WEBVTT

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something that was not so straightforward were

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the men world championships okay should i start

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my apologies now or later gosh everything that

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we were saying last week just forget about it

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throw it in the garbage throw it away because

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there were some Absolutely wild upsets. If anybody

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says they predicted Japan, Brazil, and France

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to not make it out of pool play, you're just

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lying. It's not true because nobody saw that

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coming. We saw them advance. We had Brazil going

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all the way to the final, didn't we? Yes. Crazy.

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Anyway, our bracket is more than just busted.

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It is like disintegrated. It's a pile of ashes

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there on the side. But we're going to dive into

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what happened at Men's World Championships this

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week and, you know, what the lay of the land

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looks like for the rest of that tournament. Let's

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get started. Our rundown for the week. There

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was not a lot of movement in the top 10 of the

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NCAA. But we will go over the biggest movers

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from the top 25 again. I would say the biggest

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positive was TCU improved upon their program

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record ranking from last week. And they jumped

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up even higher. from 15 to 9. I know they got

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hammered by Texas this week, but they continue

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to impress me. They're beating the teams they

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quote -unquote should beat, and they're playing

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well, so I think that's well earned. I like them.

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I think they're going to continue to get better.

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They were on my positive surprise list last week,

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and I don't think getting smashed by Texas is

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not going to affect their ranking too much because

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they were 9, so I think they'll stay close to

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that. rankings at this point when this episode

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is released. Texas A &M dropped to number 14

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from 8. They lost a couple games they probably

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shouldn't have. I think they will end up climbing

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back into the top 10 eventually. I think they'll

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iron some things out, but they did have a couple

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losses, so that's a fair drop. Tennessee entered

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the top 25 after being unranked, and Pitt keeps

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climbing back. We remember their preseason ranking

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was number Three, they plummeted a little bit

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after week one. Tough start for them. But they're

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back up to number five. So they are clawing their

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way back into the conversation. They beat Penn

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State handily this week. I know it was in four,

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but they were in control of that match. They've

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kind of ironed it out since they started a little

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slow at the beginning of the season. I mean,

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ABCA first serve is a risk. Yeah. The preseason

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is always like a balancing act. You want to play

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tough teams so your RPI is good, but then you

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also want to make sure you're beating those top

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teams so your ranking doesn't drop. It's like

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finessing the schedule in a way that like keeps

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you in that top. group conversation but you also

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need to make sure that you're going to win so

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otherwise you drop it's really hard I don't know

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how they come up with their schedules it's challenging

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well and Pitt lost a few players they're trying

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to figure out more than a few well yeah they're

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trying to figure out what their offense is going

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to look like what do they have who can they rely

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on they obviously they have Babcock still but

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it's not shocking that it took them a couple

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weeks to kind of find a rhythm Well, and I'm

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pretty sure they come up with their preseason

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schedule before the season even starts. So they...

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You mean before Tori Stafford? Yeah, exactly.

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They had no clue what was about to go down. So

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anyway, good for them. And finally, the voters

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finally had enough of UCLA. They are gone. Gone

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from the top 25. They let them hang around as

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long as they possibly could. And then finally,

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they're like, okay, enough's enough. You're gone.

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I'm going to say never to return this season.

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Oh, dear. You heard it here first, folks. We'll

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see what happens. Some match notes, let's call

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it, from the solid matches we saw this week.

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Number one, Kentucky played Louisville, two top

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six teams. That match went five. I'm not surprised.

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You got the in -state rivalry. Yeah. It was hosted

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by Louisville this year. Kentucky, I don't think

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they won it for since, was it 2019? It had been,

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I want to say, four or five years since they'd

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beaten them. Yeah. I think they were 0 -4. against

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them I don't they might not play every year but

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I think it is a yearly thing which I think is

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cool I do too I like those rivalries it's something

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to look forward to it's always on the schedule

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easy to get up for well now that like Creighton

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is better it's like a similar thing that can

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happen in Nebraska with like two solid programs

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anyway very interesting match hit me with your

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initial thoughts because this one in fairness

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we watched a ton of men's volleyball this week

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but we did watch this match I feel like I always

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start with a negative, and so I was trying real

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hard to think of a positive, but the negative

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jumped out first. Well, and in fairness to people

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who think Sarah's always negative, whenever she

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talks about her own matches, having coached her,

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she always starts with the negatives for herself

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to, and quite frankly, never says anything positive

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about how she plays. So this is not unique to

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the podcast. This is just how her brain works.

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This is how we have to be better to be the best.

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Just throwing it out there. He's not wrong. Bottom

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line is I don't discriminate. Okay. I'm harder

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on myself than anybody. Okay, let's try to start

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with the positive here. Cara Cressy started the

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match... On fire. Very well. Set one, she was

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unbelievable. Yes. And... Yeah. It went downhill

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from there. But this is... So I think we saw

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the fatal flaw in Louisville that we talked about

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last week. Yes. Cara Cressy... is on. I think

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she scored seven points in that first set. Don't

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quote me on that, but it was seven or eight points,

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I believe. Well, they want her to be the focal

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point of their offense, which is great. You know

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we love a middle. A hundred percent. We love

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a middle. A hundred percent, and I watched them

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play that first set. They passed well. They ran

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Kara. The outsides were open and scoring, and

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I thought, man, Louisville looks really good.

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Cressy's playing well. They are grooving. That

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was the best set they played. Yeah. And then

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the passing kind of got pulled off the net. And

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when Cressy's not an option, things kind of fall

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apart a little bit. Well, and it was interesting.

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There were multiple occasions in this game where

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both teams gave up runs of four or five points.

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I saw that both teams had certain rotations where

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they really, really struggled. And the opposing

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teams took advantage of that. both from a serving

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and a defensive standpoint. And so you had these

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big swings in this game where Cressy was in the

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front row, they would push forward. Then she

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would go to the back row and they couldn't score.

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And Kentucky would come out and run a few serves

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and the block would look really good. And it

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wasn't clean side out volleyball. There were

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definitely defensive runs and taking advantage

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of certain rotations. Well, both teams have rotations

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that they're very susceptible in. I will say

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I am liking Brooke Baltimore. The middle for

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Kentucky. She's got some juice behind her. They

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got that connection flowing outstanding. And

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that was something we talked about for Kentucky,

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needing more options out of the middle of the

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court, whether that be the pipe or the middle,

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given that their outsides were hitting 100 -plus

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balls a match. The libero, Molly Tuzzo, girl

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needs to learn how to set. Here's my thing. I'm

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going to just tell you I'm bothered by the...

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fact that this girl insists on jump setting every

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ball when she's spraying them all over the place

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let's keep both feet on the ground until we can

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dial in a perfect set at least eight times out

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of ten then if you're feeling good think about

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jump setting but girl you're jump setting all

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over the place and these balls are literally

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unhittable she is what I call a flashy libero.

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She likes to make the big plays. I watched her

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let some balls drop. She overpassed a free ball.

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She got aced a few times. For me in that match,

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I noticed her in the wrong ways. You don't want

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to notice the libero, okay? If you're noticing

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the libero, it's usually because they're not

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playing well. I didn't think she had a great

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game. And again, don't get me wrong. We played

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five sets. She made some really good plays. But

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there were some detail things, like you said,

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some of the setting, some of the passing, that

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was not there. She does have a really good serve,

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though. I will give her that. Do you think Kentucky's

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left side combo is the best in the country? Because

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I heard that so many times on the broadcast.

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I do. Okay. Adam approves. DeLay and Hudson can

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score at any time from both the back row and

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the front row. Now, I will say Eva Hudson started

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really slow. Kentucky... She picked it up though

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and it mattered. Well, they changed the setter.

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I don't know if you noticed that. Originally,

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I felt Hudson was getting jammed up in the front

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row. The balls were inside. She couldn't hit

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the line. And then they switched the setter and

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they switched the right side. Daly came in and

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did a great job. I don't think Thigpen played

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particularly well on the right side. No, I thought

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she actually turned the match around for them.

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She gave them another option, and I thought the

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setter switch was on point because the setter

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got Hudson going, and she was really good down

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the stretch. I feel like Hudson likes that setter.

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I do too. And then O 'Brien connects better with

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other players maybe. So I'm curious to see. For

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me, there's a legitimate question on the right

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side and setting position after watching that

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match in terms of who's going to take that spot.

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I think people are going to be so pissed that

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you said that. From the setter perspective, I

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think people are very high on Cassie O 'Brien.

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I said I really liked her. She's a freshman.

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She came in. She was one of the players I wanted

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to watch. But watching that match, there was

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some inconsistency. And the other setter came

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in and connected with Hudson, who was struggling.

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And we made the right side shift. So I'm not

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saying O 'Brien. And she got injured. She was

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massaging her leg. Oh, the cramp. She got a cramp.

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Now, cramps are always interesting to me. If

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things aren't going well, you get a cramp. Somebody

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else comes in. I'm not saying that's what happened,

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but it was a little coincidental. But that is

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something to watch with them. Going back to Louisville,

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I feel like they are very one -dimensional. Well,

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they're one -dimensional when Cressy can't get

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the ball. Well, that's what I'm saying. They're

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great when she can. Your whole team revolves

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around Cressy, which, again, love a middle, but

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it's also high risk. Yeah, again, they're outside.

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Why not serve her short every time? block jam

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up her approach angle serve her short block up

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her approach angle and then like your block defense

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is so much more straightforward and I was surprised

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Kentucky didn't do that they did it once and

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Cressy got taken to the ground on a short serve

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and then things just fell apart and I was like

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now their passing did fall apart with the aggressive

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serving in general so it was effectively the

00:11:11.860 --> 00:11:14.419
same but I think that's a strategy against them

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moving forward and they're gonna have to figure

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out how to deal with it and I'll say it again

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I'm not a fan of the left side combo for Louisville.

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Okay, but I think you need to put a caveat on

00:11:24.919 --> 00:11:27.960
that, right? Chacoin and Peterson are good players,

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but there were a ton of digs in that match. Chacoin

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doesn't have a Hudson to take the load. No, 100%.

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Peterson doesn't have a DeBeer or a Charity Looper

00:11:40.960 --> 00:11:45.600
to take the load. I think they are both secondary

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type left side players. I totally agree. They

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need a banger. Who do you like better, Chacoin

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or Peterson? I thought Peterson played better

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in that match than Chacoin did. I haven't been

00:11:56.710 --> 00:11:59.669
impressed with Chacoin this season. I also said

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it last week. I don't think Peterson's the answer.

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Peterson's not the answer if they want to win

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a natty with somebody who can score. But she

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was not bad. When Cressy's firing and she doesn't

00:12:10.269 --> 00:12:12.190
have a solid two -person block, she can put the

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ball away. She scored a bunch of points. Anybody

00:12:13.629 --> 00:12:15.509
can score with a one -man block. I'm not saying

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one man. Anyway. What I saw coming down the stretch

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was after those long rallies or during those

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long rallies, DeLay and Hudson were able to put

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the ball away more effectively than Peterson

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and Chacoin. You know, that was a huge difference

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because they stopped being able to get Cressy

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the ball. I will say, last thing, I am really

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liking Cabello, the setter for Louisville. Yes.

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She was in that 6 -2 formation for the majority

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of last season as a freshman. kind of won that

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spot in tight moments during postseason play

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last year. I am really liking her. She's aggressive.

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I like how she's able to set with pace to the

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outside for these left sides that aren't necessarily

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huge bangers. I'm really liking her. We also

00:13:01.690 --> 00:13:06.289
had Wisconsin -Florida that we watched. Maybe

00:13:06.289 --> 00:13:09.419
Collier went off. Yeah. Hit negative in set one

00:13:09.419 --> 00:13:12.759
and then completely dominated after that. Ended

00:13:12.759 --> 00:13:16.559
with like 27 kills, I want to say, in four sets.

00:13:16.820 --> 00:13:19.440
That's pretty impressive. Florida couldn't stop

00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:21.899
her. No, Florida couldn't stop her. They didn't

00:13:21.899 --> 00:13:25.039
look like they had a great game plan around that.

00:13:25.279 --> 00:13:28.799
And they also, they made bad mistakes. There

00:13:28.799 --> 00:13:31.720
were balls they let drop. There were setting

00:13:31.720 --> 00:13:36.570
issues. numerous set points in set four it went

00:13:36.570 --> 00:13:41.149
like 37 35 or 35 33 or something wild stucky

00:13:41.149 --> 00:13:44.110
on they get a transition opportunity for the

00:13:44.110 --> 00:13:46.669
set and stucky sets a back row ball to this girl

00:13:46.669 --> 00:13:49.269
who came in two points before instead of setting

00:13:49.269 --> 00:13:51.710
like jordan bird or something i was like what

00:13:51.710 --> 00:13:54.929
are you doing or said august why are you setting

00:13:54.929 --> 00:13:57.009
this girl who just came in when you have two

00:13:57.009 --> 00:13:59.889
people who can score i don't know that was the

00:13:59.889 --> 00:14:02.690
case of trying to be Trying to make the sneaky

00:14:02.690 --> 00:14:05.450
set. Sneaky. No. It doesn't work. At that point,

00:14:05.470 --> 00:14:06.909
you've got to set your bangers. When you're at

00:14:06.909 --> 00:14:09.409
the end of the match, you're not trying to be

00:14:09.409 --> 00:14:11.950
sneaky, okay? We're not trying to fool anybody.

00:14:12.470 --> 00:14:14.509
We need to get the ball to the people who get

00:14:14.509 --> 00:14:16.710
the job done, and that is why they get the job

00:14:16.710 --> 00:14:19.509
done, because they score when everybody knows

00:14:19.509 --> 00:14:21.570
they're getting the ball, period. Collier was

00:14:21.570 --> 00:14:24.370
banging angle, and their defense was sucked into

00:14:24.370 --> 00:14:26.149
the court. I thought they should have been able

00:14:26.149 --> 00:14:29.070
to dig a few more balls. They looked disjointed

00:14:29.070 --> 00:14:32.860
to me watching that match. smooth on the Florida

00:14:32.860 --> 00:14:35.759
side and I thought Florida I know the sets were

00:14:35.759 --> 00:14:37.679
close but I thought they would look better I

00:14:37.679 --> 00:14:40.840
thought this would be a better game well they

00:14:40.840 --> 00:14:43.019
just dropped a match to Marquette this weekend

00:14:43.019 --> 00:14:45.600
as well yeah Florida was my dark horse team and

00:14:45.600 --> 00:14:48.159
they've got some work to do they're not all on

00:14:48.159 --> 00:14:51.860
the same page Wisconsin however their team identity

00:14:51.860 --> 00:14:55.259
has had to completely shift they are not the

00:14:55.259 --> 00:14:58.370
tallest team anymore Their blocking is, what,

00:14:58.429 --> 00:15:00.950
96th in the country when it's been one or two

00:15:00.950 --> 00:15:03.909
for the last four seasons. So they have a complete

00:15:03.909 --> 00:15:07.690
identity shift going on. I'm very curious to

00:15:07.690 --> 00:15:11.429
see how they do in Big Ten play. I thought Furbringer

00:15:11.429 --> 00:15:14.649
played well. I think she's more comfortable running

00:15:14.649 --> 00:15:18.309
this offense. She had some blocks. She serves

00:15:18.309 --> 00:15:20.990
well. Carter Booth. She was running Carter Booth

00:15:20.990 --> 00:15:23.350
well. Yeah. And Mimi Collier likes a little bit

00:15:23.350 --> 00:15:25.870
of a faster set. So I think that that works in

00:15:25.870 --> 00:15:28.669
her favor. Grace Egan, I think, is doing a decent

00:15:28.669 --> 00:15:31.909
job on the right. Yeah. The Serbian girl. They're

00:15:31.909 --> 00:15:35.710
finding their way. Do I think they're going to

00:15:35.710 --> 00:15:40.070
be a top five team? I don't think so. I think

00:15:40.070 --> 00:15:44.009
their ceiling is a little lower than some of

00:15:44.009 --> 00:15:48.259
the other top teams. But if they can get... two

00:15:48.259 --> 00:15:51.379
or three players playing at a really high level

00:15:51.379 --> 00:15:54.019
in a particular match i think they can beat anyone

00:15:54.019 --> 00:15:57.799
but i think that it's going to take consistently

00:15:57.799 --> 00:16:02.019
high play from two or three athletes for them

00:16:02.019 --> 00:16:03.860
to beat really good teams they don't have an

00:16:03.860 --> 00:16:06.559
it player like some of the other teams collier

00:16:06.559 --> 00:16:10.100
i think you could argue is she was unstoppable

00:16:10.100 --> 00:16:14.460
yes i'm sorry when you get to like overtime It

00:16:14.460 --> 00:16:17.039
just takes one mistake for the set to be out

00:16:17.039 --> 00:16:20.740
of your hands. She was automatic. 100%. She was

00:16:20.740 --> 00:16:24.240
fantastic in this match. I need to see her do

00:16:24.240 --> 00:16:26.559
that. She's already gone National Player of the

00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:29.419
Week this year. You guys, can we talk about this

00:16:29.419 --> 00:16:31.840
role reversal going on right now? Since when

00:16:31.840 --> 00:16:36.559
am I the one defending a player? It's too early

00:16:36.559 --> 00:16:40.220
for me to put her with the likes of Babcock or

00:16:40.220 --> 00:16:46.779
Stafford or Martin. These players who can carry

00:16:46.779 --> 00:16:50.080
the load, match in and match out. Let's talk

00:16:50.080 --> 00:16:52.240
about this at the beginning of November. I'm

00:16:52.240 --> 00:16:53.940
not saying she can't do it, I'm just, I need

00:16:53.940 --> 00:16:56.240
to see more. Okay, last match we're going to

00:16:56.240 --> 00:16:59.039
touch on. Nebraska Creighton went five, but they

00:16:59.039 --> 00:17:04.099
did set an NCAA record. But for like not postseason,

00:17:04.220 --> 00:17:06.180
there was like over 17 ,000 people at this match.

00:17:06.900 --> 00:17:09.519
Nebraska, like I said, squeaked it out in five.

00:17:10.119 --> 00:17:12.880
We did not watch this one, but I have received

00:17:12.880 --> 00:17:14.880
a bunch of questions about Nebraska's system.

00:17:14.940 --> 00:17:17.690
So I want to address one of those now. One of

00:17:17.690 --> 00:17:19.690
the questions that we've received is, can you

00:17:19.690 --> 00:17:22.609
give your analysis of the libero situation at

00:17:22.609 --> 00:17:26.269
Nebraska to a non -expert? It seems like Choboy

00:17:26.269 --> 00:17:28.390
can't be a libero because she doesn't have the

00:17:28.390 --> 00:17:31.730
serve receive skills. Mouch is a great passer,

00:17:31.849 --> 00:17:34.109
but lately her defense has seemed poor. What

00:17:34.109 --> 00:17:36.390
would you do if you were a coach at Nebraska?

00:17:37.170 --> 00:17:40.309
And then a follow -up question to that from someone

00:17:40.309 --> 00:17:42.309
else was, is it weird that Nebraska is playing

00:17:42.309 --> 00:17:45.349
so many rotations with both Mouch and Choboy

00:17:45.349 --> 00:17:48.019
on the court? To answer question number two,

00:17:48.059 --> 00:17:51.019
I would say this seems to be Nebraska's MO. We

00:17:51.019 --> 00:17:55.299
saw them have two to three littles on the court

00:17:55.299 --> 00:17:57.359
at the same time for the last several seasons.

00:17:57.680 --> 00:18:00.000
The reason this person was asking is they're

00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:01.640
like, oh, you only have three attack options

00:18:01.640 --> 00:18:03.380
at any time when Bergen Riley's in the front

00:18:03.380 --> 00:18:06.180
row. I feel like Nebraska's fine with that because

00:18:06.180 --> 00:18:09.930
they've been running Jackson on the slide. murray

00:18:09.930 --> 00:18:12.690
on the pipe and then the left side as well they

00:18:12.690 --> 00:18:14.910
only need one back row option and they can move

00:18:14.910 --> 00:18:17.269
that around and with jackson running the slide

00:18:17.269 --> 00:18:20.410
the rare that you'll see them run a back row

00:18:20.410 --> 00:18:23.210
ball on the right side over that anyway so that's

00:18:23.210 --> 00:18:25.869
not weird to me because that's like nebraska's

00:18:25.869 --> 00:18:28.710
system like ball control you to death yeah the

00:18:28.710 --> 00:18:31.130
other part however i agree with this statement

00:18:31.130 --> 00:18:34.250
i would take the passing libero no i completely

00:18:34.250 --> 00:18:37.670
like lamey cho boy has been a defensive sub Her

00:18:37.670 --> 00:18:40.630
whole career at Nebraska. She comes in to serve

00:18:40.630 --> 00:18:44.309
and play defense. Mouch was the top receiver

00:18:44.309 --> 00:18:47.529
in the NCAA last season statistically. So yes,

00:18:47.690 --> 00:18:51.170
your statement, 100 % correct. I would run a

00:18:51.170 --> 00:18:54.430
two libero system personally, but that goes against

00:18:54.430 --> 00:18:58.990
Nebraska's system. They don't play hardly anybody.

00:18:59.029 --> 00:19:01.630
I want to say they play two players, six rotations,

00:19:01.869 --> 00:19:04.069
Harper, Murray, and Bergen -Riley. And that has

00:19:04.069 --> 00:19:08.299
been their thing for years. I love a six rotation

00:19:08.299 --> 00:19:11.779
right side. Maybe because I was one, I'm a little

00:19:11.779 --> 00:19:14.819
bit biased. Having a six rotation right side

00:19:14.819 --> 00:19:17.059
would alleviate some of that. You could run a

00:19:17.059 --> 00:19:20.400
two libero system, put your passing libero in

00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:24.799
for serve receive and vice versa. But that's

00:19:24.799 --> 00:19:26.859
just not the system they run. They don't develop,

00:19:27.079 --> 00:19:29.480
they don't have the six rotation players developed

00:19:29.480 --> 00:19:31.869
or they don't use them. So this is what they're

00:19:31.869 --> 00:19:33.670
stuck with. But you can't tell me you don't have

00:19:33.670 --> 00:19:35.549
another defensive player who you could put in,

00:19:35.589 --> 00:19:37.710
even if you're running a two libero system. No,

00:19:37.730 --> 00:19:39.309
they do. They just never play her. I think it's

00:19:39.309 --> 00:19:41.829
Macy Basinger or something. I would give Mouch

00:19:41.829 --> 00:19:44.869
a few more matches to settle in defensively to

00:19:44.869 --> 00:19:47.650
see where she gets to. In my opinion, the passing

00:19:47.650 --> 00:19:52.079
is the first. I would say. You want to be able

00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:54.119
to run Jackson. You want your setter to be in

00:19:54.119 --> 00:19:56.700
system all of the time. That just makes it harder

00:19:56.700 --> 00:19:58.680
on your opponents. The more first ball kills

00:19:58.680 --> 00:20:00.579
you can get, the less defense you have to play

00:20:00.579 --> 00:20:03.299
anyway. Passing is the priority for me. And then

00:20:03.299 --> 00:20:05.720
you kind of hope she settles in and figures out

00:20:05.720 --> 00:20:07.779
the defensive side. And I think Dani's teams

00:20:07.779 --> 00:20:10.839
are generally really good defensively. So I would

00:20:10.839 --> 00:20:13.619
trust Dani to work with her to kind of up that

00:20:13.619 --> 00:20:15.359
level. And then you have Chillboy coming in and

00:20:15.359 --> 00:20:18.059
playing defense. If you get halfway through the

00:20:18.059 --> 00:20:20.440
season and for whatever reason Mouch just can't

00:20:20.440 --> 00:20:22.720
figure it out defensively, I would go to the

00:20:22.720 --> 00:20:25.839
two libero system and then sub in the next defensive

00:20:25.839 --> 00:20:29.220
player in that regard. Well, I think it's worth

00:20:29.220 --> 00:20:32.019
having Mouch as a libero period because she's

00:20:32.019 --> 00:20:34.940
only a sophomore. Yeah. Like if she figures it

00:20:34.940 --> 00:20:37.380
out, you've got her for two seasons past this,

00:20:37.539 --> 00:20:42.359
which is not the case with Choboy. So that's

00:20:42.359 --> 00:20:45.470
what I would do. As we said, we focused predominantly

00:20:45.470 --> 00:20:48.069
on the men's side of things this week, but we

00:20:48.069 --> 00:20:49.930
just wanted to talk about some of the matches

00:20:49.930 --> 00:20:53.349
that we did watch because they were quite entertaining.

00:20:53.769 --> 00:20:56.710
So that is kind of the landscape and where we're

00:20:56.710 --> 00:21:01.230
at on the NCAA side of things. I know the Power

00:21:01.230 --> 00:21:03.529
Four conferences are starting conference play

00:21:03.529 --> 00:21:07.569
this week, so it'll be interesting to see how

00:21:07.569 --> 00:21:10.339
the preseason has prepared them for that. What

00:21:10.339 --> 00:21:12.640
adjustments, if any, we will see from certain

00:21:12.640 --> 00:21:15.460
teams. But that is where we're standing. Those

00:21:15.460 --> 00:21:18.559
were the weekly highlights and happenings. A

00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:22.160
little longer segment today. All right. Let's

00:21:22.160 --> 00:21:24.660
get to the meat and potatoes of this. And I'm

00:21:24.660 --> 00:21:29.160
going to start by saying I was wrong. I think

00:21:29.160 --> 00:21:33.880
everybody was wrong. And I apologize to Turkey,

00:21:34.019 --> 00:21:37.819
who did not collapse in the playoffs. Well done.

00:21:37.900 --> 00:21:40.400
Adam was like, they're going down first round.

00:21:41.440 --> 00:21:43.740
There's so many storylines and there's so many

00:21:43.740 --> 00:21:45.920
things to cover with this World Championships.

00:21:46.039 --> 00:21:49.319
And the YouTube feed was blowing up with people

00:21:49.319 --> 00:21:52.660
wanting our takes on all of this happenings and

00:21:52.660 --> 00:21:55.380
teams not making it. So where I would like to

00:21:55.380 --> 00:21:58.759
start is I would like to look at the three teams

00:21:58.759 --> 00:22:03.160
who we expected to do really well in France,

00:22:03.400 --> 00:22:07.509
Brazil, and Japan. What are your observations?

00:22:07.730 --> 00:22:10.269
What are your thoughts? How did we get here?

00:22:10.670 --> 00:22:13.549
And just dissect that before we get into the

00:22:13.549 --> 00:22:16.150
teams who are still playing. I want to start

00:22:16.150 --> 00:22:19.269
with France, who I think, I mean, we had Brazil

00:22:19.269 --> 00:22:21.609
going to the final mostly because of their draw.

00:22:21.769 --> 00:22:25.190
I think France not making it out of pool in the

00:22:25.190 --> 00:22:27.750
fashion that they did was probably the biggest

00:22:27.750 --> 00:22:31.750
shocker of world championships. And they brought

00:22:31.750 --> 00:22:35.970
their big boys. There was a 0 % chance. that

00:22:35.970 --> 00:22:38.150
this was going to happen going into world championships.

00:22:38.569 --> 00:22:41.490
Oh my gosh. Okay. They lost to Argentina in five.

00:22:41.910 --> 00:22:45.289
Yeah. And they lost to Finland in five, finishing

00:22:45.289 --> 00:22:49.589
third in pool. Yeah. Give me your thoughts, because

00:22:49.589 --> 00:22:52.009
we watch both of these matches. I have a couple

00:22:52.009 --> 00:22:56.509
thoughts. First of all, the sheer number of serves

00:22:56.509 --> 00:22:59.470
France was missing. Against Finland in particular,

00:22:59.630 --> 00:23:02.210
they gave them an entire set in missed serves.

00:23:02.529 --> 00:23:04.210
So I'm going to throw these stats at you while

00:23:04.210 --> 00:23:07.250
you... bring up these points so against argentina

00:23:07.250 --> 00:23:09.569
they actually had the same number of miss serves

00:23:09.569 --> 00:23:12.369
in the match it was 22 apiece okay however you

00:23:12.369 --> 00:23:16.490
are correct against finland 27 miss serves to

00:23:16.490 --> 00:23:20.210
finland's 17. it is really really hard to win

00:23:20.210 --> 00:23:23.289
matches if you're giving the team a complete

00:23:23.289 --> 00:23:27.650
set wild wild tell me if you agree with this

00:23:27.650 --> 00:23:29.470
i understand wanting to be aggressive and the

00:23:29.470 --> 00:23:33.690
need to be aggressive on your serve 100 do you

00:23:33.690 --> 00:23:38.990
think France's ability to like maybe not do 100

00:23:38.990 --> 00:23:43.890
% serve, maybe do like a 70 % serve because technically

00:23:43.890 --> 00:23:47.930
and systemically you trust yourself to be better

00:23:47.930 --> 00:23:50.849
than like a Finland. Or do you think that that

00:23:50.849 --> 00:23:53.349
is like underestimating Finland? No, they 100

00:23:53.349 --> 00:23:57.069
% should have made that adjustment against Finland.

00:23:57.150 --> 00:24:00.650
What I read in that was we're going to try and

00:24:00.650 --> 00:24:02.829
dial in our serving so that further on in the

00:24:02.829 --> 00:24:06.869
competition. We're feeling it and we can unload

00:24:06.869 --> 00:24:11.289
on our serves. And we trust ourselves to be able

00:24:11.289 --> 00:24:14.130
to win even while we're trying to find our rhythm

00:24:14.130 --> 00:24:16.970
from the baseline. It came back to bite them.

00:24:17.049 --> 00:24:19.109
Obviously, I'm not on the bench. I can't speak

00:24:19.109 --> 00:24:20.750
for their mentality, but that's what it looked

00:24:20.750 --> 00:24:23.349
like to me. And I kind of thought they had that

00:24:23.349 --> 00:24:26.890
attitude and mentality through all of pool play.

00:24:27.049 --> 00:24:31.200
Un peu laissez faire. Oui, oui. because it's

00:24:31.200 --> 00:24:33.559
France Sarah's actually fluent in French I don't

00:24:33.559 --> 00:24:35.319
actually speak French like that I was just you

00:24:35.319 --> 00:24:39.299
know so that was my first thought my second idea

00:24:39.299 --> 00:24:43.279
as to what happened is France has won the last

00:24:43.279 --> 00:24:46.740
two Olympics they've been very successful in

00:24:46.740 --> 00:24:49.900
recent years maybe they just don't have that

00:24:49.900 --> 00:24:55.319
same drive and level of motivation to win those

00:24:55.319 --> 00:24:59.559
matches and maybe it's not as much of a like

00:25:00.329 --> 00:25:04.269
necessity you know to get these wins as it is

00:25:04.269 --> 00:25:06.769
for some other teams and maybe what we saw was

00:25:06.769 --> 00:25:10.569
a little bit of complacency I agree with that

00:25:10.569 --> 00:25:15.210
I think they were obviously prepared it's not

00:25:15.210 --> 00:25:19.609
like they got blown out in those matches so they

00:25:19.609 --> 00:25:22.509
were playing and they were competing but it was

00:25:22.509 --> 00:25:26.789
definitely a different level of urgency than

00:25:26.789 --> 00:25:29.130
we saw even in the important matches in VNL.

00:25:30.069 --> 00:25:33.230
Argentina is obviously a really good team. I

00:25:33.230 --> 00:25:35.130
don't think that they took them lightly, but

00:25:35.130 --> 00:25:38.809
I think lining up, it's hard to get up for a

00:25:38.809 --> 00:25:40.910
match against Finland. And I mean absolutely

00:25:40.910 --> 00:25:44.490
no disrespect to Finland, but when you've won

00:25:44.490 --> 00:25:47.369
that much and they're in your pool, that's a

00:25:47.369 --> 00:25:50.750
match where it's, hey, we come in, we warm up.

00:25:51.259 --> 00:25:54.339
We can play at 80 % and we're going to go on.

00:25:54.440 --> 00:25:58.019
And I just don't think when it came down to it,

00:25:58.059 --> 00:26:00.220
they couldn't flip the switch in those big moments.

00:26:00.359 --> 00:26:02.799
And again, you see it from the service line because

00:26:02.799 --> 00:26:07.200
that's an entirely mental skill. They just weren't

00:26:07.200 --> 00:26:09.619
sharp enough. And if that's a byproduct of having

00:26:09.619 --> 00:26:12.700
won so much, not being able to get into that

00:26:12.700 --> 00:26:16.059
mindset for pool play matches, it's something

00:26:16.059 --> 00:26:18.680
along those lines because they just weren't crisp.

00:26:19.259 --> 00:26:23.660
The other thing I will say is their left sides

00:26:23.660 --> 00:26:27.779
were not very good. They brought Engapeth. You're

00:26:27.779 --> 00:26:30.420
supposed to have all of your big guns here, all

00:26:30.420 --> 00:26:33.619
of your options. I went deep diving into the

00:26:33.619 --> 00:26:38.299
stats. And I combined all of the outside attacks.

00:26:38.599 --> 00:26:40.299
I'm not including the right side. All of the

00:26:40.299 --> 00:26:43.259
outside attacks during the VNL. So Engapeth was

00:26:43.259 --> 00:26:46.200
not there. So he was not included in this. As

00:26:46.200 --> 00:26:50.359
an outside core, they hit .358 on the entire

00:26:50.359 --> 00:26:53.039
competition, which is a very, very good number.

00:26:53.180 --> 00:26:57.200
Now, you would expect World Championships is

00:26:57.200 --> 00:27:00.220
an easier tournament, especially in pool play,

00:27:00.339 --> 00:27:04.339
and you upgraded, theoretically, that position

00:27:04.339 --> 00:27:07.200
bringing in Ingepeth. You would expect to be

00:27:07.200 --> 00:27:10.220
at the same level or higher. And during those

00:27:10.220 --> 00:27:15.549
matches, they hit .259. That is a marked... difference

00:27:15.549 --> 00:27:19.529
from your outside core when you put those three

00:27:19.529 --> 00:27:24.529
things together the serving issues the it wasn't

00:27:24.529 --> 00:27:27.089
a lack of intensity but a lower intensity that

00:27:27.089 --> 00:27:30.829
we've seen in big matches from them and the left

00:27:30.829 --> 00:27:34.369
side struggles from a scoring standpoint if teams

00:27:34.369 --> 00:27:37.009
come to play and both Argentina and Finland did

00:27:37.009 --> 00:27:39.930
you're not going to win okay what about Brazil

00:27:39.930 --> 00:27:43.509
all right I saw a couple things for Brazil now

00:27:44.039 --> 00:27:47.740
Brazil lost matches very closely. For people

00:27:47.740 --> 00:27:50.019
who weren't dialed into everything, there was

00:27:50.019 --> 00:27:52.220
a three -way tie for first place in that pool.

00:27:52.339 --> 00:27:54.079
And the only reason that Brazil didn't make it

00:27:54.079 --> 00:27:56.539
was because they dropped one set to China and

00:27:56.539 --> 00:27:58.880
the other two teams in their pool did not drop

00:27:58.880 --> 00:28:02.180
a set to China. Brazil was right there. I think

00:28:02.180 --> 00:28:04.509
they needed to beat... They needed to push Serbia

00:28:04.509 --> 00:28:08.309
to five or win one set to make that a tie and

00:28:08.309 --> 00:28:10.670
then go out ahead. And Serbia beat them in three.

00:28:10.849 --> 00:28:14.970
What I saw from Brazil, and we had this a little

00:28:14.970 --> 00:28:17.630
bit, we talked about this last time, and people

00:28:17.630 --> 00:28:20.210
were not happy with my assessment, but it's going

00:28:20.210 --> 00:28:22.730
to stand because I saw the same thing. Kachopa

00:28:22.730 --> 00:28:27.529
struggled to set the left sides. There were so

00:28:27.529 --> 00:28:32.349
many unhittable balls. Kachopa runs. right side

00:28:32.349 --> 00:28:36.549
middle pipe combination beautifully and quite

00:28:36.549 --> 00:28:39.630
frankly Brazil often does this very very well

00:28:39.630 --> 00:28:43.730
however on the left side the balls were often

00:28:43.730 --> 00:28:47.289
low and inside and tight and what I think was

00:28:47.289 --> 00:28:49.269
happening was they were trying to run that ball

00:28:49.269 --> 00:28:52.910
so fast that the location was just inconsistent

00:28:52.910 --> 00:28:58.069
I'm not sure Arthur specifically He's not a fastball

00:28:58.069 --> 00:29:02.029
hitter. He's 6 '10". He was volleying some balls.

00:29:02.269 --> 00:29:04.549
If you need to slow it down to give Arthur a

00:29:04.549 --> 00:29:07.650
chance to reach high and hit deep, give him a

00:29:07.650 --> 00:29:09.970
chance to score. And I thought he was handcuffed

00:29:09.970 --> 00:29:12.089
there. And Luccarelli's the same thing. He jumps

00:29:12.089 --> 00:29:14.130
well. He can handle the fast sets a little bit

00:29:14.130 --> 00:29:17.990
better. But overall, there were too many unhittable

00:29:17.990 --> 00:29:21.069
or times where the left side was in a compromised

00:29:21.069 --> 00:29:23.589
position. And when we're talking about losing

00:29:23.589 --> 00:29:26.170
sets by two or three points, that's an issue.

00:29:26.730 --> 00:29:30.309
I don't disagree with you. It was all the sets.

00:29:30.930 --> 00:29:33.750
Not all. A lot of sets to the left side were

00:29:33.750 --> 00:29:36.430
trailing onto the net. Now, the other thing that

00:29:36.430 --> 00:29:40.049
I saw, Alain didn't play poorly, but he also

00:29:40.049 --> 00:29:42.369
didn't play as well as he played in VNL. Yeah.

00:29:42.450 --> 00:29:46.609
He hit 284, which is not bad, but it's not good.

00:29:47.200 --> 00:29:49.200
Especially if your left sides aren't scoring.

00:29:49.359 --> 00:29:52.480
The statistical standards in men's and women's

00:29:52.480 --> 00:29:55.619
are different too. Like 284 for a left side in

00:29:55.619 --> 00:29:58.799
women's volleyball is like pretty good. But there's

00:29:58.799 --> 00:30:01.599
also a lot more defense being played. So that

00:30:01.599 --> 00:30:05.000
is not the same for men's, I don't think. Fair.

00:30:05.119 --> 00:30:08.200
But he also guts the garbage balls. Okay. And

00:30:08.200 --> 00:30:10.400
that's, we're talking efficiency here. So errors,

00:30:10.460 --> 00:30:13.660
blocks as well. What I will say, Atlanta was

00:30:13.660 --> 00:30:17.099
a black hole on defense. There were so many times

00:30:17.099 --> 00:30:19.799
where he was in position and got hit with the

00:30:19.799 --> 00:30:22.200
ball or it was half a step one way or another,

00:30:22.359 --> 00:30:25.980
and he was just not making plays. And Bernardo

00:30:25.980 --> 00:30:29.319
was about to lose his mind. He's like, the game

00:30:29.319 --> 00:30:31.759
plan is good. You're standing in the right place.

00:30:32.420 --> 00:30:35.519
Execute the dig. And there may have been a few

00:30:35.519 --> 00:30:40.099
words before the dig, but it was just not good

00:30:40.099 --> 00:30:42.480
enough. And again, we're talking about matches

00:30:42.480 --> 00:30:45.000
where it's two points. You've got to make those

00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:47.000
plays, especially when you're in the right place.

00:30:47.160 --> 00:30:50.700
He made one dig against Serbia. And there, I

00:30:50.700 --> 00:30:53.079
counted, there were seven balls I thought he

00:30:53.079 --> 00:30:55.539
should have had touches on. Let's say he doesn't

00:30:55.539 --> 00:30:57.859
dig all seven. Let's say he digs three more.

00:30:58.059 --> 00:31:00.220
That's three more opportunities and you need

00:31:00.220 --> 00:31:03.000
two points. It's just that part also wasn't good

00:31:03.000 --> 00:31:07.519
enough. I thought that Mikey and Lucarelli do

00:31:07.519 --> 00:31:09.779
a good job playing defense. I thought the blocking

00:31:09.779 --> 00:31:13.099
schemes for Brazil were good. I think that Arthur...

00:31:13.420 --> 00:31:16.240
has a little ways to go on his defensive game.

00:31:16.640 --> 00:31:19.140
Brazil was close. They couldn't close it out.

00:31:19.160 --> 00:31:23.039
They missed a few key plays. I liked what I saw

00:31:23.039 --> 00:31:25.859
from them. Arthur's young. There's some room

00:31:25.859 --> 00:31:28.440
for growth there, I think, with this team. I

00:31:28.440 --> 00:31:31.279
thought their performance, even though they didn't

00:31:31.279 --> 00:31:35.200
make it, was better than France's. We had a ton

00:31:35.200 --> 00:31:38.960
of questions about Japan. Oh, we did? Yes, we

00:31:38.960 --> 00:31:43.509
did. Japan... lost a shocker to turkey a and

00:31:43.509 --> 00:31:45.890
then i boldly predicted that they would hammer

00:31:45.890 --> 00:31:50.470
canada and that did not happen canada laid the

00:31:50.470 --> 00:31:53.670
boots to them and then they were eliminated japan

00:31:53.670 --> 00:31:56.410
just like that they had a they had a rough ghost

00:31:56.410 --> 00:32:04.369
i'm curious what you saw oh okay i honestly felt

00:32:04.369 --> 00:32:07.549
a little bad for japan and i don't usually feel

00:32:07.549 --> 00:32:13.299
bad for anybody In this case, balls that were

00:32:13.299 --> 00:32:18.619
close or any balls that could go either way,

00:32:18.740 --> 00:32:22.619
none of them went Japan's way. All of them went

00:32:22.619 --> 00:32:24.480
Turkey's way. All of them went Turkey's way.

00:32:25.079 --> 00:32:27.559
And none of them went Japan's way. When stuff

00:32:27.559 --> 00:32:29.500
like that happens, they would make a great swing

00:32:29.500 --> 00:32:32.940
and it would be like an inch out. And it was

00:32:32.940 --> 00:32:36.619
a great swing, great choice, just missed. Or

00:32:36.619 --> 00:32:40.200
a scramble play, something weird happens and

00:32:40.200 --> 00:32:42.359
it just like doesn't go their way. And so it

00:32:42.359 --> 00:32:45.980
was happening consistently. At that point, it's

00:32:45.980 --> 00:32:49.720
just, oh, it's so hard to watch because it's

00:32:49.720 --> 00:32:52.519
just like they could not catch a break at all.

00:32:52.920 --> 00:32:57.690
I thought specifically, Mia Ora. You know, normally

00:32:57.690 --> 00:33:01.309
he's finding fingers. He's finding holes in the

00:33:01.309 --> 00:33:03.609
block. He's catching sidelines. He was making

00:33:03.609 --> 00:33:06.589
good swings that were missing by barely anything.

00:33:06.630 --> 00:33:10.529
You would see on the bolt six, it was slivers

00:33:10.529 --> 00:33:14.670
of space. And I'm watching this from a coaching

00:33:14.670 --> 00:33:17.410
perspective going, I would tell you to make that

00:33:17.410 --> 00:33:22.150
same swing again. You hit that shot. 85 % of

00:33:22.150 --> 00:33:24.309
the time, and it goes your way. There was a little

00:33:24.309 --> 00:33:27.529
bit of loaded dice in the Turkiye match, I thought,

00:33:27.589 --> 00:33:30.029
specifically. And Turkiye played well. Turkiye

00:33:30.029 --> 00:33:33.650
played lights out. Yeah. But I would say Miura's

00:33:33.650 --> 00:33:36.529
serve also wasn't working. The Japanese left

00:33:36.529 --> 00:33:41.369
side combo of Ran and Ishikawa, they didn't score

00:33:41.369 --> 00:33:44.109
enough. Well, statistically, they were terrible.

00:33:44.369 --> 00:33:48.789
Yeah. Against Turkiye... Ran went one for 22,

00:33:49.109 --> 00:33:53.069
hit 0 -46, and Ishikawa went six for 23, hitting

00:33:53.069 --> 00:33:56.190
2 -61. And they only ran the middle 10 times.

00:33:57.130 --> 00:34:00.849
Lackluster production from the left sides in

00:34:00.849 --> 00:34:04.849
that match. And the big thing to me was Turquoise

00:34:04.849 --> 00:34:08.710
out -aced them 7 -1. And those statistics for

00:34:08.710 --> 00:34:11.550
Japan, they need to be serving well. You need

00:34:11.550 --> 00:34:14.210
to be serving well, but also as an undersized

00:34:14.210 --> 00:34:17.349
team in the men's landscape, you need to pass

00:34:17.349 --> 00:34:19.869
well to give yourself a chance. And then on top

00:34:19.869 --> 00:34:22.849
of that, you and I talked about this, they were

00:34:22.849 --> 00:34:26.989
running such a vanilla offense. And I know that

00:34:26.989 --> 00:34:30.349
they have had success running that way for a

00:34:30.349 --> 00:34:34.760
while, but... You guys need to create some movement

00:34:34.760 --> 00:34:37.539
in the block or distract the block defense a

00:34:37.539 --> 00:34:40.539
little bit with some combo plays or something.

00:34:40.539 --> 00:34:42.860
And granted, if you're getting aced that much,

00:34:42.880 --> 00:34:45.639
your passing's not outstanding. We need to get

00:34:45.639 --> 00:34:50.139
a little more creative to make up for the things

00:34:50.139 --> 00:34:52.559
that maybe are not your strengths compared to

00:34:52.559 --> 00:34:56.739
other teams. So I felt that they're moving away

00:34:56.739 --> 00:34:59.940
from their typical identity. And my question

00:34:59.940 --> 00:35:02.929
to you is, Do you think that's because of the

00:35:02.929 --> 00:35:05.449
setter change or do you think that's the coaching

00:35:05.449 --> 00:35:10.010
influence? My ins, obviously, I don't know. No,

00:35:10.050 --> 00:35:13.550
but I'm... I would guess it's the foreign coaching

00:35:13.550 --> 00:35:15.929
they're bringing in. What they're running right

00:35:15.929 --> 00:35:19.190
now is a very Western style of volleyball. Even

00:35:19.190 --> 00:35:22.670
going, like I played pro in Asia for what, four

00:35:22.670 --> 00:35:26.829
years in different countries. That is a thing

00:35:26.829 --> 00:35:29.469
that I really had to adjust to as a Western.

00:35:30.059 --> 00:35:36.280
player going to asian countries is how reliant

00:35:36.280 --> 00:35:40.940
those teams and the leagues were on running fast

00:35:40.940 --> 00:35:45.960
combo like deceiving decoy plays as westerners

00:35:45.960 --> 00:35:48.760
we don't really think about it my instinct is

00:35:48.760 --> 00:35:50.679
it's a coaching thing because it's just probably

00:35:50.679 --> 00:35:54.829
not on the radar of those coaches but overload

00:35:54.829 --> 00:35:59.269
a middle left side run a pipe over top of the

00:35:59.269 --> 00:36:02.449
middle if you're going to play a more quote unquote

00:36:02.449 --> 00:36:04.869
western style of volleyball your middle has to

00:36:04.869 --> 00:36:07.030
be a threat they're missing the key component

00:36:07.030 --> 00:36:09.969
to doing that turkey a head they're outside hitters

00:36:09.969 --> 00:36:11.650
i feel bad for them they were up against two

00:36:11.650 --> 00:36:14.570
three blocks all night and well we said the same

00:36:14.570 --> 00:36:16.329
thing about the women's side they don't run the

00:36:16.329 --> 00:36:18.949
middle enough finally in worlds we we said wow

00:36:18.949 --> 00:36:22.440
they ran the middle a bunch i think it's a systemic

00:36:22.440 --> 00:36:27.159
issue i'm not sure the style matches their strengths

00:36:27.159 --> 00:36:30.420
quite quite appropriately for whichever reason

00:36:30.420 --> 00:36:33.599
they're they're doing that and then on the canada

00:36:33.599 --> 00:36:37.940
side the story for me was 10 blocks to 2 and

00:36:37.940 --> 00:36:42.139
canada outdug them 51 days to 44 and that shouldn't

00:36:42.139 --> 00:36:44.739
should never happen it was the same thing like

00:36:44.739 --> 00:36:50.440
mia ora hit 136 3 for 22 ishikawa hit negative

00:36:51.019 --> 00:36:53.320
Ran actually got subbed out. I thought the left

00:36:53.320 --> 00:36:55.159
side who came in actually played pretty well,

00:36:55.300 --> 00:36:57.880
but they just, they did not have it for whatever

00:36:57.880 --> 00:36:59.739
reason. It just wasn't a good turnaround for

00:36:59.739 --> 00:37:02.739
them at all. I think they're getting away from

00:37:02.739 --> 00:37:05.360
the things that make them successful. You see

00:37:05.360 --> 00:37:08.440
Ran, he wants to zig and zag and hit balls and

00:37:08.440 --> 00:37:11.840
cheer. Mia Ora is capable of running a little

00:37:11.840 --> 00:37:14.239
more kind of up and down on his own. He just

00:37:14.239 --> 00:37:17.230
had nothing go his way. The dice were loaded

00:37:17.230 --> 00:37:18.550
against him in this tournament. And sometimes

00:37:18.550 --> 00:37:21.610
that happens. The left sides struggled. So this

00:37:21.610 --> 00:37:24.329
kind of builds on a question that we got that

00:37:24.329 --> 00:37:28.329
we'll address now. In why are there so many upsets

00:37:28.329 --> 00:37:31.929
on the men's side? This person gave two possible

00:37:31.929 --> 00:37:35.309
reasons. Do you think programs aren't willing

00:37:35.309 --> 00:37:38.690
to give their younger players a chance? Or do

00:37:38.690 --> 00:37:41.050
you think that maybe the teams that have had

00:37:41.050 --> 00:37:44.269
success, their game style has gone a little stale

00:37:44.269 --> 00:37:47.239
and they're not evolving? But yeah, what do you

00:37:47.239 --> 00:37:50.000
think? That's such an interesting question. There's

00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:52.820
a couple things that come to mind with that question.

00:37:53.260 --> 00:37:55.980
One is, quite frankly, World Championships is

00:37:55.980 --> 00:37:58.000
not the time to play your young players. You

00:37:58.000 --> 00:38:01.460
play the people who have earned time, who have

00:38:01.460 --> 00:38:04.400
earned the spots. Well, you see the ins and outs

00:38:04.400 --> 00:38:07.079
in VNL because it is such a long. And that's

00:38:07.079 --> 00:38:09.059
where you play your young players. That's where

00:38:09.059 --> 00:38:11.300
you figure out who's ready to perform. World

00:38:11.300 --> 00:38:13.619
Championships is the tournament. It is what you

00:38:13.619 --> 00:38:17.230
are trying to win. I don't think for this tournament

00:38:17.230 --> 00:38:21.110
that is applicable. You look at an Ingepeth situation,

00:38:21.429 --> 00:38:24.489
for example. Didn't play at all in VNL. I believe

00:38:24.489 --> 00:38:27.269
he was injured this summer. Coming back to Worlds,

00:38:27.449 --> 00:38:29.989
it was pretty clear he had not been playing all

00:38:29.989 --> 00:38:32.329
summer. Do you know what I mean? To me, that's

00:38:32.329 --> 00:38:35.650
not a case of not giving a young player a chance.

00:38:36.329 --> 00:38:38.829
Ingepeth makes this better. He either wasn't

00:38:38.829 --> 00:38:41.489
ready to go or wasn't. The other thing I will

00:38:41.489 --> 00:38:45.199
say is that there are a crop of... young players

00:38:45.199 --> 00:38:48.139
coming up for teams that are not traditionally

00:38:48.139 --> 00:38:52.440
powerhouses who are upsetting the apple cart,

00:38:52.579 --> 00:38:55.480
so to speak. So the top five scorers from Worlds

00:38:55.480 --> 00:38:59.639
currently are all from teams you would not expect

00:38:59.639 --> 00:39:02.239
them to be from. Now, before you tell me that

00:39:02.239 --> 00:39:05.239
stats aren't everything, I understand that they're

00:39:05.239 --> 00:39:06.800
playing some more five -setters, that they're

00:39:06.800 --> 00:39:08.539
getting more balls than some of the other teams.

00:39:08.619 --> 00:39:11.380
The teams maybe aren't as well -rounded. However...

00:39:11.960 --> 00:39:14.960
Their hitting percentages are also off the charts.

00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:16.940
So I want to go over this just to give you some

00:39:16.940 --> 00:39:20.539
context. Regers from Belgium is leading the tournament,

00:39:20.579 --> 00:39:22.440
and I'm not going to go by points. I'm going

00:39:22.440 --> 00:39:26.360
to go by attack percentage. He's hitting .454

00:39:26.360 --> 00:39:30.639
on the tournament. That is outrageous because

00:39:30.639 --> 00:39:34.260
they are setting him a ton, and he is delivering.

00:39:34.360 --> 00:39:38.739
That guy is so fun to watch. He jumps very well.

00:39:39.150 --> 00:39:41.610
It's spectacular. You know, when you've got a

00:39:41.610 --> 00:39:43.650
guy like that who's making a difference and scoring

00:39:43.650 --> 00:39:45.510
that many points and Belgium's got some veterans

00:39:45.510 --> 00:39:47.150
around them, they've got a couple other young

00:39:47.150 --> 00:39:51.769
players, they come out of nowhere and they make

00:39:51.769 --> 00:39:55.110
you play. And he was unconscious. Then you have

00:39:55.110 --> 00:39:59.050
Jokula from Finland, who he has the second most

00:39:59.050 --> 00:40:02.929
points, but he's hitting 372. That's very good.

00:40:03.309 --> 00:40:07.119
You have Ayi from Netherlands. Third highest

00:40:07.119 --> 00:40:11.139
score, hitting .301. The opposite from, or the

00:40:11.139 --> 00:40:13.679
left side from Turkey, Lagunca. He's hitting

00:40:13.679 --> 00:40:17.800
.446. That's crazy. Nikola from Bulgaria. And

00:40:17.800 --> 00:40:20.639
so they're coming up, and I do think that having

00:40:20.639 --> 00:40:22.800
something to prove and having a chip on your

00:40:22.800 --> 00:40:24.739
shoulder and coming out and being like, I'm coming

00:40:24.739 --> 00:40:27.659
for these guys, it does, it makes a difference.

00:40:27.739 --> 00:40:29.760
It gives you a little bit of an edge, and I think

00:40:29.760 --> 00:40:31.659
we've seen that so far in world championships.

00:40:32.000 --> 00:40:35.590
We talked about the teams that... we thought

00:40:35.590 --> 00:40:38.070
would do really well and didn't advance. But

00:40:38.070 --> 00:40:41.570
then some teams have been pretty big surprises

00:40:41.570 --> 00:40:45.429
and two in particular are Finland and Belgium.

00:40:46.010 --> 00:40:48.769
Yeah, like I said, they have the two top scorers

00:40:48.769 --> 00:40:51.809
in the tournament and they've got... pieces around

00:40:51.809 --> 00:40:54.690
them so I mean Belgium has a pro league Finland

00:40:54.690 --> 00:40:56.670
has a pro league they have a couple vets on there

00:40:56.670 --> 00:40:58.969
it's not a great pro league no but but these

00:40:58.969 --> 00:41:01.530
guys are playing relatively full -time and then

00:41:01.530 --> 00:41:03.070
all of a sudden you've got a couple young guys

00:41:03.070 --> 00:41:06.349
come in who can score points that kind of turns

00:41:06.349 --> 00:41:08.570
the corner for the program I think it's also

00:41:08.570 --> 00:41:11.030
like we have nothing to lose mentality and like

00:41:11.030 --> 00:41:13.230
how exciting is it for these guys to play against

00:41:13.230 --> 00:41:17.329
like they're heroes you know yeah and you know

00:41:17.329 --> 00:41:19.849
when you're coming up you want to kind of measure

00:41:19.849 --> 00:41:23.190
yourself against those athletes that you've watched

00:41:23.190 --> 00:41:27.590
for a long time so you get so hyped to play them

00:41:27.590 --> 00:41:30.070
and then you're having success you're like oh

00:41:30.070 --> 00:41:32.909
my gosh am i about to beat these people so i

00:41:32.909 --> 00:41:36.289
can see it being very exciting for them which

00:41:36.289 --> 00:41:38.820
is like kind of you know, the opposite situation

00:41:38.820 --> 00:41:41.539
we were talking about with like a France who

00:41:41.539 --> 00:41:43.840
has had a lot of success for a long time. Yeah,

00:41:43.920 --> 00:41:46.079
it's been really interesting to see because even

00:41:46.079 --> 00:41:48.780
like some of the teams like DeRoe on Belgium,

00:41:48.900 --> 00:41:50.800
he's not like a young guy. He's been around.

00:41:50.960 --> 00:41:53.420
He's feeling it and it's really cool to see.

00:41:53.539 --> 00:41:56.420
The youth revitalizes you. Yes. Because I believe

00:41:56.420 --> 00:41:59.280
he's 36. Oh, is he really? Yeah. I love that.

00:41:59.380 --> 00:42:01.559
What do you think playing for a contract means?

00:42:02.110 --> 00:42:04.170
Do you think that that factors in? You know,

00:42:04.190 --> 00:42:06.309
you've got these young opposites, these young

00:42:06.309 --> 00:42:09.769
outsides who, you know, have played mostly in

00:42:09.769 --> 00:42:12.190
their home leagues up until this point. That's

00:42:12.190 --> 00:42:13.809
not all true. Some of them have been in some

00:42:13.809 --> 00:42:16.630
other leagues, but this can up your contract

00:42:16.630 --> 00:42:19.570
value, I feel like. It's too, probably too, it

00:42:19.570 --> 00:42:22.349
is too late for this season, but like VNL is

00:42:22.349 --> 00:42:26.559
typically, you know, a place where... These clubs

00:42:26.559 --> 00:42:29.260
can see you, see what you're made of, offer you

00:42:29.260 --> 00:42:31.960
that contract. Belgium just qualified for VNL

00:42:31.960 --> 00:42:34.139
for next year. Finland's case, like this is a

00:42:34.139 --> 00:42:36.739
great opportunity for those guys. Everybody is

00:42:36.739 --> 00:42:39.360
watching world championships and like club presidents

00:42:39.360 --> 00:42:41.599
and owners and agents and everything. They're

00:42:41.599 --> 00:42:45.199
taking notes on like all these athletes. So yeah,

00:42:45.260 --> 00:42:47.940
you want to show up when you have a chance because

00:42:47.940 --> 00:42:50.960
like a lot of teams don't. And like speaking

00:42:50.960 --> 00:42:54.860
from my own experience, when I was playing Canada

00:42:54.860 --> 00:42:58.510
wasn't, involved or good enough to play in these

00:42:58.510 --> 00:43:02.269
things so I had to rely completely on my pro

00:43:02.269 --> 00:43:05.050
season to be able to get those opportunities

00:43:05.050 --> 00:43:08.690
and then like have my agent sell me having this

00:43:08.690 --> 00:43:11.489
opportunity and playing well in this stage is

00:43:11.489 --> 00:43:14.329
huge all right one more quick thing about world

00:43:14.329 --> 00:43:16.050
champs before we get into our new predictions

00:43:16.050 --> 00:43:17.989
because the old ones are completely out the window

00:43:17.989 --> 00:43:21.659
and useless but I have to say turkey a came to

00:43:21.659 --> 00:43:24.039
worlds with pretty much the same roster that

00:43:24.039 --> 00:43:27.199
they went to vnl with they are worlds better

00:43:27.199 --> 00:43:29.199
so i hope they're a completely different team

00:43:29.199 --> 00:43:32.059
i don't get it i hope that that coach is getting

00:43:32.059 --> 00:43:35.579
paid triple what his salary is because for them

00:43:35.579 --> 00:43:38.980
to be that much better in that short time how

00:43:38.980 --> 00:43:41.019
does that happen it's well well i'll tell you

00:43:41.019 --> 00:43:43.360
i'll tell you one thing the lagoonja brothers

00:43:44.519 --> 00:43:47.500
are just playing out of their minds. If we look

00:43:47.500 --> 00:43:49.920
at, I also did a comparison for Worlds and VNL

00:43:49.920 --> 00:43:55.300
for them. The one hit 230 at VNL is hitting 373

00:43:55.300 --> 00:44:00.420
at Worlds. And the opposite hitting 294 at VNL

00:44:00.420 --> 00:44:03.579
is hitting 446. There you go. So that's pretty

00:44:03.579 --> 00:44:05.579
much the difference. All right, hit me with your

00:44:05.579 --> 00:44:08.920
new predictions for the rest of Worlds. So at

00:44:08.920 --> 00:44:12.800
the time of this recording, There have been four

00:44:12.800 --> 00:44:16.219
matches played. So we know that one of the quarterfinals

00:44:16.219 --> 00:44:19.159
is Italy versus Belgium, and another quarter

00:44:19.159 --> 00:44:24.079
is Turkey versus Poland. We are still waiting

00:44:24.079 --> 00:44:27.800
on the other two. So for the round of 16, we've

00:44:27.800 --> 00:44:31.320
got Tunisia versus Czech Republic. I think Czech

00:44:31.320 --> 00:44:33.300
is going to win that one. Okay, I have no idea.

00:44:34.420 --> 00:44:39.420
Then we have Serbia versus Iran. I also have

00:44:39.420 --> 00:44:42.250
no idea. I watched Serbia play a couple matches,

00:44:42.389 --> 00:44:46.090
and I liked what I saw. I think they're playing

00:44:46.090 --> 00:44:49.469
well. I'm going to go with Serbia on this one,

00:44:49.489 --> 00:44:51.690
actually. I think Serbia will win this one. Okay,

00:44:51.730 --> 00:44:55.010
so you have Czech versus Serbia. And I think

00:44:55.010 --> 00:44:58.269
Serbia is going to win and go to the semi. Okay,

00:44:58.369 --> 00:45:00.869
and then for the other rounds of 16, Bulgaria

00:45:00.869 --> 00:45:04.650
versus Portugal. I think Bulgaria will win. USA

00:45:04.650 --> 00:45:08.269
versus Slovenia. I'm going to say Slovenia. Although

00:45:08.269 --> 00:45:11.510
Micah Christensen is a massive difference maker

00:45:11.510 --> 00:45:15.349
for USA, okay? I watched them play after we did

00:45:15.349 --> 00:45:18.489
the segment of who improved the most. And just

00:45:18.489 --> 00:45:23.630
watching him run that offense, I immediately

00:45:23.630 --> 00:45:27.190
regretted not pumping his tires more in that

00:45:27.190 --> 00:45:30.309
episode. I think he did a fantastic job. And

00:45:30.309 --> 00:45:33.710
I actually voted against Karch and USA against

00:45:33.710 --> 00:45:37.010
Cuba. I'm not going to do it this time. I think...

00:45:37.179 --> 00:45:40.059
Karch gets the boys going I think USA is gonna

00:45:40.059 --> 00:45:43.320
win and then who do you think will win USA or

00:45:43.320 --> 00:45:46.420
Bulgaria I think USA is gonna go to the semi

00:45:46.420 --> 00:45:49.820
I'm gonna take a flyer here and say Bulgaria

00:45:49.820 --> 00:45:52.619
is going to the semi but then I think Poland

00:45:52.619 --> 00:45:54.800
will be Turkey they're just the best in the world

00:45:54.800 --> 00:45:57.760
right now yeah and I think Italy will beat Belgium

00:45:57.760 --> 00:45:59.880
I'm actually really looking forward to that game

00:45:59.880 --> 00:46:05.030
just I want to see Regers against the Italian

00:46:05.030 --> 00:46:07.389
bloc. I want to see how long the Magic can keep

00:46:07.389 --> 00:46:09.269
going. But I think Italy will win that one as

00:46:09.269 --> 00:46:12.010
well. I think Poland will be in the final. Yeah.

00:46:12.510 --> 00:46:16.070
I'm going to say... I'm going to say Bulgaria

00:46:16.070 --> 00:46:19.369
in the final. I'm going Poland -USA in the final.

00:46:19.630 --> 00:46:22.070
Poland winning the tournament. Okay. I think

00:46:22.070 --> 00:46:24.349
Poland will win it all. But I'm just like, that

00:46:24.349 --> 00:46:26.769
was my random, you know, let's throw it out there.

00:46:27.929 --> 00:46:31.150
Love it. Okay, let's see how wrong we can be.

00:46:31.599 --> 00:46:34.000
But we can't be as wrong as we were last week,

00:46:34.039 --> 00:46:36.840
so we're already ahead. So if you have not been

00:46:36.840 --> 00:46:38.599
paying attention to the Men's World Championships,

00:46:38.820 --> 00:46:41.420
you need to. The parody, the volleyball, it's

00:46:41.420 --> 00:46:44.820
exciting. There are players making a name for

00:46:44.820 --> 00:46:46.519
themselves. There are upsets happening everywhere.

00:46:46.659 --> 00:46:50.119
I think the final playoffs are going to be spectacular.

00:46:50.360 --> 00:46:53.159
There's no way our predictions are right, and

00:46:53.159 --> 00:46:55.860
so it'll be fun to watch these matches. I think

00:46:55.860 --> 00:46:57.579
they're going to be super competitive, and I

00:46:57.579 --> 00:46:59.059
think it's going to be a great week of men's

00:46:59.059 --> 00:47:01.500
volleyball. All right, it is time for listener

00:47:01.500 --> 00:47:05.059
questions. Question one, what are your thoughts

00:47:05.059 --> 00:47:08.360
on the men's jump float serves? Does it need

00:47:08.360 --> 00:47:11.119
to improve so reception breaks down more or should

00:47:11.119 --> 00:47:13.820
they leave it alone and rely on the block? This

00:47:13.820 --> 00:47:16.980
is totally situational. To be fair, there are

00:47:16.980 --> 00:47:19.920
some guys who have great jump floats. I think

00:47:19.920 --> 00:47:22.019
men's jump float serves are a joke compared to

00:47:22.019 --> 00:47:24.599
women's. I think in general, that statement is

00:47:24.599 --> 00:47:26.719
accurate. Women's jump floats are more effective

00:47:26.719 --> 00:47:28.440
than men's jump floats, but I think it's for

00:47:28.440 --> 00:47:31.639
a couple reasons. One, you don't have as many

00:47:31.639 --> 00:47:34.519
women who have bombing spin serves. So the men's

00:47:34.519 --> 00:47:37.340
float serve is, hey, you're our get it in guy.

00:47:37.619 --> 00:47:39.820
So you need to make sure that that serve is in

00:47:39.820 --> 00:47:41.739
because we already have these guys taking rips

00:47:41.739 --> 00:47:44.239
from the baseline. It also, it's situationally

00:47:44.239 --> 00:47:46.039
dependent, right? If you can hit a flat float

00:47:46.039 --> 00:47:48.820
serve across a middle's approach or to a specific

00:47:48.820 --> 00:47:52.719
side or eliminate an option, I think that probably

00:47:52.719 --> 00:47:55.039
could be utilized more in the men's game, taking

00:47:55.039 --> 00:47:57.219
a little bit more risk, but still making it a

00:47:57.219 --> 00:47:59.460
safe serve. But it's also dependent on how good

00:47:59.460 --> 00:48:01.099
your block defense is and what you're trying

00:48:01.099 --> 00:48:03.480
to do. There's a lot of factors that go along

00:48:03.480 --> 00:48:06.480
with how aggressive the float servers are in

00:48:06.480 --> 00:48:08.599
this regard, in my opinion. So your answer is?

00:48:09.210 --> 00:48:11.610
either one depending on the situation yeah it's

00:48:11.610 --> 00:48:14.150
it's situational i will say in general it's not

00:48:14.150 --> 00:48:16.769
as effective as on the women's side because the

00:48:16.769 --> 00:48:20.230
net's lower they get for instance better trajectory

00:48:20.230 --> 00:48:22.909
and it's can be more of a high risk serve where

00:48:22.909 --> 00:48:24.969
that's not the case on the men's side question

00:48:24.969 --> 00:48:27.869
two how do fans feel when their coaches are helping

00:48:27.869 --> 00:48:31.250
other countries i've never thought about this

00:48:31.250 --> 00:48:32.909
and i don't think anybody else thinks about it

00:48:32.909 --> 00:48:35.550
in general i mean it's a way for them to earn

00:48:35.550 --> 00:48:37.949
a living I've never thought about this, but I

00:48:37.949 --> 00:48:39.710
saw the question and I was like, oh, interesting.

00:48:39.989 --> 00:48:41.889
I guess I've never thought. Yeah, I mean, in

00:48:41.889 --> 00:48:44.329
this case, there's a lot of Italian coaches out

00:48:44.329 --> 00:48:45.570
there. There's a lot of Italian coaches. But

00:48:45.570 --> 00:48:47.789
if you look at other sports, a lot of Canadian

00:48:47.789 --> 00:48:49.190
coaches. But in beach volleyball, there's a ton

00:48:49.190 --> 00:48:52.409
of Brazilian coaches. Yeah, I think. Canadian

00:48:52.409 --> 00:48:57.809
hockey coaches. Yeah, wherever the sport is kind

00:48:57.809 --> 00:49:00.110
of homegrown and you have a lot of expertise,

00:49:00.409 --> 00:49:04.329
I mean, people are looking for jobs. And I don't

00:49:04.329 --> 00:49:06.679
think. I've never looked at a Canadian coach

00:49:06.679 --> 00:49:09.500
sideways for hockey. I'm a hockey fan. And said,

00:49:09.539 --> 00:49:11.420
oh man, I can't believe he's coaching that team.

00:49:11.800 --> 00:49:13.639
No, because I'm like, there are limited jobs.

00:49:13.920 --> 00:49:16.119
Yeah. And like, if you're good at what you do,

00:49:16.199 --> 00:49:18.380
yeah, take it. Yeah, it was interesting. I've

00:49:18.380 --> 00:49:20.940
just never thought about it before. Question

00:49:20.940 --> 00:49:23.880
three. Can you speak about the tradition of exchanging

00:49:23.880 --> 00:49:27.159
mementos before matches at VNL and Worlds? Where

00:49:27.159 --> 00:49:29.820
does this come from and what are the mementos?

00:49:31.159 --> 00:49:33.780
So I think this is actually typical across...

00:49:34.349 --> 00:49:37.730
all sports or a lot of sports when you have an

00:49:37.730 --> 00:49:42.260
international competition you exchange tokens

00:49:42.260 --> 00:49:45.519
from your country just to commemorate the match.

00:49:45.900 --> 00:49:48.219
I think international competitions used to be

00:49:48.219 --> 00:49:50.239
a lot more rare back in the day so it was like

00:49:50.239 --> 00:49:52.900
a much bigger deal. So to have like a token from

00:49:52.900 --> 00:49:54.920
the country that you competed against is like

00:49:54.920 --> 00:49:57.679
something special. Typically you see them being

00:49:57.679 --> 00:50:01.239
pins whether from the country or the National

00:50:01.239 --> 00:50:04.519
Sport Federation. Sometimes you'll see the captains

00:50:04.519 --> 00:50:08.099
exchange like pendants to represent the federation.

00:50:08.719 --> 00:50:12.889
Oftentimes though it is pins question four i

00:50:12.889 --> 00:50:14.610
fell in love with volleyball around the 2007

00:50:14.610 --> 00:50:20.010
-2008 years that's my era just aging myself when

00:50:20.010 --> 00:50:22.969
penn state stanford nebraska and texas were constantly

00:50:22.969 --> 00:50:24.869
at the top of the standings and all producing

00:50:24.869 --> 00:50:28.730
insane volleyball players what do you think has

00:50:28.730 --> 00:50:31.510
changed for better and for worse since this era

00:50:31.510 --> 00:50:34.110
of volleyball i still look back at all these

00:50:34.110 --> 00:50:36.650
teams and think that they'd beat the majority

00:50:36.650 --> 00:50:40.909
of teams now honestly same I've had conversations

00:50:40.909 --> 00:50:43.329
with people about this so often. And if you look

00:50:43.329 --> 00:50:46.329
at the crop of athletes that were in that era,

00:50:46.510 --> 00:50:51.690
so, so many of them went on to have really strong

00:50:51.690 --> 00:50:55.909
pro careers and really strong national team careers.

00:50:56.230 --> 00:51:00.449
And I would say you see that. I'm sure somebody

00:51:00.449 --> 00:51:02.389
is going to pull up some stat and say that I'm

00:51:02.389 --> 00:51:07.630
wrong, but you see that crop of athletes in that

00:51:07.630 --> 00:51:12.579
span of time. More of them, I would say the per

00:51:12.579 --> 00:51:17.920
capita number of athletes from that era played

00:51:17.920 --> 00:51:20.820
for much longer than we're seeing in other eras.

00:51:20.860 --> 00:51:23.599
So I think in that era, we saw a lot more six

00:51:23.599 --> 00:51:27.420
rotation athletes, which is more conducive to

00:51:27.420 --> 00:51:30.429
having an international and a pro career. So

00:51:30.429 --> 00:51:32.730
I think that that is something that has changed

00:51:32.730 --> 00:51:35.909
for the worse since that time is the number of

00:51:35.909 --> 00:51:38.409
six rotation athletes has declined substantially.

00:51:39.530 --> 00:51:43.230
I will say something that has come of that that

00:51:43.230 --> 00:51:45.670
has been a change for the better is that we are

00:51:45.670 --> 00:51:50.389
seeing a lot more strong teams. You're not seeing

00:51:50.389 --> 00:51:54.690
just the handful who are consistently dominating.

00:51:55.679 --> 00:51:58.900
you're seeing a lot more strong programs across

00:51:58.900 --> 00:52:02.139
the board because you're not getting that specialization

00:52:02.139 --> 00:52:04.380
anymore. I was going to talk about the parity

00:52:04.380 --> 00:52:07.519
and the rivalries at that point in NCAA. When

00:52:07.519 --> 00:52:09.440
you couldn't leave a school, it was a bigger

00:52:09.440 --> 00:52:11.900
decision to go there. And you were there for

00:52:11.900 --> 00:52:14.980
four years. So you also... It was much harder

00:52:14.980 --> 00:52:18.659
to transfer. But I also think that that allows

00:52:18.659 --> 00:52:21.559
you... more time to grow as an athlete, right?

00:52:21.619 --> 00:52:23.519
If you can't just transfer out and start everywhere,

00:52:23.780 --> 00:52:26.699
there's a little more of a hierarchy from freshman

00:52:26.699 --> 00:52:30.159
to junior and you learn from your seniors. There's

00:52:30.159 --> 00:52:34.760
a bit more of a pro mentality in terms of mentorship

00:52:34.760 --> 00:52:37.659
and what you learn going through that process

00:52:37.659 --> 00:52:39.099
when it's not, well, I'm not playing, I'm leaving,

00:52:39.179 --> 00:52:41.760
I'm going here. And I think that that also adds.

00:52:42.409 --> 00:52:45.769
to A, the rivalries, B, earning your spot, and

00:52:45.769 --> 00:52:48.170
a little more competition internally, which might

00:52:48.170 --> 00:52:51.190
lead to some of those better international careers.

00:52:51.550 --> 00:52:54.250
Yeah, I mean, seniority was definitely more of

00:52:54.250 --> 00:52:57.710
a thing. But also, I feel like coaches were more

00:52:57.710 --> 00:53:01.570
inclined to really work on developing their athletes.

00:53:01.829 --> 00:53:03.369
Well, you have them for four years. Exactly.

00:53:03.429 --> 00:53:08.300
It wasn't so easy to just leave. there were you

00:53:08.300 --> 00:53:10.960
know you'd have to sit out for a season perhaps

00:53:10.960 --> 00:53:13.420
or you know you'd have to jump through so many

00:53:13.420 --> 00:53:16.960
hoops so i think players were developed more

00:53:16.960 --> 00:53:20.960
at their programs at that time again i'm biased

00:53:20.960 --> 00:53:23.539
because i'm from that era but i have often thought

00:53:23.539 --> 00:53:28.219
that teams from that era the top teams from that

00:53:28.219 --> 00:53:31.659
era would beat the top teams from this era and

00:53:31.659 --> 00:53:34.219
i'm sure let's open the floodgates Let's hear

00:53:34.219 --> 00:53:37.599
it. That is my come at me statement for the day

00:53:37.599 --> 00:53:40.380
because I have one every week so far. I've had

00:53:40.380 --> 00:53:42.320
conversations about this over the years and I

00:53:42.320 --> 00:53:44.780
agree with the person who wrote this question

00:53:44.780 --> 00:53:46.840
is that I do think that those teams would beat

00:53:46.840 --> 00:53:48.940
the majority of teams now. Our last question

00:53:48.940 --> 00:53:50.980
of the week is what are your thoughts on Kari

00:53:50.980 --> 00:53:53.099
Spears at Texas? I picked her up from my fantasy

00:53:53.099 --> 00:53:56.159
team. She's on our fantasy team starting on the

00:53:56.159 --> 00:53:59.079
opposite. So, and I'll, yeah, we've got three

00:53:59.079 --> 00:54:02.179
Texas girls starting for us. She is one of them.

00:54:02.800 --> 00:54:05.500
I mean, I think she's done a fantastic job so

00:54:05.500 --> 00:54:08.760
far. It's a hard transition coming in from high

00:54:08.760 --> 00:54:12.079
school to college. Yeah, she's athletic. She's

00:54:12.079 --> 00:54:14.400
done a good job. I like her mentality. She's

00:54:14.400 --> 00:54:17.179
aggressive. Once there's a book on you. Yeah,

00:54:17.239 --> 00:54:20.139
the sophomore slump, they call it. So I'm curious

00:54:20.139 --> 00:54:25.320
to see once we get into division play, teams

00:54:25.320 --> 00:54:29.579
see what her tendencies are. You know, they're

00:54:29.579 --> 00:54:32.159
a little more prepared. Then they are teams,

00:54:32.440 --> 00:54:34.340
you know, in the preseason, you're working on

00:54:34.340 --> 00:54:37.039
your own stuff, right? Well, to a certain extent.

00:54:37.320 --> 00:54:39.480
Right. But a lot of the times you're internally

00:54:39.480 --> 00:54:42.219
focused on this is what we're trying to do. This

00:54:42.219 --> 00:54:45.320
is the offense. This is the defense. As we get

00:54:45.320 --> 00:54:47.809
into division play. you're going to start to

00:54:47.809 --> 00:54:51.130
see more and more game planning, more focus on

00:54:51.130 --> 00:54:54.409
your opponents. And so when teams have a chance

00:54:54.409 --> 00:54:57.110
to be able to do that to her, I want to see how

00:54:57.110 --> 00:54:59.090
she responds. When you take away her favorite

00:54:59.090 --> 00:55:01.750
shot, can she find another way to score? So those

00:55:01.750 --> 00:55:03.429
will be the things that I'm looking at, but I

00:55:03.429 --> 00:55:06.909
think she's done a fantastic job. as always thank

00:55:06.909 --> 00:55:09.750
you to everybody who writes in we have got quite

00:55:09.750 --> 00:55:13.250
the list of questions so i am pulling a handful

00:55:13.250 --> 00:55:15.530
every week but keep them coming because we love

00:55:15.530 --> 00:55:17.929
to receive them and think about them so yeah

00:55:17.929 --> 00:55:21.849
thanks so much all right looking forward watch

00:55:21.849 --> 00:55:23.849
all of the men's world championships all the

00:55:23.849 --> 00:55:26.030
games at this point are going to be great there's

00:55:26.030 --> 00:55:28.329
i believe there's two a day pretty much for the

00:55:28.329 --> 00:55:31.210
pre -quarters and then quarters will happen the

00:55:31.210 --> 00:55:32.809
same way so there's going to be great volleyball

00:55:32.809 --> 00:55:36.980
on check it out i don't have any specific match

00:55:36.980 --> 00:55:38.159
because at this point they're all going to be

00:55:38.159 --> 00:55:40.340
good and we don't we we don't know who's going

00:55:40.340 --> 00:55:43.760
to win anymore so whatever looking at the ncaa

00:55:43.760 --> 00:55:46.000
a couple matches to pay attention to this week

00:55:46.000 --> 00:55:49.480
wednesday at 7 p .m eastern missouri versus texas

00:55:49.480 --> 00:55:52.960
a &m also on wednesday at 8 p .m eastern and

00:55:52.960 --> 00:55:56.599
sunday at 3 p .m eastern pit versus smu so that

00:55:56.599 --> 00:55:59.019
will be a really good game that's a back -to

00:55:59.019 --> 00:56:03.199
-back for them And then Friday at 7 p .m., Kansas

00:56:03.199 --> 00:56:07.360
versus Arizona State. They're starting Big 12

00:56:07.360 --> 00:56:10.219
play with a bang. Normally you build up to the

00:56:10.219 --> 00:56:12.280
teams that have a chance to win, but they're

00:56:12.280 --> 00:56:14.400
like, no, we're just going for it. Honestly,

00:56:14.480 --> 00:56:16.519
I like that. I want to see these matchups now.

00:56:16.599 --> 00:56:18.800
You've played good schedules up until this point.

00:56:18.920 --> 00:56:21.739
You should be ready to go. Let's see it. And

00:56:21.739 --> 00:56:24.340
then we have Saturday at 3 p .m. Eastern, TCU

00:56:24.340 --> 00:56:27.630
versus Baylor, which is a good kind of... ranking

00:56:27.630 --> 00:56:30.070
there that'll be a good test for tcu and we'll

00:56:30.070 --> 00:56:32.130
see what baylor has going on thanks for your

00:56:32.130 --> 00:56:35.469
patience while our baby became very chatty this

00:56:35.469 --> 00:56:38.550
week um she had lots of opinions she had lots

00:56:38.550 --> 00:56:40.809
of opinions she's squeaking and squawking but

00:56:40.809 --> 00:56:43.670
she yeah she had a lot to say so thanks for your

00:56:43.670 --> 00:56:46.690
patience with that that being said baby's chattiness

00:56:46.690 --> 00:56:50.050
she got a little impatient so here i am finishing

00:56:50.050 --> 00:56:52.730
this by myself but that concludes this week's

00:56:52.730 --> 00:56:54.760
episode of volley talk There's always something

00:56:54.760 --> 00:56:56.500
shaking in the volleyball world, and we hope

00:56:56.500 --> 00:56:58.980
you enjoyed this little fix. Be sure to follow

00:56:58.980 --> 00:57:01.099
the show so you don't miss any updates, and we'd

00:57:01.099 --> 00:57:03.400
be so grateful if you'd leave us a five -star

00:57:03.400 --> 00:57:06.099
review. You can also follow us on Instagram at

00:57:06.099 --> 00:57:09.300
volleytalk underscore podcast. If you have a

00:57:09.300 --> 00:57:11.260
topic you'd like us to discuss, you can reach

00:57:11.260 --> 00:57:14.340
out to us on Instagram or at info at sarahpavin

00:57:14.340 --> 00:57:17.559
.com. Thanks so much for joining us, and we'll

00:57:17.559 --> 00:57:17.960
be back.