Twas the Eve Before the 1st Russia Match

David Lee snapping one in the middle
22-year old Alexey Kazakov standing at the far post-- at 7'4".

The Mic is Live!

So here I am sitting at the Hyatt Regency in Wichita, Kansas, updating my Facebook, downloading pictures and wondering how a basketball player can be so stuck on himself. It's less than 24 hours before the World League matchup between Russia and the USA. Any hopes of the USA reaching the Final Round of World League competition hinge upon getting 2 victories (3-0, 3-1) and some help from teams in other pools. It seems like a long shot but I do remain hopeful. The USA has some incredible young talent like Matt Anderson, Max Holt, Evan Patak, Paul Lotman to name a few. You can never count out Reid Priddy, David Lee and Clay Stanley either. So what I've got tonight is my experience at both Russia's and USA's practices.

RUSSIA
Russia weight-lifted before their court practice today and it may have taken it's toll on the team. THIS IS THE BIGGEST TEAM I HAVE EVER SEEN. They have 4 7'0"+ players-- one stands at 7'4" (217 cm) and is only 22 years old (Alexey Kazakov). Coach Daniele Bagnoli structured his practice in a way that will adapt his players to hitting balls out-of-system. He had his middles practicing their bailout sets to the pins-- by handsets and bumpsets-- all while having the rest of the team serve bombs at 2 passers. It's pretty apparent that Russia is expecting the USA to serve toughly enough to keep them out of system.

USA
Coach Knipe had the guys scrimmaging hard tonight. The US knows they have to take care of business this weekend and the urgency is manifesting itself as high-competition in practice. Clay Stanley was blasting away and HUGE triple blocks were forming at the pins. Both Liberos, Rich Lambourne and Alfie Reft were getting huge digs for both squads. It's going to be hard to pick the starting lineup tomorrow night since everyone played extremely well in different rotations.

These Russian guys are so big that USA MH David Lee upon coming across some of the Russian players in the hotel before dinner, had to look up to talk to them! Keep in mind that Lee is 6'8". How often does he have to do that!

Stay tuned. Rob-on-the-Mic is OUT (until tomorrow night at least).