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Post by alt on Sept 3, 2024 21:43:29 GMT -5
This match was giving me PTSD from nonconf games of recent seasons but glad we were able to pull it out. Rough second set and first half of the fourth set but nonetheless we rallied. Not a ton of new thoughts. I still stand firm that sets to Raina need to be much higher. I know some will disagree, but the connection isn't working and it has worked SO well in previous seasons. I just don't see a point in even trying to speed it up when she is more than capable of hitting over a block. I do like the speed with Averie though. CMM is the best defensive player we've got. If Tamas doesn't see that, I don't know what else to say. Once again, she recorded double the amount of digs as Barnes while playing roughly half the time. Anyone watching the match can see who should be wearing the lib jersey...I really hope he gives her a shot soon. On the bright side, loved seeing the balanced offensive distribution tonight! Not so much pressure on Raina to put the team on her back. & my goodness are our freshmen are good. Philpot is no joke. Onto this weekend. I would like for Tamas just to even try having CMM at libero for a non con game. Let's see what she can do for us. She is a lot more scrappy than Barnes.
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Post by maigrey on Sept 3, 2024 21:47:17 GMT -5
I graduated 3 years after you - the shark bowls(fish bowls) were giant blue cocktails with multiple straws I preferred Murph's. Murphy’s was our go-to as well! Can actually see it as I type from my post game Green Street victory dinner : ) I'm still bummed my clear mug got lost in one of my moves (or maybe it broke?) I drank SO HARD FOR THAT.
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Post by exit237a on Sept 3, 2024 21:49:47 GMT -5
Murphy’s was our go-to as well! Can actually see it as I type from my post game Green Street victory dinner : ) I'm still bummed my clear mug got lost in one of my moves (or maybe it broke?) I drank SO HARD FOR THAT. LOL!
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Post by ilalum92 on Sept 3, 2024 21:54:39 GMT -5
I graduated 3 years after you - the shark bowls(fish bowls) were giant blue cocktails with multiple straws I preferred Murph's. Murphy’s was our go-to as well! Can actually see it as I type from my post game Green Street victory dinner : ) I was a Kam’s / C.O.’s guy
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Post by exit237a on Sept 3, 2024 22:06:41 GMT -5
Murphy’s was our go-to as well! Can actually see it as I type from my post game Green Street victory dinner : ) I was a Kam’s / C.O.’s guy Don’t think I ever made it to C.O.’s but I went to the original KAM’s a couple times. RIP to those two buildings. The new KAM’s moved to Green & First, looks huge from the street with a second floor, rooftop bar. Haven’t been, as my bar crawl days are behind me : )
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Post by oldmanvb on Sept 3, 2024 22:17:21 GMT -5
Without Ashlyn and Laynie the first three games might have been the end of the season for me. Averie picked up her game tonight.
Tamas needs to figure out a way to hide Raina in serve receive.
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Post by Chewblocka on Sept 3, 2024 23:50:00 GMT -5
I was at the game tonight, and it had me on the edge of my seat—but not in the way I’d hoped. Philpot stood out, showing she can handle bigger players and will be key for us.That match shouldn’t have been so close. We almost lost the fourth set, and it was clear we were struggling. Raina’s not playing at her usual level—her energy and passing were off. I’m hopeful she’ll adjust, but it’s concerning.
The setting is a bigger issue. Brook seemed off, and it hurt our rhythm. It’s something we need to fix quickly if we want to stay competitive.I was excited to see Taylor finally get her chance, but it was disappointing she only played two points after waiting all last year. She’s resilient, but I hoped for more. On the bright side, our new defensive specialist and Avery from Northwestern showed promise.
Looking ahead, I hope we get some stronger wins soon. Almost going to five sets against Illinois State is a bit of a red flag. Should we be facing tougher teams to prepare or building confidence against weaker ones? Would love to hear thoughts on this.
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Post by pointillinois on Sept 4, 2024 6:00:48 GMT -5
Pros: Philpot: looked really good on the slide.
CMM: defense better than last year's
Hernandez: looked good for the most part but did disappear in set 2 (like much of the squad)
Hustle: Effort was there on defense most of the night. Didn't get to every ball or get them up well, but moved better than in last years.
Cons: Brooke: just a bad night all around. Setting was erratic, couldn't get the jump-serve in at all. Tamas subbed Campbell in to serve for Brooke in the 4th set. That's how off it was.
Barnes: as others note, would love to see CMM as libero this weekend. Barnes hustles like no other, but the level of passing we need just isn't there.
New Huff set-up: they moved the students to the bleachers where the pep band sat, the ADA seating is where the students were and the heads of the spike squad are where the ADA seating used to be. The students are too far off the court and the length of the court separates the key spike squad members from the other students. They seem content to replace the student caused havoc with an obnoxiously loud PA sound effect system.
Mystery Raina: just looks a bit off. Although, did get the serve going as the match progressed. Believe it was 3 aces in the 4th set.
Overall: Long way to go. Not sure I see a tournament team at this moment.
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Post by liberovb10 on Sept 4, 2024 6:43:19 GMT -5
From what i saw - maybe i’m wrong - it looks like they’re trying to run a new system with Brooke which is why her setting is/looks off. trying to practice a new tempo vs. executing in match are two very different things, so it might just take a bit for her to connect with our hitters in a more consistent way.
the freshman look awesome - very happy to see their spark early on in the season…excited for the future
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Post by b1gvballfan on Sept 4, 2024 9:58:14 GMT -5
I was at the match too last night. Bummed because I missed the Nebraska and Louisville upsets. I was at the match too last night. Bummed because I missed the Nebraska and Louisville upsets. Some takeaways: Newcomers(Averie, Laynie, Ashlyn) will be key Would love to see Brooke take some swings from front row. Areagam did set a rotation. Could we see that more. Brooke needs to stop jump serving. I think she was about 1/6. Jump serving is hard on your body, and she gave up points every time. CMM would be better suited as libero. Seems to bring energy that LB doesn’t. Speaking of energy, Lily Barry seems to have that spark. Would love to see her in back row. How are we going to compete with other big 10 teams that consistently utilize the back road attack? It may have only gotten us a point or two last night.
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Post by vbkahuna on Sept 4, 2024 10:59:10 GMT -5
Remember the saying about people who view the glass as half empty instead of half full? Looks like we're going to have to change that for some Illini fans who start suffering PTSD because it's the 3rd match of a 30-match season and they're bummed that the glass is only up to 75% full now but still 25% empty.
Get real. And appreciate the difference. This team is a major improvement, and it can get even better once CMM is wearing the Libero jersey. Philpot, Smith, Hernandez, and CMM are major upgrades, with Philpot (11 kills, 10 blocks!) a budding star. The tempo offense, in spite of the issues created for Raina, has clearly resulted in very balanced scoring (no longer totally dependent on Raina - check the stats), and very importantly, in every rotation now.
The major remaining issue is serve receive/passing when both Barnes and Raina are in the back row. Both the 2nd and 4th set blew up when the ISU servers started going hard at both of them. It wasn't just the shanked serves but also the poor 1st passes that kept pulling Mosher OOS. When that happened it was goodbye tempo offense (taking both Philpot and Smith away). IMO this can be significantly corrected when CMM is running the back row with either Hernandez or a DS to hide Raina on serves. Let's see what happens then.
Cheers. I raise my 75% full glass (85% when CMM) to the improved Illini.
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Post by ilalum92 on Sept 4, 2024 11:16:47 GMT -5
Remember the saying about people who view the glass as half empty instead of half full? Looks like we're going to have to change that for some Illini fans who start suffering PTSD because it's the 3rd match of a 30-match season and they're bummed that the glass is only up to 75% full now but still 25% empty. Get real. And appreciate the difference. This team is a major improvement, and it can get even better once CMM is wearing the Libero jersey. Philpot, Smith, Hernandez, and CMM are major upgrades, with Philpot (11 kills, 10 blocks!) a budding star. The tempo offense, in spite of the issues created for Raina, has clearly resulted in very balanced scoring (no longer totally dependent on Raina - check the stats), and very importantly, in every rotation now. The major remaining issue is serve receive/passing when both Barnes and Raina are in the back row. Both the 2nd and 4th set blew up when the ISU servers started going hard at both of them. It wasn't just the shanked serves but also the poor 1st passes that kept pulling Mosher OOS. When that happened it was goodbye tempo offense (taking both Philpot and Smith away). IMO this can be significantly corrected when CMM is running the back row with either Hernandez or a DS to hide Raina on serves. Let's see what happens then. Cheers. I raise my 75% full glass (85% when CMM) to the improved Illini. A tempo offense has nothing to do with set distribution. That is clearly on Brooke. Our offense is more diverse because we finally have 4 other legit attackers who can score at any time. We are also much more in system (better passing) which allows Brooke to distribute the ball more evenly. Multiple attackers also means the block isn't camping out on Raina every time she is the front row.
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Post by Pasquale on Sept 4, 2024 11:22:52 GMT -5
Remember the saying about people who view the glass as half empty instead of half full? Looks like we're going to have to change that for some Illini fans who start suffering PTSD because it's the 3rd match of a 30-match season and they're bummed that the glass is only up to 75% full now but still 25% empty. Get real. And appreciate the difference. This team is a major improvement, and it can get even better once CMM is wearing the Libero jersey. Philpot, Smith, Hernandez, and CMM are major upgrades, with Philpot (11 kills, 10 blocks!) a budding star. The tempo offense, in spite of the issues created for Raina, has clearly resulted in very balanced scoring (no longer totally dependent on Raina - check the stats), and very importantly, in every rotation now. The major remaining issue is serve receive/passing when both Barnes and Raina are in the back row. Both the 2nd and 4th set blew up when the ISU servers started going hard at both of them. It wasn't just the shanked serves but also the poor 1st passes that kept pulling Mosher OOS. When that happened it was goodbye tempo offense (taking both Philpot and Smith away). IMO this can be significantly corrected when CMM is running the back row with either Hernandez or a DS to hide Raina on serves. Let's see what happens then. Cheers. I raise my 75% full glass (85% when CMM) to the improved Illini. Agreed! The Illini hit a very respectable .342 with 14 blocks as a team last night. More so, they have much more balance in their offense this year. Considering they are starting three new players (including two freshman) and it's still very early in the season, there's cause to be optimistic about this season.
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Post by vbkahuna on Sept 4, 2024 12:05:47 GMT -5
Remember the saying about people who view the glass as half empty instead of half full? Looks like we're going to have to change that for some Illini fans who start suffering PTSD because it's the 3rd match of a 30-match season and they're bummed that the glass is only up to 75% full now but still 25% empty. Get real. And appreciate the difference. This team is a major improvement, and it can get even better once CMM is wearing the Libero jersey. Philpot, Smith, Hernandez, and CMM are major upgrades, with Philpot (11 kills, 10 blocks!) a budding star. The tempo offense, in spite of the issues created for Raina, has clearly resulted in very balanced scoring (no longer totally dependent on Raina - check the stats), and very importantly, in every rotation now. The major remaining issue is serve receive/passing when both Barnes and Raina are in the back row. Both the 2nd and 4th set blew up when the ISU servers started going hard at both of them. It wasn't just the shanked serves but also the poor 1st passes that kept pulling Mosher OOS. When that happened it was goodbye tempo offense (taking both Philpot and Smith away). IMO this can be significantly corrected when CMM is running the back row with either Hernandez or a DS to hide Raina on serves. Let's see what happens then. Cheers. I raise my 75% full glass (85% when CMM) to the improved Illini. A tempo offense has nothing to do with set distribution. That is clearly on Brooke. Our offense is more diverse because we finally have 4 other legit attackers who can score at any time. We are also much more in system (better passing) which allows Brooke to distribute the ball more evenly. Multiple attackers also means the block isn't camping out on Raina every time she is the front row. Totally disagree with your first sentence (the rest I agree with, but it doesn't negate the importance of tempo). Here's why IF you have better passing (still not great, but better), AND you have 4 legit attackers (we do, in both front and back), you get (1) better kill distribution AND (2) better team kill stats...it's because the ball more frequently gets to any one of those attackers before there's a fully closed blocking wall. Even with 4 legit attackers, if you throw up 20-ft high sets most B1G middles can get to wherever they need to go to close the blocking wall. This isn't rocket science level physics. And furthermore, hitters who are decent but not typically terminal have a much better chance of getting kills through the blocking holes...and this is in fact happening now.
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Post by oldmanvb on Sept 4, 2024 13:12:25 GMT -5
Laynie is a legitimate out of system option, and Brooke attempted and made OOS sets to Laynie she never would have attempted last year. That, all by itself, makes our offense more formidable. The opposing middle cannot simply camp on our left pin even when we are out of system.
Running a tempo offense is more than simply speeding up the sets. The setter has to be hyper aware of what the opposing blockers are doing. Brooke did not have to focus on opposing blockers last year nearly as much as she will this year if she wants to make the tempo offense work. It is a skill which has to be developed. I anticipate it will get better as the year progresses.
One of these matches Brooke and Raina will have an epiphany, the tempo connection will click, and off we will go.
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