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Post by klazk on Jan 10, 2015 14:01:37 GMT -5
Curious to see what people think about which team I should be rooting for to qualify for Rio.
To clarify, the poll is strictly asking which team would have the best chance to win a medal at Rio. Not who you think will actually qualify (because I think those answers could be very different).
Given current points I didn't include Pavlik/Kropp, Branagh/Dowdy or Hochevar/Daley because I don't think they have a realistic chance to qualify.
EDIT: Apologies for misspelling Fopma's name.
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Post by guest2 on Jan 10, 2015 15:57:28 GMT -5
Its Fopma/Summer but just barely over no one. The Olympics have a lousy structure and some good teams dont get to play because of country limits. That said, Summer/Fopma would need a ton of lucky breaks, tapeshots, good draws, etc. to even come close. That is the only team there that I see consistently siding out when playing at the top of their game.
Sweat is 5'3, Kessey will be 53, and DiCello doesnt seem to be very good.
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Post by geddyleeridesagain on Jan 10, 2015 16:52:06 GMT -5
I voted zero chance. I think Fendrick/Sweat are probably the best bet to be the 2nd team in Rio, but aren't a medal threat. The rest of the pairs...not knocking my socks off. Not that they're terrible or anything, it's just that there's a lot of talent on the world tour. Even April and Kerri finished off the podium more times than they made the podium last season.
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Post by klazk on Jan 10, 2015 17:12:32 GMT -5
I voted zero chance. I think Fendrick/Sweat are probably the best bet to be the 2nd team in Rio, but aren't a medal threat. The rest of the pairs...not knocking my socks off. Not that they're terrible or anything, it's just that there's a lot of talent on the world tour. Even April and Kerri finished off the podium more times than they made the podium last season. This is an interesting stance to me. While I understand the "not knocking my socks off" comment 100%, this position implies that you don't think any US team not including Walsh/Ross has any chance at a podium at a (full field) grand slam over the next 2 years. After all, most of the slams have better fields than the Olympics because of the extra German, US and Brazilian teams. While I think it is fairly remote that any of these teams will podium, I don't know that I would be willing to say zero chance. I can't come to an answer myself, which is why I put up the poll. Although I do agree that I think the highest probability of qualifying is Fendrick/Sweat assuming Sweat has gotten over the back spasm issue and it isn't going to be a recurring problem. |
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Post by guest2 on Jan 10, 2015 17:18:27 GMT -5
I would bet a non-Kerri/April US team makes a podium this year. The Olympics are weaker, but in some grand slams the US has four teams in the main draw, whereas in the Olympics its only two. I think in a grand slam, depending on how many there are, the odds say one of the US teams goes on a run/gets a super easy draw
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Post by downtheline on Jan 10, 2015 17:52:45 GMT -5
I would like to see Summer & Lane work together this season if the Jen & Summer trial run doesn't pan out.
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Post by geddyleeridesagain on Jan 10, 2015 17:59:41 GMT -5
I would like to see Summer & Lane work together this season if the Jen & Summer trial run doesn't pan out. I would very much like to see that as well, but Summer has to get over wanting to be a full-time defender before it can happen. |
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Post by geddyleeridesagain on Jan 10, 2015 18:21:24 GMT -5
I voted zero chance. I think Fendrick/Sweat are probably the best bet to be the 2nd team in Rio, but aren't a medal threat. The rest of the pairs...not knocking my socks off. Not that they're terrible or anything, it's just that there's a lot of talent on the world tour. Even April and Kerri finished off the podium more times than they made the podium last season. This is an interesting stance to me. While I understand the "not knocking my socks off" comment 100%, this position implies that you don't think any US team not including Walsh/Ross has any chance at a podium at a (full field) grand slam over the next 2 years. After all, most of the slams have better fields than the Olympics because of the extra German, US and Brazilian teams. While I think it is fairly remote that any of these teams will podium, I don't know that I would be willing to say zero chance. I can't come to an answer myself, which is why I put up the poll. Although I do agree that I think the highest probability of qualifying is Fendrick/Sweat assuming Sweat has gotten over the back spasm issue and it isn't going to be a recurring problem. Well, never say never - I don't think there's literally zero chance, particularly given how unpredictable a particular draw turns out. But I do think it a remote chance. Only once in the past four years has a U.S. team that didn't include either Kerri or April made a grand slam podium. Fopma/Sweat took a third in Berlin in 2013 (and that was a bit of a fluke). Before that, you need to go back to the days of Turner/Akers and Branagh/May. And there aren't any Turners, May's, or Branagh's (even Branagh isn't really Branagh any more, so to speak) out there right now. And I'm thinking very specifically about the Olympics, not Grand Slams. Sure, the overall field is weaker in an Olympics. But there are still going to be a dozen or so really good teams, the pressure will be immense, the crowd rowdy and hostile. I'm just not seeing a medal from any of the teams listed above. Or maybe I'm being overly pessimistic. Let's see how 2015 shakes out. |
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Post by guest2 on Jan 10, 2015 18:35:03 GMT -5
I would like to see Summer & Lane work together this season if the Jen & Summer trial run doesn't pan out. Why not Jen and Lane. Fopma playing well could give Lane everything she needs and vice versa. Jen can take away a lot at the net and Lane is dynamic. Having thought a lot about it, I wonder if this isn't the best possible tandem from the potential "second teams" |
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Post by kro2488 on Jan 10, 2015 19:31:06 GMT -5
US Women have won the gold in beach volleyball for three Olympics straight, so shouldn't the title of the thread be, which team has a chance at winning a fourth gold medal for the United States in womens beach volleyball? Or something like that? Misty and Kerri together spoiled us for so many years, the strongest team right now for the USA for the women is Ross/Walsh, but I'm not sure when they play the better teams if the back-court aspect of their game will hold up. Some of their losses to the Brasilian teams that didn't challenge the Walsh block and moved the ball around are concerning, and if it's very windy they don't pass well enough to sideout at a high enough rate to keep the other team from going on scoring runs. As for the other teams i just don't see them coming close to medaling in Rio. But who knows something could change, but I doubt it.
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Post by crawdaddy on Jan 10, 2015 20:25:26 GMT -5
I would like to see Summer & Lane work together this season if the Jen & Summer trial run doesn't pan out. Why not Jen and Lane. Fopma playing well could give Lane everything she needs and vice versa. Jen can take away a lot at the net and Lane is dynamic. Having thought a lot about it, I wonder if this isn't the best possible tandem from the potential "second teams" Makes no sense to me why either Fopma or Summer are not playing with Carico. With the current pairings, I don't see a medal finish in a grand slam or Rio for any team other than April-Kerri. |
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Post by wang pu on Jan 10, 2015 21:23:34 GMT -5
US Women have won the gold in beach volleyball for three Olympics straight, so shouldn't the title of the thread be, which team has a chance at winning a fourth gold medal for the United States in womens beach volleyball? Or something like that? Misty and Kerri together spoiled us for so many years, the strongest team right now for the USA for the women is Ross/Walsh, but I'm not sure when they play the better teams if the back-court aspect of their game will hold up. Some of their losses to the Brasilian teams that didn't challenge the Walsh block and moved the ball around are concerning, and if it's very windy they don't pass well enough to sideout at a high enough rate to keep the other team from going on scoring runs. As for the other teams i just don't see them coming close to medaling in Rio. But who knows something could change, but I doubt it. Umm....the question is asking for which team has the best chance to win a 2nd medal for the USA at Rio (assuming that April/Kerri win one). |
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Post by c4ndlelight on Jan 11, 2015 0:50:24 GMT -5
How do the girls in college (Sara Hughes, Kirby Burnham, the Pepperdine girls) stack up? I know points would make qualification impossible, but are they at least at the level talent-wise where they could compete for a podium in a couple years?
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Post by fetchin on Jan 11, 2015 1:05:26 GMT -5
I have high hopes for Burnham, Tiegs, Hughes and Dykstra.
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Post by geddyleeridesagain on Jan 11, 2015 1:19:33 GMT -5
Burnham is done with volleyball (back issues).
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