Tulane VB. Nations most improved team

[localvb]

Per twitter:
The team moved from 11tth to 5th place in the AAC. 18-14 record (10-22 last season). Moved up over 150 RPI points and is the Most improved team in the nation.

The team will return the 4th best hitter in the conference Sarah Ray. Best Libero in the AAC McHugh. 4th best setter in Bowers. Lose starters Juric and Strassner who made big contributions.

This season will definitely help in recruiting. This type of improvement so quickly will help for years to come in the recruiting wars.

[alumniwave]

Incredible turn around. This doesn't happen often. Not this fast. To see that many players have such big improvements in 1 season is a great sign. Can't wait to see how they improve after getting 2-3 classes in.
Great eye Troy Dannen!

[winwave]

Three players make All- Conference Team:

http://tulanegreenwave.com/news/2016/11 ... teams.aspx

[alumniwave]

Tulane VB almost sweeps the All-LA awards.
Player, Newcomer and Coach of the year.
Congrats!

Troy Dannen made a huge hire here.
His other highers will pan out after they move in some of their players.

[netshorty]

Tulane VB almost sweeps the All-LA awards.
Player, Newcomer and Coach of the year.
Congrats!

Troy Dannen made a huge hire here.
His other highers will pan out after they move in some of their players.

I think Barnes would take that as an insult. He did in Yr 1 (with other peoples recruits, with little time to prepare, etc.) what our other coaches were/are not able to do. He was a massive over-achiever in this regard. The others...meh...

[localvb]

I saw this coming. Just can't believe Kaylie McHugh didn't get Libero of the year and Freahman of the year!! Her stats are leaps above the winner. Had to be they didn't want to give all the awards to Tulane but that is ashame!!

My friends, family and I were so excited when Dannen hired Coach Barnes last year. We knew this would happen and we expect much much more! So happy for Tulane VB and VB growing in the area.

[alumniwave]

Tulane fans there is very very few, probably none, overnight athletic fixes for all teams at one school. Dannen has made great hires. They only way it works is if good fans stay patient and supportive. Negative crap is going to just bring negative crap. It will happen at Tulane. Great coaches in place.

[winwave]

Tulane fans there is very very few, probably none, overnight athletic fixes for all teams at one school. Dannen has made great hires. They only way it works is if good fans stay patient and supportive. Negative crap is going to just bring negative crap. It will happen at Tulane. Great coaches in place.

Nobody has been more patient than the die-hards here. It is absolutely expected that people are going to vent over the recent embarrassing losses. That's one of the main reasons sites like this exist. No one else gives a shit about Tulane athletics so they come to these places to get it off their chest. So back off and show the respect the great fans here deserve.

[RobertM320]

So, if the football team had hired Nick Saban, with the same players we had this season, would have you expected 10-2? Would you have been just as upset at 4-8 or 5-7 as you are with Fritz, or would you say, "give him time"? The right people are in place, but systemic change doesn't happen overnight.

[winwave]

So, if the football team had hired Nick Saban, with the same players we had this season, would have you expected 10-2? Would you have been just as upset at 4-8 or 5-7 as you are with Fritz, or would you say, "give him time"? The right people are in place, but systemic change doesn't happen overnight.

Not sure if your post was directed at me but I have been clear that I think we have good people in place and that I think we will win in time. However my response to alumni stands. The die-yards here have been beyond patient over the years . They don't need a lecture on patience. It is understandable that people are sick and tired of the losing and they need a place to vent.

[RobertM320]

So, if the football team had hired Nick Saban, with the same players we had this season, would have you expected 10-2? Would you have been just as upset at 4-8 or 5-7 as you are with Fritz, or would you say, "give him time"? The right people are in place, but systemic change doesn't happen overnight.

Not sure if your post was directed at me but I have been clear that I think we have good people in place and that I think we will win in time. However my response to alumni stands. The die-yards here have been beyond patient over the years . They don't need a lecture on patience. It is understandable that people are sick and tired of the losing and they need a place to vent.

Not directed at you, ww, as much as to those who are ready to write off Fritz, Dunleavy and Dannen because we haven't become Alabama football, Duke Basketball and gotten into a P5 in the past 12 months. Some people are impossible to please. You have to put the proper pieces in place before you can build. We've rarely, if ever, had all these pieces in place at the same time.

[netshorty]

... those who are ready to write off Fritz, Dunleavy and Dannen because we haven't become Alabama football, Duke Basketball and gotten into a P5 in the past 12 months. Some people are impossible to please. You have to put the proper pieces in place before you can build. We've rarely, if ever, had all these pieces in place at the same time.

I'd be willing to bet less than 0.1% of posters on this board have the expectations you mentioned.

To the contrary, i would be willing to bet that 99.9% would agree with your simple statement that you have to have the proper pieces in place to build.

What is definitely open for debate is whether the current hires are the proper pieces... and what should be the metrics for success or failure of the AD and the coaches. The quicker you identify problems the quicker you can fix them. So if there is a glaring failure, playing the wait it out for 3 years+ just leads to perpetual losing.

I have been hard on both WF and MD in their first seasons. Unlike others that make make blanket statements or exaggerate opinions (e.g. expect Alabama football) I have tried to point out items that are a real concern.

In football I pointed to how WF play calling was predictable and did not put his current team in the best position to succeed (even giving the inexperience at qb). Now I haven't given up on WF but I had expected that at the end of the season that i would be excited about our direction and the prospect for the next year. I really can't say that. I can definitively say we're better coached than the CJ era, but that's a really low bar.

For Dunleavy i had expected that he instill a system that would get the most out his players and we'd see how good coaching can offset some of our deficiencies such as size. I did not expect that at the conclusion of pre conference play that there would only be 10 teams out of 351 with a lower RPI. In his case there are glaring deficiencies that others have pointed out. For example, a coach with such great basketball IQ feels its more important to keep 2 timeouts for the end of the game (just in case it's close) then to use them to slow momentum, teach in-game, etc. Some have pointed out that players have developed from last year (e. g. Reynolds) which has to be attributed to Dunleavy. However, last I saw, basketball is a team sport and if individual improvement doesn't translate into team success than who cares? i guess just the athlete would. Dunleavy's wildcard is how he'll recruit. It does appear he has a good class coming in (definitely size). But I'm already anticipating the excuses next year (young team, raw, etc.) which is why I'm closer to giving up on Dunleavy based on what he's demonstrated as a college coach thus far.

Even with the lack of success yet in football and basketball i like Dannen so far. He is a refreshing change from Dickson. Whether he made the right hires is still TBD. What may be his biggest challenge is evaluating his coaches and making changes swiftly if needed and thus admitting mistakes in his hire(s).

In any case, to bring this back to the current thread, Barnes. did exponentially more than what most expected. If WF or MD had bettered their teams by a fraction of what Barnes did this year, most {including me) would think we're definitely on the right path in those sports as well. A huge congrats goes to him and his team!

[localvb]

I'm no football or basketball expert just a local high school/club volleyball coach. I was extremely excited when Dannen hired Barnes because I knew how well he can coach and how hard players play for him.
It also gave me great confidence in Dannen's ability to hire great coaches. Really hoping and expect to see better results each year in the other sports as well.
We are just seeing the tip of the ice burg in the volleyball program. They are losing 6 seniors but I bet they only continue to improve and 2017 will be exciting.

[localvb]

Per Twitter Tulane is hosting Alabama and Ole Miss then going to LSU this spring. Seriously getting the team some competition.
Roll Wave!

[alumniwave]

Wow. LSU, Alabama and Ole Miss.
Nice SEC schedule!