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Post by swaggyp on Dec 15, 2023 0:31:46 GMT -5
I'm not hating on any Badgers; they've given us many great moments this year. But, I will say this. It is time for some new faces. There was no viable Plan B for this team; not enough players who could come off the the bench to right the ship and not enough players on the floor who could play their best when the lights were the brightest. That will be the legacy of the Ashburn - Hammill era. Yes, and part of this is Wisconsin's absolute sh!t luck with chronic injuries. It seems like every year we have at least one player completely unavailable due to injury; this year we had two, wheee! I'm guessing we could have really used Damrow this year. And I just feel bad for Ella, like she's never going to see the floor. Injuries are awful, of course, but given Sarah’s season I think we as Wisconsin fans are not allowed to complain about injuries for at least 24 hours following elimination. |
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Post by ndodge on Dec 15, 2023 0:34:23 GMT -5
At least Pitt made us not being alone in looking kinda bad. It happens. A few of these Badgers hadn't played a tourney game away from home. I have to admit I was a bit worried about that. Onward. Huge holiday weekend at Fiserv to start the year.
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Post by tablealgebra on Dec 15, 2023 0:34:57 GMT -5
Congratulations to the 2023 team. While the final result was not what we wanted, the team made another Final Four and played great volleyball all season. It hurt to have our worst game of the season be the last one but the girls should all hold their heads high and be proud of what they have accomplished.
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Post by 25or624 on Dec 15, 2023 0:36:03 GMT -5
I'm just not a fan of 'grand pronouncements'. Tonight sucked. But it doesn't negate the whole season. And other than bringing in Boyer, what buttons does Kelly have to push? When everybody is having a bad night, there is no full reset or reboot. I mean...when everyone (besides Smrek) is having a bad night, I feel like it kinda falls on the coaching staff. It obviously doesn't negate the enire season; getting to the F4 is always worth a celebration, but I guess I'm just frustrated the same problems that was our undoing last year: SR and setting, reared their ugly heads once again when the lights are bright. If Sheff made some miscalculations, it was his huge bet on GG and the small bench. The 6-2 with MJ and Izzy was a lesser bet that didn't pay-off if the goal is to win it all.
I know there is nothing he could do about Ella and Saige but they literally had no one on the bench who would have made a difference tonight. The players who didn't play well, including some surprises in that category, are the root cause of this loss. It's not a can't do problem. Where was the team that beat Nebraska and Oregon? Some players went away under pressure and everyone, players and coaches, was stuck with it. It's the old "weakest link(s)" problem. There were too many and it led to a unit breakdown.
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Post by PeoriaBucky on Dec 15, 2023 0:36:08 GMT -5
The other depressing thing about tonight is that Madi Skinner will most likely get NPOY over Sarah now. I have no idea how much they weigh whole year vs. recent performance, but Skinner absolutely earned it with her tournament play.
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Post by badgerbadgerbadger on Dec 15, 2023 0:36:11 GMT -5
Yes, losing like that first set is OK. Losing the last 2 sets like that is not. We haven't been pushed like that all year and it's clear we completely didn't know to respond and Kelly failed to push the right buttons. What's Kelly gonna do besides bench GG? What else do they have? Nothing. Because they didn't recruit for crap for the class of '22 and '23. I said this since beginning of year. They finally found themselves in a position where they needed quality on the bench to possibly step in, but there wasn't any. 1 recruit this year, who came in injured, and ended up injured. 1 of 2 recruits last year, who's injured, and from what I hear, may never see the court because of the lingering injuries. I saw this year as their best chance to win for the foreseeable future, and they not only didn't win, but got drubbed, which, catch 22, can't improve their recruiting. If they had recruited players according to you, we would not have had the following players on the team: Franklin Booth CC Recruiting in the transfer portal IS recruiting, it's a 0-sum game. There's only 12 total schollies. Where are the schollies for these "recruits" that you keep harping on coming from? Please let me know who you can recruit from the class of 22 that is better than what Frank has given us this season. Or class of 23 with Booth. |
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Post by badgersinsix on Dec 15, 2023 0:36:24 GMT -5
Yes, losing like that first set is OK. Losing the last 2 sets like that is not. We haven't been pushed like that all year and it's clear we completely didn't know to respond and Kelly failed to push the right buttons. What's Kelly gonna do besides bench GG? What else do they have? Nothing. Because they didn't recruit for crap for the class of '22 and '23. I said this since beginning of year. They finally found themselves in a position where they needed quality on the bench to possibly step in, but there wasn't any. 1 recruit this year, who came in injured, and ended up injured. 1 of 2 recruits last year, who's injured, and from what I hear, may never see the court because of the lingering injuries. I saw this year as their best chance to win for the foreseeable future, and they not only didn't win, but got drubbed, which, catch 22, can't improve their recruiting. If our passing is equal or better next year, we will have a better chance of winning next year. Getting to the final 4 helps recruiting no matter the result. |
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Post by badgersinsix on Dec 15, 2023 0:39:43 GMT -5
Such a good season. Getting to the final 4 is amazing. We’ve done that 4 of the last 5 years!
Sarah may or may not win POTY. Either way, we know she was top 2. Incredible!
Next year, we have a great chance of getting back to the final 4. Can’t wait!
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Post by robtearle on Dec 15, 2023 0:46:28 GMT -5
The other depressing thing about tonight is that Madi Skinner will most likely get NPOY over Sarah now. I have no idea how much they weigh whole year vs. recent performance, but Skinner absolutely earned it with her tournament play. I am just about certain that the voting was done before the matches today. I think they announce it between now and Sunday. |
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Post by savannahbadger on Dec 15, 2023 0:48:43 GMT -5
the legacy of the Ashburn - Hammill era. That legacy will be a B1G Championship banner and a Final Four banner that will always hang in the Field House. That’s not a half bad legacy, and a few of our rivals would love to have half of that. |
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Post by robtearle on Dec 15, 2023 1:00:43 GMT -5
Texas match, points by setter by set:
Izzy on the court: 7-13, 7-7, 5-17, 9-17; total 28-54
MJ on the court: 15-12, 18-13, 8-8, 7-8; total 48-41
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Points scored during the serve of server:
Izzy: 2 points scored, 9 times serve lost
MJ: 4 points scored, 7 times serve lost
Franklin: 2 points scored, 8 times serve lost
Orzol: 2 points scored, 8 times serve lost
CC: 5 points scored, 9 times serve lost
GG: 11 points scored, 6 times serve lost
Boyer: 1 point scored, 3 times serve lost
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points by setter for the year
Izzy: 55.2%
MJ: 56.1%
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Sideout percents by server for the year (lower number the better)
Izzy: 0.545
Orzol: 0.515
GG: 0.458
MJ: 0.493
Franklin: 0.566
CC: 0.560
TTA: 0.570
Booth: 0.769
Boyer: 0.468
Reed: 0.571
Damrow: 0.600
Smrek: 0.455
Devyn: 0.667
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Post by yodabadger on Dec 15, 2023 1:27:54 GMT -5
Points scored during the serve of server: Izzy: 2 points scored, 9 times serve lost MJ: 4 points scored, 7 times serve lost Franklin: 2 points scored, 8 times serve lost Orzol: 2 points scored, 8 times serve lost CC: 5 points scored, 9 times serve lost GG: 11 points scored, 6 times serve lost Boyer: 1 point scored, 3 times serve lost ----------- Sideout percents by server for the year (lower number the better) Izzy: 0.545 Orzol: 0.515 GG: 0.458 MJ: 0.493 Franklin: 0.566 CC: 0.560 Congrats - and a big thanks - to Izzy, MJ and the other departing players for their great Badger careers!
But one puzzling thing was how, coming into this season, Izzy was arguably the best server in Badger history so you'd think if anyone would have serving matches like Skinner's tonight (6 aces and 3 errors) it would be her. Instead, she was just a mediocre server all season. That said, her huge run in the 4th set against Oregon last weekend pretty much sealed our trip to the Final Four. |
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Post by 25or624 on Dec 15, 2023 1:41:07 GMT -5
the legacy of the Ashburn - Hammill era. That legacy will be a B1G Championship banner and a Final Four banner that will always hang in the Field House. That’s not a half bad legacy, and a few of our rivals would love to have half of that. I'm not minimizing those achievements. My assessment was in this context; " ... when the lights were the brightest ...". IMO, that would be Pitt in 2022 and Texas in 2023.
Only the players and coaches know if surpassing some rivals and getting on the podium is good enough. Or, do they think it's Natty or bust with the talent they have?
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Post by robtearle on Dec 15, 2023 1:49:57 GMT -5
That legacy will be a B1G Championship banner and a Final Four banner that will always hang in the Field House. That’s not a half bad legacy, and a few of our rivals would love to have half of that. I'm not minimizing those achievements. My assessment was in this context; " ... when the lights were the brightest ...". IMO, that would be Pitt in 2022 and Texas in 2023.
Only the players and coaches know if surpassing some rivals and getting on the podium is good enough. Or, do they think it's Natty or bust with the talent they have?
Winning championships is hard. Really hard. One team is going to win six straight matches against increasingly tough competition, and 63 others are not. |
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Post by robtearle on Dec 15, 2023 1:57:01 GMT -5
The other thing I always find myself thinking is how 'definitive' we all treat the tournament to be, and how capricious or maybe haphazard it really is. And that goes for 2021 as much as any other year.
Tennessee had, IIRC, a 22-19 lead on Texas in the 4th set, and served a match point. One more point goes the right/wrong way, and Texas bombs out in the sweet sixteen round. But another match like tonight, and they'll be "the best team in the country!".
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