Post by baywatcher on Aug 18, 2008 0:19:03 GMT -5
Just to get a forum started with no giving away the result. I was disappointed in the draw; USA beats China, gets to play Italy instead of Russia. Italy was invincible last year, not quite so this year. I saw Italy destroy Russia in this tournament, then get outclassed by Brazil this morning. My inexperienced impression was that Italy was passing great, but their setter wasn't passing away from Brazil at all. Whether the setter wasn't fooling anyone, or Brazil knew Italy's plays, or the offense was predictable, I'm not clear, but at one point I believe Brazil lead 17-0 in blocks. That may be a different game, but the Cuban outside for Italy was getting no open looks, whereas she blew Russia, or somebody else, off the court earlier.
I believe it was Barnett that said that he had come to the belated opinion that Middles were the most important players on the floor, and that Brazil had the two best. This was as the Brazilians were keeping Italy from even breaching the front line. Brazil's middles are good, but the American middles seem to be a real strength of the team. Bown and Scott are cagey veterans who seem to be in good position most of the time, and Joines showed why she made the team with some excellent blocking today. All three can score, but the passing remains uneven and limits their chances. Italy, meantime, seemed to have one world class middle and the other, not as good. I have hopes the Americans, with good digging and an organized block, can defend against Italy nearly as well as Brazil. The Italian attack seemed one dimensional and somewhat predictable. Of course, the Cuban lady on Italy had a poor day. If she comes out on fire the USA is in trouble, and the Italian pass remained much stronger than the USA throughout.
As for the Italian defense, the Brazilian pass was so much better than the American has been there is almost no way to compare. Brazil has great hitters, an excellent setter and good passing to utilize each; looked very nice and blew Italy out of the water, mostly.
One interesting facet was that, for the last few games, Haneef was out and Nnamani and Willoughby were in, also periodically replacing Glass. Glass, Haneef and Nnamani seemed to flash in and out of the OPP and OH positions, with little pattern to who played what. Nnamani seemed to play the most at OPP; Scott was out a long time, then came back with Nnamani in the fourth or fifth set and got some well coordinated blocks on the Polish opposite that had been scoring a lot.
So Italy has been winning and it looked like Brazil outplayed them more than Italy self destructed today. Italy will out pass the USA, but then everybody seems to and USA still keeps winning. Hopefully the USA can make enough great individual plays to keep close and eventually win v. Italy, then get Cuba in the second round.
I believe it was Barnett that said that he had come to the belated opinion that Middles were the most important players on the floor, and that Brazil had the two best. This was as the Brazilians were keeping Italy from even breaching the front line. Brazil's middles are good, but the American middles seem to be a real strength of the team. Bown and Scott are cagey veterans who seem to be in good position most of the time, and Joines showed why she made the team with some excellent blocking today. All three can score, but the passing remains uneven and limits their chances. Italy, meantime, seemed to have one world class middle and the other, not as good. I have hopes the Americans, with good digging and an organized block, can defend against Italy nearly as well as Brazil. The Italian attack seemed one dimensional and somewhat predictable. Of course, the Cuban lady on Italy had a poor day. If she comes out on fire the USA is in trouble, and the Italian pass remained much stronger than the USA throughout.
As for the Italian defense, the Brazilian pass was so much better than the American has been there is almost no way to compare. Brazil has great hitters, an excellent setter and good passing to utilize each; looked very nice and blew Italy out of the water, mostly.
One interesting facet was that, for the last few games, Haneef was out and Nnamani and Willoughby were in, also periodically replacing Glass. Glass, Haneef and Nnamani seemed to flash in and out of the OPP and OH positions, with little pattern to who played what. Nnamani seemed to play the most at OPP; Scott was out a long time, then came back with Nnamani in the fourth or fifth set and got some well coordinated blocks on the Polish opposite that had been scoring a lot.
So Italy has been winning and it looked like Brazil outplayed them more than Italy self destructed today. Italy will out pass the USA, but then everybody seems to and USA still keeps winning. Hopefully the USA can make enough great individual plays to keep close and eventually win v. Italy, then get Cuba in the second round.
