MUDI, Zone Retort

I would love to read the MUDI recap from one of the Rackages. Better yet, I wish I could have been there. I keep starting to comment on others' blogs, then remember I wasn't there. I cannot wait until the VB Boys beat Sub Zero- I hope I am able to watch it. No doubt in my mind it will happen. One of the "points" someone had in Lou's blog comments were that the VB Boys stayed in it on layout grabs. Um, yeah, I've played with these guys and those grabs aren't lucky; they just do it. They make it happen.

Right now I am sore, very sore, & hoping it works itself out before the 9 hour drive to Michigan for Motown. I did plyos before pick up on Tuesday instead of on Monday. I ran my slowest 2 mile in years, I think, on Wednseday morning. BUT I had my first layouts for weeks (I was worried abouy this) at league last night. I also had a lot of miscues- TTOs, a missed D, not cutting well enough against Dunlay to give Grant an easy throw. And I had some very well put hucks/pseudohucks. So, yeah, my normal up and down. Please, Lord, let me turn it over less this tournament.

Big disappointment that VB Boys aren't going. I think Rackages is set up to tromp some teams, so we'd have time to watch (as long as we take care of business, of course). This weekend, like probably every Rackages weekend thus far, will see a change in personnel. We've got some gals that haven't even met, yet. The Ames crew is going to be running through our zones this evening, Shel and the Cities crew went through them earlier this week, but with a change to the 3-2-2 that is small enough that it could be incorporated if the disc is getting moved inside upfield on the traps. I want to try to run both this weekend (3-3-1 & 3-2-2, not just variations of 3-2-2); I'll let you know how it goes.

Here is my retort to the zone comments (awesome, by the way, I love comments): first, G. Cooke, great idea to keep both, that's what we'll try to do. To whomever said something about "non-handlers": I love my mark, and I trust it. This trap has the beauty of leaving plenty of space for other defenders to cover- the trapper has a very focused job. I've got a very adaptive mark, a very aggressive mark, and I WILL shut down all but the best throwers (Solarz, baby, that's you). Not only that, but I play with other women like me! I love this trap because it lulls the offense into thinking it really has something going. The tricky job falls to the strong side wing: allow throws to the force side, but no big gainers. The cup, like many defenses, should be adjusting as it goes across the field, in stages and as a unit. On the break sideline, the mark is flatter and the entire cup is flatter. As it moves across the field, the pushing marker gets more and more perpendicular to the thrower, the cup tightens up into a 'C', and trusts the strong side wing to cut off the gainers. The cup in FM is making comparatively large changes on EVERY throw (the crotch and hatchet). I think both cups are workable, BUT both need to be practiced to face up to teams like us (you know, the good ones). Lana didn't post but said she didn't like 2-2 upfield. Here's the thing: it is meant to be less rigid, especially the back 2, than a 3-3-1. It should work more like a poachy, switching person-to-person. The 2 deeps can decide on a short deep/long deep, rather than strong and weak side (although one needs to be ready to play strong side on a trap). I think in either zone we need to get used to having a sideline "partner"- ONE person that is yelling specifically to you.

Here is another item to chew on: does Rackages need another offense besides vertical stack? Nope, we don't have another, yet. I was worried about this, but thought our offense had more problems with throws than with getting open. We worked on what I perceived as our offensive weakness, getting the disc off the sideline. If we could practice a couple times a week, I'd get the circle offense going- I think it would work well with our speed, but it is confusing and not easy to learn quickly. Any ideas, please share.