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Post by volleyballjim on Aug 17, 2012 11:11:24 GMT -5
Hadn't Nicole been playing Indoor? I mean, when Misty picked back up with her on the Olympic run, she wasn't the hottest ticket in town...but you obviously wouldn't have that stall with Ross...
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Post by volleyballjim on Aug 17, 2012 11:14:56 GMT -5
as an addendum, I just saw that Nicole/Kerri lost to CZ with BOTH games going 21-19, no exactly a convincing loss by a "soft" opponent.......I'm not sold yet on April....Can you say: Serve, O U T ?
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Post by johnbar on Aug 17, 2012 12:25:50 GMT -5
And Kessy/Ross lose the quarterfinal to the German team Holtwick/Semmler.
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Post by Guest on Aug 17, 2012 12:56:31 GMT -5
And Kessy/Ross lose the quarterfinal to the German team Holtwick/Semmler. Not hugely surprised. You're probably going to see some funky results this week and the next tournament in Aland. There's always a post-Olympics blues, plus some teams have packed it in for the season (China 1, Netherlands 1, Germany 1 are all done for 2012), and there's a number of new partnerships being tried out. |
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Post by JB Southpaw on Aug 17, 2012 14:50:58 GMT -5
as an addendum, I just saw that Nicole/Kerri lost to CZ with BOTH games going 21-19, no exactly a convincing loss by a "soft" opponent.......I'm not sold yet on April....Can you say: Serve, O U T ? Jim, here is some data for you 1. April was second in Aces 2. More importantly, she served 15 times more than the next person which means when she served, her team scored more points! They didn't have missed serves, but there is an acceptable ratio. At this level, you must figure out how to Score points and lobbing a serve over isn't going to work. RANK ATHLETE MP ATTEMPTS ACES 1 Xue Chen 7 160 21 2 April Ross 7 175 143 SCHWAIGER Doris 6 134 13 4 Larissa Franca 7 159 13 4 BAQUERIZO McMILLAN Elsa 4 96 12 4 Sara Goller 5 110 12 7 Kerri Walsh Jennings 7 154 11 7 KLAPALOVA Hana 4 69 11 9 Greta Cicolari 5 108 11 9 Juliana Felisberta Silva 7 144 10 9 Maria Antonelli 4 113 10 9 VOZAKOVA Anna 4 118 10 13 Jen Kessy 7 140 9 |
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Post by johnbar on Aug 17, 2012 14:55:48 GMT -5
Not hugely surprised. You're probably going to see some funky results this week and the next tournament in Aland. There's always a post-Olympics blues, plus some teams have packed it in for the season (China 1, Netherlands 1, Germany 1 are all done for 2012), and there's a number of new partnerships being tried out. Quite true. |
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Post by volleyballjim on Aug 17, 2012 15:08:54 GMT -5
JB....Were those status for FIVB 2012? Anyway, I have watched April / Jen quite a bit, but in the last 2 years, none at all....their play has obviously elevated also during that time. I didn't quite understand the missed serves stat, as to me, that is the crucial element (I know, Babe Ruth led in HR's and strikeouts). More occurs on missed serves and they ALL do them, but when/where also matters. With games getting "tight" at the end, even a ace statistic can get skewed based on WHEN they occur.. ....Kind of like batting average with men in scoring position...regardless, April MAY be the best server in the world and that probably is arguably the case, but would love to delve into some more statistics on it. Hey, they won Silver against the greatest of all time, so how much better could/should they be. I think I may just be OBSESSED with fewer errors, along the lines of Todd Rogers who "seems" to make the fewest (but I have no data on it)....
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Post by wang pu on Aug 17, 2012 18:42:59 GMT -5
JB....Were those status for FIVB 2012? Anyway, I have watched April / Jen quite a bit, but in the last 2 years, none at all....their play has obviously elevated also during that time. I didn't quite understand the missed serves stat, as to me, that is the crucial element (I know, Babe Ruth led in HR's and strikeouts). More occurs on missed serves and they ALL do them, but when/where also matters. With games getting "tight" at the end, even a ace statistic can get skewed based on WHEN they occur.. ....Kind of like batting average with men in scoring position...regardless, April MAY be the best server in the world and that probably is arguably the case, but would love to delve into some more statistics on it. Hey, they won Silver against the greatest of all time, so how much better could/should they be. I think I may just be OBSESSED with fewer errors, along the lines of Todd Rogers who "seems" to make the fewest (but I have no data on it).... Looks like those stats were for the Olympics. As for April's serving, with Walsh blocking, April could actually take a little off her serve since Walsh's block will score a few points a game. |
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Post by guest2 on Aug 17, 2012 23:05:30 GMT -5
Translated: Walsh-Branagh lose to Kolocova/Slucova in 2, 19,19. Kessy-Ross win, and play the Germans in the quarters. The Czechs are an easy out for top teams. If Nicole/Kerri had lost to the Chinese or Brazilians fine first tourney jitters, but thats a bad loss to an easy team |
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Post by tree on Aug 18, 2012 11:24:56 GMT -5
The Czechs are actually a pretty good team. They just aren't consistent yet. They remind me of the young Italian team a year ago or so. There are several teams coming on that will be a force in Brazil in 2016.
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Post by geedawg on Aug 18, 2012 12:02:34 GMT -5
Translated: Walsh-Branagh lose to Kolocova/Slucova in 2, 19,19. Kessy-Ross win, and play the Germans in the quarters. The Czechs are an easy out for top teams. If Nicole/Kerri had lost to the Chinese or Brazilians fine first tourney jitters, but thats a bad loss to an easy team This Czech team finished 5th in London losing in pool play to none other then MM/KW Match 18: Misty May-Treanor / Kerri Walsh United States (3) def. Kristyna Kolocova / Marketa Slukova Czech Republic (10) 21-14, 21-19 (0:36) Then beating Brazil 2 in the round of 16... Match 41: Kristyna Kolocova / Marketa Slukova Czech Republic (10) def. Maria Antonelli / Talita Rocha Brazil (5) 21-16, 20-22, 15-9 (0:56) before losing to Jen/April in the quarters in two pretty close sets... Match 48: Jennifer Kessy / April Ross United States (4) def. Kristyna Kolocova / Marketa Slukova Czech Republic (10) 25-23, 21-18 (0:49) So I wouldn't say they're quite a walk-over, probably as someone said before Nic was a little nervous/not enough practice together or simply not enough bvb games this season. I'm looking forward to Aland to see what happens... p.s. maybe Kerri is tired from doing interviews? |
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Post by Guest on Aug 18, 2012 12:15:03 GMT -5
The Czechs are an easy out for top teams. If Nicole/Kerri had lost to the Chinese or Brazilians fine first tourney jitters, but thats a bad loss to an easy team This Czech team finished 5th in London losing in pool play to none other then MM/KW Match 18: Misty May-Treanor / Kerri Walsh United States (3) def. Kristyna Kolocova / Marketa Slukova Czech Republic (10) 21-14, 21-19 (0:36) Then beating Brazil 2 in the round of 16... Match 41: Kristyna Kolocova / Marketa Slukova Czech Republic (10) def. Maria Antonelli / Talita Rocha Brazil (5) 21-16, 20-22, 15-9 (0:56) before losing to Jen/April in the quarters in two pretty close sets... Match 48: Jennifer Kessy / April Ross United States (4) def. Kristyna Kolocova / Marketa Slukova Czech Republic (10) 25-23, 21-18 (0:49) So I wouldn't say they're quite a walk-over, probably as someone said before Nic was a little nervous/not enough practice together or simply not enough bvb games this season. I'm looking forward to Aland to see what happens... p.s. maybe Kerri is tired from doing interviews? Nicole has played and trained plenty this year (she's played all the 2012 Grand Slams) on the beach. And I would hope a seasoned veteran with 19 tour wins and an Olympic Games under her belt wouldn't get nervous. If she was, that would be a problem. And it's not like she hasn't played with Kerri before. They just got beat. The Czechs were better that day. It happens. The Czechs have taken down teams like Goller/Ludwig, Xue/Xi and Maria/Antonelli this season - they can play. This isn't the Cuervo or AVP, where there are three good teams and a bunch of scrubs. You can't take any main draw team playing the World Tour for granted (See: Olympics, London - Phil & Todd/Jake & Rosie). You will lose. |
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Post by guest2 on Aug 18, 2012 13:57:07 GMT -5
The Czechs arent terrible but they dont beat good teams unless the good teams are playing badly. Even in the Olympics when Jen/April played very poorly they still beat the Czechs.
They are also a fairly easy team to defend which should have negated Branagh/Walsh's biggest weakness. Its been a long time since Nicole enjoyed sustained success and while I am still on the bandwagon, its getting harder and harder to say, "well it was her partners fault" again and again
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Post by geedawg on Aug 18, 2012 21:35:20 GMT -5
On the men's side, Rosie/Gibb and Phil/Todd make it to the semis.
J/R play the Austrians who almost upset Allison/Emanuel in pool play at the Olys.
T/P play the Latvians (who beat J/R at the Olys, won the bronze and just beat Allison/Emanuel)
I hope it will be an all American final. No matter who wins the tournament Jake and Rosie will be the FIVB tour champions as the Brazilians were 80 points behind them at the beginning of the tournament.
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Post by volleyballjim on Aug 18, 2012 22:40:47 GMT -5
I like G.L.M.'s reference to "this isn't the Cuervo/AVP" .....I think we've evolved the FIVB to the "...on any given Sunday". Course all I can base it on it the FIVB results and what I got to see in London, that if you put your guard down, someone's going to walk by you on the way to the podium....
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