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

 

[4Q Basket Case]

Well, not a great performance tonight.

The good news is that we beat Kentucky. Other good news is that we did that with several ladies that hadn't see much action during the rest of the season.

Why they broke into tonight's lineup, I don't know. Because they earned it? Because Coach wasn't satisfied with the regulars and decided to shake things up? Because it was senior night? I don't know. I do know they showed why they hadn't seen much previous action.

The bad news is that gymnastics rankings don't work off of Ws and Ls. They work off of average scores. Tonight, the lack of precision on vault and beam, compounded by a major blunder, finally caught up with us.

Had three falls tonight. The first vaulter of the meet fell on her butt. The other five did OK, but not great. They continued the pattern of giving up tenths and halves of tenths here and there, especially on the landings. Those small deductions just add up. Did OK on the bars, though below our season average.

Then came the beam. First two gymnasts fell. So with four to go on the apparatus, we know for a fact we're counting a fall. The final four did well, but counting a fall is usually death. It would have been if Kentucky was a better team.

There was some weirdness on one of our scores on the beam. One judge gave 9.95. The other gave 9.65. That's a massive difference. There was a long confab, and it ended with up at 9.75. Then some time later, there was an upward adjustment. I don't know how all that works, but that's what happened.

We knocked it out of the park on floor for a solid win. Good psychological resilience. But bad that we dug that hole to begin with.

We went into the meet ranked #3. Never mind the win, the score is what matters. We had a 197.25, which will probably mean we slip to #4. Nationally, seven of the top eight teams are in the SEC. It's not likely we oust #1 Oklahoma regardless. But we have a legitimate shot at #2.....if we don't blunder.

There are 24 total routines in a gymnastics meet. You drop the lowest score in each of the four apparatuses (apparati?). So 20 count in your final score.

For us, at least 15 (often 18) of those can stand toe-to-toe with #1 Oklahoma.

But we have to find a way not to donate about half a point through mistakes ranging from small to major.

 

[statgrad96]

Well, not a great performance tonight.

The good news is that we beat Kentucky. Other good news is that we did that with several ladies that hadn't see much action during the rest of the season.

Why they broke into tonight's lineup, I don't know. Because they earned it? Because Coach wasn't satisfied with the regulars and decided to shake things up? Because it was senior night? I don't know. I do know they showed why they hadn't seen much previous action.

The bad news is that gymnastics rankings don't work off of Ws and Ls. They work off of average scores. Tonight, the lack of precision on vault and beam finally caught up with us, compounded by a major blunder, finally caught up with us.

Had three falls tonight. The first vaulter of the meet fell on her butt. The other five did OK, but not great. They continued the pattern of giving up tenths and halves of tenths here and there, especially on the landings. Those small deductions just add up. Did OK on the bars, though below our season average.

Then came the beam. First two gymnasts fell. So with four to go on the apparatus, we know for a fact we're counting a fall. The final four did well, but counting a fall is usually death. It would have been if Kentucky was a better team.

There was some weirdness on one of our scores on the beam. One judge gave 9.95. The other gave 9.65. That's a massive difference. There was a long confab, and it ended with up at 9.75. Then some time later, there was an upward adjustment. I don't know how all that works, but that's what happened.

We knocked it out of the park on floor for a solid win. Good psychological resilience. But bad that we dug that hole to begin with.

We went into the meet ranked #3. Never mind the win, the score is what matters. We had a 197.25, which will probably mean we slip to #4. Nationally, seven of the top eight teams are in the SEC. It's not likely we oust #1 Oklahoma regardless. But we have a legitimate shot at #2.....if we don't blunder.

There are 24 total routines in a gymnastics meet. You drop the lowest score in each of the four apparatuses (apparati?). So 20 count in your final score.

For us, at least 15 (often 18) of those can stand toe-to-toe with #1 Oklahoma.

But we have to find a way not to donate about half a point through mistakes ranging from small to major.

Had another off beam routine day today as well. Had really excellent scores on the bars, but had a 9.5 and two scores in the 9.6 range that kept us under a 49 total on the beam. We need to get that cleaned up before regionals. We will probably fall the fifth or sixth this week.

 

[TideATL70]

Disappointed to see us drop the meet to UGA, but scores were strong and that is what matters. The Dawgs will probably never regain the type of years they had under Youclan, but they are improved over the last few seasons of Courtney Kupets. Hoping we peak in the postseason!!

 

[statgrad96]

Better showing at SEC’s, finishing this time ahead of UGA. If we could get vault figured out, we could be dangerous…

 

[statgrad96]

Disappointing end to the year. Second lowest score of the year sees us go home from Regionals. I will say, I thought that we were severely underscored compared to the other teams, but I still don't think we'd have got there

 

[TideATL70]

Agree with Statgrad- after being in the top five, really thought we'd advance yesterday but scores just weren't there. Still a solid season but hankering for another Banner for Coleman. I'm sure UGA would like to get back to Youclan days, but the competition has grown quite a bit in the last 15-20 years.