|
|
Post by Onthebench on Sept 24, 2017 11:26:05 GMT -5
This weekend has definitely lowered my expectations for the season. From 50-50 for Big Ten title to 33%. From decent chance at a national title to long shot. From good chance at final four to good chance for round of eight. A home straight-set loss simply should not happen to a Penn State championship team. Of course it is very early and we don't have a good feel as to how the other contenders will do. There are a bunch of teams who have a shot this year and a bunch more who will be spoilers for the tournament. On the other hand, there was that horrendous home loss to Illinois in 2014 and the Purdue/Indiana weekend of 2010 and the notion that no team is as bad as we think after a loss and ,,,,,,, I have a similar assessment of this team as well. One thing that I feel strongly about the line up at this point is that coach Rose should abandon hoping Nia Reed will live up to her expectation one of these days. I think she has very average hitting skill. But, her blocking skill level is below average at best. So, when she doesn't contribute in getting kills and have a decent hitting percentage along with it, which is rare, she becomes a liability in blocking and any sort of defense that comes her way. I'll live with either Thelen and Gorrell not being elite players, but they do contribute positively at times. In Reed's case, there's a good chance that her participation will adversely impact the team. Some of you may say that not many had a good game against NB, but I've been expressing the same thoughts for last couple of years. I do understand she will neither make or break the team, but as we witnessed in the first set against the NB, couple of errors by her impacted the flow of the game a lot. Just my two cents worth of venting my frustration. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2017 12:15:05 GMT -5
I have a similar assessment of this team as well. One thing that I feel strongly about the line up at this point is that coach Rose should abandon hoping Nia Reed will live up to her expectation one of these days. I think she has very average hitting skill. But, her blocking skill level is below average at best. So, when she doesn't contribute in getting kills and have a decent hitting percentage along with it, which is rare, she becomes a liability in blocking and any sort of defense that comes her way. I'll live with either Thelen and Gorrell not being elite players, but they do contribute positively at times. In Reed's case, there's a good chance that her participation will adversely impact the team. Some of you may say that not many had a good game against NB, but I've been expressing the same thoughts for last couple of years. I do understand she will neither make or break the team, but as we witnessed in the first set against the NB, couple of errors by her impacted the flow of the game a lot. Just my two cents worth of venting my frustration. It's unfortunate when we single out one of PSU's players for criticism, but when the opposing team singles them out for special attention, it's almost impossible to ignore. I don't think I was alone noticing how Nebraska picked on Nia. It was sad. So far, I haven't seen a right side hitter that even shows a glimmer of what PSU had from 2007 through 2015. |
|
|
|
Post by Millennium on Sept 24, 2017 13:50:05 GMT -5
This weekend has definitely lowered my expectations for the season. From 50-50 for Big Ten title to 33%. From decent chance at a national title to long shot. From good chance at final four to good chance for round of eight. A home straight-set loss simply should not happen to a Penn State championship team. Of course it is very early and we don't have a good feel as to how the other contenders will do. There are a bunch of teams who have a shot this year and a bunch more who will be spoilers for the tournament. On the other hand, there was that horrendous home loss to Illinois in 2014 and the Purdue/Indiana weekend of 2010 and the notion that no team is as bad as we think after a loss and ,,,,,,, +1 Also, I really hate Nebraska. I can't say that enough. I don't know what it is with them, but we always struggle against them. |
|
|
|
Post by Onthebench on Sept 24, 2017 15:06:38 GMT -5
I have a similar assessment of this team as well. One thing that I feel strongly about the line up at this point is that coach Rose should abandon hoping Nia Reed will live up to her expectation one of these days. I think she has very average hitting skill. But, her blocking skill level is below average at best. So, when she doesn't contribute in getting kills and have a decent hitting percentage along with it, which is rare, she becomes a liability in blocking and any sort of defense that comes her way. I'll live with either Thelen and Gorrell not being elite players, but they do contribute positively at times. In Reed's case, there's a good chance that her participation will adversely impact the team. Some of you may say that not many had a good game against NB, but I've been expressing the same thoughts for last couple of years. I do understand she will neither make or break the team, but as we witnessed in the first set against the NB, couple of errors by her impacted the flow of the game a lot. Just my two cents worth of venting my frustration. It's unfortunate when we single out one of PSU's players for criticism, but when the opposing team singles them out for special attention, it's almost impossible to ignore. I don't think I was alone noticing how Nebraska picked on Nia. It was sad. So far, I haven't seen a right side hitter that even shows a glimmer of what PSU had from 2007 through 2015. It was not my intention to single out a player. I, like all of you, am a PSU fan. So, obviously I would like all our players to succeed. I guess my point was that I am more frustrated with coach Rose's lack of adjustment early in the game when certain things seem to be quite obvious to me. He eventually did and pulled Nia out of the line up, but the first set was very crucial to how the rest of the game would develop and coach did not adjust till things were pretty much out of hand. Not saying that I know better than the coach, which I clearly am not. Just watching and not much changes are being implemented when the opponents are having their way, is somewhat frustrating. So, my point is that I wish coach make the adjustments early and see if new strategy will work instead of waiting for things to get better. |
|
|
|
Post by nyline on Sept 24, 2017 15:56:21 GMT -5
This weekend has definitely lowered my expectations for the season. From 50-50 for Big Ten title to 33%. From decent chance at a national title to long shot. From good chance at final four to good chance for round of eight. A home straight-set loss simply should not happen to a Penn State championship team. Of course it is very early and we don't have a good feel as to how the other contenders will do. There are a bunch of teams who have a shot this year and a bunch more who will be spoilers for the tournament. On the other hand, there was that horrendous home loss to Illinois in 2014 and the Purdue/Indiana weekend of 2010 and the notion that no team is as bad as we think after a loss and ,,,,,,, +1 Also, I really hate Nebraska. I can't say that enough. I don't know what it is with them, but we always struggle against them.Well, for one thing, they're almost always really good, and for another thing, they get huge home crowds  |
|
|
|
Post by Millennium on Sept 24, 2017 15:59:18 GMT -5
+1 Also, I really hate Nebraska. I can't say that enough. I don't know what it is with them, but we always struggle against them.Well, for one thing, they're almost always really good, and for another thing, they get huge home crowds And the John Cook factor - that guy make my skin crawl. Sometimes I think Cook out coaches Russ. Of course, Russ' late season changes last year almost led to PSU sweeping the Huskers at Nebraska in the 2016 playoffs |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2017 16:04:44 GMT -5
Well, for one thing, they're almost always really good, and for another thing, they get huge home crowds And the John Cook factor - that guy make my skin crawl. Sometimes I think Cook out coaches Russ. Of course, Russ' changes led to PSU almost sweeping NE in the playoffs last year. That could be a revealing search---how soon before or after the name "John Cook" do the words "skin crawl" appear? Some towns feature gutter crawls through their pubs. Does Lincoln feature skin crawls through theirs? |
|
|
|
Post by Millennium on Sept 24, 2017 16:24:26 GMT -5
And the John Cook factor - that guy make my skin crawl. Sometimes I think Cook out coaches Russ. Of course, Russ' changes led to PSU almost sweeping NE in the playoffs last year. Some towns feature gutter crawls through their pubs. Does Lincoln feature skin crawls through theirs? Yes, the people of Lincoln and guests (handing from the rafters) meet at the Devaney Center on weekends for theirs. Devaney Sports Center - Lincoln, NE  |
|
|
|
Post by nyline on Sept 24, 2017 16:56:05 GMT -5
Some towns feature gutter crawls through their pubs. Does Lincoln feature skin crawls through theirs? Yes, the people of Lincoln and guests (handing from the rafters) meet at the Devaney Center on weekends for theirs. Devaney Sports Center - Lincoln, NEYou probably knew this (or gnu this) but that's the image I use on DigNittany for the Devaney Center |
|
|
|
Post by Millennium on Sept 24, 2017 17:53:10 GMT -5
Yes, the people of Lincoln and guests (handing from the rafters) meet at the Devaney Center on weekends for theirs. Devaney Sports Center - Lincoln, NEYou probably knew this (or gnu this) but that's the image I use on DigNittany for the Devaney Center   |
|
|
|
Post by elliotberton on Sept 24, 2017 19:21:14 GMT -5
Will the Iowa match video be added to this site? Also, will either match next weekend be viewable?
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2017 19:40:29 GMT -5
Will the Iowa match video be added to this site? Also, will either match next weekend be viewable? Already posted (hooray for PSUMAUI!) I expect both games will be on BTN2GO. |
|
|
|
Post by traveler on Sept 26, 2017 14:24:24 GMT -5
From bigten.org:
ROSEMONT, Ill. - Nebraska senior outside hitter Annika Albrecht was named the Sports Imports/AVCA Division I National Player of the Week and espnW Player of the Week, announced by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and espnW on Tuesday.
Glad we provided her a platform for all this adulation. not.
BTW: announcers in Rec Hall and on air all seemed to call her Albright instead of Albrecht. Was I the only one hearing that? Is it a thing?
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2017 14:31:09 GMT -5
From bigten.org: ROSEMONT, Ill. - Nebraska senior outside hitter Annika Albrecht was named the Sports Imports/AVCA Division I National Player of the Week and espnW Player of the Week, announced by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and espnW on Tuesday. Glad we provided her a platform for all this adulation. not. BTW: announcers in Rec Hall and on air all seemed to call her Albright instead of Albrecht. Was I the only one hearing that? Is it a thing? Apparently, it's pronounced All-BRIGHT. |
|
|
|
Post by offonvictory on Sept 26, 2017 15:56:40 GMT -5
I think there's a lot in play with the Nebraska loss...
1. Nebraska came in with this "they're the number 2 team in the country. They're the ones who should feel pressure" and played with nothing to lose (see Nebraska pre-match quotes). Whereas the PSU players wanted revenge so badly, I'm sure, and to prove to the home fans that they were a great team.
2. The margin of error was small here. The old "you're never as bad as you think you are when you lose and never as good as you think you are when you win" holds true here. Say PSU closes out set 1 (it was a tossup), and they lose 3-1. Does that make it better? Maybe, but what really changes? Also, maybe that first set win gives PSU some confidence and the team plays more loose. Going down 0-1, 0-2, and then at the end of 3 has to be so demoralizing because of the true fire there was, I'm sure, to take down Nebraska.
3. Cook sandbagging and pretending like Holman was iffy HAD to make a difference. There's no way the team *honestly* prepped like she would be on fire as much as she was.
4. Passing wasn't good, which led to predictable passing to pin hitters who struggled a bit (other than Simone). Clean up passing a bit. Would that have turned around some points? Perhaps. For example, the second or so point in the match, Nebraska sends over a free ball and White misplays it--a free ball!--and it goes out. Are we to expect that kind of passing in December?
5. Nebraska is probably a very good team. Two of their losses came with Hunter out (obviously, based on Friday, a big loss) and their UNI loss is pretty flukey and came in a Saturday morning game.
|
|
