trojansc
Legend
All-VolleyTalk 1st Team (2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017), All-VolleyTalk 2nd Team (2016), 2021, 2019 Fantasy League Champion, 2020 Fantasy League Runner Up, 2022 2nd Runner Up
Posts: 28,109
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Post by trojansc on May 23, 2019 2:59:42 GMT -5
I don’t remember Thompson playing college ball, where did she play? How can you not ? She plays in the BEST CONFERENCE IN THE COUNTRY A A C
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Post by n00b on May 23, 2019 7:04:05 GMT -5
also something I just noticed from rewatching (and Im just nitpicking bc this player has been so good)...but when the 2nd and 3rd set started to get close to the end, Drews lost her composure a little. Not really playing wise (even though she did make some errors at the end) but you could see on her face she looked a little panicked. There was a point in the third set when she begged Karch to challenge that she wasn't in the net, but it showed she was in the video review. After they lost the point she kinda gave an aggressive look to Karch and mouthed "I didn't think I net". Its probably no big deal but it was interesting to see her because she is one of the oldest players with the most experience on this roster and is finally in the spotlight. You are right, it’s no big deal. So far, Drews has been most productive player for USA. Granted, competition has been marginal. She had almost as many errors as she had kills against Japan and got benched. But other than that, sure.
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Post by midnightblue on May 23, 2019 7:39:35 GMT -5
I'll share some thoughts as well:
1. Foecke. She was the primary target on SR and while she did struggle at times, she was able to gather herself and showed some pretty good passing. For it being her debut match at this level, I think her future looks very promising. I have no doubt she will settle into her passing responsibilities with more experience. Does she have enough time to make up ground before Tokyo, yes.. but with Larson, Hill, MBH and now Robinson ahead of her, won't be easy.
2. Drews / Thompson : Drews has started off very hot, and is just playing really, really well offensively. She's added more power and even seems to be quicker to the ball than last season, which fares very well for her and USA. Thompson came in and just put the ball away. She's explosive and can create angles on the ball most people cannot. I'm really looking forward to see how she does against a bigger block.
3. Courtney : in the words of Joan Didion, she's a cool customer. Totally unfazed and just does her job. What I appreciate most is that she actually has presence on the floor and is using her voice... excited to see how she continues to grow into that position.
4. Setting : this will be the most interesting race leading up to Tokyo... and I have no idea where to begin. It's kinda a big ole mess right now... Lloyd is and will be #1 until she is unseated... Poulter did as well as could be expected in her debut, though she greatly lacks the leadership qualities of Carlini and Hancock...
5. Washington / Ogbogu : I agree with Shhhhh that Washington is very smart to distinguish herself from the other middles (save Foluke as she is the only lock at this position) with her front slide, which proved to be very effective in this match. Blocking needs work. Chiaka is one of those middles who is tricky to connect with given her high point of contact, but she's been playing very well over the past year. With Adams being inconsistent, Gibbemeyer not offering much on the offensive end, and Dixon ??.. the door is certainly open to these two moving forward.
6. There are a few athletes on this roster who need to be relegated to B-Tournaments (or...) for the remainder of the quad to make room for those who can actually compete for Tokyo. And I think we know who those are.
Nothing incredibly original... and as it's only the first weekend none of this means very much, but I'm encouraged in a lot of ways so far.
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Post by SportyBucky on May 23, 2019 7:56:09 GMT -5
Kingdon does well until she hits better competition Where she wilts. Hehehe, I suppose you can see it that way. But can she improve that area of weakness is the core issue for her. What do you mean, I suppose you can see it that way? Can you explain how you do not? Do you remember her matches against better competition a few years ago? Unable to hit past a big block? Getting hit over? Passing break downs? I wish I had time to go back and search threads or dig up statistics, but I do not think there are two ways about it; Kingdon did not perform against better competition. In fact, she was awful.
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Post by ironhammer on May 23, 2019 8:10:29 GMT -5
Hehehe, I suppose you can see it that way. But can she improve that area of weakness is the core issue for her. What do you mean, I suppose you can see it that way? Can you explain how you do not? Did I say I do not agree with your post? I am not contesting what you said. I simply said you can see it that way. You are entitled to your view. Me, I tend to look on the bright side on occasion and try to keep future possibilities open and never shut a door completely on a player...unless you are talking about utterly hopeless players.
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Post by SportyBucky on May 23, 2019 8:22:50 GMT -5
Completely hopeless and capable of playing a sport at the very highest level are two very disparate things. I digress. If she's the best we can do at outside hitter, we will have issues medaling.
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Post by n00b on May 23, 2019 8:29:28 GMT -5
... 4. Poulter did as well as could be expected in her debut, though she greatly lacks the leadership qualities of Carlini and Hancock... ... I’m not sure how anybody could know this without being in the gym with the team.
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Post by rainbowbadger on May 23, 2019 8:36:20 GMT -5
Random thoughts:
I'll join the chorus of "so happy Karch is giving the youngins a chance." I'm also glad he's not forcing the USA system on the players as much, instead letting them shine with their own offense (Rettke's slide, Washington up the middle, etc.). I know we'll have to put the dub-sub back in at some point, but.... eh? If we can get two solid setters & two solid opps, I'm kind of okay with that.
A year of pro play has helped Drews and Washington immensely, and I can't wait to see what it does for Foecke, Thompson, and Rettke (all in good time).
I've always liked Courtney, and I'm glad she's owning the libero role.
Really hoping to see more of the true newbies today and next week.
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Post by volleyguy on May 23, 2019 9:19:15 GMT -5
... 4. Poulter did as well as could be expected in her debut, though she greatly lacks the leadership qualities of Carlini and Hancock... ... I’m not sure how anybody could know this without being in the gym with the team. So, leadership is only visible in the practice gym?
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Post by SportyBucky on May 23, 2019 9:22:49 GMT -5
... 4. Poulter did as well as could be expected in her debut, though she greatly lacks the leadership qualities of Carlini and Hancock... ... I’m not sure how anybody could know this without being in the gym with the team. I think we'd have to survey coaches and the team to understand that.
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Post by Hawk Attack on May 23, 2019 9:29:47 GMT -5
I’m not sure how anybody could know this without being in the gym with the team. So, leadership is only visible in the practice gym? Leadership in the practice gym is how we got to our 2016 roster and idk if anyone is interested in repeating that...
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Post by Hawk Attack on May 23, 2019 9:35:41 GMT -5
Drews has been incredible: No wonder FIVB stat takers get confused... that’s a lot of blonde white girls
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Post by donut on May 23, 2019 9:37:43 GMT -5
Kingdon will not be making an Olympic, World Championship, or Olympic Qualifying roster. She's a great player, I really enjoyed her at Arizona, but she is not athletic enough at 5'11" to compete at the very highest level. She played very well in Azerbaijan and Korea, but as other players have noted, playing in Korea/Japan seems to be an NT-killer the majority of the time. Not sure why Kingdon is the exception, considering she has spent half of her international career there. It would be different if she brought superior ball control and defensive capabilities, but she's behind Larson, Robinson and Hill in both of those categories. I wish we were getting to see Rolfzen or Anae, because these are players who have a better chance (even if it's slim) than Kingdon at competing at the highest level due to their youth and athletic ceiling.
I'm also interested in our libero situation. If KRob is moving back to OH, does this essentially mean Courtney is our starting Tokyo libero? And will KRob definitely come along, in case we need a libero/DS substitute? That's all fine and dandy, I just wonder what the rationale was behind essentially erasing an NT season of libero experience for KRob (which was a disservice to her if she's moving back to OH), and choosing Courtney instead, who will only have 2 tournaments of experience as our starting libero going into 2020.
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Post by donut on May 23, 2019 9:38:03 GMT -5
So, leadership is only visible in the practice gym? Leadership in the practice gym is how we got to our 2016 roster and idk if anyone is interested in repeating that... Remember that time we brought 3 setters!
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Post by dragan11 on May 23, 2019 9:40:11 GMT -5
2 years ago, when Kingdon made her debut in WGP (ex-VNL), she was stunning during the first few weeks. Then other teams figured out her and her efficiency dropped a lot.
I'm happy with what I saw from Foecke/Rettke/Washington/Thompson, but better to wait a bit.
Washington's front slide and Thompson's hitting angles are haven't been scouted before by Japan.
Ps, Foecke should try tooling the block more. Her wrist-shots doesn't work at international level.
And I think setting flows better with Poulter, even it's too early to judge setting. What Karch wants requires a lot of time to stabilize. (Hancock run this offence last year as well, and spend a lot of time with Drews/Wilhite/Kingdon, but not with others)
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