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Post by tomclen on Dec 16, 2011 7:22:34 GMT -5
First off congrats to the Illini, they stuck with it and battled.Ward,Bartsch, and McMahon played well, Ward especially. USC lost the match when they blew a 3 point lead late in set 3, Shaw hits out, Bateman with a bad decision setting Williams who really wasn't expecting the set, then Fuller gets blocked on another bad setting decision by Bateman. SC could have put a lot of pressure on Illinois but lost the set and ended up down 2 games to 1 for the third straight match. You can't continue to live on the edge against this kind of competition and expect to pull through all the time. +1.235
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Post by andrewwmic on Dec 16, 2011 7:58:18 GMT -5
Penn State/Nebraska in 08 was even bigger than that. No it wasn't. The 2009 PSU/Texas match was for all the marbles on a neutral court. The 2008 PSU/Nub match was for a chance to play for all the marbles and it certainly wasn't on a neutral court. But it was a much better match, with much better players...Fawcett as a senior...the electricity of that crowd....it was the best IMO. The plays in the Neb/PennState were incredible...Fawcett yelliing at glass "GIVE ME THE BALL" Such drama
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Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2011 8:18:41 GMT -5
So now Pepperdine is a powerhouse?
IB, you are just too funny sometimes. Why don't you make the same excuse for Florida State? Maybe they were worn out from *their* bracket? Close to 200 digs, close to 400 attacks ...
If USC was beat down it was for one reason only: Haley's insistence on running his offenses through a single hitter.
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Post by jagdpanther on Dec 16, 2011 9:40:00 GMT -5
Ugh.
I knew it went to 5, but I didn't know the final outcome...
Dammit, USC. >_<
Please, UCLA, please beat Illinois.
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Post by SportyBucky on Dec 16, 2011 9:42:58 GMT -5
A few random thoughts of mine (I watched only 1/2 of 3rd, 4th and 5th sets): a) A. Jupiter - what a player. I'm not able to recall other NCAA players in the last decade that could take single handedly over a decisive game besides D Hooker and S Gordon. My, she was so-o-o close to take over this one .... b) USC just ran out of luck......because by the end of the 4th I was thinking "This one is going the same way as the previous 2 ones". I know a lot of people will say "Line-up, AJ front/back row, etc.". Yes it matters but having to play and win in 5, three times in a row coming from behind (1-2) is very, very difficult. This USC team has proven they are mentally tough..... c) Illinois got a huge help in the 5th from their frosh RS. She was the difference maker....I'm not sure they expected that at all. Credit to IL Setter for setting her (RS) the ball in those decisive plays. IMHO if IL had kept going only to their OH’s they most probably would have lost. d) Whoever recruited IL’s Libero has to turn his credentials back and stop being involved in this activity. Nothing personal – I know neither her name nor where she is from (just that her jersey has #3). An elite team Libero IS NOT ALLOWED to mishandle 2 free balls in a row in a decisive playoff 5th game and miss a serve after that! Given these comments, I'm not sure you watched ANY of the match. Jupiter is good, but not POY as she played in this match. She got kills, but you've got to be kidding me with her floor defense, blocking and serving. Sure, an off match, but this player's ceiling is much higher...someone has to correct that stutter step approach and maximize her vertical. Beltran is a phenominal libero. She kept IL in rallies. not as good as USC's, but pretty good match except the last two errors. McMahon has been steady all year and her contribution was expected. Johnson's (MH) was the surprise. She has been a good blocker all year but has never been the offensive force she was tonight. Thank the bad USC block for that.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2011 9:45:35 GMT -5
What a great match and match point---wow! Agreed on Jupiter, great player with great talent but not showing POY material. Found it interesting that Haley put her back up against the bigger block in set 5. I know spinning the rotation dial is always a gamble but it certainly worked for USC in sets 3-4. Glad Illini prevailed!
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Post by mikegarrison on Dec 16, 2011 9:59:47 GMT -5
So now Pepperdine is a powerhouse? They were pretty dang good this year. One of their signature wins was against UCLA, for instance....
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Post by tomclen on Dec 16, 2011 10:10:49 GMT -5
It's usually a little disingenuous when someone suggests that XYZ didn't play their best game.
That's usually because they got knocked out of sync by the team on the other side of the net.
One could argue, for example, that Liberty didn't bring their 'best stuff' against Penn State. But that would be ignoring the fact that Penn State stopped Liberty's 'best stuff."*
*Continually knocking the early tournament pairings given to PSU is a registered trademark of tomclen, inc. and may not be reproduced or reused without the express written consent of the poster. These criticisms are aimed at the NCAA and are not intended to denigrate the work or effort of any PSU player or coach, living or dead.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2011 10:12:06 GMT -5
So now Pepperdine is a powerhouse? They were pretty dang good this year. One of their signature wins was against UCLA, for instance.... I agree. But were they better than ISU and Purdue? Maybe. Probably not. I just find IB's criticisms to be amazingly one-sided. One could argue that Hawaii was not at their level either. Not me, mind you. I had UH top 5 all year. But IB continues to rip FSU, who played in a tougher conference and played a tougher schedule.
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Post by mikegarrison on Dec 16, 2011 10:15:41 GMT -5
I wouldn't have been too surprised if ISU or Purdue beat Pepperdine -- or vice versa.
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Post by coltrane4 on Dec 16, 2011 10:18:50 GMT -5
Not trying to take away the win from Illinois tonight, but I think tonight's match highlights the importance of a fairly seeded bracket for determining a national champion. Let's just compare the roads that Illinois and USC had to take to fight tonight. I think it's pretty fair to say that Pablo is the best system at relative rating of teams as evidence by its bracket predictions holding a 4-match lead over RPI, so I'll use Pablo as relative team strength indicator here along with RPI and AVCA poll. USC's Road to the Final FourUSC's Rankings: Pablo: 1 RKPI: 8 AVCA: 1 Match 1: Defeated Yale (Pablo 105, RKPI 90) 3-0 Match 2: Defeated Tulsa (Pablo 31, RKPI 24) 3-0 Match 3: Defeated Hawaii (Pablo 8, RKPI 7, AVCA 3) 3-2 Match 4: Defeated Pepperdine (Pablo 11, RKPI 16, AVCA 18) 3-2 #USC OPPONENTS MEDIAN PABLO RANK: 21
[/u] #The NCAA expecting to see Nebraska with Pablo 5, RPI 4, AVCA 2 in this place doesn't even really change the difference of competition.Illinois' Road to the Final FourIllinois' Rankings: Pablo: 10 RKPI: 1 AVCA: 7 Match 1: Defeated Central Michigan (Pablo 57, RKPI 70) 3-0 Match 2: Defeated Marquette (Pablo 68, RKPI 39) 3-0 Match 3: Defeated Ohio State (Pablo 32, RKPI 47, AVCA 28*) 3-1 Match 4: Defeated Florida (Pablo 7, RKPI 20, AVCA 17) 3-1 ILLINOIS OPPONENTS MEDIAN PABLO RANK: 44.5
[/b] *AVCA doesn't recognize teams as "ranked" when just receiving votes [/quote] Yes, USC had it tougher, but for comparison purposes, if you have a problem with the seeding, don't you need to look at who the respective teams were expected to play, not who they actually played. I know that sounds sort of ridiculous, but your issue is with the fair seeding of the bracket. And seeding happens, obviously, before any matches are played. So, you can have a perfectly balanced, fairly seeded bracket, but Illinois or any other team in any other year, can end up having an "easier" path due to upsets. This year, the argument that USC had an tougher path than anyhone else path would still probably hold up as the "bracket of death" would be evern moreso with USC playing Hawaii and Nebraska (who they were expected to play based on seedings). But, Illinois' bracket looks completely different based on your Pablo, RPKI, AVCA ratings if you look at who they were, again based on seedings, expected to play.
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Post by tomclen on Dec 16, 2011 10:19:29 GMT -5
I wouldn't have been too surprised if ISU or Purdue beat Pepperdine -- or vice versa. That's one of the best things about this years tournament. A lot of very close matches, that could have gone either way. Let's face it, a few different breaks on just a couple key plays here or there and Hawaii, Pepperdine, or USC would be playing UCLA Saturday. I don't think anyone could call those losses clear-cut, no-doubt-which-team-is-better matches.
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Post by LanaiBoy on Dec 16, 2011 11:06:43 GMT -5
I think Dave Shoji had it right when he said that the Hawaii and Pepperdine matches exposed SC's weaknesses. In the matches against Hawaii and Pepperdine, only Jupiter in the last half of the two matches was not slowed or shut down. For example, against Hawaii it was the Jupiter show and Williams and Fuller were almost, but not quite, no shows. The difference in the Illinois match was that it was a Jupiter and Williams show, the latter in the first part of the match and the former in the last part of the match. To me, Jupiter deserves POY. Hawaii, Pepperdine, and Illinois stacked 2 or 3 blockers on her throughout the matches and yet she managed to get her kills in the oh-so predictable sets to her. When Illinois slowed Jupiter in the fifth set, the match outcome was a foregone conclusion. The team had no one to pick up the slack. SC just lacked another reliable terminator except for Williams and her being set is dependent on passing, which unfortunately was lacking in the final set.
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Post by NitneLiun on Dec 16, 2011 11:22:09 GMT -5
No it wasn't. The 2009 PSU/Texas match was for all the marbles on a neutral court. The 2008 PSU/Nub match was for a chance to play for all the marbles and it certainly wasn't on a neutral court. But it was a much better match, with much better players...Fawcett as a senior...the electricity of that crowd....it was the best IMO. The plays in the Neb/PennState were incredible...Fawcett yelliing at glass "GIVE ME THE BALL" Such drama In what way was it a much better match with better players? Oh right, it involved Nebraska.
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Post by andrewwmic on Dec 16, 2011 11:46:57 GMT -5
But it was a much better match, with much better players...Fawcett as a senior...the electricity of that crowd....it was the best IMO. The plays in the Neb/PennState were incredible...Fawcett yelliing at glass "GIVE ME THE BALL" Such drama In what way was it a much better match with better players? Oh right, it involved Nebraska. Dude, it's just my opinion...get over it..yes it involved Nebraska and they lost.
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