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Post by Word on Feb 8, 2016 11:28:42 GMT -5
I'd like people's opinion of where they think he fits in with the National Team pipeline. I've seen him very little but am well aware of how he can do pretty much every skill at an extremely high level. While that versatility is great, seems like at the highest level you need to be a little more specialized.
So where does he fit best? Christensen seems locked as one of the worlds best setters for the next 10 years. Anderson, Sander, Russell as pins. Can Ma'a hit internationally?
Just curious where people see his upside the most.
-Speraw (kidding of course)
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Post by gooohsah on Feb 8, 2016 12:20:35 GMT -5
I know everyone is very high on Ma'a but unfortunately I don't think he has much of a future on the MNT. He's only about 4 years younger than Christensen so he has to compete with him directly for the spot, not to mention other setters with a lot of upside like Shaw, West, etc. He's really undersized for international competition as a setter and especially as a hitter, so unless he can get his vertical to touch close to 12 feet, I don't think he has anything there.
As a libero maybe though? Haven't seen him pass too much.
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Post by vboldschool on Feb 8, 2016 12:27:18 GMT -5
I know everyone is very high on Ma'a but unfortunately I don't think he has much of a future on the MNT. He's only about 4 years younger than Christensen so he has to compete with him directly for the spot, not to mention other setters with a lot of upside like Shaw, West, etc. He's really undersized for international competition as a setter and especially as a hitter, so unless he can get his vertical to touch close to 12 feet, I don't think he has anything there. As a libero maybe though? Haven't seen him pass too much. How tall is the guy who's widely considered the best volleyball player ever? What was his touch? If memory serves correct, he is 6'2" and touched 11'6". Are you saying the game has changed that much in 30 years? Maybe Ma'a is no Kiraly, but I don't like the idea of disqualifying a kid who's 6'2" without any mention of his skills.
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Post by gooohsah on Feb 8, 2016 12:32:23 GMT -5
The game has changed a lot in 30 years though... more jump serves, bigger hitters, faster sets, even a different ball! I'm not saying that Karch wouldn't be successful in today's game (that would be blasphemous) but I don't think Ma'a is as good as Kiraly. How high does Ma'a touch?
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Post by future on Feb 8, 2016 13:04:45 GMT -5
The game has changed a lot in 30 years though... more jump serves, bigger hitters, faster sets, even a different ball! I'm not saying that Karch wouldn't be successful in today's game (that would be blasphemous) but I don't think Ma'a is as good as Kiraly. Sure liked watching that Bernard Rajzman guy. Powers had a weird approach but absolutely smokes a ball at 4:50 .
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Post by thatguy on Feb 8, 2016 13:51:37 GMT -5
I know everyone is very high on Ma'a but unfortunately I don't think he has much of a future on the MNT. He's only about 4 years younger than Christensen so he has to compete with him directly for the spot, not to mention other setters with a lot of upside like Shaw, West, etc. He's really undersized for international competition as a setter and especially as a hitter, so unless he can get his vertical to touch close to 12 feet, I don't think he has anything there. As a libero maybe though? Haven't seen him pass too much. How tall is the guy who's widely considered the best volleyball player ever? What was his touch? If memory serves correct, he is 6'2" and touched 11'6". Are you saying the game has changed that much in 30 years? Maybe Ma'a is no Kiraly, but I don't like the idea of disqualifying a kid who's 6'2" without any mention of his skills. The game now is alot different, players are consistently touching 11'8" and above. Alot at 12' even. So yes, the game has changed alot since the years of Karch
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Post by ucsdfan on Feb 8, 2016 14:26:57 GMT -5
The game now is alot different, players are consistently touching 11'8" and above. Alot at 12' even. So yes, the game has changed alot since the years of Karch Maybe I'm missing what qualifies as "alot". I'm fairly sure the court is the same size and that the basic idea of hitting the ball where players on the other side of the net can't return it is still the goal. I believe that backrow hitting, fast sets mixed in with high sets, and flying around in the backrow to get to balls has been around for more than 30 years. Maybe I'm crazy, but I don't think the game has changed all that much in terms of playing. What has changed is the number of points teams get from the other team's service errors. The fact that you can net on the serve has changed serve receive. The libero instead of a DS holding up a silly paddle to sub in is a great change. People touching between 11'6" and 12'0" on average instead of 11'0" to 11'6" on average (assuming the top players can actually touch six inches higher on average now compared to back then) might be a bit overrated in terms of a sport with an 8' high net. You are still hitting to avoid (or tool) a block even at a few inches higher in the air. I just don't buy that the game has changed so much that certain playing styles are obsolete. Micah Ma'a will be searching for a position on the team, no doubt. There is no obvious spot he steps into besides a serving substitute that in a pinch can player libero for E Shoji, play oppo if someone gets hurts, or can fill in as a setter. I think the real issue is that the team already as Kawika playing that role. There is no room for both Kawika and Ma'a on the roster. But having one of those guys is a blessing for any coach.
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Post by thatguy on Feb 8, 2016 14:47:21 GMT -5
The game now is alot different, players are consistently touching 11'8" and above. Alot at 12' even. So yes, the game has changed alot since the years of Karch Maybe I'm missing what qualifies as "alot". I'm fairly sure the court is the same size and that the basic idea of hitting the ball where players on the other side of the net can't return it is still the goal. I believe that backrow hitting, fast sets mixed in with high sets, and flying around in the backrow to get to balls has been around for more than 30 years. Maybe I'm crazy, but I don't think the game has changed all that much in terms of playing. What has changed is the number of points teams get from the other team's service errors. The fact that you can net on the serve has changed serve receive. The libero instead of a DS holding up a silly paddle to sub in is a great change. People touching between 11'6" and 12'0" on average instead of 11'0" to 11'6" on average (assuming the top players can actually touch six inches higher on average now compared to back then) might be a bit overrated in terms of a sport with an 8' high net. You are still hitting to avoid (or tool) a block even at a few inches higher in the air. I just don't buy that the game has changed so much that certain playing styles are obsolete. Micah Ma'a will be searching for a position on the team, no doubt. There is no obvious spot he steps into besides a serving substitute that in a pinch can player libero for E Shoji, play oppo if someone gets hurts, or can fill in as a setter. I think the real issue is that the team already as Kawika playing that role. There is no room for both Kawika and Ma'a on the roster. But having one of those guys is a blessing for any coach. The jump height increase makes it much harder for shorter guys, like Ma'a, to play against the taller guys like Kurek, Nowakowski and the many other 6'9"+ players from other countries.
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Post by thatguy on Feb 8, 2016 14:47:47 GMT -5
Maybe I'm missing what qualifies as "alot". I'm fairly sure the court is the same size and that the basic idea of hitting the ball where players on the other side of the net can't return it is still the goal. I believe that backrow hitting, fast sets mixed in with high sets, and flying around in the backrow to get to balls has been around for more than 30 years. Maybe I'm crazy, but I don't think the game has changed all that much in terms of playing. What has changed is the number of points teams get from the other team's service errors. The fact that you can net on the serve has changed serve receive. The libero instead of a DS holding up a silly paddle to sub in is a great change. People touching between 11'6" and 12'0" on average instead of 11'0" to 11'6" on average (assuming the top players can actually touch six inches higher on average now compared to back then) might be a bit overrated in terms of a sport with an 8' high net. You are still hitting to avoid (or tool) a block even at a few inches higher in the air. I just don't buy that the game has changed so much that certain playing styles are obsolete. Micah Ma'a will be searching for a position on the team, no doubt. There is no obvious spot he steps into besides a serving substitute that in a pinch can player libero for E Shoji, play oppo if someone gets hurts, or can fill in as a setter. I think the real issue is that the team already as Kawika playing that role. There is no room for both Kawika and Ma'a on the roster. But having one of those guys is a blessing for any coach. The jump height increase makes it much harder for shorter guys, like Ma'a, to play against the taller guys like Kurek, Nowakowski and the many other 6'9"+ players from other countries. Assuming he did play Oppo of course.
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Post by ucsdfan on Feb 8, 2016 16:43:46 GMT -5
The jump height increase makes it much harder for shorter guys, like Ma'a, to play against the taller guys like Kurek, Nowakowski and the many other 6'9"+ players from other countries. Again, I believe the net is the same height and the court has the same dimensions as before. I believe tall guys also played 30 years ago, and despite that fact, 6'2" to 6'5" hitters found success. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that there are people today in the 6'2" to 6'5" range with touches around 11'6" that play smart volleyball at the international level and have success by hitting where the defense is not. This has not changed over the last 30 years. My point is that so many people make comments how different the game is today not realizing that everything scales concertedly. A 6'2" Ma'a is going to struggle and/or succeed today as much as a 6'2" Ma'a would have struggled and/or succeeded 30 years ago. Kiraly with today's training techniques and diet regiment would have been porportionally better, and likely just as dominant. The love for height makes some sense, but so does the love for quickness, power, and intelligence. The style of play cycles through these things. When it comes to blocking, wing span, timing, range, and read are just as important as height. I'm not saying Ma'a won't struggle because of his height. I'm saying that today's game is not nearly as different as many of the younger players and fans seem to so easily claim it is. The biggest difference I can see is that the stratgey with rally scoring has altered how much people rely on power (in both serving and hitting). With sideout scoring, there was a little more emphasis on defense, because you could milk a win by waiting for the other team's hitting error. Nowadays, most teams go for it at the service line and shrug off service errors. Eventually that approach will not be in vogue and some other approach will replace it. The trends in the game are cyclic. Any changes between today and yesterday are in the rules: net serves being good, the libero has made for stronger passing in all six rotations but less chess playing by coaches, and rally scoring has made the game more of a sprint than a marathon.
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Post by fetchin on Feb 8, 2016 17:21:37 GMT -5
I think he will take over K Shoji's role after Rio.
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Post by akbar on Feb 8, 2016 17:28:14 GMT -5
I think he will take over K Shoji's role after Rio. $10 so does the Boss. It is logical and the kid's IQ and athleticism is top flight. This is where he can help the program the most.
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Post by SuperSpike on Feb 8, 2016 21:54:24 GMT -5
Kind of like a Sander or Crabb attacker with hopefully room to improve his jump with college lifting.
Setting seems a little unrefined at this point but I think he's a better true athlete than any setter I've seen in a while.
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Post by kokyu on Feb 9, 2016 0:36:36 GMT -5
UCLA lists Ma'a at 6' 3", so what's his real height? K Shoji, unlike E Shoji, has a relaxation problem that'll prevent him from ever being a clutch setter for USA. Ma'a's main setting issue right now is setting the middle too low at times, whether intentional I don't know but Smith had the same problem before too and has improved significantly this year. It does mean both are going for progressive setting which is a good thing. Have to make mistakes to learn play with very tight tolerances.
K Shoji would be the safe bronze medal choice for Rio, Ma'a would be the 'unsafe' silver or gold choice. Christenson's location is second to none but he relies on high hitters, higher balls, and safer sets which he's able to since USA has such tall hitters and high jumpers. BUT Ma'a is gunning for the highest level Brazilian tradition and standard of Ricardo and Bruno. I see him getting there and hope USA will need that in the future.
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Post by jna on Feb 9, 2016 8:39:16 GMT -5
I'd like people's opinion of where they think he fits in with the National Team pipeline. I've seen him very little but am well aware of how he can do pretty much every skill at an extremely high level. While that versatility is great, seems like at the highest level you need to be a little more specialized. So where does he fit best? Christensen seems locked as one of the worlds best setters for the next 10 years. Anderson, Sander, Russell as pins. Can Ma'a hit internationally? Just curious where people see his upside the most. -Speraw (kidding of course) No one is safe at anything in the next few years!. Micah Ma'a is just one outstanding player among lots of other talented guys that will fight with tooth and nail for a spot on the national team for Tokyo 2020. You can call me crazy, but I'd love to see a national team composed only by collegiate players in the next quadrennial. LIBERO: -Adam Wessel -Davis Gillet -Matt Douglas -Kelsey Yogi SETTER: -Josh Tuaniga -Micah Ma'a -Dane Leclair -Paul Bischoff -Matt Ctvrtlik MIDDLE BLOCKER: -Patrick Gasman -Branden Oberender -Paul Narup -Scott Stadick -George Huhmann OUTSIDE HITTER: -TJ DeFalco -Jordan Ewert -Brett Rosenmeier -Colin Mahan -Ryan Moss -Noah Dyer -Matt Zeske -Bobby Wilden (also opposite) OPPOSITE: -Kyle Ensing -Kyle Mackiewicz -Matt Szews This is just a short list of young contestants for the next olympic team, IMPO
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