Just wanted to take the time to welcome the newest rice athletes to the fold. to the parents thank you for allowing your children to choose us. we are a family, albeit a bit dysfunctional from time to time, but we are a true family. I played during the hatfield era and created some of my best friends to this point in my life. so much so that two of my teammates families are referred to as aunts, uncles, and cousins...my kids truly believe they are blood related. this opportunity is exactly what you choose to make it. whatever promises that were said are true if and only if your son is willing to free his mind to allow rice to take hold....thank you again for choosing a great university.....hooty-hoo...Lovett '02

Well said and thank you for what you gave to the University. We all appreciate it very much.

nightowl - Thanks, as always for your efforts and input... the clock is ticking on when your sons names will hit the recruiting pages.

dragon2owl - thanks for posting that as well. It looks like it will be an exciting group to follow as they begin to make an impact.

Loved the soccer signing video. Very well-produced.

As someone not familiar with soccer lingo or strategy, I have a couple questions:

1) Nicky refers several times to the way the Rice team plays soccer, or her "system," and how the recruits will "fit in" well. Can someone describe what that approach/system is and compare it to other approaches? Is this more like Nicky's style ... or one that she has created to maximize the performance, given the level of soccer athlete that chooses to come to Rice?

2) What does "final third" mean? She mentions how she expects several of the recruits to be effective "in the final third." Does this phrase refer to part of the field closest to the goal (so the athletes are good at generating assists and scores)? Or might it refer to the final third of a period, and refers more to physical endurance or the recruit is most likely to see playing time initially as a fresh burst of energy in the latter thirds of the soccer periods? Or something else entirely?

Many thanks, in advance, for your explanations.

You were correct in surmising final third as referring to the part of the field with the other team's goal, so yes offensive players. I am sorry to say I haven't followed the team recently so don't know its style of play.

Happy Signing Day, ya'll. And welcome new Rice football players.
Just Win, baby!

As today is Football signing day, this seems appropriate:

Jerry Clower tells story about playing College Football

(02-04-2015 03:59 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  Loved the soccer signing video. Very well-produced.

As someone not familiar with soccer lingo or strategy, I have a couple questions:

1) Nicky refers several times to the way the Rice team plays soccer, or her "system," and how the recruits will "fit in" well. Can someone describe what that approach/system is and compare it to other approaches? Is this more like Nicky's style ... or one that she has created to maximize the performance, given the level of soccer athlete that chooses to come to Rice?

System can refer to the alignment ... 4-4-2 was in vogue, now many teams play 3-5-2-1. Basically, you start with the number of defenders, and list numbers of each line in advance. The numbers add up to 10, the keepers making it 11 versus 11. Whatever alignment you use, you try to set up geometries with triangles or diamonds, so that you have 2-3 or more choices to pass. 4-4-2 is four defenders, four midfielders, and two strikers/forwards. 4 can be a straight line or diamond alignment. 5 generally looks like two lines, one with 3, the other with two. On offense, the outside wingers move up, making a 3-5-2 look more like a 3-3-4... on defense, it looks like a 5-3-2, unless you are Mexico, in which case it looks like the GK is in a heap of trouble (prior to the world cup, they were a mess, but they actually fixed it pretty well when it came to the WC).

Style refers to the basic philosophy of play... possession with short passing to move up the field, "kick and run", where you utilize long passing and speed. Barcelona made the tiki-taka style famous, and dominated for a few years with it (tiki taka is just an alliteration because you use quick, one-touch passing...you would sometimes find 6-7 players in a circle during play, one touch passing to free up someone to go on goal). At its best, it would involve a dozen or so passes leading up to a goal. But, it's fundamentally a defensive system, where you keep the ball so much of the time and develop chances to score at will. Kind of like Hatfield's time of possession, keep the clock running kind of offense, or motion offense in basketball. It is pretty exciting to watch, as it requires good skill, touch, communication, and movement from your players.

I think that Rice uses the short passing, but is more vertically oriented, and wouldn't qualify as tiki taka, or close to it. I think they are more likely to use short passing in groups of 2 or 3 to advance up the field, then look to play the ball in from the wings. But, my experience in seeing Rice play is unfortunately very limited.

A tall, back that can slow down and stop any opponent may not be a great fit at outside back for coach Nicky's team because she values ball skills and speed to move up and help the offense. That doesn't mean she would be a bad player for someone else, but those aren't the attributes coach Nicky looks for.

(02-04-2015 03:59 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  2) What does "final third" mean? She mentions how she expects several of the recruits to be effective "in the final third." Does this phrase refer to part of the field closest to the goal (so the athletes are good at generating assists and scores)? Or might it refer to the final third of a period, and refers more to physical endurance or the recruit is most likely to see playing time initially as a fresh burst of energy in the latter thirds of the soccer periods? Or something else entirely?

Many thanks, in advance, for your explanations.

The first one. Final third is basically the part of the field where you can score with one or two touches (you can either make a goal with a shot or pass for another player to finish. There is nothing formal about the final third... it's just the third of the field where you are at your most dangerous.

So, what she is saying is that she has recruits that can either score or make dangerous passes to assist players that can then finish the goal, whether they play defense, midfield, or forward. (I used to tell my players that the best players in the world are ones that can make dangerous passes, and that's true of players like Lionel Messi and Christiano Ronaldo...they may not be the best passers on the field, but they are the best players because they can score and make those passes). The Canadian player she described as a wingback, who would be a defender that will advance all the way up the field along the wing (sideline) to either make passes or shoot on goal herself. She may not score, but I bet she will make a lot of assists.

Thanks I45Owl and Owl75 for your lucid explanations!