The first stage of the Tribe's journey to Prague was completed on the weekend with a strong victory at the Vic Mixed Championships.
Pick Rule
No one knows the current Pick rule properly! Too many times I see a Pick called and then the disc returned to the thrower, irregardless of whether the pick was called during/after the throw or if it affected the play. If a Pick has been called, the following questions should be asked:
- Was the Pick CALLED before the throw or during/after?
- If during/after, did the pick affect possession?
If it was AFTER, and the pick DIDN'T affect possession, the play stands.
There was a particularly interesting point during the Final v Cranky where a pick was called on a pass that Lori caught for a goal for Tribe. A Cranky player insisted the disc should just go back to the thrower, however I was keen to actually ask the questions above to check if it really should. That wasn't take to well and in a bug huff Cranky just declared it a goal. It's rare that a team kicks up a fuss and then almost demands that a goal be awarded against them!
But that doesn't mean that players shouldn't ask the right questions after a Pick, or any other call.
Defensive Pressure
As I noted in my post Nats post, I feel I can apply good Defensive Pressure if I apply myself, I just don't apply myself enough. I had the chance to mark up on Gak again this weekend and got to apply some good pressure. Obviously he's still Gak so can pretty much do what he wanted, but I made it a little bit harder (plus I got a layout D on him that sadly involved a bit too much contact and was an uncontested foul). I have to try and find someone to focus on applying that pressure on other players too.
Handling
Handling can be pretty fun. As we were short some of our key handlers, I called myself as a handler every point. Ever since Al Don called me as a handler at Mixed Nats 06 in Ballarat I have had a fair amount of confidence handling, and largely due to the excessive amount of League that I play, I am now fairly handy. I am hoping though that when we have our full squad that I can go down field much more often and be just as useful. My decision making with the disc was the best it has ever been, especially in the final, and I think it was because I didn't hold onto the disc for too long. Our team plan is to move the disc quickly, which means that when I get the disc, I look for where I think a good cut would be, and if it's on, I throw it. If it's not, I look somewhere else. I feel that previously my poor decision making came from holding onto the disc for too long and then forcing a throw that wasn't really on. If I focus on moving it quickly, that doesn't become such an issue.
Fun Times
It was so refreshing to play on a team that was so competitive yet so enjoyable. It will be interesting to see if we can maintain that when put under greater pressure at Mixed Nats, but the signs are promising.
Double Game Point
Cranky had a handful of double game points over the weekend, all of which they won, and it was no surprise (well it was a surprise that they got pushed to Double Game Point, but no surprise they won). When push comes to shove, the better teams step up and do what has to be done when it has to be done. As much as those games can sometimes come down to luck, or lack there of, the luck will fall on the side of the better team more often than not. I think it comes down to 2 key things - doing those little things that extra bit harder/better and also having the confidence that things will go your way. Belief can go a long way.
Good Team v Team of Good Players
I got to watch a little bit of the semi between Cranky and MUCUS and it was quite amazing. I looked at every single match-up on the field, and Cranky had the better play in every one. But MUCUS still scored. They scored because they are actually a team, they play together often and they play together well. MUCUS took the half by a few points and looked quite close causing an upset. It didn't happen in the end, but it did show the value in playing as a proper team. It also showed the flaw in assuming you are better than the other team and just waiting for them to stuff up, as Cranky seemed to do.
8 comments:
congratulations the the tiny tiny horses for the win on the weekend..
Hope to see you up there again in a few weeks time down in tassie..
aL
Stop Handeling and try handling!!
Reuben -
Can you clear something up for me? This is taken from a situation observed at the Semi Finals of AUG this weekend past.
Situation: A swing to a handler goes up and the offense doesn't catch it, though they do put a hand on it. However, 30 meters downfield, a pick has been called (I am unsure of the timing).
What's the go here? Does it depend on the timing of the pick, or is it indeed irrelevant due the fact that it was downfield and had no bearing on the offenses unforced error (whether of that of the intended receiver or the thrower)?
Another question: What is the boundaries of 'affecting the play?' Does it include a receiver (not involved in the pick call)dropping a disc at their chest because they were 'distracted'? What about not catching a disc requiring a run but they stopped because of the call?
The timing of the Pick call is important (note it's the timing of the call, not the actual Pick).
If it's before the throw (or act of throwing) then no turnover is possible. The disc goes back to the thrower irregardless of any outcome.
If it's after the throw (or the act of throwing) then Offence has to complete the pass. If they don't, it's a turnover, irregardless of "affected possesion". That's because the Defence has called the Violation, so if they gain possesion after the call, play continues. (16.1.2.1.)
It's only if it's after the throw, and completed, that "affected the possession" counts. That's because the Defence has to decide if they think the Pick affected possesion. If they do, the disc goes back to the thrower. If they don't, eg the receiver would have caught the pass irregardless of the pick, then the defence gets to cacth up to where they would have been and play continues with a check.
See Page 20 if this doc for a diagram that might help too:
http://www.wfdf.org/rules/WFDF_Rules_of_Ultimate_2009_Interpretations.pdf
Yuck. That doesn't seem to make much sense in terms of fair play of the game:
In that case, the only thing affecting the 'right' of turnover was the fact that the defense had made a call.
What I mean is this: If the defense hadn't made a call downfield (in this case meaning apart from the play) the turnover would have still resulted regardless. In essence, this means that the Defense would have been better off NOT making the call, as it resulted in the Offense getting a disc back that it had lost through an unforced error...
Doesn't that seem a little goofy - the Defense making legitimate calls (or alternatively having to choose which infractions to call) downfield that result in nullifying a legitimate turnover?
Anyway, thanks for the answer - I'll be sure to keep those clarifications in mind this weekend. Hope to see you there!
PS - Irregardless is terrible... 'without'-'regard'-'without' = redundant prefixes!
We have to draw a line in the sand somewhere, and at the moment this is where the line is. If a Pick is called before the throw, play is deemed to have stopped straight away. (We are looking into this issue though and it may be adjsusted).
I'm glad you dislike irregardless. It's our new pet word down here in Melbourne. Irregardless of it not making sense, we still like to use it.
Haha, ok. As long as you know about irregardless. I appreciate the triple usage in your first response. :)
I guess I get what the rules are attempting to address, but it's such a shame that a defensive line is hindered by making a legitimate call.
In this case, they'd forced a turnover (due to the wind) 5 metres from the endzone in high winds - giving the defense's team an upwind attempt 5 metres out - but it was retracted due to a pick call that had no impact on the actual play of the disc. The game was a really hard fought universe point game, and I personally believe the defensive team was done an injustice by the rules such as they were.
However, I'm also aware that I'm neglecting to mention their in-game strategic decisions or abilities that otherwise let them down to make the game so close. :)
Post a Comment