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Post by vbkahuna on Sept 25, 2023 12:45:46 GMT -5
One more observation that needs to be said...Brooke Mosher is going to be an All-American setter before her era at Illinois is done. And it won't be in 3 years from now.
Yes, she's got location and timing problems right now, but she's learning fast. It's her first season as a B1G setter and she's learning on-the-fly and under fire. I almost fell over laughing when someone criticized her for being "too athletic". That's like criticizing Mozart for trying to compose music that's too fast for the current orchestra to play. I already see her connections with Raina (on back row swings especially), Collins (killer slides), and even Bohm (31's) starting to click. As she adjusts further for Burbage (the key to the rest of the Illini season) and Nunge, this team can be very competitive.
Bottom line, Mosher is a "FedEx kind of setter" (when the ball absolutely, positively has to get there before the blocking wall arrives), and it doesn't have to get there pretty. Poulter mastered it. And her hitters adapted to it (especially Quade). I believe Mosher can too. And a couple new OH/MB recruits that are similarly "too athletic" would really get Huff rockin' again.
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Post by oldmanvb on Sept 25, 2023 14:05:43 GMT -5
To further expand on the Mosher is going to be excellent thought, remember she is a first year setter setting to two three plus year starters. Figuring out who is in charge is a work in progress. It doesn't happen automatically. Eventually she will figure out she is in charge and will take charge. I'm looking forward to it.
Set placement, while it is easy for observers to pick up on, is only a small part of setting. Setting is simultaneously working in several dimensions. Get a read on the pass. Know where each of your hitters is located, both where they lined up and where the play has taken them. Remember what set has been called. Remember each hitter's tendencies in the available situations. Remember who is blocking each of the three (or four if Raina is in the back row) available hitters. Then watch where each of the blockers goes in response to what is happening on your side of the net. Throw it all down the drain when you go out of system and have to figure out Plan B. Putting all of these parameters into operation is not something that happens to a setter automatically. Each figures it out differently, some never figure it out. When Mosher gets there she will be amazing. She just has to get there.
Collins had an extraordinary number of swings. Many of them were using her as a right side attacker, as opposed to a middle running a slide. Its a good adjustment in our offense, as evidenced by the results.
You could tell Bingham is a middle trying to play the right side. How many of her swings were off one foot?
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Post by pointillinois on Sept 25, 2023 17:37:24 GMT -5
Also, does anyone know when RPI starts getting released? I'm very curious to see where we currently stand in that regard. Thanks! RPI futures has it at 145 |
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Post by inpaign on Sept 25, 2023 18:21:51 GMT -5
Also, does anyone know when RPI starts getting released? I'm very curious to see where we currently stand in that regard. Thanks! RPI futures has it at 145 Is that pretty accurate? From my understanding it is estimating what our RPI will be at the end of the season based on their projected record of us, which is well below .500. Call me optimistic but I think there's a solid chance we are at least .500. |
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Post by exit237a on Sept 25, 2023 18:48:37 GMT -5
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Post by liberovb10 on Sept 25, 2023 21:08:16 GMT -5
I agree we looked much better overall. Our block was tooled too much, and we weren’t always good about sealing to the net, but even those issues are getting better. As the match went on we did a better job of the outside block turning their hands into the court. I get a kick out of watching coaches on the sideline mimicking a block and turning their outside arm into the middle of the court. It seems a like a universal coach’s involuntary reaction. I was also doing it from in front of the television. Assuming someone on the coaching staff reads all of our insight, and our insights are driving the practices, it seems our conversations are having a positive impact. LOL. It is too bad Nunge missed the spring and summer. Those were the times setting pace would have been resolved. I was glad to see her taking good solid swings, even when the ball was blocked. The hard swings are the next step in being able to put the ball away. I feel she is making progress, even as we suffer angst each time she is blocked. Terry and Nunge need to keep talking to Mosher about how they want the ball. Mosher is going through a skill progression. Learning what works for each hitter is a part of that progression. She is also learning to identify where the block is during each play, sometimes easier said than done. Bohm seems comfortable hitting a 31. I wish they would run it more. The next step is getting Bohm to open herself to Mosher when the ball is off the net. The Indiana setter ran several from behind the 10 foot line which was in effect a 31 from behind the 10 foot line. Worked every time. Pan’s missed serves are a big concern, although the zone coaches are calling for sometimes make missed serves more likely. Although it worked on one occasion, the serve to zone 4 (right front) necessitates a soft serve, and when it doesn’t fool anyone it is an easy transition to an effective attack. I’m not a fan. Some of our missed serves are because of coaching decisions. MSU is a good team. They demolished a not very good Michigan team, bad enough I felt sorry for Erin Virtue. I really would like to see Virtue succeed, just not against Illinois. What's interesting is that Virtue wasn't at either of their games this weekend. She was out of the country with the national team. I recognize there's no greater stage than the Olympics but I'm not sure how I would feel as a player (or a fan) if my coach was with another team and missing in-season games. Obviously Michigan knew what they were signing up for, but still a very interesting dynamic there... I definitely see where you’re coming from - but i think they take the “good” with the “bad” about her commitment to USAV. Players have the ability to learn from a gold medal winning coach and (theoretically) trains the roster like they do on the NTDP….seamlessly putting you in an advantageous position to get National Team consideration. See Speraw and his UCLA pipeline Again all a pipe dream - or a pipeline dream haha - that she can build/tout with the university and recruits. I’m not a fan of the coaching staff she put together with the Pawlikowski‘s…but i guess she has to hire people she trusts to see her vision through when she’s not there. And they’ve been together/friends for a really long time. |
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Post by ilalum92 on Sept 26, 2023 13:20:23 GMT -5
To further expand on the Mosher is going to be excellent thought, remember she is a first year setter setting to two three plus year starters. Figuring out who is in charge is a work in progress. It doesn't happen automatically. Eventually she will figure out she is in charge and will take charge. I'm looking forward to it. Set placement, while it is easy for observers to pick up on, is only a small part of setting. Setting is simultaneously working in several dimensions. Get a read on the pass. Know where each of your hitters is located, both where they lined up and where the play has taken them. Remember what set has been called. Remember each hitter's tendencies in the available situations. Remember who is blocking each of the three (or four if Raina is in the back row) available hitters. Then watch where each of the blockers goes in response to what is happening on your side of the net. Throw it all down the drain when you go out of system and have to figure out Plan B. Putting all of these parameters into operation is not something that happens to a setter automatically. Each figures it out differently, some never figure it out. When Mosher gets there she will be amazing. She just has to get there. Collins had an extraordinary number of swings. Many of them were using her as a right side attacker, as opposed to a middle running a slide. Its a good adjustment in our offense, as evidenced by the results. You could tell Bingham is a middle trying to play the right side. How many of her swings were off one foot? I don’t mind Bingham hitting off one foot. Some teams, like Wisconsin, ran a 3 middle offense with their opp hitting off one fort like a slide. We can run a 1 or 3-1 and have her run a slide. I’m good with it. She hit much better in the last match then the previous ones. |
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Post by pointillinois on Sept 27, 2023 5:36:10 GMT -5
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Post by bucky415 on Sept 27, 2023 7:11:44 GMT -5
The COVID-19 year was so stressful for everyone, regardless, the NCAA talks about "student athletes" so much, gotta love the players who went through that being able to play in more normal times and get a year of grad school paid for! A year fellowship at Wisconsin got me to Madison, but I was very impressed with the grad program at Illinois, despite my bias as someone who did not like Illinois sports growing up by Springfield and was turned off by the "come here or don't, whatever" attitude when I visited as a high schooler, very different from IU even. That fellowship saved my dumb butt at the time a lot of student loans, and I am glad for the players getting the year paid for! |
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Post by combes on Sept 27, 2023 12:17:06 GMT -5
IU? Indiana?
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Post by ilalum92 on Sept 27, 2023 13:33:15 GMT -5
If she is 6’4” that guy must be a GIANT! |
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Post by volleyaudience on Sept 27, 2023 14:24:37 GMT -5
Jumbotron Man. 6'11"!
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Post by liberovb10 on Sept 28, 2023 22:16:38 GMT -5
Random thought - could Illinois lure Heather Olmsted away from BYU and to Champaign?
Seems like a far stretch, and not suer it would ever happen, but if this was considered Tamas’ final season and we hit the “coaching portal” - could we lure her away from the Big 12/BYU and into the Big Ten?
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Post by volleyaudience on Sept 28, 2023 22:32:34 GMT -5
Random thought - could Illinois lure Heather Olmsted away from BYU and to Champaign? Seems like a far stretch, and not suer it would ever happen, but if this was considered Tamas’ final season and we hit the “coaching portal” - could we lure her away from the Big 12/BYU and into the Big Ten? IMO, no. Yes, fans of a team they think is in trouble will look for a simple solution like bring in a better coach. But, why would the coach who has successfully brought her team up into the top 15 be thrilled to come to Illinois? No disrespect or tone intended. I'm really asking. (And, if she is a Mormon, which I don't know, you'd probably have another big hurdle). |
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Post by oldmanvb on Sept 28, 2023 22:48:22 GMT -5
According to her Wikipedia page she is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
She is not leaving BYU to come to Champaign.
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