We have some great hitters coming in, but in my opinion what the team needs most is a top-notch setter. You can have all the firepower in the world on the floor, but your hitters are only as good as your setter. The setter is the most common MVP recepient at most tournaments in the women's game, and if you look at the history of the sport, the national champions have almost always had a setter who was a top 5 recruit out of all positions. The setter is involved in every play and has the best sense of the weaknesses in both your offense and your defense. It's no coincidence that many of the top coaches in the last twenty years, Shoji, Haley, McLaughlin, Banachowski, were setters themselves. And it's no coincidence that the best years for the Aggie program were those led by Jenna Moscovic, who had beautiful technique and the game instincts to give her attackers great options.
In my opinion, Corbelli focuses too much on the big outside game, which can do okay in a Big12 conference known for its Russian-style gameplan. But the women's game has gotten faster and more diverse than it was in the eighties, and the (Pac10) teams that go deep in the NCAAs are generally teams with very fast transition games and multiple attacking options that keep the opposing defense off balance (witness the paddling U-dub gave Nebraska in the 2005 finals).
In 2005 Laura Jones kpg numbers were through the roof, but predictability can be outcoached, and Laura's stats alone didn't translate into Wins.
I love the roster of hitters coming in this year, and I expect the team to jump back into contention for the top 3 Big 12 spots starting in 2007, but if we want to jump back into contention for a top 15 national ranking, we need a stud setter to go with them.
[This message has been edited by wannaggie (edited 7/27/2006 2:57p).]
