Saturday: early Top 25
Carry over from last night.
seems like folks agree that Taylor should not have come back in and that she should sit out tonight.
As mentioned last night, Shoji said if that happens, then he’ll either got with Mitchem on the right or Castillo. Someone mentioned that Shoji said that Mitchem was the best player in practice this week. What I heard him say was that Mitchem had HER best practice so far this week.
So perhaps someone could clarify that because it’s two different things. Thanks.
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It was my comment, but that is what the TV folks said, so I got it second hand. You may want to follow up with the play by play guys.
Mitchem should start tonight.
If you have some time, just a couple of requests for your opinion. One, do you feel that the teams selected for post season play are, for the most part, deserving to be there? And second, do you think that the rankings assigned to teams in their respective regions are consistent with the RPI and if not, why?
The OC Sport commentators said Mitchem was the best player on the team in practice this week. Annie has been looking trimmer, quicker, and more focus in the past several weeks. She is looking more comfortable and you can see her purring out there ready to strike. Looking forward to seeing if Annie gets reps at pin tonight. She may end up being our all around front row utility player this season.
what I heard in the post game wrap up was TV personalities said Shoji said Mitchem was the best player in the GYM (TV hearsay). Or something to that affect. he knows he can not waste time on this matter. We may see Nikki/Mitchem on the right and Niki/Granato/Castillo on the left. Depends on what shoji is thinking. The point being that Coach recognizes that without a legit block-wall Haw is vulnerable. He also said there was no sense for Higgs to rush. JMO, He is liking what Kendra is doing. Who doesnt? Koelsch plays at a high level of energy and skill.
In regards to Davis match, the mustangs were so one dimensional with their MHs taking only 11 swings. We just camped out on their pins. Thought Granato played well but she was hitting over 5’6″ setter. Maglio had off night but Magill and Mitchem totally dominated – but both their MHs – Ohiri and Jackson are 6’1″ freshmen. Koelsch continues to improve but setting location is still off. Very scary moments with Nikki and also Tai. So glad we have Granato and Castillo – and apparently now Mitchem as backup pins. Sounds like a lot of backup players will be playing tonight against Irvine.
What Chris M. said was that while he was at practice last week he commented to Dave how good Annie looked and Chris said that Dave said “you should have seen her the rest of the week because she was the best player in the gym” . Kanoa started to ask for clarification but Chris seemed to realize that was TMI and weakly changed the subject. No big deal, we all know she is a great player.
cindy think you mean taylor should not have come back in
continue topics from previous thread? why not.
yesterday:
48. yes ‘fans’ doubt mckenna and i bet tai too, still. they demand the blonde who is the terminator and can dig up her own ball if blocked. if they dont get their demands, they blame it on/complain/whine about lousy football or power 5 conferences. 😀
57. definitely played with energy. no more slacking off, chillin or sleeping on the job. shar tai manuolevao would be proud!
61. actually olivias the reason hawai’i is the #1 blocking team, she leads it. though commanding it is another story. kendra does obviously in part, contribute to that.
Mckenna Granato, IMO, had a good match last night.
maglio needs to start. Move Mitchem to the outside.
Thanks for the clarification. McLachlin only attends one practice a week usually and that was Thursday of this week.
Top 25 Saturday
2) Texas def. Texas Tech 25-18, 25-23, 25-17
5) Penn State def. 18) Purdue 25-18, 25-17, 25-17
13) BYU def. Portland 25-16, 25-17, 25-15
21) Colorado State def. San Jose State 23-25, 25-15, 25-14, 25-19
26) San Diego def. Gonzaga 25-18, 21-25, 25-23, 25-11
10. Maglio doesn’t ‘need’ to start but she probably will. Greeley is out, Taylor maybe, Higgins can play but they don’t want to risk retweaking the ankle.
So with so many different players in there already my guess is Maglio starts and Mitchem on the right.
Guys. Stay focused on the playoffs. I will say it again. We have a bye week coming this week. Than our last home stand. Then, 6-games in 15 days on the road. Then, 12 days before the fire works begin. This is the time for Shoji to develop his playoff team against the best teams in the nation. No favorites, otherwise we are dead in the water and headed home in a hurry. Koelsch is gold. Mitchem is 24 K and Castillo is athletic with height and Baby G is in my estimation, is the most under rated back row player. She is so smooth and glides effortlessly with flawless ball handling. However, we have so much talent in the back row w Kahakai, Anderson and an improving Granato, we are well represented no matter WHO. These wahine all play with heart.Granato makes sense in the back row bc she can launch from the meter line if needed.
Kalei Greely’s shoulder is chronic. That we know. If we have a replacement for her it should be someone who has commanding height to block and athletic ability to pound the ball. That is the mantra that defines this TEAM–they BLOCK First then pick you apart and scramble for every point. Nothing comes easy. It is height incorporated with old fashioned blue-collared sweat.
Mitchem is a no brainer. Now is the time. Castillo is a dark horse. We have seen glimpses, much like Huff, BUT we need to see more. 6-3 is better than 6-0. Period!
Natty Lions big win over Purdue whom now have sustained back to back losses in conference play. The BIG TEN IMO is the best conference this year. On any given day…DNK how that will play out in the seedings but SC, WASH, NEB, TEX and PSU all are in great pole positions for the second half of conference play. Im wondering if Stanford or UCLA have it in their tank to make a late charge.
Since Kendra has started the hitters averages has not dropped. This which includes a win over Long Beach. Granted they are playing with many weaker teams in the conference. Looking at Kendra’s overall play and the hitters still hitting at their season’s percentages, Kendra will give the team a better edge against tougher competition.
If Shoji goes back to Higgens I do hope I am proven wrong and the Wahine goes to the final 4. With Kendra I believe they have a better chance to get there. As they say that is just my opinion.
Tonight should be interesting and entertaining with Granato and Mitchem in the starting line-up (Greeley and Taylor nursing injuries).
6. doesn’t matter if she was hitting over a 5-6 block, so were Hawaii’s other hitters in various rotations.
Agree with 9. she played well. 6-1-15. only error was when she was led a little too much on the 3-meter attack and stepped on the line. She had the third most swings behind Manu-Olevao (24) and Taylor (19).
15. not sure I agree with you about who can take them farther in postseason, and still plenty of season left. both setters have their pros and cons.
Higgins has a better serve, when it’s on. She has better set location to the pins, as she should since she’s been working with them a year longer.
Koelsch can do more with tight sets and helps create a bigger block. IMO, she connects better with Magill because her point of release is higher. But both setters still struggle at times because Magill gets up so quickly.
When we serve well other teams do not pass as well which also helps our blockers.
Cindy, not sure why you have a bias again Maglio and love Mitchem so much ( she did play very well last night). Maglio is a future all american with her quickness and cool demeanor.
20. I have no bias against any player and not sure what prompted you so say that about Maglio. was responding to your ‘she needs to start.’ perhaps it’s semantics and my interpretation of ‘needs to’ isn’t the same as yours.
anyway, Taylor not warming up attic team. Is on the bench in sweats.
new thread up for game.
http://hawaiiwarriorworld.com/?p=33802
There are a couple of points on my earlier post that are food for thought. One, all teams obviously want to make it to the postseason and those that do are deserving, which translates to nearly all teams being “unseeded”. The “unseeded” teams should but are not equitably assigned to each region. That’s harsh, but it’s reality. So, it is obvious that the RPI seems to diminish in importance when the final brackets are announced. The bottom line is, don’t make it easy for whoever is on these committees to rationalize their choices. Win, and improve every week. If there are not sufficient economic incentives, I doubt there will be any significant changes any time soon.