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Post by luckydawg on Dec 3, 2022 21:22:28 GMT -5
*shrug* then don’t watch. I frankly don’t like watching super enthusiastic players, the antics are annoying…. I’d much rather people be stoic than screaming at every point won or inadvertently hitting their team mate (see Dana Rettke) in constant celebration. Tom Brady is one of the best QB in history, but he’s usually all business on the field and finds little need for constant celebrations. All of these players have personality, and it’s rather arrogant to suggest that they don’t just because they don’t fit YOUR narrow idea of what that word means. Seems you both may be somewhat correct. Remember, KCook was an assistant under JMac and JMac pushed for KCook to be his replacement. And JMac was about as stoic and dead serious on the court as you could be. I suspect he may have instilled some of that on his players and on KCook. And there's nothing wrong with that. It's worked. And there's also nothing wrong with the many teams who always seem to be, well, a lot less stoic. But who doesn't want a Courtney Thompson or Sanja Tomasevic who are going to have fire and fierceness and were sometimes quite vocal and animated in demanding better play by the team. I have no idea if there was one or more players on the current team who may have played that role. They may have just done so in a less vocal, animated fashion. And there's nothing wrong with that either. I'm pretty sure that with the suddeness which JMac left, not only was there no "pushing" for a particular replacement, any contact with him was less than minimal. The players and parents at the time were very supportive of hiring Cook. |
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Post by tomclen on Dec 3, 2022 21:41:16 GMT -5
Seems you both may be somewhat correct. Remember, KCook was an assistant under JMac and JMac pushed for KCook to be his replacement. And JMac was about as stoic and dead serious on the court as you could be. I suspect he may have instilled some of that on his players and on KCook. And there's nothing wrong with that. It's worked. And there's also nothing wrong with the many teams who always seem to be, well, a lot less stoic. But who doesn't want a Courtney Thompson or Sanja Tomasevic who are going to have fire and fierceness and were sometimes quite vocal and animated in demanding better play by the team. I have no idea if there was one or more players on the current team who may have played that role. They may have just done so in a less vocal, animated fashion. And there's nothing wrong with that either. I'm pretty sure that with the suddeness which JMac left, not only was there no "pushing" for a particular replacement, any contact with him was less than minimal. The players and parents at the time were very supportive of hiring Cook. "Pushed" was probably too strong of a word. Maybe it was just a perfunctory press-release, but I call reading that JMac "supported" KCook's hiring. But leave that aside, KCook inherited much of JMac's systems and approach and worked with him very closely. |
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Post by luckydawg on Dec 3, 2022 22:32:29 GMT -5
I'm pretty sure that with the suddeness which JMac left, not only was there no "pushing" for a particular replacement, any contact with him was less than minimal. The players and parents at the time were very supportive of hiring Cook. "Pushed" was probably too strong of a word. Maybe it was just a perfunctory press-release, but I call reading that JMac "supported" KCook's hiring. But leave that aside, KCook inherited much of JMac's systems and approach and worked with him very closely. I think Keegan was hired by JMac because of their similar coaching views, even down to the whiteboards. Though, I think Cook has a much broader off court (non-volleyball) player development emphasis. |
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Post by redbeard2008 on Dec 3, 2022 23:20:49 GMT -5
OTOH, you can never have too many players who can receive serve and play great back row D while anticipating where the other team is going with the ball. UCF today had a girl playing back-row whose name was "Pass". While natural ability or talent is involved, it is also a skill that needs to be developed and refined over time. I suspect that UW may have a roster-size limit (17?) - even a walk-on represents a significant cost to the school. Not everyone can do what Russ Rose used to do, which was to put five or six walk-on DS's on his roster (UW currently has three), in hopes of finding a couple who could pass or serve. |
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Post by redbeard2008 on Dec 3, 2022 23:32:09 GMT -5
But leave that aside, KCook inherited much of JMac's systems and approach and worked with him very closely. But got rid of the "whiteboard". I'm also not sure that KCook is as obsessed with the intricacies of bio-mechanical technique as JMac was, although I do wonder whether that might have something to do with our fall-off in "blocking". |
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Post by tomclen on Dec 4, 2022 0:05:44 GMT -5
OTOH, you can never have too many players who can receive serve and play great back row D while anticipating where the other team is going with the ball. UCF today had a girl playing back-row whose name was "Pass". While natural ability or talent is involved, it is also a skill that needs to be developed and refined over time. I suspect that UW may have a roster-size limit (17?) - even a walk-on represents a significant cost to the school. Not everyone can do what Russ Rose used to do, which was to put five or six walk-on DS's on his roster (UW currently has three), in hopes of finding a couple who could pass or serve. I must really be sloshed, can't remember typing the quote you posted of me. Headscratcher. |
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Post by mikegarrison on Dec 4, 2022 0:12:26 GMT -5
Quotes actually link to the post. This is the post that was linked to. Seems you both may be somewhat correct. Remember, KCook was an assistant under JMac and JMac pushed for KCook to be his replacement. And JMac was about as stoic and dead serious on the court as you could be. I suspect he may have instilled some of that on his players and on KCook. And there's nothing wrong with that. It's worked. And there's also nothing wrong with the many teams who always seem to be, well, a lot less stoic. But who doesn't want a Courtney Thompson or Sanja Tomasevic who are going to have fire and fierceness and were sometimes quite vocal and animated in demanding better play by the team. I have no idea if there was one or more players on the current team who may have played that role. They may have just done so in a less vocal, animated fashion. And there's nothing wrong with that either. This is the quote that was posted. OTOH, you can never have too many players who can receive serve and play great back row D while anticipating where the other team is going with the ball. I don't see those words in the quoted post. |
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Post by twkpwrbtmlib on Dec 4, 2022 2:30:56 GMT -5
She didn't travel for the Montana State/Boise State matches, with Houghton filling in for her, which could have been due to an injury or illness [concussion-protocol, I'm told above], but that was pretty early in the season. More likely it is that she is still a young player who'll have her ups and downs. Orlandini and McPherson didn't come into their own until they were juniors and seniors. Very good point regarding the youth of Bays and the time it takes for some really good players to reach their potential -- Orlandini and McPherson are excellent examples. That's why it doesn't make sense to give up on Bays. OTOH, you can never have too many players who can receive serve and play great back row D while anticipating where the other team is going with the ball. A lack of anticipation was both a weakness of Bays and a sore point for the entire UW team this year. i don't know why i remember so vividly that she was injured. i remember thinking one home game she doesn't make plays like she used to. she used to be daring - i remember a pic from vbmag that she ran and bicycle kicked that was a hittable set for the return. i was there for that match and it felt electric (even though they didn't get the pic.) she hasn't had that spark all season long and i chalked that to her not wanting to get injured. completely forgot that McPherson was relegated to DS for one of the pins to play libero. i felt had there been a decent 6 rotation pin, we'd see Crenshaw as libero for a bit. |
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Post by redbeard2008 on Dec 4, 2022 3:25:42 GMT -5
Sorry Tom, it was from alwayslearning. I was trying to paste a selection from his quote, but posted it into your quote instead of his. And I was hoping to save a little time! Not. (I sometimes mix up the Quote button for the post below with the post above.) Very good point regarding the youth of Bays and the time it takes for some really good players to reach their potential -- Orlandini and McPherson are excellent examples. That's why it doesn't make sense to give up on Bays. OTOH, you can never have too many players who can receive serve and play great back row D while anticipating where the other team is going with the ball. A lack of anticipation was both a weakness of Bays and a sore point for the entire UW team this year. |
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Post by redbeard2008 on Dec 4, 2022 3:32:54 GMT -5
Quotes actually link to the post. This is the post that was linked to. I fixed it, Mike. It was a copy-and-paste faux pas. |
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Post by redbeard2008 on Dec 4, 2022 4:44:07 GMT -5
completely forgot that McPherson was relegated to DS for one of the pins to play libero. i felt had there been a decent 6 rotation pin, we'd see Crenshaw as libero for a bit. Tia Scambray. That was the year that Crissy Jones got injured and missed the first 11 matches. The plan was for Jones to play OPP for six-rotations, start Bajema at OH for three rotations, and Scambray at Libero. Instead, DeHoog replaced Jones in the front-row, while Julye replaced Bajema, because they had only one decent DS (McPherson). Later Jones came back, but initially struggled, Scambray got yoyo'd to OH and back to Libero, with then Bajema finally starting at OH. And then we lost to Illinois 2-3 in our own subregional (with Bajema getting 26 kills). Or something like that. Another topsy-turvy season marred by injury. |
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Post by tomclen on Dec 4, 2022 6:16:50 GMT -5
Sorry Tom, it was from alwayslearning. I was trying to paste a selection from his quote, but posted it into your quote instead of his. And I was hoping to save a little time! Not. (I sometimes mix up the Quote button for the post below with the post above.) Very good point regarding the youth of Bays and the time it takes for some really good players to reach their potential -- Orlandini and McPherson are excellent examples. That's why it doesn't make sense to give up on Bays. OTOH, you can never have too many players who can receive serve and play great back row D while anticipating where the other team is going with the ball. A lack of anticipation was both a weakness of Bays and a sore point for the entire UW team this year. No problem. Now it makes sense. It was much too insightful for something I'd say.  |
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Post by mikegarrison on Dec 4, 2022 6:46:02 GMT -5
I still think that it was quite possibly Cook's worst mistake so far to move Scambray to libero.
That year they returned essentially the entire team which had gotten to the Elite Eight, but he moved people around and changed up the lineups and they did substantially worse. I always suspected it was an over-reaction to the passing struggles McPherson had in her freshman year, but as we saw once she started playing libero again, McPherson was just fine as a libero. And that team really could have used Scambray up on the front line.
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Post by tomclen on Dec 4, 2022 6:53:19 GMT -5
While some of us are still second-guessing and what-iffing 2022, I'd add one more nagging thought I had about this team for much of the season: floor positioning.
For me it was especially notable this weekend watching Stanford and Wisconsin. The second the ball goes over the net to their opponent's side, you can see the immediate perfectly orchestrated movement of players getting ready for defense.
Both those teams, Stanford and Wisconsin, always seem to have a defender in the perfect spot for an opponent's attack.
Washington, it seemed to me, was too often in "scramble" mode, and too often no one was in the correct position for defense.
I'd suspect that has something to do with UW being dead-last in the PAC in blocking, and their regular failure to get good first touches at the net.
To me, the blocking and the floor positioning made '22 a very out-of-character season for UW.
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Post by alwayslearning on Dec 4, 2022 12:55:23 GMT -5
While some of us are still second-guessing and what-iffing 2022, I'd add one more nagging thought I had about this team for much of the season: floor positioning. For me it was especially notable this weekend watching Stanford and Wisconsin. The second the ball goes over the net to their opponent's side, you can see the immediate perfectly orchestrated movement of players getting ready for defense. Both those teams, Stanford and Wisconsin, always seem to have a defender in the perfect spot for an opponent's attack. Washington, it seemed to me, was too often in "scramble" mode, and too often no one was in the correct position for defense. I'd suspect that has something to do with UW being dead-last in the PAC in blocking, and their regular failure to get good first touches at the net. To me, the blocking and the floor positioning made '22 a very out-of-character season for UW. I agree with all of these observations. The question is: Why did the Huskies perform so poorly on defense? I think the coaching staff has to shoulder part of the blame. I don't say this lightly because, in general, I really, really respect this coaching staff. The record speaks for itself. Let's start with blocking. UW is traditionally an elite blocking team. Leslie Gabriel is a proven blocking coach. I did see improvement in blocking towards the end of the season. Summers in particular was very weak at the beginning of the season, often arriving much too late and failing to anticipate. At the end of the season, she was our best blocker. No doubt coaching had an impact. With regard to blocking, I would say the majority of the problem was a combination of injuries, inexperience, and simply a lack of blocking talent. Injuries to Bush, Crenshaw, Wilmes, and of course Endsley hurt blocking quite a bit. I personally expected more from Summers this season but the encouraging signs towards the end suggest that she should continue to improve next season. Grote was never a great blocker; Hoffman was a below average Pac 12 blocker for an OH; and you can probably say the same for Endsley. Looking to next year, and assuming Summers is a MB (and not an OPP), Summers needs to average at least 1.1, preferably 1.2 (or more) blocks per set in conference play (she was 18th in the league this year at .87; Grote was 26th at .80). Unless a second MB (Hani? Wessels? A transfer?) picks up the slack, I would expect a better blocking team next year but not an elite one. What about floor defense, digging, and especially serve receive? Part of the answer, as tomclen surmises, is the poor blocking. When you aren't getting good touches at the net, you have much less time to react in the back row, and "scramble mode" becomes the norm. Perhaps twkpwrbtmlib's instincts are correct and Bays was playing injured this year. I agree that she did not play with the same reckless abandon that we saw last year and her quickness, especially lateral movement, seemed to be hindered. Obviously, a huge key to a better 2023 is a better Bays. With regard to floor positioning, there are a number of issues. To the extent the Huskies showed very little improvement in this area over the course of the season, I think Cook & Co. must shoulder part of the blame. But, as with blocking, a big part of the equation is a lack of talented defenders/diggers. As good as an all-around player as Claire Hoffman was, she was a liability on defense, simply lacking the quickness and anticipation required of a good back row defender. To varying degrees, you could say the same about every other back row defender the Huskies put on the court. The one exception would be Kate Morin, who has the quickness and athletic ability, but not (yet) the consistency, receiving skill, bump setting skill, or anticipation one needs in a really good libero/DS. Morin's growth in all these areas will be another key to a good 2023. At this point, she figures to be our back-up libero if something happens to Bays. All of this leads to the issue of serve receive, so crucial to a team's success. Bays must improve or she will continue to be targeted, just as she was against TCU. Perhaps the biggest question looming over the Huskies is who will be the stalwart six-rotation OH who can both hit for average and pass at a high level. I've already expressed my opinion that, based on what we've seen already, it probably won't be Bush or Endsley. I could be wrong and it would be wonderful to see either one blossom into that player. Wilmes might be the better receiver and digger, with the emphasis on "might." Like Bush, she has a tremendous serve and so I would expect to see her in that role, even if she isn't in the starting lineup. But can she take on the role of the six-ro OH? We just don't know and if Cook has doubts he really needs to start examining the portal and grad student possibilities for such a player. Ideally, you would find someone with two years of remaining eligibility. With teams like Stanford, Oregon, and WSU returning virtually of their key players, it will likely be imperative that UW improve itself through transfers or grad students. |
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