Hawaii offense kind of plain vanilla?

[808]

I was reading the thread about USC's Candelas and noticed the following passage:

Hitting outside, middle, slides and pipes, Candelas racked up 23 kills in the next three games on 44 attempts, finishing the match with a .389 attack percentage.

"Bibi is the one - if she puts it down for us then we've got a chance," USC coach Mick Haley said. "We're moving her around and Nena's got a grasp of what we can do with her now."

I also recall seeing Stanford earlier this year and they were moving Nji Nnamani around and having her hit from different spots on the court -- left, right, pipe. Nebraska, with their version of the 6-2 offense, is supposed to have three hitters as options at all times.

Which made me wonder -- is Hawaii's offense kind of a "plain vanilla" offense? Lefts hitting from the left, rights hitting from the right. Middles hitting middle or slide. Pipe being a rare option. If the passing is solidified, would our hitters be any more effective if they varied the attack more? If Kanoe was more creative? Someone mentioned that they thought Prince was in a hitting slump and others responded that she's been fully scouted this year. Does Hawaii regularly send two hitters to the net (one faking) to try to fool the block (I don't think they sell the fake very well when they do send a second hitter to the net and I don't think they do it very often either)?

Or, do I just have this feeling (of a lack of options) because of being able to see the Wahine all year and only reading about or seeing other teams once or twice? I don't know. That's why I'm asking. Does anyone (Hawaii fan or not) have any opinion on this?

[Deleted]

Sounds like what Kim Willoughby did for Hawaii. She could put a kill down from anywhere on the court, left, right, middle, or the pipe. Kim Glass does this as well (although with less consistency). Hawaii just doesn't have that dynamic player that can hit from anywhere on the court this year.

[vly4life]

Like i've been saying...hawaii...overrated..it's absolutely absurd their rankings this year w the record they have...

[Wolfgang]

Three yards and a cloud of dust...

[Wolfgang]

Speaking of plain...

My wife told me that she saw some Early Morning Show which proclaimed that plain yogurt neutralizes bad breath-causing germs. So, not only is it good for you, but it fights bad breath.

[roy]

Shoji has moved around the rights and lefts. Almost all the outsides will hit from both the left and right, which he has done pretty consistently for the past several years, even with Willoughby and Kahumoku. But again, it goes back to the same problem Hawaii has had all year. Passing gets suspect and no hitter on the court has the ability to really be utilized in this way.

[Deleted]

roy said:

Shoji has moved around the rights and lefts. Almost all the outsides will hit from both the left and right, which he has done pretty consistently for the past several years, even with Willoughby and Kahumoku. But again, it goes back to the same problem Hawaii has had all year. Passing gets suspect and no hitter on the court has the ability to really be utilized in this way.

Good point, in the end it all comes down to the passing. Remember in the USC vs. Hawaii match USC struggled with passing for much of the night and Candelas didn't really have that good of a match. Against UCLA I'm guessing that the passing was much better.

[pineapple]

vly4life said:

Like i've been saying...hawaii...overrated..it's absolutely absurd their rankings this year w the record they have...

This is just your 4th post. You have a bigger obsession about the Wahine than Wolfie.

[The Bofa on the Sofa]

*Beware posters who register for the purpose of criticising a team*

A rare instance of wisdom from Ruffda.

To stay on topic, last I knew, they don't give style points in volleyball. If the ball hits the floor on the other teams side of the net, it's a point. It doesn't matter if it occurs by fancy misdirection or by Oganna Nnamani pounding a high 4 set through the block, it's good.

[Deleted]

That reminds me of that old BiK joke. He comes into the SSC holding a big mound of dog crap and says, "Hey, everybody! Look what I almost stepped in!"

Not sure why it reminds me...

[sonofbarcelonabob]

If Charlie Wade has the usual attack of flatulence, then the vanilla offense might have some chocolate sprinkles on top of it.

[vly4life]

"Beware posters who register for the purpose of criticising a team"
actually i have posted on here but its been many months. i wondered why my other posts arent showing either. maybe been longer than i realized. anyway, sorry i started something i ddnt mean to. i just havent understood the rankings the past few weeks is all. oh well...time will tell for all i guess. the ncaa selection committee i hope will be more fair this year than last year. i do agree last year hawaii did get the short end of the deal..no doubt.

[Gorf]

You registered only a month ago.

How could it have been many months since you last posted given that?


Regardless, if you're being objective on the rankings you can't just look at Hawaii's win / loss record withouth looking at the teams they've lost to and how close the scores were in most of those matches even when they were swept.

All of the Wahine losses other than the recent one to LMU have been to top 5 ranked teams and they had the largest drop in points / votes of any team in the poll that came out after their loss to LMU.

[808]

pete said:

Sounds like what Kim Willoughby did for Hawaii. She could put a kill down from anywhere on the court, left, right, middle, or the pipe. Kim Glass does this as well (although with less consistency). Hawaii just doesn't have that dynamic player that can hit from anywhere on the court this year.

Are you (and Roy) really saying that no one on this year's team has the ability to hit--effectively--from different spots on the court? Do you have to be a Kim (Willoughby or Glass) to be able to do that? I didn't think Bibiana is all that dynamic or athletic. I know Nji is quite athletic. Do you think Houston might have that potential? What about Mason?

[808]

roy said:

Shoji has moved around the rights and lefts. Almost all the outsides will hit from both the left and right, which he has done pretty consistently for the past several years, even with Willoughby and Kahumoku. But again, it goes back to the same problem Hawaii has had all year. Passing gets suspect and no hitter on the court has the ability to really be utilized in this way.

I guess the passing problem is also what may be preventing Kanoe from adding more variations to the offense, too.

I'm just thinking back to the results Hawaii had against Nebraska, Penn State and Washington. To beat the height of Nebraska and Penn State, a little speed would help, rather than having the only options being high left or Prince's slide. Sure makes it hard to get kills when the defense is camping on you. Against a fast team like Washington, I would think more variation in the offense might help. Even speeding up the offense against a team like Washington might not help, but more deception or misdirection might.