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Post by ironhammer on Aug 21, 2016 19:36:01 GMT -5
Well folks, another Olympics have come to an end.
US was disappointing, but I'm not going to dwell on that since there are plenty of discussions over it already.
So looking at the tournament overall, how will you rate this edition of Olympic volleyball compared to previous ones? In terms of team's performance, how did each of the teams do according to expectations?
I heard some say the level of volleyball this year seem worse than before? Any truth to that? Or is that just arm chair commenting?
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Post by holidayhusker on Aug 21, 2016 19:44:46 GMT -5
Anyone having trouble logging in to watch replays? Odd? Its worked great until now.
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Post by ironhammer on Aug 21, 2016 19:45:35 GMT -5
Anyone having trouble logging in to watch replays? Odd? Its worked great until now. NBC? Or are you referring to another replay site? |
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Post by holidayhusker on Aug 21, 2016 20:09:51 GMT -5
Anyone having trouble logging in to watch replays? Odd? Its worked great until now. NBC? Or are you referring to another replay site? Yes,,,,trying to watch the bronze volleyball match and it keeps saying my login is not correct? I have used the same one for two weeks. |
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Post by psuvbfan10 on Aug 21, 2016 20:53:39 GMT -5
For both teams to medal is a success, I agree that most folks thought the women would be playing in the finals. It's a tough event - much better outcome than if neither team made it to the medal stand!
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Post by volleyguy on Aug 21, 2016 21:04:49 GMT -5
NBC? Or are you referring to another replay site? Yes,,,,trying to watch the bronze volleyball match and it keeps saying my login is not correct? I have used the same one for two weeks. If you're on the iPad, try shutting it down and re-starting. What you described happened to me a few times (I would get the usual start up screen with the athletes on the highway, then the main menu, and would still get the not authorized message). Powering the ipad off then on worked for me. |
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Post by BuckysHeat on Aug 21, 2016 21:16:40 GMT -5
For both teams to medal is a success, I agree that most folks thought the women would be playing in the finals. It's a tough event - much better outcome than if neither team made it to the medal stand! 3 of 4 actually medaled 2 indoor women's in beach Nick and Phil were disappointing from the stance that they did not medal but they came across a pretty good Brazilian combo in what probably should have been the gold medal match - no disrespect to the Italians meant |
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Post by ironhammer on Aug 21, 2016 21:34:55 GMT -5
For both teams to medal is a success, I agree that most folks thought the women would be playing in the finals. It's a tough event - much better outcome than if neither team made it to the medal stand! 3 of 4 actually medaled 2 indoor women's in beach Nick and Phil were disappointing from the stance that they did not medal but they came across a pretty good Brazilian combo in what probably should have been the gold medal match - no disrespect to the Italians meant I wonder...how would you rate US Volleyball overall (all events, beach+indoor) in Rio compared to past Olympics in performance? Great? Acceptable? So-So? Below-average? Disappointing? |
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Post by bballnut90 on Aug 21, 2016 21:49:39 GMT -5
1. Zhu Ting is scary good. At just 21, she carried an underdog Chinese team to gold.
2. Lang Ping outcoached everyone this tournament and did an amazing job.
3. US needs better point scorers on the pins. Ball control is solid, middles are outstanding, setting is top notch...but the outsides had difficulty terminating out of system.
4. I was impressed with how young many of the standout players were. This was the most Olympic VB I've been able to watch, so I don't know if this is similar to most Olympics, but I didn't expect there to be so many top players who are teenagers and in their early 20s. China was incredibly young, Egonu was a monster at just 17 years of age, Celeste Plak looked very very good, etc. Looking forward to seeing these players with more experience in 2020.
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Post by Sbilo on Aug 21, 2016 21:55:19 GMT -5
The level of play in the women's side is significantly lower than the previous editions. Would this current Chinese team be able to take a set off Brazil 2008 team? Or how about with the Russian team of 2004? My answer would be no.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2016 21:59:35 GMT -5
The level of play in the women's side is significantly lower than the previous editions. Would this current Chinese team be able to take a set off Brazil 2008 team? Or how about with the Russian team of 2004? My answer would be no. Yep and the young Serbian and dutch teams everyone is so high on They are mediocre at best, great offensively but cant pass or play defense, they would have a hard time even making it past the quarters in previous olympics! Previous olympics I would be in awe of the precise passing and defense of the top teams this year I saw a bunch of sloppy play! |
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Post by BeachbytheBay on Aug 21, 2016 22:29:31 GMT -5
on the one hand, not getting a gold (particularly the indoor women who lost only one match and played overall as the best team) is a little let-down
on the other hand, the fact the US won all 3 bronze matches (lose and get nothing in all 3 matches) is pretty impressive, especially with women's Beach and Men's indoor were both a) coming off two matches that were real let-downs, and b) the manner in which they both came-back in their bronze matches was also impressive - the US was very close to coming away with a single bronze medal from all the volleyball teams - bottom line the Beach VBall bronze and Men's indoor bronze were great stories with veterans (KWJ, Priddy, & Lee) playing key roles in very possibly their last matches
the men's team made an impressive run to survive, the women's teams dominated their pools
all in all - it's a B+ or A- Olympics
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Post by volleyguy on Aug 21, 2016 23:08:29 GMT -5
In beach volleyball, the US doesn't appear to be in great shape. We're losing a lot of experienced talent, and the rest of the world has caught up. USA Volleyball will have to re-think it developmental approach. The women's side might benefit from the growth of NCAA Sand Volleyball, but the men's side is stark.
Two bronze medals is probably an appropriate marker of the state of both indoor programs. It's tough to dominate on the men's side because of the distribution of pure physical talent. On the women's side, physical talent is more concentrated in certain countries, and coaching has a greater impact on the outcomes in a broad sense.
On the whole, a decent performance for USA Volleyball, but I'm hoping that with the changing of the guard at USAV, we'll see some improvement across the board in the support, commitment and philosophy of our NT programs.
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Post by BeachbytheBay on Aug 21, 2016 23:30:22 GMT -5
I'm a little amazed how well the US men perform in indoor (and beach) given how few programs sponsor college volleyball compared to the women's side
I'm not so sure how competitive the US will be in beach (on the men's or women's side), there are more professional options available, whereas beach is a brutal sport to make a living and not sure that is beneficial for the US competing
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Post by 5280volleyball on Aug 22, 2016 1:00:17 GMT -5
The problem with beach volleyball is there's no money in it unless you're one of the top 2 US teams, and in the main draw on the FIVB every weekend. Kelsey Robinson would be a great beach player, but she's making at twice as much indoors as she would on the beach without having to worry about a qualifier or how she finishes every weekend. Same with Christenson and Sander on the men's side.
Claes/Hughes give the US hope for one good women's team, and Summer Ross/Carico show some upside. Whoever plays with April Ross will be in the mix as well. Men's beach is a crapshoot. I think a Tri Bourne/Taylor Crabb pairing has potential. But if they don't team up, then what does the US have? I don't see an NVL team that's ready to make the move up to the big time.
I continue to be impressed with the US men indoors. They've been on the podium 4 of the last 5 major events. To do that in a country with the small number of Division I/II programs and no pro league is impressive. With all the young talent, they're going to be good for a while.
The women are at a junction point. The "all in" culture has taken hold, which is good. But it's still very possible that a lot of the players (Akinradewo, Larson, Banwarth, Dietzen, Thompson, maybe Glass) are done with international volleyball. There is good young talent to build on (Lowe, Adams, Dixon, Kreklow, Robinson, Hill, Vansant, Hagglund) but where does the leadership on the floor come from at that point?
It was a good Olympics overall for the US. The indoor teams were a total of 5 points away from being in the gold medal matches, and it took a lights out match from Agatha and Barbara (plus an off night from Walsh Jennings) to eliminate our women. So in the big picture, we're close to where we'd like to be.
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