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Post by guest2 on Nov 19, 2019 17:00:28 GMT -5
Hughes is way overrated on these boards imho. Really good player. Not a really great dangerous player at all. She makes it really hard for teams to beat her, but she just isn't physical enough to beat the top ranked teams. Making teams play well to beat them is nothing to scoff at in a very deep but bottom heavy women's field. Ross/Walsh and Ludwig/Walkenhorst in 2016 effectively had no major weaknesses. What top team can you say that about now? Dudatha are weak on D, ATeam are inconsistent and very slow as a team, Rebana same thing, MHPavs are schitzophrenic and easy to score off. Its a good field for solid, consistent players. If Talita werent saddled with Taina for example. I dont think Hughes is a young Larissa or anything but she is the best US defender other than April and she usually plays good volleyball. Between them Slaes and Stocsen have made 12 quarters and 5 semis. Switch Hughes into either of those teams and the new team makes 3-5 semis a year and maybe wins an event like Chetumal. The two teams in the final were begging each other to win it. Mariafe would give up a few point, then the Chinese would lumber over and hand them back. In a top heavy field - and one with better matched teams - like 2016, they might not fare as well but in 2020, I could see Hughes/Larsen making 1-2 finals and 2 other semis.
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Post by beachindoor on Nov 19, 2019 20:27:28 GMT -5
Brooke got some type of procedure on her knee. Check her insta story. What is it?
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Post by haze on Nov 19, 2019 20:42:28 GMT -5
Hughes is way overrated on these boards imho. Really good player. Not a really great dangerous player at all. She makes it really hard for teams to beat her, but she just isn't physical enough to beat the top ranked teams. Making teams play well to beat them is nothing to scoff at in a very deep but bottom heavy women's field. Ross/Walsh and Ludwig/Walkenhorst in 2016 effectively had no major weaknesses. What top team can you say that about now? Dudatha are weak on D, ATeam are inconsistent and very slow as a team, Rebana same thing, MHPavs are schitzophrenic and easy to score off. Its a good field for solid, consistent players. If Talita werent saddled with Taina for example. I dont think Hughes is a young Larissa or anything but she is the best US defender other than April and she usually plays good volleyball. Between them Slaes and Stocsen have made 12 quarters and 5 semis. Switch Hughes into either of those teams and the new team makes 3-5 semis a year and maybe wins an event like Chetumal. The two teams in the final were begging each other to win it. Mariafe would give up a few point, then the Chinese would lumber over and hand them back. In a top heavy field - and one with better matched teams - like 2016, they might not fare as well but in 2020, I could see Hughes/Larsen making 1-2 finals and 2 other semis. I think Hughes is a really good player, and I don't think her abilities should be somewhat diminished, but I'm comparing her with World Class players and I just don't see a standout, even with comparing her with US players. This is just my opinion, but I don't think she's easily #2 behind April. April is in a league of her own as a defender and it's well earned. I think Hughes is arguably the 2nd best player only because of current longevity, and I don't think she's much better if at all than Sponcil or Flint. Hughes is a very similar player to Flint, but has had better partners. I don't think Hughes makes Claes or Day any better at all, than their current partners, including results. I think they are all interchangeable. I think if Flint or Sponcil played with Brandy on the AVP, Brandy would have had similar results to what she had with Sarah. I would even pose an argument of, does the US woman have better blockers than defenders? I wouldn't have said that at all 2 years ago. Would Kerri, Alix, KelleyL, KellyC, and Summer Ross be a stronger positional group than April, SarahH, SaraS, BetsiF, and Brooke(? - anyone else better than Brooke)? The more I am thinking about this the more I don't think it's even close. I'm not knocking Hughes I think she's a really good player and is going to have a long and healthy career, I just get impression that people think she is an elite US player and I think I would say she is in a grouping of very strong US players. And I just don't think her and Kerri Walsh would be any more of a medal contender than Kerri and Betsi or Sponcil. Stockman would be a really good partner for Kerri. Super consistent, great at siding out, good in transition, not the defender Hughes is but a better attacker and side out player, and that's what Kerri needs. Stockman's volleyball limited though, so I'm probably just reaching. Brooke is just a really bad match for Kerri IMO. kerri doesn't need a great defender because her blocking scores a lot of points through blocks and attack errors. What she needs is a strong sideout player (Hughes isn't), and someone who can terminate in transition, because teams aren't going to hit through Kerri's block, they're going to try and shoot and work the court more.
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Post by ajm on Nov 19, 2019 21:16:18 GMT -5
Brooke got some type of procedure on her knee. Check her insta story. What is it? Some stem cell procedure? Looks like injections in both knees and hips. No idea how that works.
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Post by guest2 on Nov 19, 2019 21:32:35 GMT -5
Making teams play well to beat them is nothing to scoff at in a very deep but bottom heavy women's field. Ross/Walsh and Ludwig/Walkenhorst in 2016 effectively had no major weaknesses. What top team can you say that about now? Dudatha are weak on D, ATeam are inconsistent and very slow as a team, Rebana same thing, MHPavs are schitzophrenic and easy to score off. Its a good field for solid, consistent players. If Talita werent saddled with Taina for example. I dont think Hughes is a young Larissa or anything but she is the best US defender other than April and she usually plays good volleyball. Between them Slaes and Stocsen have made 12 quarters and 5 semis. Switch Hughes into either of those teams and the new team makes 3-5 semis a year and maybe wins an event like Chetumal. The two teams in the final were begging each other to win it. Mariafe would give up a few point, then the Chinese would lumber over and hand them back. In a top heavy field - and one with better matched teams - like 2016, they might not fare as well but in 2020, I could see Hughes/Larsen making 1-2 finals and 2 other semis. I think Hughes is a really good player, and I don't think her abilities should be somewhat diminished, but I'm comparing her with World Class players and I just don't see a standout, even with comparing her with US players. This is just my opinion, but I don't think she's easily #2 behind April. April is in a league of her own as a defender and it's well earned. I think Hughes is arguably the 2nd best player only because of current longevity, and I don't think she's much better if at all than Sponcil or Flint. Hughes is a very similar player to Flint, but has had better partners. I don't think Hughes makes Claes or Day any better at all, than their current partners, including results. I think they are all interchangeable. I think if Flint or Sponcil played with Brandy on the AVP, Brandy would have had similar results to what she had with Sarah. Here is a scenario that I think illustrates where these defenders actually stand because I think to much of people's opinions are shaped by style rather than performance. An anonymous US defender gets 10 good sets in a row against a quality team. She comes up with zero kills. (Maybe errors, maybe blocked, maybe dug, we don't know) You have 10 dollars to bet and two goals. 1) You must get at least 1 dollar on the correct player or there is some huge penalty 2) You have to make as much money as possible What amount of your 10 dollars would you bet on: 1) Brooke 2) Betsi 3) Hughes 4) Ross 5) Sponcil 6) Stockman
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Post by guest2 on Nov 19, 2019 21:38:43 GMT -5
Brooke got some type of procedure on her knee. Check her insta story. What is it? Some stem cell procedure? Looks like injections in both knees and hips. No idea how that works. I didnt see this on her IG. Hopefully with that much range its more therapeutic and prophylactic than addressing some injury
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Post by donnyb on Nov 20, 2019 8:31:54 GMT -5
I think Hughes is a really good player, and I don't think her abilities should be somewhat diminished, but I'm comparing her with World Class players and I just don't see a standout, even with comparing her with US players. This is just my opinion, but I don't think she's easily #2 behind April. April is in a league of her own as a defender and it's well earned. I think Hughes is arguably the 2nd best player only because of current longevity, and I don't think she's much better if at all than Sponcil or Flint. Hughes is a very similar player to Flint, but has had better partners. I don't think Hughes makes Claes or Day any better at all, than their current partners, including results. I think they are all interchangeable. I think if Flint or Sponcil played with Brandy on the AVP, Brandy would have had similar results to what she had with Sarah. Here is a scenario that I think illustrates where these defenders actually stand because I think to much of people's opinions are shaped by style rather than performance. An anonymous US defender gets 10 good sets in a row against a quality team. She comes up with zero kills. (Maybe errors, maybe blocked, maybe dug, we don't know) You have 10 dollars to bet and two goals. 1) You must get at least 1 dollar on the correct player or there is some huge penalty 2) You have to make as much money as possible What amount of your 10 dollars would you bet on: 1) Brooke 2) Betsi 3) Hughes 4) Ross 5) Sponcil 6) Stockman I think you should take Ross off the list. Everyone will pick her
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Post by bayarea on Nov 20, 2019 17:48:22 GMT -5
Sara Hughes. the 2nd best US defender, and surely after another subpar Sponcil effort we can put that debate to rest right? Total package at this time, agree. Mentally Sarah kills Sara. Physically, advantage Sponcil. Easier to improve in the shot choice/emotional control area so the next two years will be really interesting to watch. ^^This totally confused me, until I realized you actually meant: Mentally, SARA (Hughes) kills SARAH (Sponcil). Is that correct? Otherwise you were giving advantage in both categories to Sponcil...
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Post by guest2 on Nov 20, 2019 20:26:37 GMT -5
Here is a scenario that I think illustrates where these defenders actually stand because I think to much of people's opinions are shaped by style rather than performance. An anonymous US defender gets 10 good sets in a row against a quality team. She comes up with zero kills. (Maybe errors, maybe blocked, maybe dug, we don't know) You have 10 dollars to bet and two goals. 1) You must get at least 1 dollar on the correct player or there is some huge penalty 2) You have to make as much money as possible What amount of your 10 dollars would you bet on: 1) Brooke 2) Betsi 3) Hughes 4) Ross 5) Sponcil 6) Stockman I think you should take Ross off the list. Everyone will pick her I dont think anyone picks April or Hughes, and I could see how someone might pick Emily or Betsi but for me Id go 6 on Brooke, 4 on Sponcil. Both are awful sideout players. Sponcil's failures just look better
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Post by ajm on Nov 20, 2019 22:09:19 GMT -5
I think you should take Ross off the list. Everyone will pick her I dont think anyone picks April or Hughes, and I could see how someone might pick Emily or Betsi but for me Id go 6 on Brooke, 4 on Sponcil. Both are awful sideout players. Sponcil's failures just look better I think this is right. Donnyb didn’t understand your question. Brooke and Sponcil are far and away the worst side out players of the group you listed, at least when you put them up against a top FIVB team. Both are frequently targeted on their teams and are capable of giving up long stretches of points. Sponcil somewhat makes up for it with superior defense and setting. Brooke is perhaps the least error prone of the group.
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Post by donnyb on Nov 21, 2019 10:39:01 GMT -5
Yeah I read it wrong. Lol.
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Post by ajm on Nov 28, 2019 9:52:15 GMT -5
Some stem cell procedure? Looks like injections in both knees and hips. No idea how that works. I didnt see this on her IG. Hopefully with that much range its more therapeutic and prophylactic than addressing some injury Brooke posted another IG story with details, transcribed below: "Been getting questions about my stem cell procedure. Here's how it went down...My knees were hurting. Went and saw my doc. He ordered MRI for both knees. Doc suggested stem cell procedure. Season ended on a Saturday and on Tuesday I was having the procedure done. Want as much down time and recover time as possible. Using stem cells from bone marrow and fat. Procedure day: broken up in 2 parts (awake through all of it). First Part: Drill holes in my hip bones to get bone marrow. Liposuction fat out from the same holes. Bandage me up. While docs spin my blood around and get the concoction just right, I lay in my car and eat. Second Part: Guided by ultrasound doc injects stem cells into my knees. Probably did 8-10 injections in each knee. I think it took about 60-90 minutes for injections. Wheel me down to my car. Hubby drives me home. After Procedure: The first 12-18 hours after are the worst. Soooo painful. Like bad bad. Like throbbing, aching, burning, my legs are going to explode kind of pain. On crutches for like 5 days. Rehab and slowly get back into activities. Planning on starting volleyball stuff in January. It's been a week since procedure...I'm feeling pretty good. Knee pain is minimal. Starting to be pretty mobile. Hip pain is still pretty bad. Very sore and I get sharp/burning pain every once in a while."
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Post by dunninla3 on Nov 28, 2019 10:44:39 GMT -5
I hope it works as well for Brooke as it does for so many. The wonders of modern science. Imagine in 10 years most joint damage will be healed this way.
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Post by tamz on Jan 12, 2020 11:13:44 GMT -5
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Post by Fight On! on Feb 25, 2020 8:52:03 GMT -5
Is there any update on this? I assume ATeam is a lock. Is the second pair decided?
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