Sorry for being so neglectful...for only the second time since '97 I won't be playing in the Thursday night league so I haven't paid it as much attention as I usually do. Despite being on the sidelines I'll still be watching things fairly closely and chatting frequently with friends and contacts in the league.
I took a look at the rosters this morning. Maybe my absence from the tennis scene has skewed my judgement, but my impression is that this is the weakest summer league since the turn of the century. The 4.5 league seems to be missing so many of the big guns from last year, and with perhaps a very few exceptions there don't seeem to be any new studs to take their places. Again, customarily captains try to spring their "surprises" on opponents at the last minute, so there may be a flurry of roster activity on Thursday, but right now I can't see any team that has a remote chance of doing any damage at the Sectional level this year. The league will be competitve, and even some of the 4.0 bump-ups will be able to "hang", but there doesn't appear to be a real quality team out there. Even some of the perennial contenders (Ssshhhwing, Black Sheep, etc.) appear weaker, but still may be good enough to qualify for citywides.
As for 4.0, the number of recognizable names is pretty small, but I would suspect that the captains who annually field contenders (Freeman, Goodwin, Lu, Spoor) will all be in the playoff hunt and will all be trailing Jason Freeman when all is said and done (though Freeman's roster seems to have a couple of head scratchers on it, I'm sure he will be strong by the time the playoffs roll around).
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Greg, dont you think all of the other cities in the Section have been dilluted also?
ReplyDeleteI haven't looked closely at the other cities, though I suspect that Miller, Torres, Tatu, Davis and Branch will all be at somewhere near the same strength they always are.
ReplyDeleteWho are the elite singles players in the league this year? There may be a couple of newcomers with potential to be very good, but that doesn't begin to replace the quality that has been lost. Has Houston's recent dominance resulted in more bump-ups than other cities? Even the elite holdovers from last year, the Dibuas and Sumralls and Trevinos of the world, are not yet on rosters.
I'm not sure that even an all star team from the entire league (right now) could compete with the aforementioned elite teams across the state.
GD
Check NoHo Hurricanes for Dibua, Sumrall, Benzon, etc.
ReplyDeleteI for one am looking forward to this season. More teams than ever have a shot at making the city playoffs. Hell, 6-8 teams have a legit shot at sectionals this year. Last year at this time the season was over. This year we all have a shot.
ReplyDelete4.0 looks terrible. Get ready for massive tanking by these new 4.5 teams made up of 4.0 bumpups.
ReplyDeleteThe nOHO TEAM lookks pretty good. odion-mills-vernon-red-sumrall is a pretty good start. never heard of the other guys
ReplyDeletenoho roster looks better than any Thursday night roster right now. Glenn Wright and antoine Ford are no slouches either. Look for noho team to make a run.
ReplyDeleteWho are these "head scratchers" you talk about?
ReplyDeleteBefore this summer league even starts let's finish the comments from the HTA Spring league and who do you see in the playoffs?
Then, any surprising players on some of the teams that you thought would not be asked on them?
Lakeside's 4.0 team is looking more interesting and dangerous. Jim Wooten's serve and volley game will be tough at the 4.0 level. Pedro Saiz looks intriguing based on a very limited sample.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the HTA 4.5 summer teams are a lot weaker than in recent years, and probably will not do well at Sectionals this year.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like the NOHO Hurricanes team is built for Nationals, they have a bunch of very good players on the roster so far. I wonder if they will add a 3rd player from last year nationals team after Dibua & Sumrall?
I also agree that this year's parity will make for a more interesting season. Let the season begin.
Red is good at that. Look at the odd years - he plays out of HTown. During the even years he plays out of NoHo or SA.
ReplyDeleteSmart move as TTA does not look at 3 players from the same team in a DIFFERENT association.
Quadruple round robin - for real?
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean Towle? Does that mean Red can put more then three players from last years team on his NoHo team?
ReplyDeleteRed doesn't count as one of the 3 eligible players because he was not on last year's team. He was on the 2008 team.
ReplyDeleteLooks like GD will finally have a chance at going to Nationals.
ReplyDeleteWhat are the good matchups for tomorrow night? Any upsets? What would even be considered an upset?
ReplyDeletePossible Upsets:
JCC over GTAC 3-2
Black Sheep over No Way Out 4-1
what happened to foster and ahmed?
ReplyDeleteThey didn't make the team.
ReplyDeleteBranch will be tough this year with Walt Williams back down as well as the addition of Mike Kelly. They also gained depth by adding some of the top players from probably their biggest competitor (Feldman). They made it to the semis last year and will be stronger this year.
ReplyDeleteMiller is returning the vast majority of the players who lost to the Hurricanes in the final last year as well as adding some new additions.
Austin added John Swords for singles and Torres can never be counted out. Should be a very competitive Sectionals this year and it will be interesting to see which teams make it out of Houston to go and compete.
Lakeside is crazy good!
ReplyDeleteYour judging this on there win over the other Lakeside team last night ?? You are way off. Duecebags will give them all they can handle.
ReplyDeleteSo Branch has Williams and Kelly which means they have 2 possible wins. Being a 5.0 bump down doesn't mean ANYTHING. Branch's team made the semis then decided not to show up.
ReplyDeleteMiller is still wondering how he always can screw up his line ups by putting himself in the line up when it counts. San Antonio has lost to Houston in 09,08 and 07. Need we say more ??
Team Torres will be a better fit to represent San Antonio.
Austin is still trying to figure out how they got swept in the doubles last year by Houston. Although they will be a less dramtic team without Case-Man. They will definitely be contenders at Sectionals to win it all. Davis is too good a Captain to let Houston win 2 years in a row.
Black Sheep looks solid. What's up with the Canes singles?
ReplyDeleteI agree being a 5.0 bump down does not gaurantee any success but I think it strengthens the Branch team. I also think that last year Williams and Slezak win the line 1 doubles match and then Branch probably is in the finals against Houston although that doesn't mean they would have won, clearly.
ReplyDeleteTorres and Miller more than likely will both be there this year if they indeed go to the 16 team Sectional. And I certainly think Davis will be gunning for a trip to Nationals and has as good a chance as anyone.
I also think the team that wins Sectionals this year will be stronger in singles than any team that was at Sectionals last year.