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Post by wilbur on Jun 11, 2023 23:33:34 GMT -5
Important postgame interview from John Speraw today Excellent interview Rob. Thank you for sharing and doing good work.
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Post by Spike Town on Jun 12, 2023 0:33:51 GMT -5
Important postgame interview from John Speraw today Excellent interview Rob. Thank you for sharing and doing good work. Agreed. That was actually refreshing and a good reminder fans/players/coaches are often aligned in their frustrations. “A humble conversation” is something that will stick with me.
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Post by uofaGRAD on Jun 12, 2023 11:08:15 GMT -5
Just now watching but I’m really not understanding the lineup we rolled out. Why not let Matt and Micah rest against literally any of the first three opponents instead of against Brazil?
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Post by akbar on Jun 12, 2023 12:27:35 GMT -5
Folks,
It's a long tourney
Smith and Jendryk are #1 and #2
TJ just keeps getting better. Not sure anyone hits harder than him this weekend.
Matt got his timing down and still has it. He got Canada out of system time and time again on serve.
Christenson is top 2 setter in the world.
Aaron is quietly one of the top OHs in the world....and passing really well.
Loved what Kessel brought this weekend.
Ensing is a solid #2
It was really important for Maa to play against Brazil imo. He will only get better and his teammates clearly love the guy and are in awe of his athleticism.
Add Thomas next round and we play even better.
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Post by acea on Jun 12, 2023 12:32:26 GMT -5
Folks, It's a long tourney Smith and Jendryk are #1 and #2 TJ just keeps getting better. Not sure anyone hits harder than him this weekend. Matt got his timing down and still has it. He got Canada out of system time and time again on serve. Christenson is top 2 setter in the world. Aaron is quietly one of the top OHs in the world....and passing really well. Loved what Kessel brought this weekend. Ensing is a solid #2 It was really important for Maa to play against Brazil imo. He will only get better and his teammates clearly love the guy and are in awe of his athleticism. Add Thomas next round and we play even better. You had me until you said Ensing was a solid #2
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Post by momorabbit on Jun 12, 2023 12:40:18 GMT -5
Folks, It's a long tourney Smith and Jendryk are #1 and #2 TJ just keeps getting better. Not sure anyone hits harder than him this weekend. Matt got his timing down and still has it. He got Canada out of system time and time again on serve. Christenson is top 2 setter in the world. Aaron is quietly one of the top OHs in the world....and passing really well. Loved what Kessel brought this weekend. Ensing is a solid #2 It was really important for Maa to play against Brazil imo. He will only get better and his teammates clearly love the guy and are in awe of his athleticism. Add Thomas next round and we play even better. I do agree with others. But two points, first, Ensing is a solid # 2? Where did you see that? How many times he has been blocked or make errors and how many times he can attack over those high hands to get points instead of doing transition? Does he progress even a little bit when Speraw gives time to him to develop the past year? I did not see any. If he progresses, he should be able to go to Italy/Poland's clubs, not staying in France. Did you see how Hanes and Ensing attack compared with Alan? Are they on the same international volleyball level? Second, Ma'a has wayyy more athleticism compared with Tuaniga (this is my opinion) as he defends/attacks really well but setting and connection are obviously bad. Speraw should not put him on court when he does not have chemistry with the team and let him face Brazil, the most difficult opponent for this week. Confusing choice. We need to have legit backup OPPOs and backup setter. That is the main problem. Others should be fine.
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Post by akbar on Jun 12, 2023 13:33:17 GMT -5
Folks, It's a long tourney Smith and Jendryk are #1 and #2 TJ just keeps getting better. Not sure anyone hits harder than him this weekend. Matt got his timing down and still has it. He got Canada out of system time and time again on serve. Christenson is top 2 setter in the world. Aaron is quietly one of the top OHs in the world....and passing really well. Loved what Kessel brought this weekend. Ensing is a solid #2 It was really important for Maa to play against Brazil imo. He will only get better and his teammates clearly love the guy and are in awe of his athleticism. Add Thomas next round and we play even better. You had me until you said Ensing was a solid #2 As of this weekend Kyle is still #2. He is a solid player. Hanes was really rough. If K Russell or Francisco Sani get a shot to move in #2 so be it. (Gabi is not a part of the equation yet) Micah Ma'a needed to experience this match the good and the bad. The USA program needed it too. We have 8 more matches ahead of this and will be in the mix for a top spot come playoff times. I can see us going 7-1 or better. All those players we saw on the Brasil team and Italian team are 1st divison players who start in their top leagues. Alan Souza is a terrific player with a world of high level experience.
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Post by bruinsgold on Jun 12, 2023 13:40:12 GMT -5
Folks, It's a long tourney Smith and Jendryk are #1 and #2 TJ just keeps getting better. Not sure anyone hits harder than him this weekend. Matt got his timing down and still has it. He got Canada out of system time and time again on serve. Christenson is top 2 setter in the world. Aaron is quietly one of the top OHs in the world....and passing really well. Loved what Kessel brought this weekend. Ensing is a solid #2 It was really important for Maa to play against Brazil imo. He will only get better and his teammates clearly love the guy and are in awe of his athleticism. Add Thomas next round and we play even better. I do agree with others. But two points, first, Ensing is a solid # 2? Where did you see that? How many times he has been blocked or make errors and how many times he can attack over those high hands to get points instead of doing transition? Does he progress even a little bit when Speraw gives time to him to develop the past year? I did not see any. If he progresses, he should be able to go to Italy/Poland's clubs, not staying in France. Did you see how Hanes and Ensing attack compared with Alan? Are they on the same international volleyball level? Second, Ma'a has wayyy more athleticism compared with Tuaniga (this is my opinion) as he defends/attacks really well but setting and connection are obviously bad. Speraw should not put him on court when he does not have chemistry with the team and let him face Brazil, the most difficult opponent for this week. Confusing choice. We need to have legit backup OPPOs and backup setter. That is the main problem. Others should be fine. Alan is 29 years old being set by an Olympic gold medalist and the same backup Brazil has had for at least 2 quads now. You cannot compare his level of play or attacking to two guys with less international experience. Is Ensing a clear #2? IDK. But you can't compare his trajectory (and definitely not Hanes) to Alan. Second, Ma'a hasn't had enough time setting with Team USA for you to be going this hard on his connection issues. The guy damn near took Halkbank to the CEV Championships final. He had no problems setting Nimir and Jaeschke to some fantastic matches because he had TIME with them. Is he Christenson? Nope. But who is?! Is he a good #2 setter with a ton of athletic talent who is in the gym because of THAT and not his ties to UCLA? Hell yeah. Name another American setter playing close to his level. Even Tuaniga is not defending, blocking, serving like him. I love your passion and appreciate your commentary, but it's ONE LOSS against a top, well-coached team.
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Post by wilbur on Jun 12, 2023 13:49:41 GMT -5
I like the lineups. MA was working through his injury and it was good to get him on the floor against teams that allowed some breathing room. Hanes was not terrible. He made mistakes but he did attack and block, and even defend, at a high level multiple times. If he can get more consistent he is usable, there is a lot of improvement from him in the past 2 years. Ensing was used in a tough situations and didn't perform great but I can see him doing better.
Ending 3-1 with 3 comfortable 3-0 wins, no injuries and a good list of things to work on with the team chemistry intact is a good place to be.
Growth is painful and challenging when it is most potent, Ma'a set a good game and was also exposed on things he needs to work on, I doubt he lost any confidence in himself, nor did the team or coach vise versa, so it was a tremendously valuable match for him to play and it was good to see teh coach keep him in.
Brazil came to play and needed that win, if we were at our best it would have been a battle, not going to war in the 4th match of week one with starters that needed rest might be a good call since we have a lot of players to develop and this match was a great opportunity. The team did battle and mistakes were made but they competed well at times. That big run BRA took in game 3 was a let down but BRA was pushing really hard and making good points. The new players for BRA, the middle and the OH played extremely well and Bruno was as good as always, with his offense, leadership and serve. I would not call that a bad loss for USA, it was very useful.
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Post by wilbur on Jun 12, 2023 14:05:02 GMT -5
I do agree with others. But two points, first, Ensing is a solid # 2? Where did you see that? How many times he has been blocked or make errors and how many times he can attack over those high hands to get points instead of doing transition? Does he progress even a little bit when Speraw gives time to him to develop the past year? I did not see any. If he progresses, he should be able to go to Italy/Poland's clubs, not staying in France. Did you see how Hanes and Ensing attack compared with Alan? Are they on the same international volleyball level? Second, Ma'a has wayyy more athleticism compared with Tuaniga (this is my opinion) as he defends/attacks really well but setting and connection are obviously bad. Speraw should not put him on court when he does not have chemistry with the team and let him face Brazil, the most difficult opponent for this week. Confusing choice. We need to have legit backup OPPOs and backup setter. That is the main problem. Others should be fine. Alan is 29 years old being set by an Olympic gold medalist and the same backup Brazil has had for at least 2 quads now. You cannot compare his level of play or attacking to two guys with less international experience. Is Ensing a clear #2? IDK. But you can't compare his trajectory (and definitely not Hanes) to Alan. Second, Ma'a hasn't had enough time setting with Team USA for you to be going this hard on his connection issues. The guy damn near took Halkbank to the CEV Championships final. He had no problems setting Nimir and Jaeschke to some fantastic matches because he had TIME with them. Is he Christenson? Nope. But who is?! Is he a good #2 setter with a ton of athletic talent who is in the gym because of THAT and not his ties to UCLA? Hell yeah. Name another American setter playing close to his level. Even Tuaniga is not defending, blocking, serving like him. I love your passion and appreciate your commentary, but it's ONE LOSS against a top, well-coached team. the only concern with regards to USA I had with Ma'a the past 3 years was his commitment to dedicating the time to team USA. Since his early years at UCLA, I thought he has the ability to play at the world class level. I assume Speraw knows this even better. Nothing against Josh, I love watching him but Ma's has the ceiling that it takes to win the #1 spot. Josh's ceiling is at #2. All my opinion.
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Post by bruinsgold on Jun 12, 2023 16:00:51 GMT -5
Alan is 29 years old being set by an Olympic gold medalist and the same backup Brazil has had for at least 2 quads now. You cannot compare his level of play or attacking to two guys with less international experience. Is Ensing a clear #2? IDK. But you can't compare his trajectory (and definitely not Hanes) to Alan. Second, Ma'a hasn't had enough time setting with Team USA for you to be going this hard on his connection issues. The guy damn near took Halkbank to the CEV Championships final. He had no problems setting Nimir and Jaeschke to some fantastic matches because he had TIME with them. Is he Christenson? Nope. But who is?! Is he a good #2 setter with a ton of athletic talent who is in the gym because of THAT and not his ties to UCLA? Hell yeah. Name another American setter playing close to his level. Even Tuaniga is not defending, blocking, serving like him. I love your passion and appreciate your commentary, but it's ONE LOSS against a top, well-coached team. the only concern with regards to USA I had with Ma'a the past 3 years was his commitment to dedicating the time to team USA. Since his early years at UCLA, I thought he has the ability to play at the world class level. I assume Speraw knows this even better. Nothing against Josh, I love watching him but Ma's has the ceiling that it takes to win the #1 spot. Josh's ceiling is at #2. All my opinion. I actually agree with this.
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Post by Spike Town on Jun 12, 2023 21:23:05 GMT -5
Folks, It's a long tourney Smith and Jendryk are #1 and #2 TJ just keeps getting better. Not sure anyone hits harder than him this weekend. Matt got his timing down and still has it. He got Canada out of system time and time again on serve. Christenson is top 2 setter in the world. Aaron is quietly one of the top OHs in the world....and passing really well. Loved what Kessel brought this weekend. Ensing is a solid #2 It was really important for Maa to play against Brazil imo. He will only get better and his teammates clearly love the guy and are in awe of his athleticism. Add Thomas next round and we play even better. I like everything about this except I think Christenson is the best in the world. He is literally purposeful with everything he does. I also think it might be time to recognize once again that the Ma’a decision not to play last summer has hurt him and the team. Speraw even mentioned he had a poor connection with Ron and TJ because he hasn’t played with them enough.
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ddbb
Junior
unserious
Posts: 451
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Post by ddbb on Jun 12, 2023 22:31:50 GMT -5
I do agree with others. But two points, first, Ensing is a solid # 2? Where did you see that? How many times he has been blocked or make errors and how many times he can attack over those high hands to get points instead of doing transition? Does he progress even a little bit when Speraw gives time to him to develop the past year? I did not see any. If he progresses, he should be able to go to Italy/Poland's clubs, not staying in France. Did you see how Hanes and Ensing attack compared with Alan? Are they on the same international volleyball level? Second, Ma'a has wayyy more athleticism compared with Tuaniga (this is my opinion) as he defends/attacks really well but setting and connection are obviously bad. Speraw should not put him on court when he does not have chemistry with the team and let him face Brazil, the most difficult opponent for this week. Confusing choice. We need to have legit backup OPPOs and backup setter. That is the main problem. Others should be fine. Alan is 29 years old being set by an Olympic gold medalist and the same backup Brazil has had for at least 2 quads now. You cannot compare his level of play or attacking to two guys with less international experience. Is Ensing a clear #2? IDK. But you can't compare his trajectory (and definitely not Hanes) to Alan. Second, Ma'a hasn't had enough time setting with Team USA for you to be going this hard on his connection issues. The guy damn near took Halkbank to the CEV Championships final. He had no problems setting Nimir and Jaeschke to some fantastic matches because he had TIME with them. Is he Christenson? Nope. But who is?! Is he a good #2 setter with a ton of athletic talent who is in the gym because of THAT and not his ties to UCLA? Hell yeah. Name another American setter playing close to his level. Even Tuaniga is not defending, blocking, serving like him. I love your passion and appreciate your commentary, but it's ONE LOSS against a top, well-coached team. i'd only like to point out that inconsistencies in set location, height, tempo, and rhythm have been a problem of ma'a in halkbank. halkbank was superb in block, d, and serve, which were the keys to their success this season, but i wouldn't pin it on his setting. otherwise, i'd agree that he'd only get better deep into the vnl with the national team. it's clear he wasn't comfortable setting against brazil and his capabilities are much more than that.
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