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Post by greatlakesvballer on Feb 27, 2023 0:09:25 GMT -5
I think every team has question marks at the setter position and that could really factor in on who has success and who struggles. Talk about why you think Minnesota and Penn State, for example, are going to struggle at the setter position.
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B1G 2023
Feb 27, 2023 0:48:35 GMT -5
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Post by ilalum92 on Feb 27, 2023 0:48:35 GMT -5
I'm surprised the Illinois fans aren't a little more feisty about how the team has performed. We complain quite a bit over in our Illinois thread. But, for me at least, there's a recognition that we just aren't on that level anymore. We can't recruit with the top teams and it's showing. 100% agree with this. Beside injuries and rotating line-ups last year. We have 2 glaring issues: passing & recruiting. We always had a top 10 class in the Hambly era. He just couldn’t coach them to win. Tamas is a better coach but we are lacking in the recruiting department.
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Post by Friday on Feb 27, 2023 9:22:45 GMT -5
I think every team has question marks at the setter position and that could really factor in on who has success and who struggles. Talk about why you think Minnesota and Penn State, for example, are going to struggle at the setter position. Podraza is a good setter but only arriving in the summer and then establishing a connection with the hitters may take some time. Shaffmaster has improved every year but will she have the rotating hitters (because of injury as the past) or will they be able to get in a rhythm? Obviously of all the schools these are the smallest question marks no doubt.
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Post by kevinmalone on Feb 27, 2023 9:57:11 GMT -5
We complain quite a bit over in our Illinois thread. But, for me at least, there's a recognition that we just aren't on that level anymore. We can't recruit with the top teams and it's showing. 100% agree with this. Beside injuries and rotating line-ups last year. We have 2 glaring issues: passing & recruiting. We always had a top 10 class in the Hambly era. He just couldn’t coach them to win. Tamas is a better coach but we are lacking in the recruiting department. Hambly was the Head coach at Illinois for 8 years - 5 sweet sixteens and 1 runner up finish - he finished 2nd in the Big Ten 3 times and 3rd once and 4th once - sure seems like he was winning - what would you rather have that or what you have had over the last 4 years once Hambly's recruits left
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B1G 2023
Feb 27, 2023 10:00:35 GMT -5
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Post by badgerbyproxy on Feb 27, 2023 10:00:35 GMT -5
Talk about why you think Minnesota and Penn State, for example, are going to struggle at the setter position. Podraza is a good setter but only arriving in the summer and then establishing a connection with the hitters may take some time. Shaffmaster has improved every year but will she have the rotating hitters (because of injury as the past) or will they be able to get in a rhythm? Obviously of all the schools these are the smallest question marks no doubt. I agree with @friday. For Podraza, it’s definitely not a question of her setting abilities. We’ve seen what she can do for the last several years at OSU. But she was working with the same cast of hitters nearly every lineup, so she definitely had the time to develop her connections and run the offense they needed to run. If she was coming in this spring (like Gabby Blossom did for San Diego), there wouldn’t be any cause for concern. It’s just a question of how long will it take her to develop the connections with the hitters and adjust to Penn State’s passing. For Shaffmaster, she’s definitely improved over the last two years, but there are still times she struggles with location. Add into that Friday’s point about the rotating door of hitters plus Minnesota’s shallow back court, and it’s a question of how well Shafaster can adjust to a break in that rhythm. I definitely think that setting is a major issue across the conference, especially at places like Wisconsin and Purdue, but Minnesota and Penn State definitely don’t have as much to worry about in that department.
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Post by greatlakesvballer on Feb 27, 2023 14:17:26 GMT -5
We complain quite a bit over in our Illinois thread. But, for me at least, there's a recognition that we just aren't on that level anymore. We can't recruit with the top teams and it's showing. 100% agree with this. Beside injuries and rotating line-ups last year. We have 2 glaring issues: passing & recruiting. We always had a top 10 class in the Hambly era. He just couldn’t coach them to win. Tamas is a better coach but we are lacking in the recruiting department. I know nothing about Illinois' athletic department/director: Do you believe there's adequate support there as women's volleyball picks up steam across the country? Recruiting isn't just dependent on one person.
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Post by liberovb10 on Feb 27, 2023 15:11:47 GMT -5
100% agree with this. Beside injuries and rotating line-ups last year. We have 2 glaring issues: passing & recruiting. We always had a top 10 class in the Hambly era. He just couldn’t coach them to win. Tamas is a better coach but we are lacking in the recruiting department. I know nothing about Illinois' athletic department/director: Do you believe there's adequate support there as women's volleyball picks up steam across the country? Recruiting isn't just dependent on one person. The short answer is yes, but given their lackluster performances since the 2018 run and the boom in Football/Basketball, i do feel like there’s been a back burner type of attitude placed on the program. They’re trying to put lipstick on a pig via Huff with some “cool” upgrades but overall facilities are just not up to par. Locker Rooms aren’t great, Huff in the summer is almost unbearable (as a fan, can’t imagine a player), the lack of parking near the arena is an issue, and the program doesn’t do a great job of highlighting itself on social media (like it used to before). With NIL now more important than ever, i don’t see any major deals being struck with our current roster or the university helping them get promoted (unlike Wisco and Neb). It’s all very confusing to me, because on paper this coaching staff should be “on trend” with the changing landscape, just no initiative. The coolest thing thus far on social media was seeing the coaches on the recruiting trail (a few posts, not many but a few) and Krista at NTDP this past week. They just need to PR themselves a little more to get some excitement going…maybe that was a Hambly thing or a JFO thing when she was an assistant, but just a very lackluster “bleh” around the program’s fans.
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B1G 2023
Mar 15, 2023 16:15:35 GMT -5
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Post by badgerbyproxy on Mar 15, 2023 16:15:35 GMT -5
Now that the SEC has announced they’ll be reinstating a conference tournament, what are people’s thoughts on the B1G starting up their own tournament?
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Post by huskergopher on Mar 15, 2023 17:15:48 GMT -5
Now that the SEC has announced they’ll be reinstating a conference tournament, what are people’s thoughts on the B1G starting up their own tournament? To be honest, I'm not sure why they'd do it. It would likely only hurt the goal of getting the maximum number of teams in the NCAA tournament. With every team in the conference (but one) guaranteed one more loss, it could be the difference between a bubble team making the tournament or not. B1G is already the top conference, and it's not like they need a tournament to decide which one team gets to go to the tournament.
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Post by bborr on Mar 15, 2023 17:18:24 GMT -5
Now that the SEC has announced they’ll be reinstating a conference tournament, what are people’s thoughts on the B1G starting up their own tournament? In 2024, with 16 teams, you could do a regular season of 15 games— everyone once— and then have time for a 16 team double elimination tournament. Might be fun. But having a regular season end with all the conference favorites playing each other has worked fine too.
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Post by jdl on Mar 15, 2023 17:49:22 GMT -5
I know nothing about Illinois' athletic department/director: Do you believe there's adequate support there as women's volleyball picks up steam across the country? Recruiting isn't just dependent on one person. The short answer is yes, but given their lackluster performances since the 2018 run and the boom in Football/Basketball, i do feel like there’s been a back burner type of attitude placed on the program. They’re trying to put lipstick on a pig via Huff with some “cool” upgrades but overall facilities are just not up to par. Locker Rooms aren’t great, Huff in the summer is almost unbearable (as a fan, can’t imagine a player), the lack of parking near the arena is an issue, and the program doesn’t do a great job of highlighting itself on social media (like it used to before). With NIL now more important than ever, i don’t see any major deals being struck with our current roster or the university helping them get promoted (unlike Wisco and Neb). It’s all very confusing to me, because on paper this coaching staff should be “on trend” with the changing landscape, just no initiative. The coolest thing thus far on social media was seeing the coaches on the recruiting trail (a few posts, not many but a few) and Krista at NTDP this past week. They just need to PR themselves a little more to get some excitement going…maybe that was a Hambly thing or a JFO thing when she was an assistant, but just a very lackluster “bleh” around the program’s fans. I may be way out in left field on this one but it really seemed like there was a bunch of momentum to add a men's hockey program and the needed facilities to support that, which would have also included volleyball. Then...covid hit. And that seems to have pretty much ended that initiative for a while so it was probably back to square one for any type of major upgrade.
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Post by bbg95 on Mar 15, 2023 18:33:59 GMT -5
Now that the SEC has announced they’ll be reinstating a conference tournament, what are people’s thoughts on the B1G starting up their own tournament? To be honest, I'm not sure why they'd do it. It would likely only hurt the goal of getting the maximum number of teams in the NCAA tournament. With every team in the conference (but one) guaranteed one more loss, it could be the difference between a bubble team making the tournament or not. B1G is already the top conference, and it's not like they need a tournament to decide which one team gets to go to the tournament. The thing is, it may turn out that not having a tournament is worse for Big Ten bubble teams than having one. Imagine this: Bubble Team A: SEC Bubble Team B: Big 10 If the margin between those two teams is really close, the SEC team picking up an extra quality win in the conference tournament could well make the difference, and the Big Ten team could get left out because they didn't pick up another quality win of their own to keep pace. From what I've seen in basketball, getting an extra quality win in a conference tournament is a lot more beneficial than losing is detrimental, unless you're losing to a bad team. I'm fairly confident that the SEC will get an extra team in every so often as a result of their tournament, and when this happens, other conferences will follow.
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Post by slxpress on Mar 15, 2023 18:44:19 GMT -5
To be honest, I'm not sure why they'd do it. It would likely only hurt the goal of getting the maximum number of teams in the NCAA tournament. With every team in the conference (but one) guaranteed one more loss, it could be the difference between a bubble team making the tournament or not. B1G is already the top conference, and it's not like they need a tournament to decide which one team gets to go to the tournament. The thing is, it may turn out that not having a tournament is worse for Big Ten bubble teams than having one. Imagine this: Bubble Team A: SEC Bubble Team B: Big 10 If the margin between those two teams is really close, the SEC team picking up an extra quality win in the conference tournament could well make the difference, and the Big Ten team could get left out because they didn't pick up another quality win of their own to keep pace. From what I've seen in basketball, getting an extra quality win in a conference tournament is a lot more beneficial than losing is detrimental, unless you're losing to a bad team. I'm fairly confident that the SEC an extra team in every so often as a result of their tournament, and when this happens, other conferences will follow. Maybe. I'd say it's even more likely if Fox sees ESPN gaining some kind of advantage by promoting the SEC tournament we'll be seeing a Big 10 conference tournament with a quickness. Frankly, I don't think Fox is going to wait that long.
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Post by bbg95 on Mar 15, 2023 18:46:33 GMT -5
The thing is, it may turn out that not having a tournament is worse for Big Ten bubble teams than having one. Imagine this: Bubble Team A: SEC Bubble Team B: Big 10 If the margin between those two teams is really close, the SEC team picking up an extra quality win in the conference tournament could well make the difference, and the Big Ten team could get left out because they didn't pick up another quality win of their own to keep pace. From what I've seen in basketball, getting an extra quality win in a conference tournament is a lot more beneficial than losing is detrimental, unless you're losing to a bad team. I'm fairly confident that the SEC an extra team in every so often as a result of their tournament, and when this happens, other conferences will follow. Maybe. I'd say it's even more likely if Fox sees ESPN gaining some kind of advantage by promoting the SEC tournament we'll be seeing a Big 10 conference tournament with a quickness. Frankly, I don't think Fox is going to wait that long. I mean, TV has a lot of power with college sports these days. So sure, if FOX wants a Big Ten tournament, it will likely happen.
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B1G 2023
Mar 15, 2023 18:47:01 GMT -5
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Post by badgerbyproxy on Mar 15, 2023 18:47:01 GMT -5
Now that the SEC has announced they’ll be reinstating a conference tournament, what are people’s thoughts on the B1G starting up their own tournament? To be honest, I'm not sure why they'd do it. It would likely only hurt the goal of getting the maximum number of teams in the NCAA tournament. With every team in the conference (but one) guaranteed one more loss, it could be the difference between a bubble team making the tournament or not. B1G is already the top conference, and it's not like they need a tournament to decide which one team gets to go to the tournament. I’m not the biggest fan of the idea, but I do think it could help a bubble team more than it could hinder one. Look at the Penn State basketball team this season: they were 10th in the conference and were on the outside looking in. They ended up going on a tear through the conference tournament and gave Purdue a lot of challenges in the championship game. This run guaranteed them a spot in the tournament. There’s definitely the potential for a bubble to burst, but the chance for a bubble to rise would offset that risk. A tourney is a fun idea, but the reason I don’t think the conference will go for it is because of revenue. Volleyball is definitely a revenue sport in the B1G, and losing 2-3 home matches a season wouldn’t sit well with schools like Nebraska and Wisconsin.
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