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Post by gobears on May 23, 2015 16:30:45 GMT -5
Kessel should just keep getting better and better as he plays in Europe this year with his goal for 2020. Does not appear to have reached any ceiling yet. USA is fortunate with all these great players stepping up. As well as having Karch and Speraw as coaches. Just puts a smile on face of vb fans.
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Post by 5280volleyball on May 26, 2015 17:53:49 GMT -5
I remember 2013, when Micah took over after Kyle Caldwell, Brian Thornton, and Donald Suxho couldn't get team USA rolling. We're in a very different space now.....in addition to the guys mentioned earlier, Riley McKibbin has been successful in Europe, James Shaw has gotten a look, and Ryan Ammerman has been in the gym consistently for a couple years.
I like Powell as an athlete, but I want to see him receive in a good pro league before I make any sort of judgment. He seems to take a lot of balls with his hands, which won't fly against these international level jump serves. Jaeschke seems to be the best bet to make the step of our young OH as I'm in the camp that Russell is too error prone. But if Russell ends up in Russia, he could do what Sean Rooney did and become pretty solid on reception after facing all those rockets. I think another year of pro ball will make Sander even better on his reception.
Matt Anderson on the right is something I have always liked. It gives you the option to adjust your receive pattern, go with 4 guys on reception against really tough servers, makes our floor defense better, and provides a bigger block against the elite level OH from Brazil, Russia, and Poland. Murphy Troy has made big strides in the past year though, and with some of the other young RS that are coming (Patch, Mochalski, someone else?), there is a depth we haven't seen for some time at that position.
Speraw being a college coach has opened up a lot of chances for young talent the past couple of summers, which is going to help long term. Now if we could just find a couple young middles for the future, I'd be very happy with the direction of our program.
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Post by kokyu on May 26, 2015 21:31:15 GMT -5
F
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Post by oshkoshdadmjs on May 27, 2015 0:17:47 GMT -5
With regard to the setters, I don't understand why I'm not seeing BJ Boldog mentioned more often. He looked great with the Pan-Am team and I'm surprised his name isn't brought up more often talking about NT. Is blocking the main concern? I've watched all the MIVA setters for awhile and I feel pretty confident taking him over McIlvaine at this point.
Also, I'm really not as high on Russell as everyone else seems to be. He's a really big player for the NCAA, but I'm not convinced his style of hitting will translate. On the contrary, I think the suggestion that Geoff Powell should be getting looks is warranted. I'm not as worried about his passing as everyone else. I think his issue would be reducing hitting errors from taking too aggressive an angle or trying to do too much with an off set. He's a real weapon from the back row too.
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Post by 5280volleyball on May 27, 2015 0:42:26 GMT -5
With regard to the setters, I don't understand why I'm not seeing BJ Boldog mentioned more often. He looked great with the NORCEA team and I'm surprised his name isn't brought up more often talking about NT. Is blocking the main concern? I've watched all the MIVA setters for awhile and I feel pretty confident taking him over McIlvaine at this point. Also, I'm really not as high on Russell as everyone else seems to be. He's a really big player for the NCAA, but I'm not convinced his style of hitting will translate. On the contrary, I think the suggestion that Geoff Powell should be getting looks is warranted. I'm not as worried about his passing as everyone else. I think his issue would be reducing hitting errors from taking too aggressive an angle or trying to do too much with an off set. He's a real weapon from the back row too. Boldog is good, but he's not the athlete that Micah Christenson or Matt West is, doesn't have the size of a Shaw, Ammerman, or McIlvaine, and hasn't enjoyed the success overseas that Kawika Shoji has. I've not seen McIlvaine play as a pro, but apparently he had a heck of a season in Denmark. Then Lloy Ball called Speraw and told him that he was impressed with what he saw. So it's not so much of a knock on BJ as it is the depth of the position now. Peter Hutz has set his team to the last two national titles, and isn't even getting a look. That's how deep we are, which is huge compared to the 2013 wasteland when we had to go to a college sophomore as our setter. I'll repeat what I said before about Powell. He likes to take a lot of serves with his hands. In the NCAA ranks, you can get away with that. At the national team level when 5 guys are bombing jump serves, and the David Lee's of the world add in a nasty jump float, you can't do that. Powell is going to get a deal in Europe, and once he shows he can pass well there, he will get a look. He's a fantastic athlete but he might get caught in the mix, especially if Anderson stays at OH long term. Aaron Russell is 6'9. The one thing you can't teach is tall. Russell makes way too many errors right now but that size means someone will think they can coach him up and solve the issue. He seems to be a good kid so they are probably right that he'll keep getting better.
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Post by kokyu on May 27, 2015 0:53:09 GMT -5
Powell's not good enough for the NT.
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Post by 5280volleyball on May 27, 2015 1:18:58 GMT -5
The OH depth chart at the moment from my slanted view: Anderson Sander Jaeschke Priddy Lotman A. Russell Rooney Jablonsky Muagututia Touzinsky Menzel Sunder Lawson Page DeFalco Powell G. Petty Crabb Ciarelli Taylor The beach and retirement may take away some of these guys in the next couple years, but there is some talent. Here are some of the recent rosters we've run out: www.teamusa.org/USA-Volleyball/USA-Teams/Indoor-Volleyball/Men/Athletes-and-Rosters
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Post by jna on May 27, 2015 9:01:54 GMT -5
Powell's not good enough for the NT. IMPO, his pass is really not good enough, but his athleticism is enough and to spare. Digressing a little, I read an interview with Cody Kessel not long time ago and he said he's going fierce for a spot on the roster for Tokyo 2020. I'm glad he will play professionally overseas. Do you guys happen to know where exactly?.
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Post by kokyu on May 27, 2015 12:57:17 GMT -5
I mentioned before he doesn't keep the ball in front of him on his toss so his serves are too weak for international or NT.
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Post by 5280volleyball on May 28, 2015 15:27:50 GMT -5
Powell's not good enough for the NT. IMPO, his pass is really not good enough, but his athleticism is enough and to spare. Digressing a little, I read an interview with Cody Kessel not long time ago and he said he's going fierce for a spot on the roster for Tokyo 2020. I'm glad he will play professionally overseas. Do you guys happen to know where exactly?. The current rumor on Kessel is that he will join Micah Christenson at Lube Treia in Italy.
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Post by bounceballs on May 29, 2015 23:34:35 GMT -5
Now if we could just find a couple young middles for the future, I'd be very happy with the direction of our program. What is Averill doing? After such a dominant year I'd be very surprised if he doesn't turn into another Holt 3-4 years down the line, or even sooner
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Post by vbsocal56 on May 30, 2015 7:52:38 GMT -5
Averill should hope to be like David Lee, he isn't as big as Holt and even though David Lee is a bit undersized compared too other middles, he's still one of the best in the world
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Post by jna on May 30, 2015 7:56:43 GMT -5
IMPO, his pass is really not good enough, but his athleticism is enough and to spare. Digressing a little, I read an interview with Cody Kessel not long time ago and he said he's going fierce for a spot on the roster for Tokyo 2020. I'm glad he will play professionally overseas. Do you guys happen to know where exactly?. The current rumor on Kessel is that he will join Micah Christenson at Lube Treia in Italy. Thanks for the information on Kessel. The news sounds good and bad for me, particularly. Italy is pointed out as one of the biggest volleyball markets. However it is surrounded by unprofessionalism too. If such player does not show immediate result then he is cut instantly. Besides that, franchises go through financial struggle frequently, sometimes with no option but being folded. I'd rather see him go to Asia (Japan or Korea) where he would be guaranteed to play the whole season.
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Post by akbar on Jun 1, 2015 8:07:49 GMT -5
So after the 1st round of play and excitement of some new lineups that were shown it will be interesting to see what Coach Speraw introduces next.
Hopefully Sanders ankle is ready to go.
I really like the teams ability to run multiple points off with various servers to pull ahead or get back into a game. Holt, Anderson,Sander and of course Christensen is wicked.
I would like to see Russell move his serve around a bit more and go after it like he did in college. Not being picky as I'm very please with how savvy he looks on the court but think he is being a bit safe in that area.
Clearly Matt likes being on the left more.
After Russia goes down 0-2 will we see a sense of urgency in their area.
Wouldn't mind seeing a serving sub for Smith once a game. Maybe Jaeschke?
I think Lee might help a little too this series on June 5/6th.
Really thought the NBC production and camera angles were done very well. Would like to see some more slo mo and analysis time from our annoucers. Bring out the Madden pen.
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Post by donneyp on Jun 1, 2015 10:56:58 GMT -5
The OH depth chart at the moment from my slanted view: Anderson Sander Jaeschke Priddy Lotman A. Russell Rooney Jablonsky Muagututia Touzinsky Menzel Sunder Lawson Page DeFalco Powell G. Petty Crabb Ciarelli Taylor The beach and retirement may take away some of these guys in the next couple years, but there is some talent. Here are some of the recent rosters we've run out: www.teamusa.org/USA-Volleyball/USA-Teams/Indoor-Volleyball/Men/Athletes-and-RostersSo on the broadcast last night they mentioned that John Speraw said Aaron Russell was the best OH in the gym last summer, and then that is backed up by Russell starting both matches this weekend and the logical conclusion somehow is that he's behind Lotmann? What am I missing? Do you think John Speraw was lying? He's got a pair of matches vs the #10 team in the world at the end of last season and in both matches he starts a kid who has been in the gym for 12 minutes when he has 20 other players to choose from. It LOOKS like Speraw believes this kid is ready. And he went 12-2-19 last night, with 1 fault in 13 passes, while Anderson recorded 4 faults on 25 passes, which is a pretty clear statement of who Iran thought was a better serving target. There are a lot of things that can happen, and we'll know a lot more in a few weeks but early signs are good for Russell.
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