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Post by mikegarrison on Aug 9, 2012 15:15:03 GMT -5
OK, by now it's not a spoiler.
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Post by jasonr on Aug 9, 2012 15:22:22 GMT -5
I'd like to be the first to congratulate Brazil on their silver medal, well done ladies...
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Post by mikegarrison on Aug 9, 2012 15:28:06 GMT -5
oops, now everything is messed up. It appears sbilo deleted his post, but that didn't delete the thread.
Now that my post is the first one, it appears I was able to edit the way the thread shows up on the board. Hmm. Mysteries of computers.
Anyway, I think waiting until after tonight's prime-time broadcast would be better before identifying the USA v. Brazil matchup, even though I suspect we all already know.
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Post by midnightblue on Aug 9, 2012 16:12:28 GMT -5
These two teams know everything that there is to know about each other... We need to serve tough to keep the ball away from Fabiana and Thaisa, and when they send it out to Jacqueline and Fe Garay, two of the most roof-able attackers in the sport, block the crap out of them.
I'd love to see them silence Brazil, they act like little children after the match..not even celebrating but just deliberately thrashing each other. It was bizarre.
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Post by sunsuphornsup on Aug 9, 2012 19:41:58 GMT -5
Lol, I wanna see them thrash each other.
Sent from my PC36100 using proboards
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Post by jasonr on Aug 9, 2012 20:30:17 GMT -5
First set will be everything. USA is in Brazil's head, as long as USA wins set 1 and eliminates any potential confidence from Brazil, they will tank.
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Post by mikegarrison on Aug 9, 2012 20:54:29 GMT -5
First set will be everything. USA is in Brazil's head, as long as USA wins set 1 and eliminates any potential confidence from Brazil, they will tank. When they played in pool play it sure seemed like that. Brazil could do nothing until the US allowed them to think that they could. Then it got tough.
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Post by austintatious on Aug 9, 2012 23:37:11 GMT -5
Does anyone think Brazil was playing possum during pool play? All I can remember is Doug Beal talking about Brazil's thinking use to be very tough to beat a great opponent twice in the same event, so would not always try to win against the team they assumed would play in the playoffs. Just don't see how they turned it on all of a sudden in the quarters and finals.
Anyone want to alleviate my concerns?
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Post by baywatcher on Aug 10, 2012 0:59:38 GMT -5
If possum was the strategy it got them nearly eliminated, then a match v. Russia. Could be but that includes the Grand Prix losses.
Brazil seems to have settled on a line-up that includes no Paula, Dani Lins at setter and the Thaisa/Fabiana duo in the middle. If the US goes on a good run, will they start subbing again? And Sheilla is a bit of a wild card; she has been their best OH for awhile, but seemingly can go in the tank, as of course can Logan Tom, but Logan does so many other things.
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Post by mikegarrison on Aug 10, 2012 0:59:45 GMT -5
Does anyone think Brazil was playing possum during pool play? All I can remember is Doug Beal talking about Brazil's thinking use to be very tough to beat a great opponent twice in the same event, so would not always try to win against the team they assumed would play in the playoffs. Just don't see how they turned it on all of a sudden in the quarters and finals. Anyone want to alleviate my concerns? They almost didn't make it out of the pool. I can't imagine any potential tactical advantage would be worth playing with that kind of fire.
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Post by baywatcher on Aug 10, 2012 1:04:56 GMT -5
Also, I understand the thinking of difficult to beat the same good team twice in a week; there is a certain validity born out by history; US v. Cuba at the last Olympics comes to mind as an example. But there is another side; US now knows it can beat Brazil. If Brazil beats US in set 1, they may get fired up, but the US will not be filled with doubts.
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Post by jasonr on Aug 10, 2012 1:10:14 GMT -5
Does anyone think Brazil was playing possum during pool play? All I can remember is Doug Beal talking about Brazil's thinking use to be very tough to beat a great opponent twice in the same event, so would not always try to win against the team they assumed would play in the playoffs. Just don't see how they turned it on all of a sudden in the quarters and finals. Anyone want to alleviate my concerns? Possum includes trusting that Hugh was too sportsmanlike to dump 2 sets to knock them out of the Olympics during pool play? Then qualifying 4th insuring the toughest road back to gold medal match? Sounds like the worst strategy since Hitler decided he could defeat the UK, France, and the US while simultaneously invading Russia. Then again, Hitler had late stage syphilis, I'm hoping Ze doesn't share that affliction. The truth is, USA probably beat a tougher team today in terms of how they're currently playing. Korea runs a more sophisticated offense than Brazil while having best player in the world. Brazil is fairly standard, and while Thaisa is great, she can't win the match by herself and none of their other players are their former '08-'10 selves.
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Post by mikegarrison on Aug 10, 2012 1:11:59 GMT -5
and none of their other players are their former '08-'10 selves. Neither am I, and that's even when I wasn't so great in '08-'10....
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Post by Edmond on Aug 10, 2012 2:05:32 GMT -5
If possum was the strategy it got them nearly eliminated, then a match v. Russia. That's because they didn't expect to lose to Korea. That said, I don't think they were playing possum either.
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Post by Edmond on Aug 10, 2012 2:37:14 GMT -5
Also, I understand the thinking of difficult to beat the same good team twice in a week; there is a certain validity born out by history; US v. Cuba at the last Olympics comes to mind as an example. But there is another side; US now knows it can beat Brazil. If Brazil beats US in set 1, they may get fired up, but the US will not be filled with doubts. Anything can happen in an Olympic final. Brazil will try to throw everything they've got at the US, but if the US can deal with the pressure and are not easily put out of their stride, they will come out victorious. The key is concentrate on every point but do not think too much about the outcome.
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