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Post by mintonetteman on Sept 22, 2022 17:04:38 GMT -5
As for libero and DS training...as I have said at nauseum, BYU has a unique almost rigid approach to passing. And, this isn't new to Heather Olmstead or the current coaching staff. I have mixed feelings about this. Also, they favor (again because of statistics and metrics) a good serve receive over a player that is a good defender long into a rally. My yearly rant going into the WCC is that we don't get pushed hard enough in serve receive in conference and this gives us false hope for the NCAA. This year, the WCC is definitely better than it has been in quite a few years. I am anxious to watch and see--and hope for the best. But, unlike Marnvb, I try NOT to jump to conclusions, good or bad.
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Zazu
All-American
Singin' once again in the rain, snow, hail, fog, smog, mist, haze, sun, wind, etc.
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Post by Zazu on Sept 23, 2022 23:26:48 GMT -5
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Post by marnvbc2 on Sept 25, 2022 9:46:21 GMT -5
Even when I played at BYU, BYU has been preoccupied with statistics and metrics. You may of heard of this guy named Carl McGown. I think he was some Olympic guy. He kind of had this think for stats that has influenced the sport of volleyball. Approach touch, kind of important when evaluating potential of hitters and matchups. I actually give Club V props for pushing out this metric. Like any club, Club V has it flaws, but I think attention to certain metrics is a good thing for a club to do. McGown had a huge influence on volleyball all over this country. Great ambassador for the game. He did use lots of stats and metrics. However, he also had an eye for recruiting talent. Oftentimes he would take potential recruits simply based on athletic ability rather than technique and skill level. He would make low rated recruits into All-American players. Carl recognized that pure vertical wasn't as important as timing but he looked for both. Oftentimes he found it. He was also a huge believer that court vision was more important to success than most other traits. This was very hard to teach to other coaches or even show them. Even in the last part of his life he still could sit in the stands and watch warmups and the match and tell a coach who should be given a shot at starting and who had limited upside but might be viewed as a "star" in the program. He would dictate lineup changes based on who the opposition put on the court and who has having a good match. He was a great chess player on the vb court. Yep, a wonderful all around coach. I heard that even in the last year or two of his life he would sit in the stands and speak to the coaches through a ear bud or sound mechanism on the sideline until the opposing coach started to realize that he was helping the BYU teams from the stands. I think that practice was stopped when UCLA questioned or noticed what was going on ..... or so I was told. He had great instincts and super talent evaluation while putting metrics and stats on top of those evaluation instincts. |
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Post by marnvbc2 on Sept 25, 2022 9:57:19 GMT -5
As for libero and DS training...as I have said at nauseum, BYU has a unique almost rigid approach to passing. And, this isn't new to Heather Olmstead or the current coaching staff. I have mixed feelings about this. Also, they favor (again because of statistics and metrics) a good serve receive over a player that is a good defender long into a rally. My yearly rant going into the WCC is that we don't get pushed hard enough in serve receive in conference and this gives us false hope for the NCAA. This year, the WCC is definitely better than it has been in quite a few years. I am anxious to watch and see--and hope for the best. But, unlike Marnvb, I try NOT to jump to conclusions, good or bad. I am not jumping to conclusions but just pointing out what is usually obvious about the passing dept and recruiting on/in the BYU women's vb program. Sometimes there are things to cheer about, like Mary Lake's abilities and other times there are concerns that players offered scholarships or roster spots simply weren't good enough to play at high levels. The rigid aspect of passing technique at BYU doesn't really bother me. Kentucky and Louisville have similar rigid rules for passers. The problem is why BYU recruits certain players to begin with. Heather is a very good coach. She needs to realize that either she needs to take advice from certain assistants instead of her own instincts taking over or she simply needs to hire a guru for recruiting and coaching back row players. I vote for the later. She needs to let go of areas that she isn't very good at. I will give Heather a ton of credit for branching out this season with schedule and substituting players at different positions during matches. She could have done a little more of that in pre season but she did a very good job. I am betting that she can't wait to get to the end of the season and have some discussions with players on the roster and hit the recruiting trail. |
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Post by mintonetteman on Sept 25, 2022 11:34:29 GMT -5
You think UK and Louisville have "similar rigid rules for passers?" What?  Go back to cheering on your Club V 2 team daughter--if she really is a defensive player, your lack of knowledge is telling. If you think UL and UK are similarly rigid you are really truly clueless and have zero credibility (sorry to make this so personal but that comment is illustrates your lack of knowledge). Also, you think BYU assistants do not play a significant role in recruiting? Wow. BYU is so fortunate to have really good assistants AND a head coach that...oh, yea, just hit 200 wins faster than any coach in the history of the women's game. |
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Post by marnvbc2 on Sept 29, 2022 2:23:12 GMT -5
You are a goof ball. And totally out of it. Kentucky has very Very rigid rules for passing, absolutely! I didn't say that they were the same rules that Heather has. They aren't. But they are rigid and they also have much better passing than does BYU. Do you even read stats? I have no kids who ever played a minute at V. What is your preoccupation with that Club? Get off it. I don't care about V or what team or coach you are involved with there. Your comment tells me that you read no stats and know nothing about passing. UL has the same rules as Nebraska in the passing dept and they are also pretty rigid. Ask Jaylen how they are different. Dani came from a Libero background much the same as Heather does. Only she played at a higher level. And she may actually win a national championship before Heather does but she certainly didn't inherit a great program like Heather did. She built one though, based off recruiting. Between Heather and Dani, one of them spots and recruits elite level passers and the other doesn't. Maybe your stat reading will tell you which one. Also, if that 200 win stat means anything it is that BYU plays in a very weak league and has had a lot of very weak preseason matches that result in a surprising number of 30 win seasons with a team that is lucky to be voted top 10 at the end of the year. How did they finish last season? One exception is the final 4 team and you tell me who beat Heather in that semi final and how it was done ..... hint: back row passing and serve receive issues that were not exposed by Stanford during the season match against BYU but they were certainly known about and used when it counted. 200 wins is nice but not as nice as being an elite top 10 program. If BYU keeps playing even close to the national non league schedule it did this year, the win % will come back to reality. The Big12 will also influence that win %. 3 losses and probably 3 more before this season is over. Without exception all 6 of those losses will be related to defense and serve receive personnel and recruiting. It might be that some of the those rigid rules need a little updating but more importantly the roster needs a lot of change back there. Maybe you should check out the passing/S/R stats since you know so much and explain a little about UK and UL vs BYU's passing? Who has zero credibility with their passing comments?
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Post by DaTruf on Sept 29, 2022 15:19:48 GMT -5
I think we can all agree that 'mintonetteman' and 'marnvbc2' need to Get A Room for engaging in some heavy-duty PDA... Your wanton lust is making us uncomfortable! Let's get back to BYU Volleyball, we have Portland today at 6PM PST. Thoughts...? How about... Can your local HS team beat The Pilots this year?
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Post by mintonetteman on Sept 29, 2022 16:35:00 GMT -5
Yep, Portland is not in a good place. Hard to get excited for this part of the season for BYU for me. These teams will not expose our weaknesses and tell us very little about our team and how they will perform in the post-season. See prior rants in previous years. I am excited to go to the USD match and watch in person. I attended the USD Pepperdine match. USD is very good and will have to play essentially the same schedule until we match up with them in October.
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Post by brybast on Oct 1, 2022 15:54:16 GMT -5
Is Eden Bower injured? She's not playing today vs. Gonzaga.
BYU dropped set 1 and survived a close set 3 to take a 2-1 lead.
BYU's hitting percentage is not a problem, currently .347 early in set 4. Livingston hitting over .500 and Llarenas is over .600. So I'm guessing ball control has been a problem?
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Post by azvb on Oct 1, 2022 15:58:24 GMT -5
Is Eden Bower injured? She's not playing today vs. Gonzaga. BYU dropped set 1 and survived a close set 3 to take a 2-1 lead. BYU's hitting percentage is not a problem, currently .347 early in set 4. Livingston hitting over .500 and Llarenas is over .600. So I'm guessing ball control has been a problem? It appears Bowers didn’t make the trip. She wasn’t on the bench at Portland, either. |
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Post by pelagius on Oct 1, 2022 17:23:22 GMT -5
It appears Bowers didn’t make the trip. She wasn’t on the bench at Portland, either. Morgan Bower didn't make the trip, but Eden Bower did. She was on the bench for both matches this week. Stowell appears to have beat her out for now. Here is a screenshot from today's match with her in it. Not a great shot of her, but you can see the #8. |
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Zazu
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Singin' once again in the rain, snow, hail, fog, smog, mist, haze, sun, wind, etc.
Posts: 1,536
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Post by Zazu on Oct 1, 2022 17:39:31 GMT -5
It appears Bowers didn’t make the trip. She wasn’t on the bench at Portland, either. Morgan Bower didn't make the trip, but Eden Bower did. She was on the bench for both matches this week. Stowell appears to have beat her out for now. Here is a screenshot from today's match with her in it. Not a great shot of her, but you can see the #8. Thanks for clearing that up. I thought I saw her on the sidelines during Thursday's match, but was wondering if I'd remembered incorrectly when others said they didn't see her. |
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Post by kk1971 on Oct 4, 2022 17:50:59 GMT -5
While admittedly I had lower expectations this year after losing TBN, Eschenberg, and most of all Koerber, I have to say that there have been quite a few more positives than I expected. I thought a would share a few and see if others feel the same way.
One pleasant surprise for me this year has been Whitney Llarenas. While she is not the defensive presence that Eschenberg was, IMO she is a more potent offensive weapon. I predicted that Prior would be starting by season’s end when I did my recruiting recap; well, I am pretty darn sure I will be wrong. Whitney has impressed me with a polish and quickness on the attack that I didn’t see coming. She doesn’t have the defensive presence at the net that we got from Eschenberg, and I do believe that hurts us against better teams, but she has certainly given me more than I expected. Well done.
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Post by kk1971 on Oct 5, 2022 10:29:09 GMT -5
Continuing with my thought on people or things that have impressed me so far this year: two of our young outsides, Eden Bower and Elyse Stowell.
Elyse Stowell--really glad she is finally getting her shot. I have long been a big fan of her game, believing her to be the indoor player with the “beach” strengths that come from being a really good beach player. I think she is an underrated defender and I love her crafty and intelligent shots--doesn't just pound it into the block all the time, although she can hit a heavy shot when she has to. I thought she played well in the match against the big block of Ohio State, and particularly from the time that she has come in late in the Pepperdine match, she has only impressed me. And while you can argue about the small sample size and the competition, hitting .369 thus far for the year is middle blocker-like. I know some here on the board rave about Callahan’s “superior” athleticism or higher approach, but I think that Stowell is a complete enough player that if she gets enough time to build confidence, she will be really good for us for the next few years.
Eden Bower: I have been very impressed. For all of the naysayers and fault finders, I stand by my summer recruiting break down and believe she has proved me right. Defensively she has been better than I expected, and she has held up better with being targeted by serves than most expected. And she has consistently hit a very respectable rate (.259) into some good blocks. For a freshman, I love what I have seen out of Eden. I think given more time in the system, Eden will be a star for us.
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Post by kk1971 on Oct 5, 2022 14:24:13 GMT -5
My third observation of things that have impressed me has to do with the job Heather Olmstead is doing.
It's hard to argue about becoming the fastest coach to ever hit 200 wins. Losing 3 players like TBN, Eschenberg, and most of all Koerber from last year, I had more modest expectations for this team. I get some will argue (MarnVB) that she isn't coaching in the Big 10 and, thus, has an easier schedule. IMO, this is a non starter. Most coaches aren't in the Big 10, and yet no one has ever done it faster. Dave Shoji (a great coach) built a dynasty at Hawaii playing against lesser competition than Heather. And don't knock the WCC this year with San Diego (only loss at Louisville and wins over Ohio State and Pitt already), Pepperdine (wins over Baylor, Minnesota and Washington), and LMU (sweep of UCLA) having great seasons with some bigtime wins. I continue to be impressed with Heather's ability to plug new faces in and get the same old, highly successful result, whether its needing to replace a great middle, serving specialist, or just keep on winning. Heather has found a way to consistently win.
In particular, this year I have seen more adjustments than in prior years. I love the move to play Grimmer almost all rotations. Didn't expect that. Love the way she develops people so that they are ready when the time comes (Llarenas). Even as some of have pointed out that she is quicker to pull a player than in prior years--to me that's a sign she knows what is needed for this years team to win.
IMO, this year might be Heather's best coaching job so far based on the pieces she has to work with. I wouldn't be surprised if San Diego wins the WCC this year as I don't know that this team's ceiling is as high as it has been in the past. But when BYU finishes at least 2nd, makes it to another Sweet Sixteen, and wins a bunch more matches, considering the losses from last year, well done, Heather!
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Go back to cheering on your Club V 2 team daughter--if she really is a defensive player, your lack of knowledge is telling. If you think UL and UK are similarly rigid you are really truly clueless and have zero credibility (sorry to make this so personal but that comment is illustrates your lack of knowledge). 
