|
Post by Keystonekid on Aug 25, 2008 15:23:31 GMT -5
Murina, Nnamani may be able to attack as an M2 but would get run over as a blocker. As an Outside blocker you have time, and smaller players with big jumps can get up there. But to Block in the middle you have to have size, as you only have time for a short quick jump.
|
|
|
Post by Phaedrus on Aug 25, 2008 15:40:30 GMT -5
May-Treanor and Walsh made it on the Today show the day after they won gold. On that interview they said that the qualification process is two years, so they can pump the babies out the first two years and then qualify for London in the next two.
No, I don't know if they were joking. Knowing those two, they were probably serious. Nothing like putting the pressure on the hubbies to produce.
"The temperature is right hon, lets go!!"
|
|
|
Post by VolleyTX on Aug 25, 2008 15:55:31 GMT -5
Tell that to Gioli of Italy! What is she... about 6 feet?
I don't think it's Nnamani's size that is an issue with becoming a Middle blocker.... its her movement. While she does have a nice approach on the outside, I just can not see her being able to move across the net with the same speed. I've always been amazed for someone so athletic that she moves so awkwardly on defense. I think this same awkwardness would come into play moving parallel to the net.
|
|
|
Post by USAFAN on Aug 25, 2008 16:15:00 GMT -5
Few random thoughts: - For some reason I am not completely sold on Klineman. For her height she doesn't possess stellar jumping ability or a very quick arm swing. Unless she dramatically improves I just don't think she is dynamic enough to start for the USA. - The US is not going to be utilizing a 6-2 system. It's much more complicated than it looks and even athletes like Engle are not good enough attackers like the Cuban team's setters/opposites. Setting will be the most difficult and important position that needs to be developed over this quadrennial. From what I've seen from McGinnis I think there is some potential there, but she still has a pretty long way to go.I would like to see a setter who is in the 5-10/11' range who as quick as the smaller setters,but isn't a total liability in the front row. - I'd like to see the USA get an opposite who can hit a variety of different sets. What makes Sheilla from Brazil so spectacular is that she can hit from anywhere and really diversifies the Brazilian offense. Zhou from China also runs a lot of different combos and it puts a lot of stress on the oppositions blockers. I think they did their best with Haneef and trying to turn her into a big gun, but I think she hit her peak and that they should look for someone who is quicker and more varied.
|
|
|
Post by Keystonekid on Aug 25, 2008 20:33:15 GMT -5
USAFAN, you are going to see the setter you are describing this weekend!
|
|
|
Post by hammer on Aug 25, 2008 20:45:37 GMT -5
The US should always be a dominant power in beach (not sand) volleyball provided the LA area doesn't get blasted by nuclear weapons. The combination of numerous true deep sand beaches, high population density, and a nearly perfect climate provide a statistical advantage that makes it hard for other countries to compete against. When tournaments are held at the shrines of beach volleyball, like Hermosa and Manhatten, under true beach conditions, the US will dominate because of the incredible ball control skills that are needed and only perfected under these conditions.
|
|
|
Post by OverAndUnder on Aug 25, 2008 22:05:06 GMT -5
Ya, SoCal is at a distinct advantage, what with the laws of physics that apply everywhere else in the known universe being suspended there by divine order. Maybe someday other countries will perfect some kind of string-theory antigravity ray that will allow them to reproduce the utterly unique and unmatchable conditions at Hermosa. If only the Brazilians had perfected this raygun (or moved their training facilities to Anaheim), they would have won the men's indoor gold!
|
|
|
Post by bunnywailer on Aug 25, 2008 23:10:32 GMT -5
I call bullshiite on the "SoCal" argument. Prior to Misty/Kerri, the women's beach game in the USA didn't do squat against the Brazilians.
And after an initial dominant performance in Atlanta '96, the men's game hasn't done squat either. Sorry, the Fonoimoana/Blanton gold in Athens was pure luck - hell ask those guys yourself and they will tell you the same thing.
Too much whining from the AVP'ers about the qualification process. Waah...waaah...waaah....we invented beach volleyball the FIVB should come to us not us bowing to them and their stupid qualification process...waaah waaah waaaah.
The women's beach game will take a distinct nosedive if Misty and Kerri are serious about their desires to start families. If I were Leonard Armato I'd be pretty damn worried right about now.
|
|
|
Post by vbnerd on Aug 25, 2008 23:57:51 GMT -5
I think the draw for the 6-2 comes from the comments the broadcasters mentioned a couple times that MOST of the gold medals in the modern age have been won by 6-2 teams, primarily thanks to Cuba though I think they named 2 others.
That said, Kelly Murphy is a true 6-2 Setter who has the signs of becoming an international level player. Engle may be a slightly less perfect fit, and may opt for the beach. Even if Murphy and Engle did run a 6-2, it would be nice to have a sub so as not to base an entire national team system on 2 young bodies. Beyond that, with Murphy graduating in 2012, even with a semester off its a bit of a rush to get her ready for the olympics. Maybe by 2016.
As for Klineman, I don't see her hitting hard enough for indoors, but I think she could be good on the beach.
|
|
|
Post by pogoball on Aug 25, 2008 23:58:46 GMT -5
why wouldn't Walsh be a good comparison? Which is the person I brought up in the first place. Obviously May had previous beach experience. The qualification process being what it is would make it tough, I agree completely. Tough? maybe. Absurd? Not at all. I'm not sure you appreciate the learning curve or the level of competition. Walsh was a professional for two years before taking up the beach game and then being picked up and tutored by the best player in the game. It's just not a good comparison by any stretch to a kid fresh from college with no professional resume. I think you need to look at an April Ross for a decent comparison. Her career closely resembles Barboza: Gatorade high school player of the year, College all-American, National team pipeline and 1-year national team experience before hitting the beach. After her first season where she and Burdine were awful, the two of them worked very hard in the offseason but Burdine got injured. Ross then started with the experienced Boss. The B/Ross had so much initial success that they decided to stick together. So, Ross is roughly as talented as Barboza & Larson and just about everything went perfectly for her. She followed the prescribed formula I presented and she still did NOT qualify as one of the top two teams from America. I will come off my statement of "no chance" only because I miscalculated that they would have two years before the start of qualification. If it was 1 year, it would be no chance (in other words, no chance for any non-seniors). If May, Walsh, Ross & Branagh all are competing by 2012, then well, no chance unless one of them takes on one of your college kids. That's not even considering the Burdines and Hochevars and several others that will put themselves into the mix. Boss will be 35, but that's not really that old on the beach (EY is 38 and seems to be doing ok). Tough doesn't even begin to describe it.
|
|
|
Post by Murina on Aug 26, 2008 2:13:57 GMT -5
;D
Like I said: I'm the only one who thinks Nnamani is a middle... ;D
With her quickness and jumping ability her size (a shade under 6'1") is not a problem. No way to tell about her closing ability until it has been tried...
|
|
|
Post by OverAndUnder on Aug 26, 2008 8:23:55 GMT -5
I think the draw for the 6-2 comes from the comments the broadcasters mentioned a couple times that MOST of the gold medals in the modern age have been won by 6-2 teams, primarily thanks to Cuba though I think they named 2 others. That said, Kelly Murphy is a true 6-2 Setter who has the signs of becoming an international level player. Engle may be a slightly less perfect fit, and may opt for the beach. Even if Murphy and Engle did run a 6-2, it would be nice to have a sub so as not to base an entire national team system on 2 young bodies. Beyond that, with Murphy graduating in 2012, even with a semester off its a bit of a rush to get her ready for the olympics. Maybe by 2016. As for Klineman, I don't see her hitting hard enough for indoors, but I think she could be good on the beach. I think Engle will be a great indoor player in the right system. She, so far, doesn't quite have a cannon of an arm by international standards, but she places shots well and is low error. And she more than makes up for it with passing, serving, digging, and blocking. There are many teams that require their M1 to be a power hitter and sideout threat, but they accept their M2 isn't as strong an attacker but puts up a very strong block. If we're already imagining a 6-2 with Murphy, I don't see what would be wrong with the same trade-off. The S1 (Murphy) is more of an attacker and the S2 is more of a blocker/defender. And really, in our imaginary 6-2, Engle would be playing on the right side in a 3-attacker system (with Murphy also available for BR attacks when she digs in transition), so I think she'd get plenty of 1-1 blocks, for which she'd have no trouble putting the ball down.
|
|
|
Post by itsallrelative on Aug 26, 2008 10:06:18 GMT -5
If engle is not an international level hitter (as you admit), why not just run a 5-1, and let Murphy hit RS?
|
|
|
Post by ay2013 on Aug 26, 2008 20:22:57 GMT -5
Few random thoughts: - For some reason I am not completely sold on Klineman. For her height she doesn't possess stellar jumping ability or a very quick arm swing. Unless she dramatically improves I just don't think she is dynamic enough to start for the USA. - The US is not going to be utilizing a 6-2 system. It's much more complicated than it looks and even athletes like Engle are not good enough attackers like the Cuban team's setters/opposites. Setting will be the most difficult and important position that needs to be developed over this quadrennial. From what I've seen from McGinnis I think there is some potential there, but she still has a pretty long way to go.I would like to see a setter who is in the 5-10/11' range who as quick as the smaller setters,but isn't a total liability in the front row. - I'd like to see the USA get an opposite who can hit a variety of different sets. What makes Sheilla from Brazil so spectacular is that she can hit from anywhere and really diversifies the Brazilian offense. Zhou from China also runs a lot of different combos and it puts a lot of stress on the oppositions blockers. I think they did their best with Haneef and trying to turn her into a big gun, but I think she hit her peak and that they should look for someone who is quicker and more varied. I'm not sold on Klineman for post college play either. She's good, but she still has a long way to go. She surely doesn't pound the ball, and her hops aren't anything to brag about. I was more impressed, recently, with Hodge/Fawcette when they were freshmen, and last year Faucette. I wanna add Morrison to the short list of outsides for the 2012 Olympic team. Her last few years in college she was the best all around player on the country. She can play all 6 rotations with high efficiency. She's playing internationally right now, and if she can add some power to her shots (which are already technically very high quality and have good heat) I see her getting a spot over a Klineman or Barboza (if she goes indoor). It's no question that the US strength lie in our all around offense. Akinradewo and Harmotto would make a formidable MB combo, but that's only effective with solid passing. All the prospects for hitters for the 2012 squad previously mentioned don't have the back court skills of Morrison. I don't know about the setting for the 2010 Olympics. Mcginnis would have some years of experience under her belt. Spicer is the most talented.....Thompson would have some years of experience. Those are some recently graduated setters. What has happened to the early 2000 setters? Kamana'o and Tortorello come to mind? They had skills, 2012 is a mystery. There definitely are talented players that are currently in or recently graduated from college, but... I dunno
|
|
|
Post by ay2013 on Aug 26, 2008 20:31:50 GMT -5
I think the draw for the 6-2 comes from the comments the broadcasters mentioned a couple times that MOST of the gold medals in the modern age have been won by 6-2 teams, primarily thanks to Cuba though I think they named 2 others. That said, Kelly Murphy is a true 6-2 Setter who has the signs of becoming an international level player. Engle may be a slightly less perfect fit, and may opt for the beach. Even if Murphy and Engle did run a 6-2, it would be nice to have a sub so as not to base an entire national team system on 2 young bodies. Beyond that, with Murphy graduating in 2012, even with a semester off its a bit of a rush to get her ready for the olympics. Maybe by 2016. As for Klineman, I don't see her hitting hard enough for indoors, but I think she could be good on the beach. I think Engle will be a great indoor player in the right system. She, so far, doesn't quite have a cannon of an arm by international standards, but she places shots well and is low error. And she more than makes up for it with passing, serving, digging, and blocking. There are many teams that require their M1 to be a power hitter and sideout threat, but they accept their M2 isn't as strong an attacker but puts up a very strong block. If we're already imagining a 6-2 with Murphy, I don't see what would be wrong with the same trade-off. The S1 (Murphy) is more of an attacker and the S2 is more of a blocker/defender. And really, in our imaginary 6-2, Engle would be playing on the right side in a 3-attacker system (with Murphy also available for BR attacks when she digs in transition), so I think she'd get plenty of 1-1 blocks, for which she'd have no trouble putting the ball down. Hmm....if Murphy is showing signs of future Olympic greatness she needs to get onto the national practice squad ASAP. She's not going to get the training and competitive atmosphere playing at Florida. In her four years at Florida she'll play, what...2 MAYBE 3 matches a year (depending on if they reach an regional final and are invited to the showcase) that feature a legit Olympic prospect.....LANG PING SHANK MARY WISE AND TAKE HER!!! lol jk, sorta
|
|