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Post by tamz on Aug 8, 2021 19:07:28 GMT -5
If half the serves that went out were in play instead, we might’ve made it.
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Post by crando on Aug 8, 2021 20:05:34 GMT -5
I'm a James (and Don) Shaw fan. That said, we're lucky to have Micah -- he is excellent, and not going anywhere. Russell is a big loss, but TJ played quite well, so that didn't seem like that much of a problem. The USA swept the gold medalists, played 4 deuce sets with the silver medalists, and played the 4th-place team very tough. I don't think it's really a "blow it all up" thing. A few guys might not still be there in 3 years, so it might get semi-blown-up just due to age, but it's not time to just throw out everything.
I think injuries, and the lack of playing the main group much (and the lack of success) in the VNL hurt a lot, but that's an excuse in addition to being true. And while the team started fast, it's hard to feel like they got better as the Games went along -- reasons why are unknown to me -- and that did them in along with the really tough pool.
And the serving, and other errors (hitting, reception), made a HUGE difference -- especially when so many set losses were by 2 points. Watching UCLA too, that's a Speraw thing, especially from the service line. I agree that, to play VB well you need to be aggressive, especially at that level when any easy ball gets shoved down your throat. I coach very aggressive serving too.
But Speraw, or the next coach, needs to find a different serving mindset. It seems their mentality is "it's OK to miss serves because we need to get opponents out of system," but it hit me during the Brazil match that simply missing serves doesn't mean you're getting anyone out of system -- it just means your world-class athletes can't hit the ball into the court consistently (then 5 minutes later they popped up a graphic saying the US had 18 errors and 2 aces, and Brazil had 6 errors and 5 aces). Serving easy leads to losing, but serving out leads there even faster. We just have to find a way to serve better than we did to get out of that 3rd-to-8th-ish group of teams, and/or we needed to find a way to be a little more above our average level when it was needed.
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Post by crando on Aug 8, 2021 20:49:43 GMT -5
Granted, the team's serving strategy is no doubt much more complicated than the "hit the s*** out of it" that it looks like on tv. But whatever the strategy is, if you can't execute the strategy, then you probably lose. And when you have Sander and DiFalco as the lefts, along with E Shoji, and a solid block, you have the opportunity to dig some balls (whatever "some" means in men's international play).
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Post by geddyleeridesagain on Aug 8, 2021 20:55:56 GMT -5
BTW, Shaw is out until sometime in 2022 with an ankle injury.
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Post by archiepelago on Aug 8, 2021 22:40:37 GMT -5
Is this news or wishful thinking? USA didn't make it to the quarterfinals. A change must happen. I'm ok with Micah staying. But if they do let him go, I'll be fine with that too. Micah Ma'a and Joe Worsley are ok replacement for me. Sure, they didn't make the QFs, but lets face it, the final 4 teams in the tournament were from our pool. France and Argentina were playing amazingly crazily good volleyball. So we can't hang our heads on that.
That said, our offense was spot on. It was also crazy good.
The only thing we really struggled on was serving and we really really struggled. Probably the worst serving team in the Olympics. And lets face it, that most likely comes down to coaching not players. We need elite float servers as well as guys that can get the ball in consistently.
So if you want to move on from Christensen because as a team we can't serve, that's one of the dumbest takes you can possibly make.
I said if they decide to let go of Christenson, I'm ok with it. If they decide to keep him, I'm still ok with it. In terms of keeping players, I would invest on Ensing and DeFalco. Mostly because of their youth. I would let go of Jaechke, Holt, Smith, Stahl, Kawika and Muagututia. If they decide to keep or to let go of Shoji and Christenson, I don't really mind. In my opinion, Sander, Anderson, DeFalco and Ensing should remain for Paris 2024. |
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Post by archiepelago on Aug 8, 2021 22:43:00 GMT -5
Is this news or wishful thinking? USA didn't make it to the quarterfinals. A change must happen. I'm ok with Micah staying. But if they do let him go, I'll be fine with that too. Micah Ma'a and Joe Worsley are ok replacement for me. the setting was not the problem in the slightest. If they let go of Christenson or if they decide to let him stay, I won't mind the slightest. The fact that he insists on keeping the 12 person team when they failed to enter the quarterfinals is a red flag for me. The teams that beat them are not going to be weaker. France and Argentina for example are filled with young players in their starting lineup. |
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Post by wilbur on Aug 8, 2021 23:53:12 GMT -5
Sure, they didn't make the QFs, but lets face it, the final 4 teams in the tournament were from our pool. France and Argentina were playing amazingly crazily good volleyball. So we can't hang our heads on that.
That said, our offense was spot on. It was also crazy good.
The only thing we really struggled on was serving and we really really struggled. Probably the worst serving team in the Olympics. And lets face it, that most likely comes down to coaching not players. We need elite float servers as well as guys that can get the ball in consistently.
So if you want to move on from Christensen because as a team we can't serve, that's one of the dumbest takes you can possibly make.
I said if they decide to let go of Christenson, I'm ok with it. If they decide to keep him, I'm still ok with it. In terms of keeping players, I would invest on Ensing and DeFalco. Mostly because of their youth. I would let go of Jaechke, Holt, Smith, Stahl, Kawika and Muagututia. If they decide to keep or to let go of Shoji and Christenson, I don't really mind. In my opinion, Sander, Anderson, DeFalco and Ensing should remain for Paris 2024. Thomas is 28 I think... but he does seem fragile for his age. |
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Post by wilbur on Aug 9, 2021 0:00:49 GMT -5
Shaw hasn't played setter in over 3 years. After he was the back-up at Perugia, he played as a backup opposite for a brief spell with ZAKSA before injuries cut his season short. The next season he played opposite for Narbonne and had his season cut short due to injury/medical emergency. He started this last season at Piacenza as the backup opposite, but was released after the 8th match of the season. He was used as a substitute in three SuperLega matches and scored two points. He has since made the move to the sand. Someone said they would be ok with Christenson being replaced after this tournament by Ma'a or Worsley. WHAT IN THE ACTUAL ......?!?!?! The difference between Christenson and those two players as setters is very, very vast at this point. Ma'a and Worsley will be two of the first people to tell you that. Winning a number of grass tournaments and having a kick-ass podcast does not equate to replacing one of the best setters in the world as he is approaching his prime. Both of those guys are making huge steps in the right direction to get themselves on the USAV roster (as a backup and possibly the replacement after Christneson retires). I know Ma'a played in the VNL, but I am talking about the 14-man (or 12-man) roster that goes to the big tournaments. Both will be starting setters, Ma'a made the move to one of the top 3 leagues. Worsley will be the starter at Luneburg and they will be playing in the CEV Cup in addition to the Bundesliga. Great response with all the right facts... even though I think we are getting trolled.  A bad result at the olympics and people (some seriously and others are probably kidding) are ready to ignore years of outstanding performances for the national team and top level pro teams. Shaw's and Christenson's post college path's are quite different, that speaks for itself. |
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Post by archiepelago on Aug 9, 2021 0:11:41 GMT -5
Shaw hasn't played setter in over 3 years. After he was the back-up at Perugia, he played as a backup opposite for a brief spell with ZAKSA before injuries cut his season short. The next season he played opposite for Narbonne and had his season cut short due to injury/medical emergency. He started this last season at Piacenza as the backup opposite, but was released after the 8th match of the season. He was used as a substitute in three SuperLega matches and scored two points. He has since made the move to the sand. Someone said they would be ok with Christenson being replaced after this tournament by Ma'a or Worsley. WHAT IN THE ACTUAL ......?!?!?! The difference between Christenson and those two players as setters is very, very vast at this point. Ma'a and Worsley will be two of the first people to tell you that. Winning a number of grass tournaments and having a kick-ass podcast does not equate to replacing one of the best setters in the world as he is approaching his prime. Both of those guys are making huge steps in the right direction to get themselves on the USAV roster (as a backup and possibly the replacement after Christneson retires). I know Ma'a played in the VNL, but I am talking about the 14-man (or 12-man) roster that goes to the big tournaments. Both will be starting setters, Ma'a made the move to one of the top 3 leagues. Worsley will be the starter at Luneburg and they will be playing in the CEV Cup in addition to the Bundesliga. Great response with all the right facts... even though I think we are getting trolled. A bad result at the olympics and people (some seriously and others are probably kidding) are ready to ignore years of outstanding performances for the national team and top level pro teams. Shaw's and Christenson's post college path's are quite different, that speaks for itself. The thing is, the Olympics is the goal. Now everyone is back at square one trying to make the best possible lineup for 2024. They didn't make the quarterfinals so there's something wrong. If we don't do anything, then are you ok for another 5th finish in the pool? A factor to consider is age. We can't possibly go to 2024 with this lineup even if Micah wants it. By Paris lympics, David Smith will be 39. Holt 37, Anderson 37, Kawika 37, Muagtutia 36, and Erik Shoji 35. A change needs to happen. |
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Post by wilbur on Aug 9, 2021 0:30:45 GMT -5
Great response with all the right facts... even though I think we are getting trolled. A bad result at the olympics and people (some seriously and others are probably kidding) are ready to ignore years of outstanding performances for the national team and top level pro teams. Shaw's and Christenson's post college path's are quite different, that speaks for itself. The thing is, the Olympics is the goal. Now everyone is back at square one trying to make the best possible lineup for 2024. They didn't make the quarterfinals so there's something wrong. If we don't do anything, then are you ok for another 5th finish in the pool? A factor to consider is age. We can't possibly go to 2024 with this lineup even if Micah wants it. By Paris lympics, David Smith will be 39. Holt 37, Anderson 37, Kawika 37, Muagtutia 36, and Erik Shoji 35. A change needs to happen. Fully agree, I was refering solely to Christensen. All those will be replaced, except E Shoji maybe, and MA will have value as more of a role player at the least. |
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Post by basil on Aug 9, 2021 17:14:48 GMT -5
 reading this thread...I get that we need to make changes to our roster and playing style, but ditching a top four setter in the world is not the move lmao |
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Post by Timeless on Aug 9, 2021 17:51:17 GMT -5
I'm interested to see who of the Hawaii boys get left out (including Ma'a).
I definitely can see Joe/Gage/Ma'a/Gasman all push for LA or maybe even Paris idk. I think 3 of them make it for sure to LA and one of them being left out.
EDIT: Anyone know if Gabi Garcia-Fernandez has dual citizenship? If he does, the US should probably be begging him to switch over.
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Post by geddyleeridesagain on Aug 9, 2021 18:40:01 GMT -5
I'm interested to see who of the Hawaii boys get left out (including Ma'a). I definitely can see Joe/Gage/Ma'a/Gasman all push for LA or maybe even Paris idk. I think 3 of them make it for sure to LA and one of them being left out. EDIT: Anyone know if Gabi Garcia-Fernandez has dual citizenship? If he does, the US should probably be begging him to switch over. Er, Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens by birth. The question would be whether he would have to switch federations and serve the two year waiting period. |
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Post by brybast on Aug 9, 2021 23:14:36 GMT -5
Seriously?! Is anyone who isn't headless seriously thinking that setting was this team's problem?
The serve-receive game was where this team lost it.
No doubt certain positions could be beefed up, but setter seems to be the least of our concerns. Micah is great.
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Post by archiepelago on Aug 9, 2021 23:29:21 GMT -5
Seriously?! Is anyone who isn't headless seriously thinking that setting was this team's problem? The serve-receive game was where this team lost it. No doubt certain positions could be beefed up, but setter seems to be the least of our concerns. Micah is great. Micah is great yes but he is no longer the irreplaceable player he was. Whether he stays or goes doesn't really matter anymore. Anderson and Sander are the most consistent we have. Ensing and Defalco are the future of the team. Everyone else is REPLACEABLE. Again, I don't mind if Erik Shoji and Christenson leaves or stays. And maybe add Stahl there. But Holt, Kawika, Jaeschke, Muagtutia abd Smith needs to go. |
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