Tuesday, August 5, 2008

3.5 Sectionals

So to be honest I haven't looked at these draws all that much.

Garland plays: Midland, Houston, NETX and Austin.

That Midland team is the same one we played last year, they are not bad but shouldn't pose a threat, NETX just isn't deep enough but do have some talent. The big boys from Austin and Houston will push Garland and I am not sure they can take them both out since they have to play them back to back on Saturday but who knows.

Lifetime plays: San Angelo (another Plano giant killer?), Wild Lubbock, Waco and SETX.
I find it hard to see any of these teams stacking up to Lifetime and they should cruise into Sunday and see either Amarillo or possibly Wild FW.

Any thoughts from Sisk for Bmo since you all actually have broken down these teams.

How good is the FW team with Aranda, Flores, LeClair, etc?

All Dallas final, looks like it could happen if Garland can pull out some tough wins.

61 comments:

  1. The most arrogant and obnoxious player in all of Dallas is SNOTjock Delira. I hope he trips over his big ego at Sectionals!

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  2. Waco is always one of the top 3.5 teams and SETX has a couple of ringers, I would not take those teams lightly.

    Houston is solid and capable but NOHO is my pick to win it all (I have not seen them play but based on everything I've heard it would be hard to go against them).

    Good luck to all!!!

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  3. Bmo,
    My research will begin tonight after my five year old goes to bed. I have two impact players out/injury,life goes on,other's will step up! I'd love to see a Dallas final.Go "Big D"
    J. Sisk

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  4. If Courtney is able to play, Garland will be tough because between Flora and Courtney that gives them 2 legitimate chances to win 2 singles matches in every match. Garland can almost always get one doubles line. Delira and Defeo will always give them a chance and the rest of their doubles players are very solid.

    Lifetime is similar with Mudsam and Tuorto giving thme a chance to win both singles matches. With Morrison and Mahr, they have a legitimate chance to always win that doubles line as well. Their problem lies with Tuorto's apparent inability to play 2 singles matches in one day. Whitt is a nice player but not nearly as tough or automatic as Tuorto. Like Garland, their other doubles teams are solid but not spectacular.

    For both teams, it is important they get both singles points. It is very possible that a good team will get 2 doubles lines against both.

    I am not very familiar with any of the other teams.

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  5. 3.5 tennis sucks. Who cares.

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  6. I agree with Anon 7:08 a.m. Mudsam and Turto are hell of a 1-2 singles punch for LFT. I played Witt a couple times and wasn't that impressed. But I looked at his spring season and the dude has hardly lost a set. Doubt if most teams this weekend can go that strong 3-deep in singles. We'll see.

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  7. where and when are they?

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  8. Sisk,

    yeah, I researched my side, and figured that you would deal with your side. Of course, I am not the team captain, but more of a blog-o-holic and just a team member that wants to win the whole thing.

    Sisk, I HOPE that your list of hurt people does not include some young , punk kid with surfer blonde hair.

    I would HOPE that you save him to play against the top notch teams, or if you save him just for the semi finals (NOT the finals - I repeat. NOT THE FINALS)... ha ha... Certainly you can get something out of him. Maybe something in between Sea Biscuit and Eight Belles.

    I felt that Waco would always be a strong team, and after match 1, we will see how the small town teams stack up.

    I have found it relatively pointless to try to predict too much beyond the first match, when it is much easier to predict after the first match has been played.

    Especially since we have the equivalent of a first round bye and get a chance to see the results of our full bracket before we even take the court.

    (As much as I would LOVE to see the Wild Lubbock vs Waco match at 7 am, I LOVE my sleep more, and will just have to settle for the results)

    And FINALLY: to anon 7:08 am. - Thank you for the kind words.

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  9. So does that mean we should forever refer to him as "Point Break - aka the Keanue Reeves surfer movie?

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  10. With the temp to be back at 100+, it is going to make an even challenge to all these teams. Look at the past weekend & how it took it's toll on some teams. The team with the backups to step in & not miss a stroke will come out. Those having players that have to play the entire weekend will certainly have their work cut out for them.

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  11. BMO:

    When and where does LTF play its matches? I'd like to come out for some of it if possible. Good luck to all from Dallas and especially the Ferrell boys.

    Wines

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  12. The Best match of the first 2 days for us will be at 11:30 am Friday against Waco @ High Point. Waco has a SOLID team and has walked through everyone easily.

    The rest of the matches in playing order

    Fr 430 pm HP (SETX)
    Sa 700 am Huffines (Wild Lubbock)
    Sa 1130 Huffines (San Angelo)
    Su 700 am HP Semis
    Su 1130 HP Final

    Thanks for asking Mark.

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  13. Advice For John Sisk and Mark Ferrell:
    PLAY ONLY YOUR BEST PLAYERS AT SECTIONALS. Now is not the time to "give everyone a chance". Regardless of the heat, keep your top guys in the line-up. It is a mistake to use more than 10 players.

    Look at what happened to Somabut's team at 4.0 Sectionals. He used FIFTEEN different players in order to give everyone a chance. He lost 2-3 to an inferior San Angelo team because he had 4 of his best players watching so that weaker players could get some experience at Sectionals. Consequently, a possible trip to Nationals went down the toilet.

    PLAY TO WIN. Do not try to keep everyone happy.

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  14. Sectionals is about going to Nationals. It is not about keeping everyone happy. The only time you play any of your weaker players is when you know you are in the finals regardless of the outcome of your match. Weaker players on the team should know who they are, and there chances of playing big matches are less likely. If they do not like it, practice and play more and become the better player.

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  15. As for the two people above, feel free to add me to those opinions. Learn from Somabut's mistake.

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  16. While I agree you should have your best, a bench player at 100% is better than an injured or heat exhausted top 8 player. But the heat subsided a little today so maybe that could help a bit.

    Remember Bob didn't make this decision based on giving people playing time it was due to conditioning issues. He can't follow these guys around all week and make them go to the gym. Last time I checked Bob has a real job that actually pays his bills.

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  17. Not likely to happen. I know the Lifetime captain, he is loyal to a fault. Trust me.

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  18. I agree. I spoke with Bob after they lost that match. He had a couple of guys pull themselves out due to overheating. He did all he could to win that match. He was counting on Smith/Pickett to win and they fell apart after having a couple of match points in the 3rd set. Not Bob's fault.

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  19. Bob Somabut is a very nice guy and we all want to run to his defense. But the fact is ... that bone-head line-up decisions cost High Point a spot in the Semi-finals.

    It was not just the last match. HP finished 3-1 and lost the tiebreak by ONE LINE! Somabut used FIFTEEN different players, He used 2nd stringers throughout the tournament and it cost HP several lines.

    For God sake he used Joel Dreskin at singles. My grandmother can beat Joel Dreskin! Losing lines like that cost HP their chance in the semi-finals and quite possibly a trip to Nationals.

    Yes, Somabut is a very nice guy. But yes he made some very bad decisions which ended his team's season prematurely.

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  20. Cary,

    The question is, do you really bench THAT MANY players at the same time? A tired top tier team IS better than a not very good 2nd tier.

    Of course, can you REALLY have that many people go ALL WEEKEND without having won 1 line? Do they really suck and have that little of depth?

    Seems to me that they were near as deep as they thought they were and there needs to be some major shake ups on Somabut team. Some guys might find themselves riding the bench all season long.

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  21. It is not that simple. If your top 2 singles guys say they cannot go. What do you do? You have a guy tell you he is out of town for the Saturday matches at sectionals, what do you do??? As a captain you just try to find a way to get 3 wins when you have a depleated line-up. It is easy to judge when you don't make it that far and just look at the box scores to pass judgement.

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  22. Unfortunately, this might be the demise of Smith ever again playing a meaningful match for HP.

    A nice guy, but I don't think he plays another match in the playoffs for HP.

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  23. Are you trying to tell me that "hollywood" couldnt play 2 sets against a lesser player to put them into the semi's? What about Kirby Martin? He would have been a better option than Wyatt Sharp... I just didnt get some of the line ups.???

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  24. Doug Smith is Ice Pick's best friend. Nice guy _ but the guy CAN'T PLAY! The guy is a horrible player. (Everybody knows that.)

    The captain has to take a guy like that out of the line-up and not use him at Sectionals.

    It costs the team dearly when you just play with your friends and you try to give everyone a chance. The captains has got to make the tough decisions that give your team its best chance to win.

    HP had the most talent of any 4.0 team at Sectionals. Mulitple bad line-up decisions cost them their shot at Nats.

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  25. I overheard Corey making comments about bad HP line-up decisions. I wonder if that is him making anon comments about Somabut???

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  26. I would guess that Somabut cuts many of those second team guys like Smith that did not come through. Especially since his buddy Pickett got bumped up.

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  27. He won't cut them. He is a good guy. They just won't play in any big matches moving forward.

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  28. I rather have a captain who is a real SOB _ but who is dying to win. Rather than a guy that's too nice to make the tough decisons.

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  29. I wouldn't say that. They will still get to play against CC and Brookhaven. That's at LEAST 2 matches that they play.

    I am not buying the I can't play story. Pickett was winning at singles. He could have played him at singles, and then brought one of the singles guys to play a doubles match to replace Doug. Doug played lousy ALL YEAR.

    You can't just keep playing the same guys together because they are "friends". bad team captaining.

    If Pickett had played singles, Keller with Robinson, and there are 4 lines against a sub par San Angelo team instead of SITTING AT HOME.

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  30. You didn't overhear me saying anything. To be honest I have no idea what lineups they used for any of the matches because I only know a couple of guys on the team so I didn't care that much to be honest. Since you brought me into this anonymous I would have to say that I'm 100% sure Bob did not put players in to make them happy or to give everybody playing time because I've never seen him do that in the past.
    I'm sure he put the players in he felt had the best chance to win. You couldn't have overheard me talk about it because this is the first thing I've ever said about it.

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  31. By the way, this section is supposed to be about 3.5 right?

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  32. Somabut's 2nd stringers did their job(Kemp,Hia,Jean,Voss,Neuman) they won all of their matches.

    What hurt them is their 1st stringer doubs team didn't win all weekend.(robinson/brouwer,Devine/Carquist, Smith/pickett).

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  33. Hai Nguyen-Jean Nguyen
    Doug Voss-Tim Newman

    would be HPs first team doubles teams, not second. The third top team would be Brouer-Robinson even though they had a tough tournament.

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  34. HP frequently played 2nd string players all weekend. That approach cost them their chance to win Sectionals.

    It is really too bad. But a captain must put his best players in the line-up at Sectionals.

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  35. Personally speaking, I have played against Pickett and Smith. And they both complement each other. Y'all need to chill out on the putting down on Doug. He's a strong player and when he teams up with Joel, they are a very formidable team.

    Good luck to both Dallas teams this weekend. Let's hope for a Lifetime vs Garland finals. That way Dallas is guaranteed to have representation at Nationals. GO DALLAS!!!

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  36. Houston vs NoHo in the final! :P

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  37. I counted it up. HP used 15 different people for the playoffs...

    Springpark used 14 different players.

    The bottom line is HP did not have the depth, did not have the right players at the right places. Bob's fault, but also the TEAM's fault in that players just did not come through like they should of done so.

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  38. Joel is very good. you could put OCBL's sorry ass with him and they would be a solid team. Smith has not gotten it done all year and Bob will take note of that moving forward in big matches.

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  39. ANYBODY makes a good doubles team playing with Ice Pick. Doug is a great guy but does not hold up his end of the bargain. With a decent partner, Ice Pick would not have lost a single match last weekend.

    Yes, Doug is a good guy. But you guys were trying to make Nationals and you had much better players riding the bench while Doug's errors cost you several matches.

    That's not Doug's fault. He did the best he could. That's just a dumb decision by the captain _ who was trying to keep everyone happy.

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  40. Corey "Nancy" Noel sucks!

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  41. Nancy lies about everything. Now she wants to back away from her earlier anon comments.

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  42. Yeah, call me out for anonymous comments when I'm one of the vast minority of people that actually posts his name. I'm already on here twice a day without posting anonymously, if I were on here anymore I wouldn't sleep.

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  43. Check this out.

    http://www.thegarlandnews.com/sports.cfm?article=7379

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  44. Add a 9 to the end of that link. Or just go to thegarlandnews.com and you will find the link I'm taking about.

    Congratulations on a great season guys and I hope you can keep it going!

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  45. 3.5 SECTIONALS
    I am rooting FOR Life Time Fitness. They have a bunch of nice guys and I hope they make Nationals!

    I am rooting AGAINST Garland. They have SNOTjock one of the most obnoxious players around. They have two HS superstars who are so far out of level it is not even funny. And they have self-centered "Nancy" Noel who lies to try to cover up for the cheaters. It's easy to root against those guys!

    GO LIFE TIME!!!

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  46. Both Garland and LTF have excellent teams and both have a legit chance to win Sectionals this year. Can't wait to see the matches!

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  47. I'm a 4.0 player and I watched the 3.5 City Playoffs. I specifically turned out to watch the former HS players from Garland. I never saw Courney but I saw Flora. Flora is a solid 4.5 level player. I can see why the various 3.5 players complained about him. I'm sure he'll go undefeated at Sectionals.

    As for Corey Noel, I've never met the guy. But him and some of the guys from Garland were certainly not truthful in trying to defend Garland for adding ringers.

    BTW, I love the "Nancy" comments!

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  48. Big match tomorrow: Life Time vs Waco at High Point starting at 11:30 am.

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  49. If he goes undefeated at Sectionals, then you guys can make a case. Until then, you don't have one.

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  50. Nancy, we have ALL seen him PLAY!!! You have been caught red handed. Quit trying to tell us what we have seen WITH OUR OWN EYES IS NOT TRUE.

    You just sound stupid, and it makes you look very, very pathetic. Just keep your cake hole closed. Its stupid to even try to justify his "3.5" play.

    I had forgotten all of the "he barely beats us crap in practice" ... You must bring a really shitty game to league, cause if he barely beats you, then you must have this awesome game that you LEAVE ON THE PRACTICE COURT.

    Please don't insult our intelligency anymore Nancy. Just keep your cake hole closed.... PLEAZZZE

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  51. Mr.Cake Hole,
    If these guy's were on your team,they are strong 3.5,my team 4.5!Is gtc the only team"out of level" from DCC to Sectionals?
    Corey is f....n good,the best ever? No!Play him and he'll make you a believer also! Too bad your record is not worth mention!
    Sisk

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  52. Sisk

    Don't waste your energy on this blog this weekend.

    Focus on doing everything you can to win with the talent you have on your team.

    I would rather have a team from Dallas advance than not.

    You will never convince others to change their minds.

    The only opinion that matters is the USTA and so far, you have been judged to be within the rules.

    Go Dallas!

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  53. You're right anonymous. I don't want to insult your intelligency. You've seen him play, I've played him. Which opinion is more valid? I've seen him lose too. I hope he wins every match this weekend but it would surprise me.

    Good luck to Garland this weekend.

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  54. Guys, it is very simple. We all know: Flora is a solid 4.5 player. Noel is a liar. Garland is scum. Nuff said!

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  55. Best 3.5 Teams at Sectionals:
    Flight 1: Fort Worth followed by Wild Austin
    Flight 2: Garland followed by Houston
    Flight 3: Life Time followed by Waco
    Flight 4: NOHO followed by Lubbock

    Semi-Finals
    Garland vs Fort Worth
    Life Time vs NOHO

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  56. I don't know if Flora is a solid 4.5 player, but I don't see him losing many matches at 4.0. He could anchor a run at Sectionals at the 4.0 level, should he have a good team built around him.

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  57. Someone did their homework below: Those are my pre sectional favorites were too...

    Best 3.5 Teams at Sectionals:
    Flight 1: Fort Worth followed by Wild Austin
    Flight 2: Garland followed by Houston
    Flight 3: Life Time followed by Waco
    Flight 4: NOHO followed by Lubbock

    Semi-Finals
    Garland vs Fort Worth
    Life Time vs NOHO

    August 8, 2008 4:45 AM

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  58. Go San Antonio !!!

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  59. ^ took out Fort Worth

    Forrest Gray is on 4-0 run and took out Leclair from Fort Worth. Someone to watch out for....

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