klinger was in the front row because I think Klinger is near unstoppable from the middle.
I think it's going to take a hell of a lot more to be able to come even close to at least splitting with UCI next week. But before that third game I really thought that the sky's the limit if when Hakala comes back, they move him to that L1 and leave Grgas out at opposite. I say leave Cervantes at Libero because he seems to be the better passer.
IMO regardless how good Hawaii has to be to earn a victory over UCI, it is highly important and imperative that they at least split with them next week in order to keep them competitive in the playoff hunt.
Good luck to them next week.
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Post by USAFAN on Jan 6, 2007 4:06:04 GMT -5
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Eric Kalima as a liability thus far. He is a huge blocking liability in the front row, and his attacking isn't going to cut it against top teams and big blocks. For a shorter attacker his backrow skills weren't all that impressive. I think Hakala and Grgas need to be on the court at the same time, they seem to be the only outside terminators that Hawaii has. Hopefully the kid from Paraguay is as good as advertised and can give Hawaii the point scoring that they need.
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Post by aaronic on Jan 6, 2007 4:18:38 GMT -5
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Eric Kalima as a liability thus far. He is a huge blocking liability in the front row, and his attacking isn't going to cut it against top teams and big blocks. For a shorter attacker his backrow skills weren't all that impressive. I think Hakala and Grgas need to be on the court at the same time, they seem to be the only outside terminators that Hawaii has. Hopefully the kid from Paraguay is as good as advertised and can give Hawaii the point scoring that they need. I think the reason is because aside from Hakala and Grgas, Kalima seems to be the best OH left- which I know isn't saying much but it's currently holding true. As far as the Paraguayan is concerned, well he's yet to be seen and from what has been said in another thread, he isn't that good anyway. We'll see though. if the Paraguayan does turn out to be really good (hopefully) and Wilton moves Hakala to the left and Grgas stays at the right; Cervantes at Libero then they'll have a pretty solid team to begin with. Though passing will always be an issue.
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Post by vball808 on Jan 6, 2007 4:24:05 GMT -5
Yeah the reason why the other players played (china, carney, vanzant, etc.) is because wilton wanted to give everyone a chance in this game.. Cervantes played fine, passed well and took a ball off the chest like a champ.. He stated that a lil while ago, its an exhibition.. The lineup will be hakala, cervantes, beckwith, dante, klinger, kalima, and who ever is playing the best as the other OH.. My line up.. Opp: Grgas Setter: Beckwith Middles: Dante/klinger Libero: Cervantes OH: Kalima, Hakala
Hawaii will be good.. Cervantes will develop i can already see the improvements.. If u saw the LBSU matches, u know that he is a great defensive player.. His passing is already coming, u'll be surprised mid-way through the season. Grgas is definitely going to have to utilized, he's a beast, just needs to work on consistency.. Rawson is definitely going to be a great back up and a bright spot next year as he continues to develop as well... Cant wait to see them at their peak!
Main difference in game 2, Touches on the block and better serving.. That created more digs and blocks.. Especially digs, china didnt have to create, he's definitely going to be a good back up and keep helping cervantes improve. Good pick up.
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Post by aaronic on Jan 6, 2007 4:34:04 GMT -5
Anyone know if we'll ever see Brizuela this season? What's up.... seriously??? Is he redshirting or something???
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Post by roy on Jan 6, 2007 5:10:16 GMT -5
Kalima really impressed me tonight. His hitting isn't as good as Hakala or Grgas, but he was hustling to dig some of the balls and his passing was decent tonight. He has the best all around game of all the outside hitters. And truthfully, none of the outsides are blocking really well right now.
And we are forgetting that we can't have Grgas and Hakala in at the same time without sacrificing the passing scheme. Grgas doesn't seem to be a passer and Hakala was a secondary passer last year but I don't know what is going to happen to his hitting if he has to be put into the passing rotations.
Again, if the passing can shore up, Hawaii has the personnel to run that fast offense. You don't need top hitters, but if that pass is semi decent, Hawaii can run 4 very fast options almost all the time and get their hitters the one on ones they need to put the ball down.
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Post by ACE on Jan 6, 2007 13:46:16 GMT -5
My concern for Hawaii is their confidence. According to Jim Leahy, he mentioned that Wilton informed Grgas not to even suit up for Wednesdays match (because he had two horrible days of practice), but had a good one on Thursdays, therefore was allowed to suit up on Friday - completely stupid!! How do you tell a player not to suit up (for any reason) for a game, especially an exhibition!!!
Now, if Wilton is doing this system to see who's the best, it needs to be thrown out. Even Leahy said "there are game players, and there are practice players."
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Post by ACE on Jan 6, 2007 13:51:45 GMT -5
Also, I know Hawaii will improve as the season goes along, but so will everyone else and another thing....Hawaii starts their season next week on the road against #1 UCI, and they also play at #3 UCLA at the end of January, then they are at #2 BYU before February is gone. So, if Hawaii can't fix their line-up or their problems early, it might be all for not. This could easily be 6 loses, and their chance of hosting a first round match out the door.
And why does it seem like Hawaii (both men and women) can never have a set lineup to start the season???
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Post by roy on Jan 6, 2007 15:02:55 GMT -5
Also, I know Hawaii will improve as the season goes along, but so will everyone else and another thing....Hawaii starts their season next week on the road against #1 UCI, and they also play at #3 UCLA at the end of January, then they are at #2 BYU before February is gone. So, if Hawaii can't fix their line-up or their problems early, it might be all for not. This could easily be 6 loses, and their chance of hosting a first round match out the door. And why does it seem like Hawaii (both men and women) can never have a set lineup to start the season??? I agree with the your assessment about playing a lot of the tough matches in the early season. This is the challenge both Hawaii and BYU face. They don't get the opportunity to play a team at 2 different points in the season. Depending on the season, it can be both an advantage or a disadvantage. However, they need to at least split with each of these teams to remain in contention. I am unclear with the comment about the set line up. With Shoji, you can almost predict what he is going to do with his players. After a few matches in the early season, he doesn't shuffle his line up a whole lot. And a lot of coaches shuffle their line up at the early season. You give the players a chance to prove themselves during game time.
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