Olympics | Lessons learned from volleyball's gold

[vball20]

volleyblogseattle.blogspot.com/2012/08/olympics-lessons-learned-from.html

[nothingbutcorn]

Well some interesting comments. Some are right on.

[Phaedrus]

Irony abound. Berg was the go to sub from 2008 when it became apparent that Ah-Mow wasn't setting middle as often as needed. Now she is being called out for doing that very thing.

I like the phrase steely gaze. I am sure the team has its own chemistry which we are not privy to. I'll leave it at that.

I also thought that Hodge in the back row was less than stellar, but if she can ignite the offense like she did against China then by all means.

Here are my conclusions:
You need two OH who can ball handle and hit smartly as well as hit hard to play internationally.

No matter how much the youngsters play, they will freeze and make mistakes. You need enough veterans to unfreeze them and to get them through.

You need to play together and train together for a long time before the chemistry and trust can develop.

For some reason the Brasilians know the game much better than we do and their athletic reactions to different situations are much more game savvy than ours.

It is really hard to train people to play to win, even at this level.

There aren't too many Take%*$#a's in this world so don't expect your setter to play at that speed with that kind of control and verve.

Ball control, ball control, ball control, and that doesn't just mean passing.

[Deleted]

Yep. It was the extended rallies that killed USA today.

I still think, however, that the 25-11 put them to sleep. Brazil just handed game 1 to them. When they had to turn it on, they couldn't match Brazil's level of play.

[jagdpanther]

We woke the sleeping giant with that.

[geddyleemarvin]

Is this Jack Hamann's blog?

If so, I'm going to make some wild guesses (I haven't clicked the link):

1. He ripped Berg and Davis.

2. He thought Tama and Thompson should have been on the court.

How'd I do?

BTW, if he did state the above, that doesn't make any of it untrue, but Jack can be a bit predictable when it comes to UW players.

[nothingbutcorn]

For our young players, will this be motivation for them to put off school, or family so they can in 2016 finish business? Four years can be a long time. Will they put the time in?

[sistahsledge]

Interesting critique from a Seattle writer who wanted to see more of his local girls.

Agree that Thompson should have been given a chance to fire up the team. The writer describes the weaknesses of Lindsey Berg but fails to address the fact that the Brazilians would love to go after Thompson's block. Obviously, Hugh didn't trust Thompson to fully take the reins, unless it was a gimme match like DR. She was only there for the limited double sub which was ineffective in the latter part of the tournament.

He thinks Myashiro could have made a difference:

"Toward the end of third set, it was obvious Berg was not going to set Hodge in the back row. At that point, McCutcheon should have put his focus on defense, and inserted Tama Miyashiro to pass."

I doubt one back row rotation by Tama would have turned the tide. I still think it's foolish to bring a DS who can impact only a few rotations per set instead of another OH. The OH position is the most critical and most prone to breaking down. He also points out the "momentum-killing" service errors of Logan but doesn't mention the crucial botched serve of Tama at the end of set 3.

[silversurfer]

Some of the points in that article are good, others laughably near-sighted.

[Reach]

Take a fourth outside.

[Ye Olde Dawg]

Aug 11, 2012 20:17:56 GMT -5 @geddyleemarvin said:

Is this Jack Hamann's blog?

If so, I'm going to make some wild guesses (I haven't clicked the link):

1. He ripped Berg and Davis.

2. He thought Tama and Thompson should have been on the court.

How'd I do?

BTW, if he did state the above, that doesn't make any of it untrue, but Jack can be a bit predictable when it comes to UW players.

You mostly got that right. He did a lot of second-guessing of a world-class coach (seems a bit early for that to me), and did say going to Thompson would be a positive move. Not so much about Miyashiro, though I guess sistahsledge noticed something I didn't. Yes, Jack Hamann can cheer for the home team at times.

All in all there were enough criticisms that some of them HAVE to have been on target, right? But this is the time for shotgun critiques. We haven't stewed on it enough for critiques that have real insight, so it's time for those who feel comfortable with a few misses to fire a number of shots, and see what hits.

[baldyballer]

Time to train glass or a blocking setter. I've been on this board for many years saying Berg was not good enough. We have the best front line in volleyball. Now let's get some setting and defense.

[OverAndUnder]

Aug 11, 2012 22:18:17 GMT -5 baldyballer said:

Time to train glass or a blocking setter. I've been on this board for many years saying Berg was not good enough. We have the best front line in volleyball. Now let's get some setting and defense.

We have "the best front line in volleyball" because we've had an awesome setter to get the ball to them. You may have heard of her; her name is Lindsey Berg. Did the gold medal winners have a blocking setter? The bronze? The 4th place team?

Sure, it would be great to have a setter as good as Berg who also happened to be 6'3", but that has nothing to do with this match, this team, this last four years.

[Deleted]

Tama -- who I like -- did nothing this entire Olympics. She wasn't a serving specialist (lousy serves) and didn't dig a ball.

[Deleted]

Aug 11, 2012 22:14:57 GMT -5 baldyballer said:

Time to train glass or a blocking setter. I've been on this board for many years saying Berg was not good enough. We have the best front line in volleyball. Now let's get some setting and defense.

And you're still wrong. A blocking setter would have made no difference today. It was all about ball control.