Lambo ranked #1 in NCAA survey for coaches

[WstateU]

Who's the best coach in the country that doesn't get enough credit?

http://www.ncaa.com/news/volleyball-women/article/2017-09-26/womens-volleyball-what-do-coaches-think-about-their-sport

*Who’s the best player in the country that doesn’t get enough credit?

@abbie22lehman is #3 for players

[1972Shocker]

Not only is Abbie #3 on the underrated player list but the Shocks have faced and defeated the teams of the two players tied for 1st. Carlyle Nusbaum of Lipscomb and Lydia Dimke of Creighton.

Nice to see that Lambo and the Shocker program get that kind of respect.

[WuDrWu]

Not only is Abbie #3 on the underrated player list but the Shocks have faced and defeated the teams of the two players tied for 1st. Carlyle Nusbaum of Lipscomb and Lydia Dimke of Creighton.

Nice to see that Lambo and the Shocker program get that kind of respect.

Both outstanding players. I'm surprised, with Creighton's success, that Dimke is underrated, but I get she's not at Texas, B1G or PAC14. Nusbaum is a stud.

[shockmonster]

Who's the best coach in the country that doesn't get enough credit?

http://www.ncaa.com/news/volleyball-women/article/2017-09-26/womens-volleyball-what-do-coaches-think-about-their-sport

*Who’s the best player in the country that doesn’t get enough credit?

@abbie22lehman is #3 for players

I'm not a volleyball expert by any means. Lambo imo ranks right up there with Marshall as a great coach anywhere but for sure he was PERFECT for WSU.

[1972Shocker]

I'm not a volleyball expert by any means. Lambo imo ranks right up there with Marshall as a great coach anywhere but for sure he was PERFECT for WSU.

I have asked myself who will be harder to replace when they decide to retire or move on to other things, 3G or Lambo? Both are outstanding coaches who seem to have a uniqueness about them. Lambo in particular seems to be one of a kind. Hopefully, it is a long, long time before we have to face either one of those situations.

[rrshock]

I have asked myself who will be harder to replace when they decide to retire or move on to other things, 3G or Lambo? Both are outstanding coaches who seem to have a uniqueness about them. Lambo in particular seems to be one of a kind. Hopefully, it is a long, long time before we have to face either one of those situations.

Hopefully Lambo won't be going anywhere anytime soon. I think he honestly will be harder to replace, unless he has an assistant in waiting.

[pogo]

With Wichita State entering the American and HCCL ideas on building a schedule in the non conference does anyone think that he being in the American will influence any other American volleyball coaches to schedule tougher or do you think the schools they represent are satisfied with the status quo.

[1972Shocker]

With Wichita State entering the American and HCCL ideas on building a schedule in the non conference does anyone think that he being in the American will influence any other American volleyball coaches to schedule tougher or do you think the schools they represent are satisfied with the status quo.

I think it is really hard to predict whether or not Lambo's thoughts and ideas on building schedules and formatting conference play will have much impact or not. One thing to keep in mind is that WSU is the only AAC school without football. Clearly the AAC wants to be known as a Power6 conference. That means football will clearly be the focus of the league and its members along with men's basketball and, of course, that is where the resources and recognition are mostly generated and expended. Whether or not they can elevate women's volleyball to a level competitive with the Power 5 conferences is relatively unimportant as are most of the other olympic sports. The Power5 conferences show that strong volleyball programs can co-exist with football but that may very well be due to their huge advantages in funding from their big TV contracts.

As far as volleyball goes it's not enough just to build a good schedule but you have to build a program that can win with a good schedule to make it of value. Some really key injuries this year have not helped the AAC. The AAC actually had a pretty good RPI ranking last year as they had the 6th best conference RPI. It appears that this year, even with the addition of the Shockers, the AAC has taken a step back from last year in terms of conference RPI rank.

The Valley did a pretty good job in recent years in getting multiple bids. That was largely due to WSU, UNI and MSU having good programs, putting together very good non-con schedules and doing well with those schedules and having a post-season tournament that was often won by someone other than the regular season champ. Clearly the Valley is hurt by the loss of WSU. I would expect UNI and MSU will continue to be strong programs but not sure anyone else will step up to fill the void left by WSU.

I think the AAC can do the same thing. They don't need the whole league to step up. Just 3 or 4 good programs that have good non-con scheduling philosophies. I think that can happen and perhaps, in most years, will happen. Whether the AAC will also adopt a 6-team post-season tournament like the Valley had remains to be seen. The problem is that it is probably not much of a money maker.

[flyingMoose]

(Not bothering to quote anybody ...)

The ACC is the P5 conference to catch in volleyball.

Lambo is not the only coach (and probably not the first) to understand the reliance on RPI that the NCAA has for selecting at-large teams and understand how to use that reliance in building your schedule. (Try to schedule as many teams as you can that you can beat that will win 20 matches - teams that will do well in their own mid-major conference. This is probably an over-simplification.) Of course as noted, your team has to be good enough to win 20+ matches of their own. I have seen a few quotes (I think) from AAC coaches that understand the concept. Now will they build a team and a schedule to benefit themselves? Lambo will keep preaching, because it benefits his team if other conference teams try to build their RPI.

[WuDrWu]

Maybe the wrong spot for it....

Pablo (probably the best ranking formula out there, for any sport) has WSU 27th right now. 4-3 against the top 100 4-0 100-150. Really good stuff Rich Kern has for a great value (shameless plug).

[UCONN_Husky]

I have a few questions about Invitationals and scheduling OOC.

Other than hosting your own Invitational and inviting 3 specific schools, how do you ensure quality competitors at an Invitational? For example, UCONN participated in the Bradley Invite this year. Other schools involved were UMKC and Grand Canyon. If UCONN was the last one invited then they probably should have declined, but what if UCONN was the first to commit? In order to avoid a not-so-great field, do you only sign onto invitationals that already have quality participants?

Thanks!

[WuDrWu]

One of the many things about Lambo that is great is that if you ask him a question, you can sit back, grab a drink and relax, because he's unlikely to give you a one word answer (fair warning....if you ask Coach Marshall a yes/no question at the wrong time....beware). He'll go into shocking detail.

According to him, a lot of it is knowing coaches. They talk and try to work together on who is best for their own situation. Lambo was opening concerned, for instance, about Duquense in the Oregon tourney and said so to their coach, so they went out and got a strong Cal Poly team, made stronger when they added a top 50 transfer. Also, it seems when they get a decent group that they stay together for 2-3 years to maintain that stability.

[flyingMoose]

You ask the host school, "Who do you have coming? Who are you trying to get?" Lambo has talked specifically about the Oregon tournament this year. Oregon fits the profile of a team he would like to have as part of his non-con. He knew Duquesne was coming. He could take one school like that (i.e., not going to help his RPI) in a tournament, but not a second one. When he learned Cal Poly was coming, he said, "I'm in." (A factor in this case is that he was looking for a tournament in Oregon or nearby since there is a senior from Oregon on the roster.)

Creighton, Iowa State and the Shockers have a thing going right now, rotating hosting a tournament between the three of them that the others put on their schedule. With that lineup, it can tough to get a fourth team to come, but Lambo gets two good RPI matches out of the weekend.

[1972Shocker]

(A factor in this case is that he was looking for a tournament in Oregon or nearby since there is a senior from Oregon on the roster.)

Although he did tell Mikaela that it might not happen depending on who Oregon could lineup as the 4th team in the tournament. When Oregon secured Cal Poly Lambo jumped on it. Had Oregon secured Evansville instead, Mikaela would have had to be disappointed.

Also, it's partly science and partly guess work to find Mid-Major teams like Lipscomb who themselves play a decent non-con schedule and who are projected to be at or near the top of their conference by the end of the year. Sometimes you get that right, sometimes you don't. Lambo's target is that by year-end our non-con opponents have a winning percentage of 63-65%. Currently our non-con opponents are sitting right around 60%. So we need them to do well in conference play to reach Lambo's target.

I can assure Lambo did not just pluck those numbers out of the air. He is a stat geek and he no doubt has delved into how to move the needle with the RPI.

Clearly trying to schedule like this is harder to do and requires more patience and work than just throwing together whoever seems to be avialable and perhaps provide a coach with some wins. Also, the Shockers typicallly only have one non-con tournament at home and in some years we have had none. I believe Lambo would rather go on the road for a quality tournament than to stay home for a questionable tournament.

Creighton, Iowa State and the Shockers have a thing going right now, rotating hosting a tournament between the three of them that the others put on their schedule. With that lineup, it can tough to get a fourth team to come, but Lambo gets two good RPI matches out of the weekend.

Yeah, he could not find an acceptable 4th team to join the Shocks, Iowa State and Creighton this year in Wichita so they just went with a 3-team setup.

Lambo also has a rotation going with Marquette and IUPUI although IUPUI seems to have fallen off a bit. But they have done a pretty good job of getting a solid 4th team. Last year it was Cincy and this year Miami (OH). I suppose as long as they can get that decent 4th slot filled they can live with IUPUI perhaps falling off a bit in the past couple of years.

[shocksrbest]

(Not bothering to quote anybody ...)

The ACC is the P5 conference to catch in volleyball.

Lambo is not the only coach (and probably not the first) to understand the reliance on RPI that the NCAA has for selecting at-large teams and understand how to use that reliance in building your schedule. (Try to schedule as many teams as you can that you can beat that will win 20 matches - teams that will do well in their own mid-major conference. This is probably an over-simplification.) Of course as noted, your team has to be good enough to win 20+ matches of their own. I have seen a few quotes (I think) from AAC coaches that understand the concept. Now will they build a team and a schedule to benefit themselves? Lambo will keep preaching, because it benefits his team if other conference teams try to build their RPI.

Ironically this might be one of the few sports for the Shocks where changing conferences actually hurt them.