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Post by johnbar on Sept 22, 2016 10:11:23 GMT -5
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Post by JB Southpaw on Sept 22, 2016 10:14:31 GMT -5
This paragraph should rule out Sarah Hughes next year: "Once Walsh Jennings identifies a couple of potential partners, she would like to host them for training sessions to see how they mesh. She does not have a definitive timeline, but she would like to have a partner in place for the start of the international beach volleyball season, which is expected to begin in early February."
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Post by tree on Sept 22, 2016 10:45:30 GMT -5
I am pretty sure this is a temporary partnership until Ross comes back. The one thing that may mess things up is if April gets preggers in the off season next year instead of this year.
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Post by haze on Sept 22, 2016 10:45:57 GMT -5
Good timing for April. It isn't going to affect her moving forward to much, and she can think long and hard about which direction she wants to go with her next partner. She'll probably keep a close eye on Kerri to see how she does this next year with a different partner.
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Post by haze on Sept 22, 2016 10:46:43 GMT -5
I am pretty sure this is a temporary partnership until Ross comes back. The one thing that may mess things up is if April gets preggers in the off season next year instead of this year. I don't have any inside knowledge, but it wouldn't shock me at all if Ross wanted to move in another direction.
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Post by downtheline on Sept 22, 2016 11:06:13 GMT -5
Well Kerri's serve receive and passing did cause them to loose in Rio. Seems like a lot of mental games also. Kerri basically a positive thinker conquers all v. Aprils more down to earth take it as it comes demeanor.
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Post by wang pu on Sept 22, 2016 12:40:00 GMT -5
I think your casual acceptance of the idea that April will be better at 36 than any player, other than Kerri ever has is not justified (I did the same thing with Kerri though), but even if, it isnt about whether April is better than Sara, its whether April/Kerri are better than Kerri/Sara Kerri/April are a poor fit in a few ways that Kerri/Sara are not. Speed on defense, the sides they play, and the issue of who is the team leader are all ways in which I believe Kerri/Sara are a much better fit together than Kerri/April. Kerri/April are a team that succeed because of how good the individuals are, not the whole. I posit Sara/Kerri could be better due to the way they would play together This is a fair point of view the way you explain. I still believe April is a better defensive player than you give her credit for and a significantly better offensive player/server etc. Experience as you know in beach is also incredibly important, more so than almost all athletic sports. I feel like Kerri/April team synergy proved fairly strong over past 2 yr run. I get your point it looks like Sarah is a much more dynamic defensive player that would fit an aging Kerri perhaps better but there is also the reality that Kerri/Sarah team chemistry could really struggle particularly if Sarah is required to side out every serve and doesn't. Maybe she can at elite level consistently but maybe not...she may be the next Misty May (over the next two years) or she may be a better version of Whitney Pavlick in her prime (over the next two years)...too early to make such a prediction I guess is my thought particularly when comparing to established Top 5 player (now) April Ross. I'm curious what factor the age difference would play in a Walsh/Hughes partnership. Would it be almost 20 years?
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Post by wang pu on Sept 22, 2016 12:44:58 GMT -5
This is a fair point of view the way you explain. I still believe April is a better defensive player than you give her credit for and a significantly better offensive player/server etc. I think April is a great offensive player, top 3 in the world, and when she is hitting her jump serve I think she is the best server - the idiocy of her float serving her way through the season still boggles my mind - so its hard to say I underrate either. I also rate her defense, and I don't think she is a poor defender, but April is better against driven balls than she is chasing. Since Kerri takes away a lot of driven balls, April's strength is largely duplicative of Kerri's. Where Sara is a better than April is in chasing, so if Kerri can force players to shoot, she will get many balls April would not, even if they are comparable defenders. Experience as you know in beach is also incredibly important, more so than almost all athletic sports. People always say this, but I don't rate experience much at all. A year or so is needed, but after that many players have won almost immediately, and some sooner - Kerri, Karch, Sinjin, Steffes, Whitmarsh, Rego, etc. I feel like Kerri/April team synergy proved fairly strong over past 2 yr run. I get your point it looks like Sarah is a much more dynamic defensive player that would fit an aging Kerri perhaps better but there is also the reality that Kerri/Sarah team chemistry could really struggle particularly if Sarah is required to side out every serve and doesn't. I definitely agree here. Over the last three years I think Kerri/April have been the best team, but with the rise of the Germans and Kerri's decline, I think they are in a tie for second against a team they match up poorly with. Kerri/April would definitely win tournaments next year and the year after if they played together Maybe she can at elite level consistently but maybe not...she may be the next Misty May (over the next two years) or she may be a better version of Whitney Pavlick in her prime (over the next two years)...too early to make such a prediction I guess is my thought particularly when comparing to established Top 5 player (now) April Ross. Its a fair point, and I think April is the second best player right now, but I don't think she likes playing with Kerri and I don't think it suits her That is the way it came off on social media, to me, a little forced love. Like the couple that posts kissing pictures and really doesn't talk at home. April knew Kerri was her best option at Olympic Gold and she thrived under the circumstances.
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Post by JB Southpaw on Sept 22, 2016 12:46:04 GMT -5
I am pretty sure this is a temporary partnership until Ross comes back. The one thing that may mess things up is if April gets preggers in the off season next year instead of this year. what partnership?? between who?
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Post by guest2 on Sept 22, 2016 13:12:14 GMT -5
Well Kerri's serve receive and passing did cause them to loose in Rio. Seems like a lot of mental games also. Kerri basically a positive thinker conquers all v. Aprils more down to earth take it as it comes demeanor. Maybe GLM can speak to this with more direct knowledge but Kerri's super sunny approach has always seemed very forced to me. I think the big conflict on this team is both were at a point in their careers where they wanted to be the alpha. Notice how much better April played when Kerri was hurt. Maybe that was because there was no pressure, but I think it was because April was unquestionably the alpha on the team at that time.
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Post by guest2 on Sept 22, 2016 13:13:09 GMT -5
Good timing for April. It isn't going to affect her moving forward to much, and she can think long and hard about which direction she wants to go with her next partner. She'll probably keep a close eye on Kerri to see how she does this next year with a different partner. Taking a year off and putting your body through a major change at 36 will have a big impact. Maybe she gets past it, but neither one of those things is small.
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Post by haze on Sept 22, 2016 17:16:07 GMT -5
I've always thought Kerri was a little celebrity show. I'm not saying she isn't a good person at all but I don't think she is as sunny happy go lucky carefree as she comes across as in the bright spotlight.
April is a professional athlete that knows how to take care of her body. It could be quite hard to come back, but I would definitely put money on her doing so. I've seen it time and time again even at that level.
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Post by ebes1099 on Sept 22, 2016 17:19:04 GMT -5
I am pretty sure this is a temporary partnership until Ross comes back. The one thing that may mess things up is if April gets preggers in the off season next year instead of this year. what partnership?? between who? I think Tree meant "this" as a place for "whoever Kerri picks next". Saying that Kerri's next partnership (whoever she may pick) will be a temporary one and Kerri/April will team back up once April returns. I'm not saying that's my feeling, just trying to clear up Tree's post for you.
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Post by johnbar on Sept 22, 2016 18:56:58 GMT -5
If April and/or Kerri are unhappy with their current partnership, this is the perfect way for them to break up with a positive spin.
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Post by geddyleeridesagain on Sept 22, 2016 20:09:29 GMT -5
Well Kerri's serve receive and passing did cause them to loose in Rio. Seems like a lot of mental games also. Kerri basically a positive thinker conquers all v. Aprils more down to earth take it as it comes demeanor. Maybe GLM can speak to this with more direct knowledge but Kerri's super sunny approach has always seemed very forced to me. I think the big conflict on this team is both were at a point in their careers where they wanted to be the alpha. Notice how much better April played when Kerri was hurt. Maybe that was because there was no pressure, but I think it was because April was unquestionably the alpha on the team at that time. Well, Kerri has been known to get very negative with her partners, including Misty. Now that, in and of itself, doesn't make her a bad person or partner - plenty of great players could be described in the same way. But none of them lay on the sunny, huggy schtick quite like Walsh - I mean, the attitude you see on the court from Larissa or saw with EY? They're pretty much the same off the court, and don't try and hide it. I actually respect that. At any rate, yeah, "forced" would be an appropriate term, IMO. April is pretty much all business and doesn't take a back seat to anyone (she's also very cool and quite funny), so there may have been a little friction between her and Kerri at times. But I always got the sense that April and Kerri get along OK - it's a business partnership, and while business partners often argue, don't socialize much with each other etc, it works as long they're focused on the same goal.
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