2021 NCAA Championships discussion

[irichluck21]

Going into last rotation the fix is in for Oklahoma. SIGH. They are having some very good routines though ad peaking at the right time.

So far:
VT: Bryant (LSU) 9.975
UB: Bordas (Cal) 9.950
BB: Blanco (Bama) 9.9625
FX: O’Keefe (Utah) and Webb (OU) 9.9625

AA:
Sierra Brooks (Michigan) 39.650
Chance to pass:
Webb (OU) 29.8125 (9.8375 VT)
Trautman (OU) 29.7375 (9.9125 VT)
Hambrick (Ark) 29.700 (9.925 VT)

Pretty Much done:
Johnson (LSU) 29.7125 (9.937 BB)
Bryant (LSU) 29.700 (9.950 BB)
Blanco (Bama) 29.700 (9.950 FX)

Looks like Webb is going to get the AA crown. 9.900 would all but clinch it.

 

[blake]

I think in the end, the correct teams qualified through based on performance, but the scores were insanely high all day long and really inconsistent too. Floor in particular was bonkers, 9.9 for participation! No wonder people don’t consider gymnastics a sport…Those judges need to be forced to re-sit judging exams or face suspension.

So happy for Michigan to have won the semifinal. They’ve got room to improve for tomorrow, especially on VT, so I think the title is theirs to lose. Their amplitude and well-performed difficulty should separate them from OU/Utah. It all depends on whether Florida fizzles again tomorrow.

LSU choked on BB yet again, so I’m not disappointed to see them knocked out. I don’t see how you could argue they deserved to move on with that rotation. I’m surprised Bama pulled ahead of them though, how in the world Graber went 9.9625 with that bounce on her last pass is beyond me.

I was pleasantly surprised to see Utah qualify through, I figured they were out of it after that mediocre VT rotation, but that was probably the best UB rotation they’ve had all year, and the judges were throwing scores like confetti for stuck landings.

I’m not surprised to see UF struggle on UB, I had a feeling we’d see one of Richards/Gallentine struggle. Again, I think they deserved to qualify for finals, but the judging in that VT rotation left a sour taste in my mouth. I think they need to pull Richards from FX/BB. This is the 4th meet in a row she’s struggled, and I wouldn’t want a title to come down to

I feel for Cal since they were so close, you could argue they deserved it, but they also benefited from the loose scoring (George’s 9.9 on FX was wild) and missed opportunities on big scoring routines.

 

[cats]

I love this Florida team when they’re on, but this wasn’t that. 9.9 was too high for Nya’s vault, but I don’t necessarily mind that she gets a teeny bit of forgiveness when her vault is a yard longer than anyone else’s.

I’m worried about Ragan’s shoulder after that bars fall. That looked like it freaking hurt. Hope she’s ok. Also glad Chae was able to walk away from that vault.

OU is better with Trautman who brings desperately needed power, but I just am not into their floor rotation at all. Every routine except Webb’s is either underpowered or featured awkward or bland movement. In most of their meets they start off amazing on vault and the quality slowly goes down as the meet goes on, although the scores don’t necessarily reflect that.

Great meets today. I am really glad that NCAA’s scoring issues are not yet so severe that they’re actually causing bad gymnastics. That day is coming if they don’t address this.

 

[irichluck21]

I just can’t anymore with all Oklahoma floor sets getting automatic 9.9s for routines that shouldn’t break 9.850
Hard to also be happy with O’Keefe and Webb as co-champions on FX with extremely weak tumbling. Gorgeous routines yes, but others like Johnson, Brooks, Wilson, Campbell have more difficulty.
There needs to be a differentiation between difficulty. It is clear that doing difficult skills is not worth it. Then we complain about “easy” routine’s winning.
Also not sure how Blanco walked away with a 9.962 for beam and the championship. Brooks was robbed of that title.
The fact that only one event champion came out of session one (and that was a tie) demonstrates that it is unfair to crown event champions during semi-finals and they should go back to event finals. Also unfair to crown the AA champion during semi-finals as well. IMO they should add the AA total from semi-finals to their NQS to crown the national champion.

Finals should be good. Michigan deserves to win, but I think it is already determined that Oklahoma takes the title as long as they hit based on the scores thrown at them yesterday. Florida might also come out and hit cold and end up on top. Utah doesn’t have a chance unless all three teams have a bad rotation and Utah can hit their routines. Their UB was a bit too high for me, judges seemed to overlook errors if they stuck their dismounts, which they did.

 

[nog]

anyone heard how Durante is? That bar fall looked like a possible UCL (thumb) tear

 

[arabiandoublefront]

Lack of floor tumbling difficulty has been a complaint for more than a decade now. I remember when Hollie Vise placed I think it was 2nd at NCAAs in 2010.

 

[irichluck21]

I do think that the rules need to be revamped to encourage difficulty by rewarding the difficulty.

For example a slight hop back on a double full beam dismount (Blanco) should be .1 as opposed to a slight hop back on a double tuck (Brooks) which should be .05

I would like it if certain higher level skills received half the execution deduction of an easier skill.

Also the judges do not currently apply the execution deductions. Bryant shouldn’t have gone 9.975 on the vault. the arm waver and correction alone should have been no more than 9.950 plus she has some issues with the pre-flight that go overlooked as well. Everyone seems to be blinded by the height of the vault. I also thought that Johnson was better than Bryant. Also Ona Loper would have gotten a 10.0 for her vault has she performed it in the 2nd session. I felt she was robbed of the national title.

It is almost as if they need to crown champions in each semi-final. It is an unfair advantage to go in the second session.

 

[irichluck21]

Well 11 years ago it was a question but it was also over a decade or so. NCAA gymnastics has evolved since then especially in terms of difficulty on UB and BB and VT. FX has pretty much been stagnant though so now it is quite glaring.

Sad that in 1993 Heather Stepp was a co-champion on FX with a piked full in, front to double tuck, and double tuck. 28 years later and we have O’Keefe and Webb with mediocre tumbling.

 

[nog]

I’d agree…but I’m afraid that doing this would just encourage “scary” gymnastics. Coaches (and athletes) pushing to do the harder skills that they are just not ready or capable of and end with a slew of injuries instead of what is intended.

Instead, I’d rather see the blasted 2 pass routine gone! Make it that if you are gonna do a 2 pass routine that 1 HAS to be an E pass. If someone does another routine with a double back and then a front full-front lay (or a BHS-1.5-pike) they get docked on the SV. Just do not understand why that 2-pass routine is allowed to be same SV as a 3 pass routine. They take less deductions (simply for not executing a 3rd pass that everyone else does), they have more energy (by doing one less pass) …and then the judges reward them. BLAH…sick of seeing that crap!

 

[blake]

Fingers crossed for Michigan to pull this off!

Gallentine out of UB lineup according to Spencer, I guess they’re going to give Baumann the anchor spot? Hope they don’t end up having to count Richards routine again.

Interesting to see how the Utes are judged on UB, not having the benefit of finishing there at the end of the meet.

 

[irichluck21]

OMG MICHIGAN!!!

So excited for them. The best team won tonight and it was Michigan. They have the most difficult gymnastics of any team and they finally killed that difficulty with stuck routines at the right time.

Congrats!

 

[arabiandoublefront]

That final was sooooo thrilling. The top three teams, Michigan, Oklahoma, and Utah, were all so close. I’m ecstatic that Michigan won their first title.

 

[Kittentoes]

Yay, Michigan!!! They really deserved this.

 

[rue_des_plantes]

Michigan performed splendidly, and this was one of the most fun meets/NCAAs we have seen in awhile. IMO, it shouldn’t have been that close. I haven’t watched every event closely, but Draper’s 9.93-something for that disrespectful-ass Pak was a big problem.

Utah blocking LSU and Alabama was a moral and aesthetic victory. Equal parts LOL and wholesome. Floor was loose all weekend, but especially day 1, and for Oklahoma. Utah didn’t seem to benefit as much from the looser FX scoring on day 2, but they were thrown some lifelines on bars. UB judges on day 2 apparently gave up on life and were just accepting mediocrity from everybody.

A spectacular crashing and burning for Florida after a red-hot start to the season. Fluke injuries piling up? Technical problems going unaddressed? Overtrained or overstressed? All of the above? Regardless, COVID, Trinity’s injury, Tokyo deferrals, and making FotF give them plausible deniability to move forward, but they need some lineup and technical/coaching changes if they’re going to capitalize on the talent. Sometimes just going with what club coaches drop off on your front doorstep isn’t enough to win NCAAs; you have to build on the form and technique, and that’s where Florida gets into big trouble when their “depth” (which has always been overstated, as much as I like them) disappears.

 

[blake]

I think UF needs to look into new coaching staff for VT/UB. They almost gave the meet away day 1 on those 2 events, and I wouldn’t have been surprised to see that happen again if they’d hit BB day 2.

2018 was probably the last time I truly enjoyed watching OU. They still have some great individuals but across the board their gymnastics is nowhere near as appealing as it was last decade. I hope things will improve when the current upperclassmen graduate since their jr/sr classes are not very watchable compared to past recruiting classes. I still believe KJ is the best beam choreographer in the country though.

UB day 2 and FX day 1 rivaled SLC regional scoring in ridiculousness. I’m honestly surprised we didn’t see a single 10 this entire weekend considering how high routines with clear errors were going.

 

[rue_des_plantes]

Yeah, the bottom line is, Field cannot teach a proper dismount. With the exception of Trinity, everybody seems to come in with DLOs of varying quality, only to compete these loose, flung eyesores with awful body positions and leg separations. Should be minimum 0.1-0.15 each time for many of the athletes.

They’ve had this problem for years now, and I think Field should go. That said, fans and boosters can get a little reactionary when a favored team doesn’t win, and I don’t think any big changes are coming after a COVID season unless they are unrelated to the pandemic and can’t wait. Ultimately, Florida was the only SEC team to make it to FotF, which is a successful trajectory after 2019 Regionals.

 

[falcon9]

Rock n’ roll Michigan!

I was at Regionals all weekend and couldn’t watch much. I’ll be watching soon.

 

[blake]

I’m annoyed they haven’t fixed Schoenherr’s blind technique though I wonder if she could manage the double front 1/2 without all that momentum the technique generates. UF’s upcoming recruits are strong on bars, it’ll be interested to see if they suffer the same fate with Field.

They need to take Michigan’s approach to vault and rework the basics. IMO they’ve struggled on vault since the FTY was devalued. They produce great FTYs but their 1.5s seem hit or miss.

I would love to see Miranda let go too. It’s small fish but his choreo is horrid, and gymnasts like Baumann/Thomas deserve so much better. SJS self-choreographed routine is superior to anything he’s ever choreographed. What dirt does he have on the coaching staff lmaooo

Like you said, it’s hard to say whether UF’s shaky postseason is a result of Thomas’ untimely injury or a sign of weak mental game. They seem to have choked a little bit at SECs, at Regionals, and both days at NCAAs. I’m starting to feel like their 2019 regionals performance was less of a fluke than an early data point in a developing trend.

My gut reaction after Richards falling on the same series was Jenny needs to be let go, but that probably wasn’t my most rational thinking. I don’t know anyone could have realistically replaced her, especially with Schoenherr’s injury in warmups, and they needed to go for broke to win this year.

 

[irichluck21]

I think it is a bit silly to call for Rowland’s firing. They suffered with many injuries in the post season, and only used 8 athletes at Nationals. All the other teams had 11 or 12 that they used. So Florida was already very limited in options for events. can you imagine if Baumann had not brought back UB this year or had committed to training VT again. She was really their MVP when you think about it, though argument for Megan Skaggs as well.

They were undefeated this year and ranked #1 at the end of post-season. They made it to Nationals (an improvement) from 2019, and made it past semi-finals. The ended up with no individual titles, but they were also unfortunate enough to be in semi-final one where you are at an unfair disadvantage compared to semi-final two.

Coaches are not just evaluated by athletic performance, they are evaluated on academic performances of the athletes, and the culture and climate they bring to the team.

Various athletes from Florida spoke out about racism and micro-aggressions being tolerated/ not dealt with under Faehn. There seems to be a completely different tone with Rowland and it is clear that the athletes respect her. Florida hosted their first PRIDE meet this year. This is a complete response to one of their gymnasts choosing to come out publicly.

Did they lose what was potentially their national championship. Maybe??? But without that fall they would have been very close to Oklahoma’s score and who knows how the team would have performed if not for that opening rotation, they all knew they were eliminated from contention.
Additionally, this was such an odd year that even though Florida started out so strong, few would predict that Oklahoma would peak at the right time (they looked rough in February-remember those BB rotations early on) Utah also peaked at the right time. Of course we know Michigan gradually built momentum as the season went on.

I think Rowland learned a lesson in terms on line up choices and perhaps will go a different route next year. Leah Clapper should absolutely be the lead off athlete on that event for example to ensure a near perfect set right off the start.