Pins, needles, Mitchem
since people said they were waiting on pins and needles …
Mitchem has been cleared to play. But when she does has not been determined.
As mentioned on previous thread, she had the pin removed from her left pinkie yesterday morning. was in practice yesterday afternoon with hand taped.
She has practiced pretty much since her surgery. She is very versatile and while she’s most comfortable in the middle, she hits well from the left and right.
We’ll see what happens against the Waves this week.
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Great news! I’d say probably put her in the middle and use Castillo as an option on the left. The Washington match exposed Castillo’s weakness as a middle. She looked a little lost and was a half-step too late on most of her attacks and blocks.
I wish Smith would get a bigger role. She’s been very consistent thus far. And I like that Shoji has been using Guinasso more.
Finally watched the Washington match. Sad that we lost, but was a terrific match. But for a bunch of errors, could have been a different outcome. I think Smith is our best passer. Should be on the floor more. So steady for a freshman. Would like to see her try on the libero jersey for a set.
I hope that Shoji starts to use Emma Smith more regularly. It is great to get Ponce and Guinasso in, but they clearly are behind Anderson. Having Smith play in actual matches will help her develop for the future.
Could Hawaii try a 3-middle offense using Maglio as the M1 with both Mitchem amd Castillo as the other two middles that also take swings in the pins? Has Hawaii ever run a 3-middle offense before?
Looking forward to Michem’s return!
@4 Sasa
Good idea but, the point may be mute because:
– UH is sold on high sets, which negates the purpose of using the 3 middle offense: one – on – one isolation of the blockers. The high sets give the blockers ample time to set up the double block,
– Mags does not run the slide very frequently,
– Castillo also does not run the slide very frequently,
– that leaves the double quick, which Shoji rarely runs.
Man….I hope Mitchem lives up to the hype. She hasn’t really played any significant D1 ball yet.
What hype? That she’s our best middle hitter and better option at middle than Castillo? That’s not hype.
#6: “moot”, not mute
Great news on Mitchem! While it true Annie has not played a lot of D1 ball, what we saw last year especially in the Irvine match, shows she is has solid all around skills- and can smack the heck out of the ball.
@2 & 3:
Coach will give the libero another year to improve her passing. In the meantime, everyone else tries to stabilize the passing.
@3:
Passing is also an issue with MG who has not been very consistent. Given that the libero and MG make up 2/3s of the serve receive pattern, what to do?
@5:
This leads us to the potential of AM’s return. The libero consistently passes to the 3 meter line and it is difficult to run the middle from that far off the net.
The tips, which continue to drop, is a related issue. Coach has relieved the libero from tip duty (she is too slow.) The wings are now tasked with that duty; unfortunately, results have not been entirely satisfactory.
Love all the comments above especially about Emma Smith…Hey, when you see an a fundamentally sound athlete we cannot help but to shout out loud. She has been nothing but totally consistent in her passing in resulting in points for us.
KG problem with passing is due to her ineffectiveness in hitting. It wears on an athlete and her mind could be thinking about her injury or her mind is thinking about terminating the ball which she cannot do right now. With that said, her concentration at times back there might be all over the place..IMO, Greenly is probably one of our 2 best 6 rotations players when she is 100% healthy…The other is Nikki…
Oh by the way what I wanted to say is I cannot wait to see what Annie can do this weekend…She may be that missing element to finally solve that missing piece of that Wahine puzzle…
No guarantee that Mitchem will play this week but she was looking pretty good in practice yesterday. she was 6 rotation at IVC but not seeing that happen, at least this early as they work her back into game speed.
as mentioned earlier, we’ll see what happens.
3MB is possible. Depends on the rotation they want to set up.
Hawaii has run a 3 middle offense before, but we had the personnel to do it. Not this team. Castillo is not a true middle. I would love to see her have a stable position, it’s not her fault she thrown all over the place to play, which impedes her development.
I think McKenna needs sets off the net, gives her more options and she can go off when she has those options. Sets are too high and too tight right now.
Tips….are freaking killing me. I lost my voice during the UW match screaming TIP every time. Soooooo frustrating to see that many go down. That needs to be fixed or teams will continue to tip us right out of the tournament. But, I will say the Crissy Jones had an amazing tip shot placement. Right over the block and right behind them, almost every time. But still….pick up at least most of them.
Emma Smith…I can’t see no way any one of our DSs beating her out during practice week after week for her to not get the playing time she isn’t getting. She is passing nails back there. She needs to be on the floor more…period. I say until KG returns fully healthy, she sits and Smith takes over. I like Granato’s pipe sets, when she gets them.
Please let Mitchem play this week…outside, middle, both. Whatever. Get her out there. Rest KG until she can play 100%. She’s too tentative when not and its obvious. She’s my girl when healthy, but she needs to sit right now.
Excited to see Mitchem back in the lineup again. It seems like it’s been so long since we last saw her. When she returns, will Castillo move to the left or opp? I also wonder if they considered using Nikki in the backrow only, until her elbow heals?
Cindy, if it was your call, how would you work Mitchem back into the lineup (also assuming Taylor and Greely are available)?
I have to agree with the posters here, that Emma should be the regular DS for one of the middles. Her passing is consistent and her serves just dives with good pace. If she keeps up and improve on her serving, defensive skills, I can see her getting Savannah’s scholarship in 2018 as the team’s libero.
Annie needs to get court time in these two matches before the trip to the continent. Tape up her pinkie and ring finger with a popsicle stick and turn her loose!
http://hawaiiwarriorworld.com/?p=39269
17. kind of answer that on the new thread.
Taylor is back, Greeley still not 100 percent.
Biggest thing is Sibley is out (flu) so Mitchem is playing left.