First weekend done. Two very tough teams to start off with and was just too tall an ask for this young team. Louisville is such a stable team with very few weaknesses and SMU is a team that seem to play with a lot of intensity. I wasn't sure what thought I wanted to end the weekend with. I think I will go with on-court leadership.
Missing Stowers was huge not only in points and defensive production, but also in leadership as the only returning starter. Her absence on the court cannot be emphasized enough. We have good transfers but they can't really lead with so few games played as a group. Ring could provide some leadership but it seemed like she might have been carrying too much on her shoulders with the sudden injury to Stowers. She showed us her capabilities that gave her her All American status but she had to worry about carrying the points load more than anything else.
We need to run a 5-1. The setter is a leadership position at the very least calling the plays. The setting needs to be as consistent as possible for hitters to feel comfortable. If Musgrove is a much better blocker, she should start unless Nicholson has shown she is a much better setter. We need all the blocking help we can muster right now.
The returners who saw some court time last year don't seem to be of the leadership type. Fitch and Morris played better than I expected given they were limited last year. Applegate did Applegate things in the back. But none of them are leaders as far as I can tell during interviews and videos.
Gabi lead more by example but I couldn't tell if vocally she was involved from what TV was showing us. She is so new but I expect her to assume her regular backcourt personality that I've seen from her.
A team needs an identity and not just a collection of good players. Stowers was a key and her absence affected the team more than we probably realize.
I mentioned in an earlier thread, practice this week should just be blocking, blocking and more blocking. I'm not worried about service errors. Not too worried about getting blocked at this point (that happened at times last year too).
This season will be super interesting to see the growth of each player in the Morrison training system. Looking forward to it!
Missing Stowers was huge not only in points and defensive production, but also in leadership as the only returning starter. Her absence on the court cannot be emphasized enough. We have good transfers but they can't really lead with so few games played as a group. Ring could provide some leadership but it seemed like she might have been carrying too much on her shoulders with the sudden injury to Stowers. She showed us her capabilities that gave her her All American status but she had to worry about carrying the points load more than anything else.
We need to run a 5-1. The setter is a leadership position at the very least calling the plays. The setting needs to be as consistent as possible for hitters to feel comfortable. If Musgrove is a much better blocker, she should start unless Nicholson has shown she is a much better setter. We need all the blocking help we can muster right now.
The returners who saw some court time last year don't seem to be of the leadership type. Fitch and Morris played better than I expected given they were limited last year. Applegate did Applegate things in the back. But none of them are leaders as far as I can tell during interviews and videos.
Gabi lead more by example but I couldn't tell if vocally she was involved from what TV was showing us. She is so new but I expect her to assume her regular backcourt personality that I've seen from her.
A team needs an identity and not just a collection of good players. Stowers was a key and her absence affected the team more than we probably realize.
I mentioned in an earlier thread, practice this week should just be blocking, blocking and more blocking. I'm not worried about service errors. Not too worried about getting blocked at this point (that happened at times last year too).
This season will be super interesting to see the growth of each player in the Morrison training system. Looking forward to it!
