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Post by SportyBucky on Nov 7, 2019 9:24:35 GMT -5
So, the stats deep dive I was talking about: what's behind the badgers success in the B1G so far? The badgers always lag in attacks/set though, while gophers are almost always in lead. I'd love to understand what's behind that difference.The reason the Golden Gophers always lead in attacks per set is philosophical. Hugh directs his team to only swing for a kill when set is truly hittable and there isn't a well-formed block in front of them. If the hitter doesn't believe that's the case, Hugh instructs his players to keep the ball in play. The reason for this is Hugh is confident in his defense, both blocking and floor defense. I've heard commentators and Hugh mention this several times over the years.
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Post by klattc on Nov 7, 2019 10:05:45 GMT -5
Robinson could play rightisde her freshman year the same as Ogbogu did for Texas her freshman year. Ogbogu played middle but was lined up opposite the setter (Allison). Bell and McCage played on the right when front row with Ogbogu. I think it depended on the match up because in the Texas vs WI National Semi match she played right a lot. Regardless I think a three middle offense could be possible for us. Especially if our passing stays the level it is.
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Post by badgerbreath on Nov 7, 2019 10:13:11 GMT -5
Thanks for the in depth analysis, badgerbreath. This explains to me why watching the Badgers this year is SOOOOOO much more satisfying than last season; last year was infuriating with the number of service errors. Every time they did that last year (and they did it A LOT), I would say to myself, "this team is so talented, imagine what we could do if we didn't put every third serve in the net!" Well, this year that question is being answered, and it's beautiful. What was the SA/SE ratio last year? SEs are almost always higher than SAs so I prefer SE/SA. Last year that ratio was about 1.5 in the B1G, which isn't crazy. This year it's about 1.1, which is exceptionally good. Minnesota, with their no mistakes philosophy, manages that kind of ratio at times, but they get fewer aces. The ratio was 2.4 in 2017. That was noticeable. Interestingly, the badgers are actually erroring at a slightly higher clip this year than last - about 2.2 SEs/set compared to ~2, but they have greatly increased the aces, 1.93/S compared to 1.26/S. I think you don't notice the errors as much because they are getting a better return in aces and in getting the other team out of system, which has them leading most of the time. The badgers have also been extraordinarily consistent. Freakishly so. They've only had two matches with double digit SEs - Marquette, a five setter, and Maryland. You run into relatively few matches where the SAs and SEs are not similar.
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Post by badgerbreath on Nov 7, 2019 10:20:44 GMT -5
So, the stats deep dive I was talking about: what's behind the badgers success in the B1G so far? The badgers always lag in attacks/set though, while gophers are almost always in lead. I'd love to understand what's behind that difference.The reason the Golden Gophers always lead in attacks per set is philosophical. Hugh directs his team to only swing for a kill when set is truly hittable and there isn't a well-formed block in front of them. If the hitter doesn't believe that's the case, Hugh instructs his players to keep the ball in play. The reason for this is Hugh is confident in his defense, both blocking and floor defense. I've heard commentators and Hugh mention this several times over the years. The safety first approach of the gophers is evident in a bunch of their statistics. I agree there. But this explanation only makes sense if they are actually digging return balls coming back at them as well as the badgers. And they aren't. They are blocking really well, but not digging unblocked attacks at as high a rate as badgers. I wonder if it has to do with the number of freeballs per set, which has to do with whether 1st/2nd touch is good enough to attack, or the attackers are athletic enough to turn bad passes into attack, or the presence of a viable third attacker in back row (i.e, Samedy/Wilhite/Santana) when the setter is in front.
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Post by SportyBucky on Nov 7, 2019 10:54:55 GMT -5
The reason the Golden Gophers always lead in attacks per set is philosophical. Hugh directs his team to only swing for a kill when set is truly hittable and there isn't a well-formed block in front of them. If the hitter doesn't believe that's the case, Hugh instructs his players to keep the ball in play. The reason for this is Hugh is confident in his defense, both blocking and floor defense. I've heard commentators and Hugh mention this several times over the years. The safety first approach of the gophers is evident in a bunch of their statistics. I agree there. But this explanation only makes sense if they are actually digging return balls coming back at them as well as the badgers. And they aren't. They are blocking really well, but not digging unblocked attacks at as high a rate as badgers. I wonder if it has to do with the number of freeballs per set, which has to do with whether 1st/2nd touch is good enough to attack, or the attackers are athletic enough to turn bad passes into attack, or the presence of a viable third attacker in back row (i.e, Samedy/Wilhite/Santana) when the setter is in front. Perhaps MN sends over less free balls. Could be that stat trackers don't consider certain contacts a dig that MN excels in (e.g. easy touch off the block, that results in a transition attack). Could be MN resets off the opponents block much better than WI, and I've personally seen them do that well (i.e. hit softly into the block with the intent of getting a touch and replay and another attack).
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Post by greatlakesvballer on Nov 7, 2019 13:18:01 GMT -5
Speaking of Wohlert, has she actually played a single point in a game this season? I do not remember seeing her. No So does anyone here think she's ever going to progress enough to play regularly? She's tall...but more great players on their way in....
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Post by rainbowbadger on Nov 7, 2019 13:44:31 GMT -5
So does anyone here think she's ever going to progress enough to play regularly? She's tall...but more great players on their way in.... IDK. Wohlert could make a push this spring and over the summer to compete for playing time next fall, when Duello's spot will be vacant. She's only a redshirt freshman this year, so she has three more seasons to possibly make an impact. She could also wind up being more of a Tori Blake kind of player, whose biggest contributions are in practice. Put her on the right against our OHs and they'll have a formidable block to work with.
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Post by TuesdayGone on Nov 7, 2019 14:05:18 GMT -5
I believe Devyn Robinson was one of the key players on the USA team that just won world title this summer.
Hard to imagine she wont be on the floor at either Middle or Opposite next year.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2019 14:19:34 GMT -5
Yes, Robinson is a tremendous prospect and highly accomplished. She could probably play Opposite, but I have no idea how well. I think they tried Hart at Opp a bit last year and it wasn't a good fit. You would think she'd be on the floor. But, there will be competition. And, if she's a middle only, then she may be blocked next year. She won't supplant Rettke no matter how good she is, and Hart has been great the last month+.
Wohlert isn't a quick-twitch athlete. She probably needs to pay way more attention to footwork and technique than others who she is competing with. I would guess that someone like Gorum has the ability to compensate if her footwork/technique are a bit off. Still, 6'7" or whatever she is can't be taught. A lot of other things can be. I'd at least like to see more of her than you get to see at preseason scrimmages.
As to who has and hasn't played any points this season, I don't recall any of the bench smalls except MacDonald seeing any time. So, Dixon, Dodd (Injured anyway), Bell, and Whitehead I don't think have gotten into a match yet. Dixon and Dodd (if recovered enough) will likely get in to at least serve on senior night, which is the 2nd-to-last home match against Iowa.
By the way, senior night is 2 weeks away. Life, and volleyball season, really rushes past you.
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Post by chisovnik on Nov 7, 2019 15:02:24 GMT -5
This might be the only time I’ll ever advocate for this solution, but I think a 3-middle offense next year could be the answer. I always thought they should train Rettke as an opposite, and Robinson is versatile enough to play on the right for one rotation.
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Post by vbstan123 on Nov 7, 2019 19:59:50 GMT -5
This might be the only time I’ll ever advocate for this solution, but I think a 3-middle offense next year could be the answer. I always thought they should train Rettke as an opposite, and Robinson is versatile enough to play on the right for one rotation. I don't think Sheffield will put Rettke anywhere else, and I think Hart has started to find her groove in the middle. I can't really think of a solid reason for 3-middle system because if Robinson is going to train on the right then they should just put her on the right.
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Post by badgerbreath on Nov 8, 2019 1:39:58 GMT -5
I agree. Sheffield has had opportunities to move Rettke to RS, but he hasn’t done it. Instead he has opted to put enormous pressure on his passers, and on Hilley, to get the ball to Dana. The reorganization of the back row, painful as it was, was intended to preserve at least the option of going to Rettke.
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Post by Wiswell on Nov 10, 2019 10:31:56 GMT -5
Badgers are in real danger of going 16-4 in conference. All those tough wins against PSU, NE, and MN showed they have it in them to win out, but at the same time the OSU loss shows the weaknesses can reappear. Further those three teams are playing way better.
They need to get serve receive in order. They've shown a vulnerability to the top spin serve before and overcame it.
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Post by stanfordvb on Nov 12, 2019 9:19:08 GMT -5
Badgers are in real danger of going 16-4 in conference. All those tough wins against PSU, NE, and MN showed they have it in them to win out, but at the same time the OSU loss shows the weaknesses can reappear. Further those three teams are playing way better. They need to get serve receive in order. They've shown a vulnerability to the top spin serve before and overcame it. OSU is a wildcard team like Illinois, they can lose to teams they really shouldn't, but they have the talent in every position to challenge top teams, so when they are fully clicking and playing to their full potential, they are a great team. It's like Florida I would say, even though Florida has had as a rough as of a season, in part due to playing in the sec. OSU has the talent, just not the consistency
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Post by gibbyb1 on Nov 12, 2019 10:12:48 GMT -5
So, the stats deep dive I was talking about: what's behind the badgers success in the B1G so far? The badgers always lag in attacks/set though, while gophers are almost always in lead. I'd love to understand what's behind that difference.The reason the Golden Gophers always lead in attacks per set is philosophical. Hugh directs his team to only swing for a kill when set is truly hittable and there isn't a well-formed block in front of them. If the hitter doesn't believe that's the case, Hugh instructs his players to keep the ball in play. The reason for this is Hugh is confident in his defense, both blocking and floor defense. I've heard commentators and Hugh mention this several times over the years. I don’t think that is in any way a unique philosophy. Maybe they are hyper conservative in that area, but that concept is what most coaches believe in and preach. Maybe he’s better at getting that point across.
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