Gymnastics Ranked #3 halfway through the season

[statgrad96]

I think worth discussing is that Ashley Johnson has slowly rebuilt this team into something that is getting competitive again with top teams. We are currently #3 and I don't think we've had our A-game yet.

That said, 7 of the top 10 are SEC schools, so nothing will be easy.

 

[4Q Basket Case]

Gymnastics is different from other sports in that rankings are based on average scores, not wins and losses.

So far this season, this Alabama team has proven remarkably consistent. No, it doesn't have the ceiling of some other schools. But it consistently does its best.....which is a big change from the last couple of years.

If we can improve just a bit on vault, we have a chance to be a legitimate contender.

So far on vault, we've consistently been a tad sloppy. No big mistakes, but we've given away tenths and halves of tenths here and there, and it just adds up. Most of it is on landings. Small hops, the occasional bigger step, sometimes landing just slightly out of bounds.

If we can maintain the consistency elsewhere and get pesky details on the vault cleaned up, we'll challenge at the very top.

The floor rotation in Coleman against Oregon State was glorious. It was the first time in forever we've put six gymnasts out there who looked like a Sarah Patterson coached team.

 

[rolltide_21]

They’re much improved. Impressed with what Coach Johnson is rebuilding there. The previous coach followed a legend. So it was always going to be what the “next, next” coach would do.

 

[statgrad96]

Gymnastics is different from other sports in that rankings are based on average scores, not wins and losses.

So far this season, this Alabama team has proven remarkably consistent. No, it doesn't have the ceiling of some other schools. But it consistently does its best.....which is a big change from the last couple of years.

If we can improve just a bit on vault, we have a chance to be a legitimate contender.

So far on vault, we've consistently been a tad sloppy. No big mistakes, but we've given away tenths and halves of tenths here and there, and it just adds up. Most of it is on landings. Small hops, the occasional bigger step, sometimes landing just slightly out of bounds.

If we can maintain the consistency elsewhere and get pesky details on the vault cleaned up, we'll challenge at the very top.

The floor rotation in Coleman against Oregon State was glorious. It was the first time in forever we've put six gymnasts out there who looked like a Sarah Patterson coached team.

I agree about Vault, though it has improved over last year. That said, watching the Oklahoma meet, the difference really came down to the fact that Oklahoma sticks at least half its vaults. Not sure our issue there, but if we could improve, we would really be in contention for the final 4 at Nationals.

BTW, not sure if anyone would go, but we went to Nationals last year and that Dickies Arena in Fort Worth may be the nicest arena I've ever been in...

 

[TideATL70]

Great points by all- we seem to be a notch above where we were under Coach Duckworth-who by no means was a failure, just a tough situation- kinda like Ray Perkins in 83

 

[4Q Basket Case]

Incremental improvements this past Friday against Arkansas.

Finally hit a couple of landings on the Vault, and posted 49.5 on that apparatus. Maintained consistency on others. Floor was a fraction of a tick off from the Oregon State meet, but still good.

Final score was the best of the season thus far — 197.95. Just barely missing elite level 198.

We’re definitely trending in the right direction. The combination of overall consistency and incremental improvement feels like a fundamentally sound, well-coached team….as distinct from just having an “on” night here and there.

Also, freshman Azaraya (Ali or maybe Azi) Ra-Akbar is a budding star. She can be slightly inconsistent, but that’s being a freshman, and she’s already showing improvement on that front.

She’s for real.

 

[4Q Basket Case]

How ‘bout the Gym Tide!!!

Another 197.95, this one on the road at the barn!

I’m so impressed with this team’s consistency. No, they might not have the 198.50 ceiling of Oklahoma — yet — but they don’t yak up any hairballs, even under pressure.

The way gymnastics rankings work (average scores, not Ws and Ls), we won’t move up even after the best two consecutive meets in program history.

But we’ve dang sure got the attention of the college gymnastics world.

Side note — Going into the weekend, 7 of the top 8 teams are in the SEC.

 

[4Q Basket Case]

Look at the blue box all the way at the bottom. The most Auburn thing ever.

 

[rolltide_21]

View attachment 55727
Look at the blue box all the way at the bottom. The most Auburn thing ever.

To be fair I’ve seen something similar on Bama’s X feed. See the match vs. OU. “Highest Score This Season” with OU’s winning score in small print