2013 U.S. Open Thursday Recap - Men's Division
Jonathan Neeley
Posted: July 4, 2013 11:41 PM
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Men's Division:
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Three breaks in a 15-minute span made the difference for Boston Ironside in their round one win over Raleigh’s Ring of Fire. The game was on serve, 8-7 Boston, at half, but by the time Ironside ran the score to 11-8, it was clear how the game would end.
If this were the Club Championships, Ironside’s run could have ended Ring’s season. But here at the U.S. Open, it shed light on what the Raleigh team’s current weaknesses are and spurred thought on how they might be remedied.
"We have an emphasis on fast [disc movement] but that translated too often into throwing without seeing the whole field or executing a crisp throw," said Ring captain Taylor Pope. "When you’re playing the best teams in the country and in the world, you can’t do that."
Ring could also use more assertive downfield cutting from its defensive line, grittier downfield defense from its offense and sharper throwing decisions across the board – bad throws cost them chances to take the lead at 7-7 and to hold when Ironside was up 8-7. But the team also affirmed something in its first game that many search for all season: despite falling behind 4-2 against Boston, a team whose offensive line is notoriously hard to break, Ring showed the tenacity to not wilt.
"We’re putting the disc in a lot of our younger guys’ hands in pressure situations to let them practice responding," said Pope.
The first day of the season’s first major tournament gave Ring of Fire, Ironside and the other six men’s teams at the U.S. Open a quantifiable place to start measuring those responses.
"We have some specifics we want to work on," said Montreal Mephisto captain Mark Zimmerl. "Set plays, plays off the sideline, a zone we’re trying to get more familiar with. We’re using this as a testing ground against the best teams. It’s a tough test."
Defensive lines in particular struggled to convert chances throughout the day, a phenomenon not unfamiliar to ultimate players the world over. Ironside coach Josh McCarthy pointed out that defensive lines are often less stacked with talent because teams need to be prepared to keep attacking with capable throwers and initiation cutters after a break, whereas offensive lines get to rest after scoring. He also added that offensive lines develop more chemistry because they are generally less populated than defensive units. Boston’s roster breaks down to 10 offensive line and 17 defensive line players.
San Francisco’s Revolver, the 2010 and 2011 Club Champions, looked drastically different today than in years past: key handlers Robbie Cahill and Mark Sherwood are gone, along with captain Martin Cochran and coach Alex Ghesquiere. But new coach Mike Payne offered a take on rebuilding fitting of his team’s reputation for turning out star players, "A lot of teams put new guys in a role. We can’t afford to do that because we lost guys like Robbie and Sherwood, and having our new guys play just one role would be too narrow a focus. Also that’s not our philosophy. When Revolver was founded, the intent was to turn young guys into top club players, and you do that by pushing them out of their comfort zone and seeing how they respond."
Margins at the club level can feel razor thin. It’s why players hit the speed ladder in hopes of becoming a half-step quicker or do extra sets of pull ups to have a slightly more stable backhand. But the differences between each of the teams are a reminder that this is still just a game of throw and catch. Copenhagen Ragnarok captain Mads Bakkegaard noted that Revolver is effective because the team is full of big cutters that use space effectively and handlers that throw well. In a similar vein, Chicago Club captain Shane Caldwell cited this level’s tighter marks and stingier dump defense as challenges for his team.
"Teams here bring a lot more pressure than teams below the Club Championships level do," said Caldwell. "A lot of our mistakes came with the little bit of fatigue that comes from when you’re running as hard as you have to when you’re playing this hard. We didn’t forget to throw and catch; it’s just windows are smaller and guys are faster."
Pope’s final comments on Ring’s loss to Ironside had the same kind of simple in words, difficult in action ring to them: "We can’t give up three breaks in a row. That’s all there is to it. We’re not satisfied just hanging with anyone. We want to be the best."
Notes from the tournament’s first three rounds:
Round One
"We went to 15-6 against Revolver mostly because they weren’t their sharpest on offense, and they made a few uncharacteristic errors," said Mephisto captain Zimmerl. In both our Revolver and Ironside [Round 2] games we felt we had a decent rhythm in the beginning, but they took it away."
"We had a really bad start to the day," said Ragnarok’s Bakkegaard. His team went from tied at 12-12 with Colombia’s Euforia to losing 15-13. "We were up all game against Euforia, but in the final three points, we had two dropped pulls and a fumble on our own goal line [off the centering pass]."
Elsewhere, Doublewide beat Chicago Club 15-7, and Revolver beat Mephisto 15-6.
Round Two
"I was impressed with Ring’s dump coverage," said Doublewide’s Mike Natenberg. "Not because they were overly physical but because they moved their feet well."
Doublewide beat Ring of Fire 15-12, Revolver beat Ragnarok 15-6, Ironside beat Mephisto 15-3, and Chicago Club beat Euforia 15-12.
Round Three
"They’ve attacked the break side effectively with nice inside-out flicks, not arounds," laughs a Mephisto team spokesman. His Mephisto teammates chuckle in the background as well because the strategy they’ve decided to practice isn’t all that appropriate for Euforia’s style. "We’ve been focusing on not letting off arounds, but they don’t throw arounds anyway."
Revolver beat Doublewide 15-8, Euforia beat Mephisto 13-12, Ironside beat Ragnarok 15-9, and Ring of Fire beat Chicago Club 15-6.
Video clips by ESPN
2013 U.S. Open Ultimate Championships Welcome Ceremony:
Day 1 video recap:
Photos by UltiPhotos.com (extended highlights gallery)
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