Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 16, 2023 10:01:31 GMT -5
I think there needs to be some sort of objective measure to compare teams against each other, because otherwise bias can come into play and weighing the second half of the season heavier than the first would be disadvantageous to mid-majors who depend on the non-conference schedule to get a seed or get into the tournament. I don't think RPI is a great metric by any means, but it's what we have and what the committee has decided to use.
I think the main problem is that our non-conference schedule this year just wasn't good. I understand scheduling easier teams to ease into the season, but a lot of the teams we played were not projected to do well or did not have good seasons last season. This was risky because we lost some of them which put a huge dent in our RPI, but even if we won all of those games they wouldn't have given us a good RPI and left us with very little margin of error for the conference season. I know they mentioned they wanted to play teams in Illinois and stay closer to home this year, and maybe they had trouble scheduling better RPI teams, but I'd like to see us schedule a little better next season in non-conference.
|
|
|
|
Post by vbkahuna on Nov 16, 2023 12:42:11 GMT -5
I've already made my views known on the inadequacies of the RPI metric for measuring the current strength of a team at the end of the season (and thus its probable competitiveness in the playoffs), as opposed to measuring the average strength and achievement over the entire season. But I also accept that every coach knows that it is what it is and therefore strategizes how (and who) to schedule in the preconference part of the season.
It was pretty obvious to me when I saw the Illinois schedule come out that they felt they needed to take a risk and ease into this season. They had previously scheduled much tougher so why the change? My guess is that they saw a lot of inexperienced but promising freshman pieces (DeBoer at OH2, Bohm at MB2, Barry at DS), and (Sophomore) Mosher in her first year at setter, and wanted to give them more time to ramp up before hitting the B1G season. Then it turned into a nightmare with DeBoer lost for the season with a serious health issue, and Barnes out for the first handful of matches on concussion protocol. Somehow they managed to bring back Nunge after the season started, so like Barnes, she missed the first 5 matches and really wasn't in game shape until just before the start of the B1G season. Result: 5-5 and a terrible RPI, almost unfixable retroactively.
But regardless of whether they can get in to the playoffs, they've done a heck of a job coming back and getting seriously competitive. They've gone 8-2 in their last 10 matches, including a solid win against Purdue, and may go 11-2 to end their season. Sure, the RPI barely budges now and still says 84, but the sight check metric says BS. I doubt there's any hosting team out there whose coach would want to see Illinois in Round 1.
Really great job getting it together, Illini (players and coaching staff)!
|
|
|
|
Post by badgerbyproxy on Nov 16, 2023 14:11:55 GMT -5
Really hope that we see Raina Terry stay at Illinois next season. With a healthy DeBoer and a potential transfer to fill Collins’s slot, Illinois could be really dangerous next year. OH: Terry/DeBoer MB: Bohm/  Opp: Burbage S: Mosher L: Barnes DS: Barry/ Definitely a rough start to this season, but right now the focus should be on focusing on improving for next season. If they can really focus on passing this off-season, they’ll be back in the tournament for sure next year! Will be cheering for Illinois the rest of the season; one of my favorite Big 10 programs! |
|
|
|
Post by ilalum92 on Nov 16, 2023 15:11:29 GMT -5
Great turnaround this season from dumpster fire to respectable. Kudos to the team and coaching staff. We still need a few key pieces and work on our defense/passing. Wouldn’t mind a key transfer either!
|
|
|
|
Post by inpaign on Nov 16, 2023 15:21:30 GMT -5
What a crazy game yesterday. I'm not sure I've been so high, then so low, then so high again on the Illini in a game this year like I was last night. First, fourth and fifth sets we firing on all cylinders. Second and third sets were brutal, looked like we had forgotten how to play volleyball. I'm going to skip on mentioning the bad -- most of us watched the game and we know what we saw...a lot of the same problems that have reappeared occasionally throughout the year. The good? Brooke Mosher's serves were unstoppable. Raina Terry did as she normally does, carried us as far as she could. Caroline Barnes had one of her best games yet, she looked great back there. Kennedy was quiet for a lot of the match but she singlehandedly carried us to a win in that fifth set. Pleased with the result...just developed some gray hair as a result LOL.
Now we sit in sole possession of fifth place. Our RPI hasn't updated yet, but I'm sure it'll only move up a few spots. If we move up to, say, 80, we've got at least 30 spots to move up in 3 games. Unfortunately, that just isn't going to happen. If recency results were taken into account, we would have a good shot. Anyone that watches volleyball knows this version of the Illini team could easily beat half of the tournament field, and many of the teams just above us in the RPI would easily be beaten. As we know, RPI is the metric used and sadly we just couldn't have those early losses. Is it representative of the quality of the team? No. But it is something we have to live with. Tamas is telling the team that if they win out, they have a SHOT at the tournament. This was evident from Raina's post game interview. While this is unlikely, I like that they at least have something to play for. If they could get close enough to that top 50, MAYBE human bias could sneak them in. Possible, but unlikely. I was looking back at last year's RPI. We ended up with a ranking right around the same spot - 84ish. We were 15-15 with very few quality wins and a loss worse than any we've had this year - to Illinois State. I guess since the Big Ten's RPI rankings were generally higher, it helped to boost us. It does make you question the metric though, as I believe our team this year is considerably better than last year's. Either way, what's done is done. I just hope we can finish out this season strong!
|
|
|
|
Post by inpaign on Nov 16, 2023 15:36:21 GMT -5
Also a few notes on roster construction in the coming future ---
1. There have been multiple comments in this thread and in the B1G thread that suggest Raina Terry is gone and will definitely transfer out. Someone even mentioned she's a "longhorn." As far as I am concerned, and things CAN change, Raina has no desire to transfer. She's an Illini at heart, just as Londot is loyal to Ohio State. I have strong reason to believe she will return for her fifth year. As I said, things can change. If she does leave, I highly doubt she's headed to Texas. Let's hope she returns to the orange and blue, as I'm predicting.
2. We all have our wishlists for what Tamas goes for in the portal. I think priority #1 is a middle, assuming Bingham isn't a sufficient replacement. Replacing Kennedy will be tough to do. Priority #2 is another pin hitter. Trusting Taylor de Boer to return from injury and pick up the same load as Nunge is crazy. Surely Tamas doesn't expect that righttttt (he did this year pre-Nunge return LOL). #3 is a DS/L to replace Pan and possibly jump Barry in the lineup. I fully expect this third one to become a reality. I will not be releasing any specific details from what I'm hearing, as the season is not over, but I believe we have connections on our roster to a current Big Ten defensive player that is interested in transferring here. Nothing official, just some premature talk. But the interest is there.
3. Does Tamas have the guts to encourage the girls that don't play to transfer? Would he take away their scholarships? It's harsh, but sometimes necessary when you want to win. Sophie Stephenson? Taylor de Boer if she is out indefinitely? I don't think she will be, but who really knows. Lack of open scholarships prevents who we can bring in.
It will be a very interesting offseason for the Illini...
|
|
|
|
Post by oldmanvb on Nov 16, 2023 15:49:58 GMT -5
Interesting question about whether Tamas has the toughness to encourage players who will never hit the court to transfer. Sarah Bingham contributes as a sub who can competently play several positions, something that is important on a roster. We currently have two on our roster, a pin hitter and a middle, who I don't believe will ever play. Other B1G coaches would help them find other programs which would better fit their talents and athletic ability - I'm not sure Tamas would be willing to do that.
I am hopeful Ashley Philpot will be able to Immediately play and contribute in a meaningful way next year. I'm sorry she is not enrolling early. She appears to have good lateral speed and good hops, although "scouting" based upon YouTube videos has obvious limitations. Freshmen succeed at other programs, why not Illinois?
|
|
|
|
Post by tditman2 on Nov 16, 2023 16:37:33 GMT -5
It sounds like Illinois will honor Whittington and Holzman on Senior Night. Whittington and Gregus. They honored Ellie last year. |
|
|
|
Post by maigrey on Nov 16, 2023 16:53:45 GMT -5
Also a few notes on roster construction in the coming future --- [...] #3 is a DS/L to replace Pan and possibly jump Barry in the lineup. I fully expect this third one to become a reality. I will not be releasing any specific details from what I'm hearing, as the season is not over, but I believe we have connections on our roster to a current Big Ten defensive player that is interested in transferring here. Nothing official, just some premature talk. But the interest is there. It will be a very interesting offseason for the Illini... Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm Hannah Grant? |
|
|
|
Post by exit237a on Nov 16, 2023 19:16:01 GMT -5
Also a few notes on roster construction in the coming future --- [...] #3 is a DS/L to replace Pan and possibly jump Barry in the lineup. I fully expect this third one to become a reality. I will not be releasing any specific details from what I'm hearing, as the season is not over, but I believe we have connections on our roster to a current Big Ten defensive player that is interested in transferring here. Nothing official, just some premature talk. But the interest is there. It will be a very interesting offseason for the Illini... Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm Hannah Grant? I like it, with the possible connection that Hannah and Cari both played for Legacy in club. Ooh, also she played under Ali Bastianelli for the season Ali volunteer coached at Michigan- connection #2. The first one that came to mind for me is hopeful and it involves Raina staying for her fifth season and her Mintonette teammate Madyson Chitty joining the Orange and Blue for her bonus season. Just spitballing over here : ) |
|
|
|
Post by exit237a on Nov 16, 2023 19:31:26 GMT -5
Thanks for a great five seasons, KC!
|
|
|
|
Post by exit237a on Nov 16, 2023 19:57:55 GMT -5
Can you please be more precise when you make a post about something of this magnitude? Are you referring to the VolleyTalk thread where as of last night nobody posted anything substantiated about Raina’s plans? If so, why prematurely throw all of us into panic mode? Like, let’s wait until something comes from an official channel before we collectively wig out, please. C’mon now, we needed a little excitement in the last few weeks. Yes, I am referring to the thread in question. One or two posters sounded like they had info. The rest was speculation. Let’s see if Raina gets honored at Senior Night. I guess I would just say let's not jump to conclusions, even if Raina is honored for Senior Night. In the video I just posted honoring Kennedy for Senior Night she basically said that last year she knew she was coming back, despite going through the Senior Night ceremony. She said, " I think the feelings are a little different than last year because last year I kinda knew that I was coming back for a fifth year so it's actually real now that I'm gonna be done with college sports." Recall too, that Megan Cooney and Kylie Bruder also went through Senior Night as if it were their last year before announcing in the offseason that they were coming back for the bonus year. My own approach to these last three regular season matches will be to savor what we know are the final conference matches for Kennedy, Jess, and Vanessa, and possibly Raina. I imagine it's entertaining for non-Illinois fans to post about their theories about her plans before the season is over- it must be since it took off like wildfire in that thread. As an Illinois fan, It doesn't feel great to read those posts before the season is even over. The only solace is that any assertions about a player going to a different team is pretty unfounded before the portal opens- or at least that's what I'm telling myself. |
|
|
|
Post by exit237a on Nov 17, 2023 0:48:10 GMT -5
Fellow Illini faithful, here's our last home match thread of the season : (
|
|
|
|
Post by exit237a on Nov 17, 2023 18:40:33 GMT -5
Come back for round 5, Raina!
|
|
|
|
Post by inpaign on Nov 17, 2023 22:56:42 GMT -5
Despite not playing tonight, Illini RPI improves...thank you Purdue. Lol I thought the same....updated as of this hour it looks like we are at 84. This is what we were at before the Ohio State match. |
|
