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Post by swift on Mar 9, 2024 17:43:21 GMT -5
just catching up on both Men's semis. Q. Are there any other quality Bigs that Wickler could possibly pair with?
*edit* now watching NOR v. NED1. Why is NOR serving de Groot. That is a fast track to a loss. That would be like serving Wickler.
It's not like de Groot has been untouchable in the past. This is by far the best I've seen him play so the scouting report maybe still says serve de Groot because Boermans hits very high which most blockers don't like.
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Post by guest2 on Mar 9, 2024 17:56:13 GMT -5
Vikings with a very rough start. Got a 3rd but didn't win a match in 2 until the bronze game and lost twice to a team that they were previously undefeated against.
They did beat the Czechs, which was a very nice win. I haven't watched their last two matches yet, but did anyone see something new in their game? Maybe a changed strategy, new aggressiveness? Anything different?
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Post by dunninla3 on Mar 9, 2024 18:42:03 GMT -5
just catching up on both Men's semis. Q. Are there any other quality Bigs that Wickler could possibly pair with?
*edit* now watching NOR v. NED1. Why is NOR serving de Groot. That is a fast track to a loss. That would be like serving Wickler.
It's not like de Groot has been untouchable in the past. This is by far the best I've seen him play so the scouting report maybe still says serve de Groot because Boermans hits very high which most blockers don't like. got sidetracked so haven't watched past point about 6 ... but do want to comment. It isn't only about hitting %. It is about the combination being a better passer AND a better sideout player. I haven't looked at stats. That is just my impression...
*edit* now after the match I checked the match hitting stats for the NOR v. NED semi.
Mol: 14/5/7 = .346
Sorum: 9/6/15 = .100
Boermans: 13/3/10 = .385
de Groot: 15/3/2 = .600
Hitting .600 against Mol's block is quite an achievement.
Here are the hitting stats for the Finals between SWE and NED:
Ahman: 6/6/3 = 0.00
Hellvig: 9/10/6 = <.040>
Boermans: 7/0/3 = .700
de Groot: 11/1/3 = .667
Not sure what happened to SWE in that Final. Wrong game for the wheels to fall off. I don't think it was the wind either, as in the evening the wind was less a factor.
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Post by dunninla3 on Mar 9, 2024 19:37:09 GMT -5
Did I really just hear Travis compare de Groot and Immers as about equal?? "It's always nice when you (Boermans) get to pick between two of the 20 best defenders in the world". No Travis, it's nice when you have the intelligence to wait for one of the TWO best defenders in the world to come back. Sometimes Travis is such a moron.
Simon got it right when he asked Travis "Travis, Stefan Boermans is looking like the cleverest man on the planet, waiting for de Groot, isn't he?" Travis just fumbled that handoff on the goal line.
It's amusing how Simon followed up in damage control, realizing Travis had flubbed up. A couple of points into the game. Simon said: "de Groot has a good jump, fast arm, and an incredible brain when it comes to finding the sand... and has a really good serve too". At least Simon has his head screwed on right.
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Post by dunninla3 on Mar 9, 2024 19:49:14 GMT -5
Wow, what a Finals. This NED team is absolutely on FIRE. Fundamentally so pure. Let's see if it continues through the first half of the year and into Paris. I don't see any fundamental reason why they wouldn't now be considered, along with SWE, as the front runner for Gold.
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Post by dunninla3 on Mar 10, 2024 10:52:05 GMT -5
re: Volley Vikings -- oof, that is just not the Sorum we know. He was never fast but he is slower now. His approach is slow. His D is slow. His attack has become similar to the what Duda did for most of the past 18 months, which is placement oriented with little power. I had speculated numerous times whether Duda had a shoulder, or knee, or whatever, and with Sorum we heard it was his back. Sad.
As to Mol, why was NED successfully serving him at the beginning of the semis? It is probably the case that his sets from Sorum are more variable than in the past? I'm wondering if teams aren't noticing that Mol is trying to do more, be more, to compensate for Sorum's decline... and of course trying to do more with lesser sets usually leads to results that are less.
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jhw
Freshman
2023 Chicago Open Fantasy Beach Champion
Posts: 62
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Post by jhw on Mar 11, 2024 10:09:24 GMT -5
Wow, what a Finals. This NED team is absolutely on FIRE. Fundamentally so pure. Let's see if it continues through the first half of the year and into Paris. I don't see any fundamental reason why they wouldn't now be considered, along with SWE, as the front runner for Gold. They looked really good this tourney but this is too big a leap. Perusic/Schweiner and Mol/Sørum have had much better finishes consistently. Andy and Miles looked insane after Gstaad and Montreal but then people watched film, figured out how to play them and now everyone seems to think they might be out of the medal conversation. The fundamental reason is that repeated success on the world tour is very different from winning one tournament out of (essentially) nowhere.
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Post by dunninla3 on Mar 11, 2024 19:32:12 GMT -5
Wow, what a Finals. This NED team is absolutely on FIRE. Fundamentally so pure. Let's see if it continues through the first half of the year and into Paris. I don't see any fundamental reason why they wouldn't now be considered, along with SWE, as the front runner for Gold. They looked really good this tourney but this is too big a leap. Perusic/Schweiner and Mol/Sørum have had much better finishes consistently. Andy and Miles looked insane after Gstaad and Montreal but then people watched film, figured out how to play them and now everyone seems to think they might be out of the medal conversation. The fundamental reason is that repeated success on the world tour is very different from winning one tournament out of (essentially) nowhere. sure. Those teams have been around for years. NED2, now NED1, have barely a dozen tournaments under their belt, and the momentum, unlike that of USA1, is strongly up.
It isn't this finish that makes me conclude this. It is HOW they finished like that. They didn't get an easy road like one might find at Worlds. They only went 3 sets once in all six matches in Doha. They beat NOR twice, once in straight sets. Sorum looks decidedly not like himself right now. If that changes, great. My comments are based on what I'm seeing now.
I agree with you that CZE, NOR, NED and SWE are the front runners. I remove NOR right now b/c of uncertainty about Sorum. Perhaps I should have left CZE in with the other two.
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Post by c4ndlelight on Mar 11, 2024 19:38:11 GMT -5
They looked really good this tourney but this is too big a leap. Perusic/Schweiner and Mol/Sørum have had much better finishes consistently. Andy and Miles looked insane after Gstaad and Montreal but then people watched film, figured out how to play them and now everyone seems to think they might be out of the medal conversation. The fundamental reason is that repeated success on the world tour is very different from winning one tournament out of (essentially) nowhere. sure. Those teams have been around for years. NED2, now NED1, have barely a dozen tournaments under their belt, and the momentum, unlike that of USA1, is strongly up. It isn't this finish that makes me conclude this. It is HOW they finished like that. They didn't get an easy road like one might find at Worlds. They beat NOR twice, once in straight sets. Sorum looks decidedly not like himself right now. If that changes, great. My comments are based on what I'm seeing now.
I agree with you that CZE, NOR, NED and SWE are the front runners. I remove NOR right now b/c of uncertainty about Sorum. Perhaps I should have left CZE in with the other two.
Do you struggle with object permanence in your day-to-day life? Have you been traumatized by a game of peekaboo?
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Post by dunninla3 on Mar 11, 2024 19:42:59 GMT -5
sure. Those teams have been around for years. NED2, now NED1, have barely a dozen tournaments under their belt, and the momentum, unlike that of USA1, is strongly up. It isn't this finish that makes me conclude this. It is HOW they finished like that. They didn't get an easy road like one might find at Worlds. They beat NOR twice, once in straight sets. Sorum looks decidedly not like himself right now. If that changes, great. My comments are based on what I'm seeing now.
I agree with you that CZE, NOR, NED and SWE are the front runners. I remove NOR right now b/c of uncertainty about Sorum. Perhaps I should have left CZE in with the other two.
Do you struggle with object permanence in your day-to-day life? Have you been traumatized by a game of peekaboo? I'll have to look up whatever that is. Don't discount a plethora of other possible causes of irrationality.
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Post by ajm on Mar 11, 2024 22:54:42 GMT -5
Did Partain and Banesh ever make an announcement of why they didn't play this tourney? On The Road to Paris today, Travis said they just wanted a break to extend their offseason a bit longer. No mention of any injury.
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Post by swift on Mar 12, 2024 3:42:57 GMT -5
Did I really just hear Travis compare de Groot and Immers as about equal?? "It's always nice when you (Boermans) get to pick between two of the 20 best defenders in the world". No Travis, it's nice when you have the intelligence to wait for one of the TWO best defenders in the world to come back. Sometimes Travis is such a moron.
Simon got it right when he asked Travis "Travis, Stefan Boermans is looking like the cleverest man on the planet, waiting for de Groot, isn't he?" Travis just fumbled that handoff on the goal line.
It's amusing how Simon followed up in damage control, realizing Travis had flubbed up. A couple of points into the game. Simon said: "de Groot has a good jump, fast arm, and an incredible brain when it comes to finding the sand... and has a really good serve too". At least Simon has his head screwed on right.
wow chill dude! Second best defender in the world? Just because they won one tournament? I think you're getting ahead of yourself. And you really shouldn't call Travis a moron just because he didn't call de Groot the goat of beach volleyball. I don't know how much you know about volleyball because I don't know you but I know that Travis knows quite a lot about it. And picking between him and Simon I'd definitely pick Travis as the more knowledgeable expert.
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Post by robvolei on Mar 12, 2024 4:21:24 GMT -5
Did Partain and Banesh ever make an announcement of why they didn't play this tourney? On The Road to Paris today, Travis said they just wanted a break to extend their offseason a bit longer. No mention of any injury. But Seain Cook said there was an injury and Andy has been training with a few people. Andy was in one of Travis' passing videos with Evan Cory. On the Grit - Beach Volleyball News' recent video, one of the hosts says "rumour has it they may be playing together, maybe not. I think we'll see them as a partnership and they're just biding out their time on this Olympic chase". Whatever that means.
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Post by guest2 on Mar 12, 2024 6:17:47 GMT -5
Did I really just hear Travis compare de Groot and Immers as about equal?? "It's always nice when you (Boermans) get to pick between two of the 20 best defenders in the world". No Travis, it's nice when you have the intelligence to wait for one of the TWO best defenders in the world to come back. Sometimes Travis is such a moron. Simon got it right when he asked Travis "Travis, Stefan Boermans is looking like the cleverest man on the planet, waiting for de Groot, isn't he?" Travis just fumbled that handoff on the goal line. It's amusing how Simon followed up in damage control, realizing Travis had flubbed up. A couple of points into the game. Simon said: "de Groot has a good jump, fast arm, and an incredible brain when it comes to finding the sand... and has a really good serve too". At least Simon has his head screwed on right. wow chill dude! Second best defender in the world? Just because they won one tournament? I think you're getting ahead of yourself. And you really shouldn't call Travis a moron just because he didn't call de Groot the goat of beach volleyball. I don't know how much you know about volleyball because I don't know you but I know that Travis knows quite a lot about it. And picking between him and Simon I'd definitely pick Travis as the more knowledgeable expert. It is just the one win, but they have been playing very well for a while now. Since October, De Groot has beaten the Vikings three times and the team has beaten Sweden, Poland, Andy/Miles, Qatar 3 times and both Brazilian teams. Im not quite ready to anoint them just yet, but with the Vikings in flux, and the Czechs also playing poorly, may be some space at the top?
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Post by dunninla3 on Mar 12, 2024 9:58:43 GMT -5
Did I really just hear Travis compare de Groot and Immers as about equal?? "It's always nice when you (Boermans) get to pick between two of the 20 best defenders in the world". No Travis, it's nice when you have the intelligence to wait for one of the TWO best defenders in the world to come back. Sometimes Travis is such a moron.
Simon got it right when he asked Travis "Travis, Stefan Boermans is looking like the cleverest man on the planet, waiting for de Groot, isn't he?" Travis just fumbled that handoff on the goal line.
It's amusing how Simon followed up in damage control, realizing Travis had flubbed up. A couple of points into the game. Simon said: "de Groot has a good jump, fast arm, and an incredible brain when it comes to finding the sand... and has a really good serve too". At least Simon has his head screwed on right.
Second best defender in the world? Just because they won one tournament?... I don't know how much you know about volleyball because I don't know you but I know that Travis knows quite a lot about it. I've been on the Beach for 40 years, longer than Travis has been alive.
Spend time with guys who played in the 60s and 70s after they didn't play anymore. Played thousands of games, watched tens of thousands of games in person and on video. Been up close with Karch, Sinjin pre-knee, Dodd, AJ, Steffes, Emanuel, Rosie. I know what a top defender in the world looks like, plays like, walks like, and sometimes, thinks like.
I've been noticing de Groot for over a year. Watched about a dozen of his games. It isn't just this tournament. But you can disagree, that's fine. It was absurd for Travis to bundle Immers and de Groot. Different levels entirely. It's clear from the flow of thae conversation that Simon saw it like I do. But what do I know? We all simply form our opinions, based on experience, and write them down for discussion. An internet forum is not place to chill. Putting out bold statements is exactly what generates discussion.
PS. I wrote "one of the two best defenders in the world". Who do you think I think is the other one?
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