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Post by cbrown1709 on Nov 30, 2004 0:03:45 GMT -5
I thought Hucke was more impressive this year than Richards.
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Post by dogfan on Nov 30, 2004 0:05:05 GMT -5
i was happy four washington players made it. i dont think brie would have made it if sonya was healthy. interestingly brie did not play the second half of the usc game and not at all against ucla
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Post by Deleted on Nov 30, 2004 0:19:11 GMT -5
[quote author=BearClause link=board=general&thread=1101764792&start=8#0 date=1101778219] She played in 51 of UW's 92 games (55.4%). I'm sure she didn't meet the requirements. Had she not broken her hand, I think she might have been the favorite for Pac-10 POY. She was at 4.46 kills/game, .309 hitting, and 3.31 digs/game. Those were better stats than April Ross (who got Pac-10 POY) last season. I think being the best player on the #1 team in the country might be worth some serious consideration for Pac-10 POY. Alas, we'll never know.[/quote]
The bottom line is that Nnamani ran away from everyone else in the Pac 10 this year. Yes, if Tomasevic hadn't broken several bones in her hand by hitting a wall in a diving exercise, who knows what she would have done. One can draw up all kinds of hypotheticals. If she hadn't sprained her ankle, keeping her out of the entire season except for one game, maybe Jessica Gysin could have made POY. After all, in that one game, she averaged 7.00 digs/game, and being a great offensive threat, who knows what her stats might have been if healthy.
In another post BearClause wrote that Morrison didn't have the numbers to challenge for POY. Tomasevic, in all the games she played, was not much better than Morrison, and a far cry from Nnamani over the full season (as noted elsewhere, Nnamani has consistently improved over the last half of the year):
Nnamani: 5.88kpg, .343%, 6.55 ppg Tomasevic: 4.63kpg, .309%, 5.55 ppg Morrison: 4.40kpg, .271%, 5.01 ppg
All three of them are great players, and with Morrison being a freshman, she is in a great position to win POY in future years. And bringing April Ross' statistics from a year ago into the discussion of this years POY is like comparing apples and broccoli.
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Post by BearClause on Nov 30, 2004 0:52:47 GMT -5
The bottom line is that Nnamani ran away from everyone else in the Pac 10 this year. Yes, if Tomasevic hadn't broken several bones in her hand by hitting a wall in a diving exercise, who knows what she would have done. One can draw up all kinds of hypotheticals. If she hadn't sprained her ankle, keeping her out of the entire season except for one game, maybe Jessica Gysin could have made POY. After all, in that one game, she averaged 7.00 digs/game, and being a great offensive threat, who knows what her stats might have been if healthy. In another post BearClause wrote that Morrison didn't have the numbers to challenge for POY. Tomasevic, in all the games she played, was not much better than Morrison, and a far cry from Nnamani over the full season (as noted elsewhere, Nnamani has consistently improved over the last half of the year): Nnamani: 5.88kpg, .343%, 6.55 ppg Tomasevic: 4.63kpg, .309%, 5.55 ppg Morrison: 4.40kpg, .271%, 5.01 ppg All three of them are great players, and with Morrison being a freshman, she is in a great position to win POY in future years. And bringing April Ross' statistics from a year ago into the discussion of this years POY is like comparing apples and broccoli. Well - last season April Ross got the nod even though Nnamani had more kills/game and higher hitting. I believe what got Ross the award was her superb back-row defense, awesome (and downright nasty) serve, and that USC was the best team in the country. I brought it up just to point out that the overall game should be factored in, and not simply attacking stats. As for the stats, you left out digs/game, aces/game, and blocks/game. The former is generally considered to be an important part of an outside hitter's game. Nnamani: 2.12 dpg, 0.19 apg, 0.63 bpg Tomasevic: 3.31 dpg, 0.41 apg, 0.52 bpg Morrison: 2.73 dpg, 0.18 apg, 0.80 bpg However - Morrison's blocking numbers are skewed because she played RS for much of the season and probably had more blocking opportunities.
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Post by SakiBomb25 on Nov 30, 2004 1:01:07 GMT -5
I thought Hucke was more impressive this year than Richards. Richards might not have had the great hitting percentage, but every other facet of her game is impressive. She's a great defensive player, decent blocker, good passer and has a nice serve. And she hits with a ton of heat... not as consistently as one would like, but hey, she'll improve I'm sure the next two years.
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Post by BearClause on Nov 30, 2004 1:10:32 GMT -5
Richards might not have had the great hitting percentage, but every other facet of her game is impressive. She's a great defensive player, decent blocker, good passer and has a nice serve. And she hits with a ton of heat... not as consistently as one would like, but hey, she'll improve I'm sure the next two years. Someone has to get her to stop asking for low sets that close to the net. Blockers are just clamping down, cutting off her angles, and roofing her. I'm pretty sure she's getting blocked at a higher rate than anyone else on her team. And I don't know about that serve. A dinky little jump floater? It's not a knuckling floater or a full-out grip-it-n-rip-it jump serve.
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Post by SakiBomb25 on Nov 30, 2004 2:12:44 GMT -5
[quote author=BearClause link=board=general&thread=1101764792&start=20#1 date=1101795032] Someone has to get her to stop asking for low sets that close to the net. Blockers are just clamping down, cutting off her angles, and roofing her. I'm pretty sure she's getting blocked at a higher rate than anyone else on her team. And I don't know about that serve. A dinky little jump floater? It's not a knuckling floater or a full-out grip-it-n-rip-it jump serve.[/quote]
I agree with her sets. Dunning will have to work on her big-time over the off-season to correct her approach and where she takes the ball in the air. As for her serve, I always thought it gave opponents a tough time and Stanford always seems to score a lot of points whenever Bryn Kehoe or Richards are behind the service line. Their serves may not look tough because of the jump floaters, but they are.
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Post by Shenro on Nov 30, 2004 6:21:38 GMT -5
Now I agree. But changing a hitter's approach and point of contact with the ball -- easier said than done. If Dunning's going to do it, he better do it in the post-season like Saki said.
Because once Richards starts getting higher sets, she'll find herself out of her comfort zone in terms of hitting. Atleast for a while. The last thing you need is for a hitter to be hesitating when she goes up for a shot. This is a player who has been used to hitting this way maybe for as long as she can remember. It's going to be quite an adjustment, but one which will have to be made, if Kristin is to be as good as she could be. The rest of her game is already coming along nicely.
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Post by BearClause on Nov 30, 2004 10:25:34 GMT -5
Now I agree. But changing a hitter's approach and point of contact with the ball -- easier said than done. If Dunning's going to do it, he better do it in the post-season like Saki said. Because once Richards starts getting higher sets, she'll find herself out of her comfort zone in terms of hitting. Atleast for a while. The last thing you need is for a hitter to be hesitating when she goes up for a shot. This is a player who has been used to hitting this way maybe for as long as she can remember. It's going to be quite an adjustment, but one which will have to be made, if Kristin is to be as good as she could be. The rest of her game is already coming along nicely. Sure. And obviously hitting such low, tight sets isn't going to work in the college game. However - isn't playing at the next level all about making adjustments and learning new techniques?
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Post by bigfan on Nov 30, 2004 11:27:36 GMT -5
[quote author=BearClause link=board=general&thread=1101764792&start=14#0 date=1101790649]Oh - I would have been totally peeved if Camille Leffall was left off the All Pac-10 teams. I thought she should have gotten the honor last season.[/quote]I agree with you whole-heartedly, Leffall is a very quiet player; you look at the stat sheet after a match and you think "She did that"?
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Post by StuffU on Nov 30, 2004 11:56:51 GMT -5
I thought Hucke was more impressive this year than Richards. Richards passing is far too important to the success of the Cardinal not to include her over Hucke
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Post by Shenro on Nov 30, 2004 17:15:04 GMT -5
[quote author=BearClause link=board=general&thread=1101764792&start=23#1 date=1101828334] Sure. And obviously hitting such low, tight sets isn't going to work in the college game. However - isn't playing at the next level all about making adjustments and learning new techniques?[/quote]
Yes. And the 'next level' isn't just trying to be 1st team AA or winning awards. Kristin has said that she wants to make the national team. Her chosen college was the school she felt will give her the best training for the Olympic team. Dunning needs to unlock the potential in Richards' hitting. Denise Corlett is usually the one who manages the offense. I'm sure they've picked up on all this as early as her freshman season.
Last month, in the weekend Stanford played UCLA and USC, Kristin was swinging higher because she knew how big the block was going to be. She was very successful that weekend. She seems to digress back to hitting lower for some reason. She's going to be important if Stanford is to advance to the Final Four.
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Post by BearClause on Nov 30, 2004 17:23:13 GMT -5
Yes. And the 'next level' isn't just trying to be 1st team AA or winning awards. Kristin has said that she wants to make the national team. Her chosen college was the school she felt will give her the best training for the Olympic team. Dunning needs to unlock the potential in Richards' hitting. Denise Corlett is usually the one who manages the offense. I'm sure they've picked up on all this as early as her freshman season. Last month, in the weekend Stanford played UCLA and USC, Kristin was swinging higher because she knew how big the block was going to be. She was very successful that weekend. She seems to digress back to hitting lower for some reason. She's going to be important if Stanford is to advance to the Final Four. I've seen plenty of successful hitters who had a low contact point and heavy topspin. However - they usually liked to be set back further, and aimed for seams in the blocking/defense.
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