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Post by jwvolley on Oct 21, 2020 18:56:24 GMT -5
Did WSU graduate anyone besides their libero? I think they were pretty young last year, no? It's always interesting for me to see who steps up for a team after consecutive years of a go-to player who graduated. I'll be curious about Washington in that regard. Utah should be very good but I can't help but feel like they are going to struggle in the middle unless they have an incoming recruit there to be optimistic about I don't get the obsession with needing your middles to be stars. If your pins are getting the job done, is it necessary for your middles to be all-stars? I mean, are you going to win a national title? probably not, but having great pins and mediocre middle production can still get you pretty darn far. Washington was an elite 8 team last year and our middles barely combined for 3 kills per set and hit .300. It's not really an obsession, I'm just evaluating Utah as compared to other teams because I think they have the talent on the pins to warrant the discussion being Final 4 worthiness.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2020 18:56:24 GMT -5
Did WSU graduate anyone besides their libero? I think they were pretty young last year, no? It's always interesting for me to see who steps up for a team after consecutive years of a go-to player who graduated. I'll be curious about Washington in that regard. Utah should be very good but I can't help but feel like they are going to struggle in the middle unless they have an incoming recruit there to be optimistic about I don't get the obsession with needing your middles to be stars. If your pins are getting the job done, is it necessary for your middles to be all-stars? I mean, are you going to win a national title? probably not, but having great pins and mediocre middle production can still get you pretty darn far. Washington was an elite 8 team last year and our middles barely combined for 3 kills per set and hit .300. and UCLA is likely to have better pins than UW did too
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Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2020 19:03:13 GMT -5
Did WSU graduate anyone besides their libero? I think they were pretty young last year, no? It's always interesting for me to see who steps up for a team after consecutive years of a go-to player who graduated. I'll be curious about Washington in that regard. Utah should be very good but I can't help but feel like they are going to struggle in the middle unless they have an incoming recruit there to be optimistic about I don't get the obsession with needing your middles to be stars. If your pins are getting the job done, is it necessary for your middles to be all-stars? I mean, are you going to win a national title? probably not, but having great pins and mediocre middle production can still get you pretty darn far. Washington was an elite 8 team last year and our middles barely combined for 3 kills per set and hit .300. I'll take .300 if they're quick laterally, read well and put up a good block.
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Post by ay2013 on Oct 21, 2020 19:22:08 GMT -5
I don't get the obsession with needing your middles to be stars. If your pins are getting the job done, is it necessary for your middles to be all-stars? I mean, are you going to win a national title? probably not, but having great pins and mediocre middle production can still get you pretty darn far. Washington was an elite 8 team last year and our middles barely combined for 3 kills per set and hit .300. I'll take .300 if they're quick laterally, read well and put up a good block. agreed
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Post by ay2013 on Oct 21, 2020 19:25:04 GMT -5
I don't get the obsession with needing your middles to be stars. If your pins are getting the job done, is it necessary for your middles to be all-stars? I mean, are you going to win a national title? probably not, but having great pins and mediocre middle production can still get you pretty darn far. Washington was an elite 8 team last year and our middles barely combined for 3 kills per set and hit .300. and UCLA is likely to have better pins than UW did too meh.... I dunno about THAT. Bajema and May are at best a wash, Hoffman, when healthy, an McCall, when healthy, are at best a wash, and while Ndiaye show a lot of promise, we don't really know what she will actually do at the collegiate level yet. Dreschel is as good or better than anyone else UCLA has on their roster.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2020 19:26:37 GMT -5
and UCLA is likely to have better pins than UW did too meh.... I dunno about THAT. Bajema and May are at best a wash, Hoffman, when healthy, an McCall, when healthy, are at best a wash, and while Ndiaye show a lot of promise, we don't really know what she will actually do at the collegiate level yet. Dreschel is as good or better than anyone else UCLA has on their roster. Hoffman and Mcall aren’t a wash lmao
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Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2020 19:27:34 GMT -5
and UCLA is likely to have better pins than UW did too meh.... I dunno about THAT. Bajema and May are at best a wash, Hoffman, when healthy, an McCall, when healthy, are at best a wash, and while Ndiaye show a lot of promise, we don't really know what she will actually do at the collegiate level yet. Dreschel is as good or better than anyone else UCLA has on their roster. McCall on one leg is as good as Hoffman. If she's healthy she's in the May, Drews tier.
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Post by gobruins on Oct 22, 2020 7:43:14 GMT -5
Hmm. I'm curious where you're thinking the weak point is? McCall and May don't need DS's. Fleck will be a major upgrade at libero. I expect them to be solid, though not amazing, in the middle. As good of a freshman RS as they could probably ask for. I suppose whoever plays back row for her could have a net negative effect but their life could be made easier if Fleck covers a lot of floor. That backrow was a messss last year I agree that their floor defense and passing will be good. In Barry they've got a DS who'd start at libero for half the conference - she did as a freshman at San Diego and a sophomore at UCLA. My concern is setting. Chang will need to be better. I wouldn't be surprised to see Kate Lane, either in a 6-2 or replacing Chang if she struggles. Have you seen much of Kate Lane? If so, what are your thoughts? Is she a "late bloomer" who could be a really good setter, or just a body that UCLA picked up because they were desperate for another setter?
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Post by ShaneM2005 on Oct 22, 2020 7:56:08 GMT -5
Stanford has some scrimmage highlights with Coast. I'm concerned they don't have enough firepower on the OH to really push for a title this year, and they have some injuries affecting their middle depth? To me, this entire year is an asterisk type of year, but IMO the Pac-12 crown will probably come down to Utah and UCLA and the tournament teams will probably be Utah, UCLA, Stanford and maybe either Washington or WSU (but this will really depend on on OOC scheduling). I think Stanford can be at the top of the Pac12, but there's probably going to be some growing pains like beginning/mid-2016 season. The talent is clearly there with Xu, Kipp, etc. It's just going to be a matter of the second outside, middle contribution, & how terminal Baird is. I'd like to see Berty crack the lineup. Seems like she's got a pretty heavy arm.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 22, 2020 12:27:57 GMT -5
I agree that their floor defense and passing will be good. In Barry they've got a DS who'd start at libero for half the conference - she did as a freshman at San Diego and a sophomore at UCLA. My concern is setting. Chang will need to be better. I wouldn't be surprised to see Kate Lane, either in a 6-2 or replacing Chang if she struggles. Have you seen much of Kate Lane? If so, what are your thoughts? Is she a "late bloomer" who could be a really good setter, or just a body that UCLA picked up because they were desperate for another setter? Based on the growth she showed during her final year in club, she was definitely a late bloomer. Initially committed elsewhere I think (forget where), she's got good hands and is very athletic. I wouldn't be surprised to see her push Chang or start in a 6-2 in the spring.
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Post by redbeard2008 on Oct 22, 2020 12:33:42 GMT -5
and UCLA is likely to have better pins than UW did too meh.... I dunno about THAT. Bajema and May are at best a wash, Hoffman, when healthy, an McCall, when healthy, are at best a wash, and while Ndiaye show a lot of promise, we don't really know what she will actually do at the collegiate level yet. Dreschel is as good or better than anyone else UCLA has on their roster. And Endsley coming in. Powell won't lack for pin targets, assuming everyone stays healthy. UW's main concern will be passing, which is the main determinant of offensive middle production.
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Post by ay2013 on Oct 22, 2020 12:44:58 GMT -5
meh.... I dunno about THAT. Bajema and May are at best a wash, Hoffman, when healthy, an McCall, when healthy, are at best a wash, and while Ndiaye show a lot of promise, we don't really know what she will actually do at the collegiate level yet. Dreschel is as good or better than anyone else UCLA has on their roster. And Endsley coming in. Powell won't lack for pin targets, assuming everyone stays healthy. UW's main concern will be passing, which is the main determinant of offensive middle production. I was comparing UW's OH's of last year to UCLA's this year. Obviously we don't have Bajema anymore and McCall wasn't on the team last year for UCLA.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 22, 2020 13:04:28 GMT -5
meh.... I dunno about THAT. Bajema and May are at best a wash, Hoffman, when healthy, an McCall, when healthy, are at best a wash, and while Ndiaye show a lot of promise, we don't really know what she will actually do at the collegiate level yet. Dreschel is as good or better than anyone else UCLA has on their roster. And Endsley coming in. Powell won't lack for pin targets, assuming everyone stays healthy. UW's main concern will be passing, which is the main determinant of offensive middle production. Endsley is definitely the wild card. My question with Hoffman is can she carry the same type of load Bajema did, especially out of system if, as you predict, the passing is an issue. Bajema (like May) had a transition hitting efficiency that was only a little down from her FBSO mark. Hoffman's FBSO efficiency was .100 above her transition efficiency. I don't know if Washington has an elite OOS terminator for the spring.
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Post by Disc808 on Oct 22, 2020 13:28:50 GMT -5
Stanford has some scrimmage highlights with Coast. I'm concerned they don't have enough firepower on the OH to really push for a title this year, and they have some injuries affecting their middle depth? To me, this entire year is an asterisk type of year, but IMO the Pac-12 crown will probably come down to Utah and UCLA and the tournament teams will probably be Utah, UCLA, Stanford and maybe either Washington or WSU (but this will really depend on on OOC scheduling). I think Stanford can be at the top of the Pac12, but there's probably going to be some growing pains like beginning/mid-2016 season. The talent is clearly there with Xu, Kipp, etc. It's just going to be a matter of the second outside, middle contribution, & how terminal Baird is. I'd like to see Berty crack the lineup. Seems like she's got a pretty heavy arm. Because of the circumstances... I'm not sure how much room there will be for growing pains
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Post by Deleted on Oct 22, 2020 13:46:31 GMT -5
I think Stanford can be at the top of the Pac12, but there's probably going to be some growing pains like beginning/mid-2016 season. The talent is clearly there with Xu, Kipp, etc. It's just going to be a matter of the second outside, middle contribution, & how terminal Baird is. I'd like to see Berty crack the lineup. Seems like she's got a pretty heavy arm. Because of the circumstances... I'm not sure how much room there will be for growing pains I think the Pac/B1G teams have a bit more room for a slow start than the ACC or B12. But I agree it's going to be more cutthroat than in a normal year. Look at those already playing; can Kansas, TCU, FSU or Syracuse recover to get an at large now?
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