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Post by stillcrazy on Aug 24, 2008 15:45:52 GMT -5
First, my congratulations to all American participants in Olympic volleyball.
With the men taking the Gold and the women the Silver, I'm curious about coaching styles. I've never watched either run a practice but given what I know, I would think their coaching styles in practice would be about 180 degrees apart.
I'm guessing McCutcheon follows the principals of GM2, and Lang Ping closely follows the coaching style she trained in as a player.
Anyone have any insights on this?
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psh
Freshman
Posts: 62
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Post by psh on Aug 24, 2008 17:28:22 GMT -5
Hugh is definitely influenced by GMS. Considering Ron, Marv and Carl were all on his staff that's a pretty strong statement. But he's also very much his own man.
I think one ground-breaking aspect he brought to this team was specific, coherent mental training plan. He held the guys responsible for how they behaved on the court and with each other, and gave them pragmatic steps they could take to work on and improve their mental game during competition. I don't believe this has ever been done before in the manner Hugh (through the work of Ken Ravizza) incorporated it.
I can't speak for JLP. I don't know much about her. She obviously finished very strong.
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Post by itsallrelative on Aug 25, 2008 6:12:47 GMT -5
The other thing I like about Hugh is that he seems really willing to adjust to the team....his first words I've ever heard him say in a clinic were something to this effect: This is what we do on the national team, because it work for us. It may not be right for everyone.....but it is for us.
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Post by Mocha on Aug 25, 2008 6:20:09 GMT -5
Lang Ping is not a player's coach. You won't hear any praise about her coming from her players.
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Post by USAFAN on Aug 25, 2008 10:08:49 GMT -5
What was very interesting to me was the rapport between Hugh and the team. While most teams maintain a dominant coach/semi-submissive player relationship like a Brazil or Russia, the USA has a sort of symbiotic relationship where Hugh provides support and information as opposed to direction and instruction. As mentioned, the average age of the USA team was over 30 years old and these guys have weathered many storms together and fully understand the system they are running. Hugh is like the 7th player and provides positive energy and subtle adjustments that they players on the court might not see. If you watch the end of the 5th game, you actually can see Riley Salmon telling Hugh to sub him out for Hoff as a blocking substitution, which is something you probably wouldn't see from other teams. I was extremely impressed by the level of composure on the USA side consistently throughout the tournament. They got past Italy, Brazil, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Russia all in a very composed and self-assured manner which lends itself well to international play, as a lot of matches are very close and high pressure situations.
As far as Lang Ping is concerned, to accomplish what she has in just 3 years has been pretty remarkable. The vast majority of the USA women play professionally and spend minimal time in the gym as a full group compared to some of the other top teams. Improving the technical play of some of the players just wasn't feasible and she definitely realized that. So what she did was allow younger players to get some experience during the quadrennial, which will be very important down the line for the USA, and decided to compile a final Olympic roster that compensated for different weaknesses that individual players might have by bringing along a less conventional roster (only 1 true opposite and 2 DS). I don't think any other elite team at the games substituted as much or as often with the same level of success that the USA did. Usually I don't find gender to be something at the top of the list of important coaching characteristics, but her being female did lend something that I can't quite put my finger on to the team that Haley and Yoshida couldn't. There also seemed like a genuine admiration of Lang by the players which probably made it easier for them to buy into her decisions and strategy.
I do hope both of these coaches stick around, not just because they won medals here, but because they seem like the type of coaches that would have even more success if they have the chance to really develop younger players.
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Post by 3talltrees on Aug 25, 2008 10:19:10 GMT -5
Mocha- don't agree with your statement...at least not as a sweeping one. My daughter was up at COS for about six months this year and did like Lang Ping. I agree with USAFAN that there is something she has that the two previous coaches didn't and think she is someone that the players can relate to...and she can relate to them as well from her past experience as a player.
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Post by saywho on Aug 25, 2008 10:44:28 GMT -5
Mocha- don't agree with your statement...at least not as a sweeping one. My daughter was up at COS for about six months this year and did like Lang Ping. I agree with USAFAN that there is something she has that the two previous coaches didn't and think she is someone that the players can relate to...and she can relate to them as well from her past experience as a player. I agree. Having spoken in this regard to a current team member, if not all, most would be saying praise of her. Does that mean there aren't moments when she isn't tough? No. I think the whole process was a learning experience for both the players and for Lang Ping. She grew and learned how to coach within our culture, while our players grew and learned how to respect where Lang Ping's background comes from. Together, it became a very good situation, and I am sure any player on that team would tell you they would not have rather had any other coach.
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Post by Phaedrus on Aug 25, 2008 11:22:55 GMT -5
I think USAFAN is spot on with Hugh. He came up through the ranks with the guys on the team so he can be looser with them. The team was so veteran dominated that the younger players knew their roles well without the coaching staff really asserting themselves, the vets did it all and that is a great way to run things. The question is can Hugh run the team the same way once all the older guys leave the National team, if he chose to stay. My guess is not, and with the prescience and planning that I have heard about the men's team, I doubt they will run it that way at first either.
JLP I thought, coached like a mad woman. I again agree with USAFAN. She saw right away the task ahead of her so she knew what to emphasize and prepared the team as best as she could. I think being a female had something to do with it, but I also think the larger part of the equation is that she was a top level athlete herself, so she knew when to listen to the players and when not.
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Post by itsallrelative on Aug 25, 2008 11:49:50 GMT -5
Here's the important thing for Hugh's style---he had Tom Hoff, who contributed as a player, but much,much more as a leader.
Can a Riley Salmon or Ryan Millar step into that role for the next quad? (I heard sunderland say Priddy is looking to the beach to make London).
The other thing that is good is you had a fair number of young players that should form the core of the '12 games learn what its like to be on a great TEAM, not just a collection of individuals. Lee and Rooney should definitely be on the team, and probably Hanson and Touzinsky as well.
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Post by vballguy2001 on Aug 25, 2008 13:40:24 GMT -5
McCutcheon is Gold Medal Squared??? So are they going to change the name??? Gold Medal Cubed? ?
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Post by network155 on Aug 25, 2008 13:48:48 GMT -5
Congratulations to the U.S. Men and Women for exeeding expectations. We are so proud of you all!!!!!!!
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Post by ucsdfan on Aug 25, 2008 14:43:52 GMT -5
Here's the important thing for Hugh's style---he had Tom Hoff, who contributed as a player, but much,much more as a leader. Can a Riley Salmon or Ryan Millar step into that role for the next quad? (I heard sunderland say Priddy is looking to the beach to make London). The other thing that is good is you had a fair number of young players that should form the core of the '12 games learn what its like to be on a great TEAM, not just a collection of individuals. Lee and Rooney should definitely be on the team, and probably Hanson and Touzinsky as well. You are so right about the role of Hoff. His impact cannot be measured on a stat sheet and losing him will have an impact whether Hugh chooses to stay or not. What bodes well is that Hugh is willing to adapt his coaching to the team (based on what a few posts have said he mentions in clinics). The biggest change this team will undergo is a dropoff in passing and an increase in power hitting. That is assuming that Anderson and Rooney find themselves with key minutes at the two OH slots. Salmon will be 36 come London, so he may fit nicely into the Hoff role. The person I hope takes on a leadership capacity is Hansen, who will be 30 come London time. On a younger team with limited international experience, a calm setter is critical. David Lee will be the team stud so it's nice to know we will be stable at one spot at least. I hope people are wrong about Priddy leaving for the sand, but if he does, it's better he does it sooner rather than later. Repeating as the Gold medal winner is going to be a big task. I sure hope Hugh and Ron are a part of it.
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Post by OverAndUnder on Aug 25, 2008 17:27:51 GMT -5
Lang Ping is not a player's coach. You won't hear any praise about her coming from her players. That's weird, since in the last year there have been several articles and interview videos linked on this site where some of the players talk about how much they like and respect her. Stacy Sykora spoke positively of Lang Ping even when describing how Lang put her through a gruelling skills test when she wanted to return to the team.
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Post by Wolfgang on Aug 25, 2008 17:47:49 GMT -5
I'd like Hugh to take over the Wahine program when Dave retires. I like his style.
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Post by Tiruray2004 on Aug 25, 2008 19:56:12 GMT -5
If JLP doesn't want to coach the women's team for 2012, McCutcheon should coach the women's team. Ron larsen, the men's team!
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