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Post by OverAndUnder on Aug 19, 2008 12:12:04 GMT -5
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Post by goGopherBill on Aug 19, 2008 12:14:14 GMT -5
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Post by OverAndUnder on Aug 19, 2008 12:16:20 GMT -5
THANK GOD WE FINALLY ALLOWED SOMEONE OTHER THAN LOGAN TO JUMPSERVE!
Lindsey's serving in the WGP and the 2007 World Cup were a HUGE part of the wins we were able to get.
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Post by cbrown1709 on Aug 19, 2008 12:29:15 GMT -5
I haven't been a fan of Berg, but damn she played some great ball today. She was more consistent and way to utilize her middles. Everyone had a big role in this win.
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Post by kolohekeiki on Aug 19, 2008 12:34:25 GMT -5
Italy wins match 1. USA comes out strong 4-0 I don't know if anyone has ever corrected you yet, but match refers to the WHOLE game, three outta five, set is for each individual game.
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Post by cardfan15 on Aug 19, 2008 12:39:59 GMT -5
Just back from the match and I'll just reaffirm how sweet it is for team USA to win this one. Italian fans have to be the most annoying fans out there...leave it to them to come to a 10 PM quarterfinal match drunk. With that off my chest, some thoughts from the match:
Italy is very good and Aguero is most certainly one of the top players in the world, if not the best right now. She is virtually unstoppable attacking from all over the court, very smart, and is so composed. However, I think one of her biggest contributions to Italy is her ability to stabilize their play from the back row. She had some incredible assists chasing after balls and has great instinct on defense. It should be no surprise that Team USA went on a run and won the second set while she was on the bench.
It was clear that the US block was completely absent in sets 1 and 3. Italy was sneaking many shots through the block because of bad timing and often the block was ill formed and they were able to exploit holes in our defense. On the Italian side, especially in set 3, they were soft blocking perfectly when their block wasn't fully formed, and were able to convert so many of those blocks into points. Italy played VERY well in set 3 and had they not come out so slow in game 4 would have surely taken the match.
Ah-Mow was off tonight and it was obvious not just from her set selection, but her inability to adjust on defense and her subsequent body language must have been telling signs that led Lang Ping to make the change to Berg. Italy was gunning for her in the front row and the back row and you could tell she was struggling tonight. Who knows why she wasn't going to her middles but Berg came in with a great plan and really sparked this team to a victory in set 4.
Logan Tom played world-class volleyball tonight. She was focused the whole match and came out with real passion, wanting this win. She passed, attacked, played defense and was just very impressive tonight. Danielle Scott also played very well throughout the match and brought great energy in the 4th and 5th sets. The fact that team USA was able to jump out so quickly in the 5th set made the difference as Italy burnt both their timeouts before the switch and could do nothing to stop the momentum.
I think people should just give the US passing woes a rest for the rest of this tournament. If the US blocks like they did in sets 4 and 5, we can beat anyone. Davis played fine tonight and actually had Aguero's number on many plays. Team USA, the players and staff, deserve a lot of credit for the effort shown tonight. They really came together in sets 4 and 5 and put together a fantastic win.
My Chinese friends who I went to the match with commented that Willoughby should be playing in front of Haneef and that they have been impressed with Willoughby's play through the tournament. She definitely adds a spark off the bench. The only thing I don't like about a USA win and a China win is the chance now that Lang Ping will have to face China for a medal. But what can you do. Congratulations to Team USA for a great win.
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Post by rogero1 on Aug 19, 2008 12:40:08 GMT -5
Ok, Paul. TYVM!
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Post by Drunken Monkey on Aug 19, 2008 12:45:21 GMT -5
“That was fun,” said wing spiker Logan Tom.
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Post by LanaiBoy on Aug 19, 2008 12:45:36 GMT -5
Agree with everyone who is wondering why heretofore the missing element in these Olympics--the jump serves. Willoughby had a great jump serve in college. I first saw Lindsey Berg when she played at Punahou as a senior. I had to smile. She just stood at the serving line and scored points after points with her wicked jump serve. It was devastating at the high school level. I can understand how it can be effective at the international level too. Great job USA. Bring on the Cubans!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Aug 19, 2008 13:29:19 GMT -5
That short step from Punahou to the Olympics.
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Post by ladeda on Aug 19, 2008 13:43:48 GMT -5
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Post by vballguy2001 on Aug 19, 2008 13:48:27 GMT -5
I find the attitude on this site to be quite entertaining. Especially when talking about the women in these olympics. It went from, USA Women are horrible. To USA Beating cuba and playing china in the gold medal match. It's funny to me.
I was surprised by the way they are playing. Somehow this team just finds a way to win. It is very impressive. They rarely make it look pretty, yet they just make it work.
I hope they beat cuba, but I have my doubts due to the fact that they got HANDLED earlier in the olympics. With that being said they will probably prove me wrong and I look forward to them doing that.
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Post by OverAndUnder on Aug 19, 2008 14:15:43 GMT -5
This was covered in a thread last week, but if you carefully read most of the more substantive posts, you'll find that the frustration comes not because we think the women are "horrible", but rather the opposite. We know that they are in fact great athletes and many of them have great skills in their positions. If they were truly only good enough to be a 7th place team, then I'd be happy with a 6th place finish. But that's not the case. It's frustrating to watch a program that could be a perennial top 5 contender with a few top 3 finishes struggle with consistency and perform below their potential.
There's a difference between who you are and what you do. One mistake doesn't make someone an idiot and one philanthropic act doesn't make Kim Jong-Il a saint. With the exception of a few psychotic people here, the rest of us don't think the USA Women are "horrible". But sometimes they play horribly.
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Post by cardfan15 on Aug 19, 2008 14:22:01 GMT -5
Just watched some of the videos of Lang Ping on NBC's website. She mentioned that China lost to the US in 1984 in pool play and so when they faced them in the gold medal match they knew that the first set was very important for them. There is no doubt in my mind Lang Ping will have team USA ready for Cuba on Thursday. She has been great this Olympics, leading team USA to a 5-1 record and a shot at the gold medal match.
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Post by bownlovingfreak on Aug 19, 2008 14:28:28 GMT -5
I feel good against the Cubans. I just feel a little sad because USA and Cuba are my favorite teams and would've loved to see them battle it for gold. Also, such a shame for Italy. They played so tough. Strange that pool B had three teams emerge to the semi finals (CUB, CHN, USA) and pool A only one (BRA), when I thought pool A was definetely stronger.
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