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Post by midnightblue on Aug 4, 2019 8:31:52 GMT -5
Just for fun, was looking at the World Rankings and if we go with the 'favorites' to make it to the Olympics as of right now, here are what the pools would look like :
Pool A Japan (H) United States (3) Brazil (4) Italy (8) Korea (9) Cameroon (17) / Kenya (20)
Pool B Serbia (1) China (2) Russia (5) Netherlands (7) Dominican Republic (10) Argentina (11) / Peru (27)
The bottom-dwellers could be swapped depending on which of the teams qualify through the Continental Qualifier.
Those are honestly the most balanced pools we've seen in a while at the OGs. Especially after Rio which saw all 4 medal-round teams come from Pool B.
The rankings can / will change after WCup, but to what degree will depend on which teams bring their A squad - which risks being relatively few given the tournament no longer serves as a qualifier (the FIVB has a WCup problem on their hands), and thus the only real take-away being player development. Karch has told Sundy and KB that he's bringing his best players.
*I haven't found anything that details the seeding process for the OGs for Tokyo 2020, but unless it has changed, the FIVB / IOC will use serpentine seeding based on each team's ranking from October of the previous year.. in this case the WR as of October 2019 for Tokyo 2020.
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Post by SportyBucky on Aug 4, 2019 9:04:06 GMT -5
Offensively? She absolutely is. Dixon is awful offensively and is only there for her defense and serving. "Awful." I assume you think Rettke (and Washington) is (are) better offensively. I rest my case. Yes. I think Rettke, Ogbogu, Washington and my grandmother are better offensively than Dixon.
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Post by SportyBucky on Aug 4, 2019 9:07:14 GMT -5
Greater, maybe. But no one runs their offense through their middles. No one who wants to win anyhow. It's low percentage volleyball. Btw, watch the match. Bulgaria wasn't leaving Dixon alone. If she was awful, they'd totally ignore her. She was drawing the block. Team USA's strength, offensively, is their pins. No shame in that. I didn't criticize Dixon. She's a solid player, not spectacular but very steady and low-error. And my original post, that you responded to, was a rebuttal to the poster who suggested that Carlini (and Poulter) would develop better connections with the middles. It's a fact. Dixon is not in there for her offense. She's there for her blocking. I don't care to bring up stats. All I have seen over the past 5 years since her surgery lead me to believe that. Had I the inclination, I'm sure I could find support in numbers.
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Post by SportyBucky on Aug 4, 2019 9:09:19 GMT -5
He said our right side attack at the world championships in 2018 was putrid. He was correct.
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Post by volleyguy on Aug 4, 2019 9:10:36 GMT -5
I didn't criticize Dixon. She's a solid player, not spectacular but very steady and low-error. And my original post, that you responded to, was a rebuttal to the poster who suggested that Carlini (and Poulter) would develop better connections with the middles. It's a fact. Dixon is not in there for her offense. She's there for her blocking. I don't care to bring up stats. All I have seen over the past 5 years since her surgery lead me to believe that. Had I the inclination, I'm sure I could find support in numbers. I don't have a dog in this fight. I was just correcting ruff.
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Post by kurtndiego on Aug 4, 2019 11:49:24 GMT -5
I gotta stick up for Tori Dixon-I think her bashers on here need to wake up to her all-around game. She serves tough, plays great back-row defense for a MB-is a great blocker. I think she could be a better attacker if she wasn't getting set too low in the middle consistently.
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Post by courtwatchers on Aug 4, 2019 12:34:50 GMT -5
LordVader said it all....
But, Rettke is so far behind Dixon on reading defense and, thus, closing out a block and was rightfully standing on the sidelines tonight. _____________ I too am a "homer" when it comes to Dixon. Her and Gibbemeyer are two of the BEST MB's to play at the U of Minnesota. Dixon's strong suit has always been to read defense. She has not wavered from that over her NCAA career forward. If people want to put her down for that, then so be it. I say to that opponents respect her play and rightfully so. Maybe it's time for future MB's at the college level to take a lesson or two from her play. Experience in this sport and any other speaks for itself.
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Post by maplespear on Aug 4, 2019 12:47:51 GMT -5
Can someone tell me when team USA plays next.
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Post by northwoods on Aug 4, 2019 12:52:01 GMT -5
Can someone tell me when team USA plays next. Not for a while....power outage at the arena in Shreveport....
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Post by maplespear on Aug 4, 2019 13:17:32 GMT -5
Can someone tell me when team USA plays next. Not for a while....power outage at the arena in Shreveport.... Well i saw last night that they were playing today on Olympic channel, and then "poof" gone from their schedule. Thank you for this info.
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Post by rogero1 on Aug 4, 2019 13:55:35 GMT -5
Match started at 1:30 CDT on NBC.
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Post by kokyu on Aug 4, 2019 14:11:26 GMT -5
Pathetic.
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Post by shawty on Aug 4, 2019 14:15:27 GMT -5
Greater, maybe. But no one runs their offense through their middles. No one who wants to win anyhow. It's low percentage volleyball. Btw, watch the match. Bulgaria wasn't leaving Dixon alone. If she was awful, they'd totally ignore her. She was drawing the block. Team USA's strength, offensively, is their pins. No shame in that. Pin. Singular. Just the left. We set a ton of balls to Thompson, but she was also very inefficient. But much better than Drews.
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Post by trollhunter on Aug 4, 2019 14:36:18 GMT -5
Really? OK, I'll ask my question again? What is there best lineup? Sorry, but you can only use the players on the roster. Who the starters are doesn't matter. Robinson and Bartsch were great against Kazakhstan (who is terrible), then switched both outsides for Bulgaria. It was clearly a pre-determined rotation of players. Great strategy for a 13s club tournament. I just don't understand it in a do-or-die qualifier. What if Hill and Larson were the top OH's in camp and you wanted them fresh for 2 hardest matches within 18 hours? Is sitting them versus a weak opponent "13u"?
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Post by n00b on Aug 4, 2019 14:43:08 GMT -5
Who the starters are doesn't matter. Robinson and Bartsch were great against Kazakhstan (who is terrible), then switched both outsides for Bulgaria. It was clearly a pre-determined rotation of players. Great strategy for a 13s club tournament. I just don't understand it in a do-or-die qualifier. What if Hill and Larson were the top OH's in camp and you wanted them fresh for 2 hardest matches within 18 hours? Is sitting them versus a weak opponent "13u"? Hill hasn't played with the national team since... last falls World Championships? I didn't think it was a good move to not give her that first match to give her her some real competition before such a high-leverage match.
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