Sunday, July 29, 2007

Somewhat Off Topic

The Southern Section is the largest in the USTA, I believe. They had their Sectionals this weekend and the winner of the 4.5 division, Cary, NC, managed to win despite having only 7 players (defaulting line 2 singles) in the first 3 of their 4 matches in pool play. Those seven guys definitely came through under pressure in Mobile.

18 comments:

  1. According to one of their players, someone had a death in the family right before sectionals. Those seven must be pretty good, to give away a line and still win. Seems like they would have more than eight players though.

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  2. So why does everyone keep saying Hangovers have absolutely NO chance of winning. If you look at the main guys who played on their 2005 Nationals team the only players not on their current team are Wanja and Borne. Are these 2 guys THAT MUCH better than Teague, DeLuca, Bvunzawabaya. Obviously, it's never a LOCK to win Sectionals but I wouldn't rule these guys out either.

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  3. Kingwood Crush has a way better chance of Advancing to Sunday than the Hangovers. Although if both Teams made it to Sunday it would be a Hangover vs Crush battle once again.

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  4. Hey Guys,

    I am organizing a little fun tourney at Lee LeClear starting Friday 5pm August 10th. There will be non-cash prizes for all draws. There are also 2.5 levels, so you can have your friends who are tennis beginners sign up as well. USTA membership is not required as it is not a sanctioned tournament. Search for Tournament ID: 809669307 by going to http://tournaments.usta.com/ or try copy-pasting this link:

    http://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/tournamenthome/tournament.aspx?T=57787

    For everyone else who is representing Houston that weekend at sectionals good luck.

    Spread the word,

    Jochen

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  5. Why would Kingwood have a better chance? Team cohesiveness perhaps? To me, it seems like the Kingwood guys know each other well and enjoy rooting each other on. Do the Hangovers have that? I'm not sure since I don't really know them that well. This whole team cohesiveness can really make a big difference in my opinion...

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  6. Kingwood has added depth to their team in the Singles which was definitely needed. There is more Team Cohesiveness on the Hangovers you just haven't seem them at Sectionals going all out. I would have great Team Cohesiveness too if I had the Dibuas playing Singles for me. Those Guys are Monsters with intimidating serves in the Tiebreakear of 3rd sets.

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  7. The Southern Section will match up with Texas and Florida and Mid Atlantic at Nationals. That will be a Tough Bracket to come out of.

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  8. Congrats to Freeman's 3.5 team. They took home the gold this weekend.

    Way to represent Houston.

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  9. What a dominant performance, if you don't count the matches they pulled once they had the match clinched then they only lost 3 lines in 6 matches against the best teams in the state. Plus, they went 8-0 in 3rd set tiebreakers, the sign of a veteran, gutsy team.

    Houston should be proud! Hopefully the Htown boys can dominate this weekend as well. The 3.5 guys have set the bar VERY high!

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  10. Freeman is a great guy who has assembled alot of depth both on his 3.5 and 4.0 Teams. looking at his 4.0 Team they can be just as dominant this upcoming weekend. Best of Luck to his 4.0 team this weekend.

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  11. It's gonna be much hotter this weekend in Dallas. 98 on Fri, 98 on Sat, and 99 on Sun. So, which team will be most adversely affected by the heat?

    Probably the team with the greatest depth at singles. You've gotta have at least 3-4 great (2 of them have to be line 1 studs)singles players to have a chance.

    Hangovers have better depth at singles.

    Armstrong, Dibua's, Hai for Crush

    Green, Rios, DeLuca, Guy, Schmucker for Hangovers

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  12. The word on the street is that Paschall/Hurlbert/or Barrera may play singles this weekend for Kingwood. The Dibuas brothers can't possibly carry the load in singles EVERY time and Armstrong can't beat the heat.

    This is bad news for Kingwood. Hurlbert isn't a bad doubles player but IMO out of shape to play singles. It's all downhill for him after the 1st set. Paschall has the skills but disappointed in doubles at the city championships. Barerra could be the wildcard here - if he can suck it up for one singles match, he could do well. But the previous poster hit the nail on the head: Hangovers MUCH more depth in their singles lineup. I honestly see them pushing further in the draw than Kingwood, the other Houston team.

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  13. Two things - I don't believe that Schmucker is going to sectionals so his ability to play in the heat will not help the Hangovers. And second, does anyone actually think Pascal would have a chance to win a singles match at sectionals? Nice guy but he can't even win semis matches in local 4.5 events...and he lost to Corey Noel at Waco. That is not 4.5 league sectionals material. The Dibuas can go all day in singles as long as they eat and drink appropriately instead of trying to play it off like they are infatiguable.

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  14. The barometer is rising. 101 on Sat, 99 on Sun. Might we see Teague in singles action????

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  15. Even if the Dibuas are able to play 5 singles matches (very unlikely they'll sweep singles every single round and then sweep singles in the finals if they make it that far), the rising barometer favors the Hangovers as they are deeper in doubles too. This is a perfect example of when it is better to have depth versus studs.

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  16. Just want to wish all the Houston area teams good luck this weekend. My 4.0 guys (and 4.0 NOHO) will be playing all their matches out at High Point so if you get bored come on out and cheer for your hometown team (with a couple of transplants)...we'll do the same.

    GOOD LUCK!!!!

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  17. Any Chance of Freemans 4.0 team dominating Sectionals like the 3.5 Team did. They have so much depth on that team that even the Waterboys are awesome.

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  18. Freeman's depth will definitely help. 100 on Fri, 101 on Sat, 100 on Sun

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