Question for captains

[Centryx]

For all the captains out there.
1)How do you determine your playoff lineups?
2) how would you feel if someone on your team said your lineups suck and that certain guys shouldn't be in the lineup?
3)how do you justify putting yourself in the lineup if you aren't in the top rung of your team?
I know captaining is managing a bunch of egos so how do you settle it for playoffs challenge ladder?
Thanks in advance

 

[asimple]

What was your metric for selection?

It sounds like it wasn't necessary playing ability if you put yourself in when you are acknowledging you weren't one of the best players.

 

[Centryx]

Haha I am not the captain nor do I wish to be I am just trying to figure out how a captain thinks

 

[Crispvolley]

For all the captains out there.
1)How do you determine your playoff lineups?
2) how would you feel if someone on your team said your lineups suck and that certain guys shouldn't be in the lineup?
3)how do you justify putting yourself in the lineup if you aren't in the top rung of your team?
I know captaining is managing a bunch of egos so how do you settle it for playoffs challenge ladder?
Thanks in advance

I always play my strongest line ups for the big matches, even if it means I don't play. As far as someone on my team telling me that my lineups suck, I've never had anyone tell me that but there is always "one guy" on every team I've captained that likes to tell me what he thinks it should be. At the end of the day you have to set the lineup that you think is appropriate for your team, and go with it. Its not always easy, especially when you have to bench friends etc...

I have found one of the ways to make it some what easier is to try and have practice matches among the guys on my team, particularly as we are getting close to playoffs/finals. That way I have something I can point to for justification, and it also helps the guys on my team know where they stand too.

 

[josofo]

i am going to captain next year because i didn't get to play singles this year and i captained 3 years ago.



so anyway i would play my best line up. i want to win. if i wasnt 1 of the 8 best players on the team (which really would not be the case) i would play myself over the 8th best player.


because that is one of perks of being captain you get to choose who you play with and if you play singles

 

[Cindysphinx]

I have captained competitive teams, and doing lineups is always tricky.

If you only play your strongest players, the others will complain or leave. Then when a star is unavailable, you will default. Or if you do use a weaker player, she may not play her best due to rust or because she knows you don't believe in her.

So. I put out my strongest players against the strongest teams, and I put out the weaker players against the weaker teams. If the weak players can't get the job done, thn we have no business in the p,ay offs.

I tend to play myself against the toughest opponents because I thnk I can handle it, and I don't mind losing if it gives the team a better chance of a win.

 

[Centryx]

If you were #9 sure I could see you play yourself but what if you were 14 out of 25? Wouldn't you feel guilty if you your team lost 2-3 because you put yourself in?

 

[Centryx]

Cindy I totally agree with your strategy put your best out there for the best opponents and play the weaker against others but what do you think about playoffs even flight playoffs that you should win anyways play your best or have the chance you are upset since you put your 2nd tier out there

 

[dizzlmcwizzl]

The answer is it depends on your team goals.

I have played on teams where the goal was to win ... On these teams in the matches that counted the most, the best possible team played. This meant that some players only played 3 or 4 matches out of 16 but we all knew what the deal was before we started. This team went to sectionals 3 years in a row and each year the captain started the weekend playing his best players until we were out of it.

Additionally I have played on good teams that were more social in nature. These teams wanted to win, sure ... however, winning was not the ultimate goal. On this team when we made the playoffs the captain asked for availability and played the teammates who were the best team members ... ie... always available, quick responding generally the best folks to work with .... this captain used the playoffs as a reward for being a decent fellow.

Either is good ... knowing in advance what the criteria is makes life less stressful.

 

[spot]

For all the captains out there.
1)How do you determine your playoff lineups?

By balancing the lineup I think has the best chance for success with what the rest of the team wants. If there is a consensus I disagree with then I need to be exceptionally confident in order to overule them. But in general I think it is my job to take in all information available and then put out the best lineup that I can. You can never make everyone happy- if someone is upset all I can do is explain why I went with the lineup I did.

2) how would you feel if someone on your team said your lineups suck and that certain guys shouldn't be in the lineup?

That doesn't bother me in the least. I encourage input and I will just tell them why I went with the lineup I did if they disagree. One of the biggest things people need to understand about being captain is that it is impossible to make everyone happy and so you shouldn't feel pressure to try. There will always be people who disagree.

3)how do you justify putting yourself in the lineup if you aren't in the top rung of your team?

If I belong in the lineup then I will play myself without thinking twice about it. If I am not good enough then I sit. If I am on the line then I'll ask input from others.

 

[OrangePower]

I was going to respond but realized I would just be repeating what spot said.

 

[spot]

Cindy I totally agree with your strategy put your best out there for the best opponents and play the weaker against others but what do you think about playoffs even flight playoffs that you should win anyways play your best or have the chance you are upset since you put your 2nd tier out there

Our teams have a nice balance of social and competitive but even across our teams the balance shifts a bit. We have one team that will unquestionably add people if they can help the team even if it means that others get squeezed off of the bottom. We have another that keeps a small roster and fully expects to have to scramble to add someone mid season to avoid a default just so the core members get to play a ton and don't feel squeezed.

But even with our balanced teams- playoffs are always going to be the best players available. Part of going deep in the playoffs is making sure that you have enough players that are playoff eligible but other than that playoffs are always putting the best lineup out that we can. The only exception to this is that if I think that 2 players are mostly a coin flip then I'll rotate them, but I will never sit someone who is significantly stronger.

 

[Cindysphinx]

Cindy I totally agree with your strategy put your best out there for the best opponents and play the weaker against others but what do you think about playoffs even flight playoffs that you should win anyways play your best or have the chance you are upset since you put your 2nd tier out there

Well, it's tough.

Say you are talking about combo, so three courts of doubles.

If you only play your six strongest players again and again, you may win the flight playoff.

Then you will go to Districts, where you might play your six strongest again in the first match. You win, so you do it again. You win, so you do it again. And so on, until you wind up not playing your weaker players at all.

Better, I think is try to figure out who is in the top half and who is in the bottom half. From the beginning of playoffs, you play everyone in the top half. That gives you a solid group and a reasonable bench of 9-10 players.

Even if you do that, you will get complaints. If you did a secret ballot and asked everyone on a 20-person team who is in the bottom half, not one player would include themselves in the bottom half.

 

[anubis]

OP: The thing is, you should know your team by now. You've been arranging the lineups now for a whole season, and you've likely played with these guys for longer than that (they aren't all brand new players). You've got the results of all the matches, you know who's strongest and who's weakest. You know who doesn't like playing with whom, and you know which guys do best as a pair.

So as long as you have been paying attention all season, the lineups should really make themselves.

The people that complain frankly don't belong on the team. If everyone is committed to the team performing well, then everyone knows who the strong players are. If the weaker players don't want the stronger players to play in the finals, then they ought to find another team next season.

If you have one or two prima donnas on the team, well that stinks but hopefully they pull their own weight plus some.

The play offs are a time to kick butt and win. If some of the weaker players feel cheated, then bring them along as extras in case someone has to bow out for whatever reason.

 

[spot]

The people that complain frankly don't belong on the team.

I strongly disagree with this. I think that people should be free to express discontent with how the lineups are set. Often the captain does get it wrong and without feedback from other people then I think that teams are significantly worse off as 1 person's biases will play out over and over.

For me the goal as captain is to hear other people's ideas and what they would do differently with an open mind. But at the end of the day I still have to go with what I think is the best for the team overall and then all I can do is explain why I made the choices I did.

 

[samarai]

If Im the captain, I am sure gonna schedule myself to play even Im not at the top of the totem. One of the perks of being a captain. Not gonna travel as a captain if Im not able to play. Other players will just get placed in lineup to be competitive. Remember its your team, you assembled the cast of characters and have the right to make the decisions. Once the season is over, players who are upset can form there own team.

 

[Centryx]

thanks Spot, I agree with being able to voice your opinion to the captain. I for one am not the captain. I feel though that for playoffs the best players should play and if their is a discrepancy between players and captains then it should be decided on the courts. Nothing sucks more than having a great season on court (5-8 wins 1 loss) then not even getting considered for a playoff roster spot

 

[kylebarendrick]

Wins/losses aren't the only determining factor. I've had weaker players on my teams get good records because I gave them strong partners and only put them in the line-up against weaker teams.

It is rarely clear who the strongest players on the team are. In the end I go with my gut based on who plays well together, who is available, and who we are playing. If there are some close calls I'll try to give the other guy a shot in the second playoff match (if we win the first).

Someone will always feel like they should have played and didn't. I've been in that position too. Unless there's a clear case of friend-favoritism from the captain I'll just give him the benefit of the doubt and cheer the team on.

 

[spot]

If Im the captain, I am sure gonna schedule myself to play even Im not at the top of the totem. One of the perks of being a captain.

I really hate this mentality and I have certainly left teams because the captain thought like this. If you want to be this kind of captain then please make sure to tell everyone that before the season starts so they can choose not to be a part of it. There are few things I dislike more about tennis than captains who put their own desires over what is best for the team. Thats all well and good if the people on your team are OK with you doing it that way- I just wouldn't sign on if I did know.

 

[Centryx]

what would you do here:
Player A can join Teams 1, 2, or 3 (all 3 teams are strong all made it far in playoffs)
Captain of team 1 say, "you can play on my team but I need a commitment from you if we reach playoffs that you are with me"
Player A decides to only play on team 1 and joins other non competitive teams
Playoffs come around and Captain of Team 1 cuts player A out of the playoffs all together

isn't that a dick move by the captain and shouldn't player A be upset??

 

[spot]

isn't that a dick move by the captain and shouldn't player A be upset??

No- that isn't a dick move. You have to do what is best for the team, not what is best for any individual player. All the captain can do is explain what kind of team he is recruiting for. But if you know it is a competitive team then you can't complain later on if you don't make the lineup.

 

[Centryx]

No- that isn't a dick move. You have to do what is best for the team, not what is best for any individual player. All the captain can do is explain what kind of team he is recruiting for. But if you know it is a competitive team then you can't complain later on if you don't make the lineup.

yeah no problem agree with that but if the captain puts himself in the lineup too i think its a dick move

 

[asimple]

If Im the captain, I am sure gonna schedule myself to play even Im not at the top of the totem. One of the perks of being a captain. Not gonna travel as a captain if Im not able to play. Other players will just get placed in lineup to be competitive. Remember its your team, you assembled the cast of characters and have the right to make the decisions. Once the season is over, players who are upset can form there own team.

I'm fine with a captain doing whatever he likes with his team but it should be advertised up front. My guess is that there aren't a lot of people who want to join "Samarai's" team as his supporting cast. I unfortunately played on a similar "competitive" team that I was recruited for this year. I had plenty of playing time but will definitely choose a different team next year. In my case, I don't really care all that much about playing time, but this subjective style mixed with challenge (results only count with desired outcome) matches created drama for every match.

 

[Centryx]

haha I just think if you field a competitive team wouldn't you also allow guys to challenge for spots for playoffs, if the guys the captain chose to play are really the better team they should win and who does it hurt they are all on the same team you can only get better with competition....but alas strong players recognize strong players i guess the captain of Team 1 sees himself as strong but no one else does

 

[spot]

haha I just think if you field a competitive team wouldn't you also allow guys to challenge for spots for playoffs, if the guys the captain chose to play are really the better team they should win and who does it hurt they are all on the same team you can only get better with competition....but alas strong players recognize strong players i guess the captain of Team 1 sees himself as strong but no one else does

No... I wouldn't go off of practice results. There are players on my team that absolutely destroy everyone in practice and then can't win a match to save their lives. Practice certainly does matter but I primarily will go based on how well they have played in matches against unknown opponents. I think that figuring out the opponent is a ridiculously important skill in rec tennis.

 

[spot]

yeah no problem agree with that but if the captain puts himself in the lineup too i think its a dick move

Completely disagree. Its not the job of the captain to sacrifice himself just to keep other people happy. (though some captains certainly do so) He needs to put the goals of the team first and put the best lineup out that he can and he can't worry whether it hurts the feelings of a few people.

 

[asimple]

No... I wouldn't go off of practice results. There are players on my team that absolutely destroy everyone in practice and then can't win a match to save their lives. Practice certainly does matter but I primarily will go based on how well they have played in matches against unknown opponents. I think that figuring out the opponent is a ridiculously important skill in rec tennis.

One of the things I have never understood is how some of the rec captains seem to think that they are the masters of determining both players abilities and match ups. In competitive tennis this is always defined by creating a ladder not by feelings from the coach who from what I have seen is normally one of the weaker players on the team. From my limited experience I have seen this go badly every time.

 

[Centryx]

well spot i dont know if you are pro captain or pro player but in perspective i think on this team alot of the other players picked to practice for playoffs/districts/sectionals would agree that leaving Player A off shouldn't have happened even from the group that practices for playoffs. Why leave a strong player off the group of practice partners even if you weren't going to play him/her?

 

[spot]

One of the things I have never understood is how some of the rec captains seem to think that they are the masters of determining both players abilities and match ups.

From Experience. There are players that are practice superstars who fold in matches. There are players who do lousy in practice but step up huge in matches. If you haven't come across these players then I am guessing you haven't been playing on a team for very long.

In fact from how you are describing this I seriously doubt you have ever been captain before. Particularly in rec tennis people use practice for all sorts of different reasons. Just as an example if I am in practice I am going to be working on the skills I need to work on and not caring about the results. Maybe my partner and I will go Australian every point just to work on it even if the person I am playing agianst has a great down the line return. Maybe I will S&V every point. There are a million different reasons why somoene's results in practice could be wildly different than their results in matches.

 

[OrangePower]

well spot i dont know if you are pro captain or pro player but in perspective i think on this team alot of the other players picked to practice for playoffs/districts/sectionals would agree that leaving Player A off shouldn't have happened even from the group that practices for playoffs. Why leave a strong player off the group of practice partners even if you weren't going to play him/her?

Let me add a few things:

First, I don't believe in 'pro captain' or 'pro player'. It should be 'pro team'.

Second, in general, the captain should do what he/she thinks is best for the team. Sometimes there will be disagreement, and one or more players will a different opinion. At the end of the day the captain needs to make the call. Now if as a player you think the captain is knowingly acting against the best interests of the team, then you have a legitimate beef. But on the other hand if it's just that you disagree with the captain about what's best for the team, but the captain is doing what he/she thinks is best, then you have no reason to complain. Not everyone is always going to agree about what's best, and ultimately the captain needs to make the decision.

As an example, when I pick playoff lineups, others might disagree with my evaluation of what the strongest lineup is. I don't consider just head-to-head results. I also consider how people have done against quality competition during the season. Also how well they handle pressure - playing a playoff match is different to a regular season match. And in many cases I know our opponents and so am also influenced by the kind of players they have, the style they play, and the most likely matchups.

Sometimes teammates will disagree with my choices, but they all know that my intentions are always to do what's best for the team, so they respect my decision. And I have a good track record so I am more often right than wrong.

One other thing you said though was that the captain had a 'playoff practice group' that does not include everyone on the team... that I don't agree with. We value everyone on our team and everyone is encouraged to practice together whether they are anticipated to be in the lineup or not.

 

[asimple]

From Experience. There are players that are practice superstars who fold in matches. There are players who do lousy in practice but step up huge in matches. If you haven't come across these players then I am guessing you haven't been playing on a team for very long.

I haven't been playing leagues for that long, but I have been playing tennis for a long time and am a pretty good player. I agree there are people who choke in real matches, but this comes out during "challenge" matches as well. I think this is a better way to determine position rather than opinion. I almost exclusively play singles though where it is much easier to determine position.

In fact from how you are describing this I seriously doubt you have ever been captain before.

You are correct in this, but it is funny as the only time I have heard a captain say this is when they are making a decision which was obviously bad. This was only directed at me once, but I heard this over and over again this year from a captain defending his decisions which were obviously biased.

 

[spot]

You are correct in this, but it is funny as the only time I have heard a captain say this is when they are making a decision which was obviously bad.

More accurately the only times you have heard this are when you disagreed with what the captain was doing and he was trying to explain it to you. Often people who haven't ever been captain simply don't realize how many different things have to be taken into account. They will focus on just one thing and be happily oblivious to the rest of the thought process that went into the decision. There are absolutely times when a lineup will make no sense to someone from the outside and simply not realize the reasons. The toughest times are when the lineup is a certain way and there is a very good reason that cannot be talked about it. An obvious one is when one partner has specifically asked to not play with another player even if they have had good success on the court. People may think the lineup is bad because I am splitting a successful pair- I will know why it is being done.

 

[Centryx]

well Spot I have never been a captain before you are right.
But a player(who has captained before) that did get picked for the playoff lineup did call out the captain for playing/scheduling himself and leaving other guys off, I was the player left off which really irritates me but what can I do, I feel that easily if the captained had opened up a challenge system the other player and I could have made the playoff roster easily but they didn't want to do it. Apparently some of the guys on the roster didn't want to play with me because they felt they wanted someone who "plays safe and more consistent during matches" (my record on this team was 5-1) I guess whatever I was doing wasn't winning enough. And the guys who said this were never my partners just didn't like how i played. ......Also the cap has done this before pulling "his guys" for districts/practices then at the last minute coming to a guy not on the list to play for them and bail him out.........

 

[spot]

Apparently some of the guys on the roster didn't want to play with me because they felt they wanted someone who "plays safe and more consistent during matches" (my record on this team was 5-1) I guess whatever I was doing wasn't winning enough

Yeah- if there are people on the team who don't want to play with you that may go a long way towards explaining why you were likely sat. I have guys who I personally think are good players but if I give people their choice they will never get selected as a teammate. One player in particular has a huge serve and huge strokes- but in a big match he just hits the fence more than he hits the ball in the court. In practice he is someone who can kill people. Then he can lose some terrible matches to people who have no business beating him. Another player sticks out this way- he walked onto an SEC college team. Massive lefty serve- I absolutely think it crossed 125. But in the playoffs he never won a single match- even when I tried to move him down the lineup where the size of his strokes should have blown people away. Eventually he was annoyed that he wasn't playing as high as he thought that he should and he left to find another team. I am perfectly OK with that.

Some people like playing with consistent partners. Some people like playing with aggressive partners and can live with the inconsistency. Some people like playing with the chip and charge players who get to the net and play pure doubles. All of these things matter to a captain when selecting the lineup.

 

[Centryx]

But spot if there was one guy on the playoff list that did want to play with me and asked to play with me that's enough to keep me on the list I think he and I would be the strongest line if we were to play we even offered to challenge any other line to settle it on the court

 

[OnyxZ28]

My .02:

Don't ever bench a guy wielding a Trisys 260.

 

[spot]

But spot if there was one guy on the playoff list that did want to play with me and asked to play with me that's enough to keep me on the list I think he and I would be the strongest line if we were to play we even offered to challenge any other line to settle it on the court

There are also times when you don't want to waste a strong player with someone who is very inconsistent. Personally I am someone who gives wide latitude to who someone feels comfortable with but other captains don't do it that way.

Just out of curiosity- do you Double Fault more than normal for your team?

 

[Centryx]

Absolutely not about the DFing I do however play the game with a big serve and fh the captain actually took the guy that dfs a ton and plays selfish tennis by trying to go way to big on his serve instead of me

 

[asimple]

More accurately the only times you have heard this are when you disagreed with what the captain was doing and he was trying to explain it to you. Often people who haven't ever been captain simply don't realize how many different things have to be taken into account. They will focus on just one thing and be happily oblivious to the rest of the thought process that went into the decision. There are absolutely times when a lineup will make no sense to someone from the outside and simply not realize the reasons. The toughest times are when the lineup is a certain way and there is a very good reason that cannot be talked about it. An obvious one is when one partner has specifically asked to not play with another player even if they have had good success on the court. People may think the lineup is bad because I am splitting a successful pair- I will know why it is being done.

To be clear, I have been invited to play in every playoff/districts/sectional match. My captains have been more irritated with me due to not being able to play. One captain perpetually made decisions based on playing his friends which led to a lot of annoyed people on one of my teams this year. His continual response was exactly "You don't know what it is like being a captain". Half of the people on that team will go elsewhere next year including me.

I played a lot of tennis this year and wasn't that interested in post season play so I really didn't care at all about lineups. I had one complaint out of 8 teams and 40 matches this year where I did hear this response though. This was due to him playing someone at 1 singles with a poor record who had been beaten by 3 guys on the team. He had the advantage of being good friends with the captain.

 

[Cindysphinx]

Absolutely not about the DFing I do however play the game with a big serve and fh the captain actually took the guy that dfs a ton and plays selfish tennis by trying to go way to big on his serve instead of me

If you are good, the captain cannot afford to sit you.

If you are sat, then there are two likely reasons.

1. You are not as good as you think you are. This can include poor positioning of which you are blissfully unaware but prospective partners can see.

2. You are difficult in some way.

Even if you believe people are asking to play with you, that may not be the case. Players often tell me not to pair them with X but then act like BFFs toward X.

Partner preferences are very strong. Soul searching is warranted.

 

[Centryx]

Cindy if one other good player asked to play with me as his preferred partner I shouldn't have been cut out altogether I have no problem sitting when guys are better I did it last year when my old team had 12/22 guys bumped if the player that asked to pair with me and you are captain and no one else wanted to pair with me but knowing our pair would be your line 1 easily would you cut me out altogether even practices?

 

[spot]

Cindy if one other good player asked to play with me as his preferred partner I shouldn't have been cut out altogether

It isn't htat cut and dried. Maybe that other player was put with someone stronger to create a better line. Maybe they didn't actually tell the captain that they wanted to play with you and you are just misunderstanding. Maybe you have the reputation for ******* off partners or hooking on big points. Maybe you have the reputation for completely choking. You don't have any idea why you got sat- go ahead and ask your captain and hopefully he will tell you.

 

[Cindysphinx]

Cindy if one other good player asked to play with me as his preferred partner I shouldn't have been cut out altogether I have no problem sitting when guys are better I did it last year when my old team had 12/22 guys bumped if the player that asked to pair with me and you are captain and no one else wanted to pair with me but knowing our pair would be your line 1 easily would you cut me out altogether even practices?

Kelly asks to play with Susan. Susan is delighted. But Carey has asked to play with Kelly. Kelly has played with Carey in the past.

The Susan/Kelly pairing tends to win close matches, or wins against weaker teams. The Carey/Kelly pairing, however, crushes everyone. This is because Carey is much stronger than Kelly.

I would probably pair Carey/Kelly against a strong playoff team.

I would never cut a player out of practices. If your captain is telling you not to practice with the team before the playoffs, he is definitely sending you a message loud and clear.

I think you should calmly and without fuss take your business elsewhere. You can probably do better.

 

[Centryx]

It isn't htat cut and dried. Maybe that other player was put with someone stronger to create a better line. Maybe they didn't actually tell the captain that they wanted to play with you and you are just misunderstanding. Maybe you have the reputation for ******* off partners or hooking on big points. Maybe you have the reputation for completely choking. You don't have any idea why you got sat- go ahead and ask your captain and hopefully he will tell you.

I did ask why I wasn't picked and was told only one player preferred me as his partner, he being one of the strongest players on the team and one that I've played with before and beaten strong teams with we would have easily been a line 1 or 2 squad. He even lobbied for me to the captains by offering a challenge with himself and I vs any other pair in the team we as a pair were that confident

 

[Centryx]

I would never cut a player out of practices. If your captain is telling you not to practice with the team before the playoffs, he is definitely sending you a message loud and clear.

Well the captain has cut people out before from playoffs then come back later when he needed a sub he asked some of players he cut out to sub in

I think you are right Cindy I'm just going to move on I told the captain the way he handles the team was shady and the thing I'm more ****ed off about is that I skipped playing on other playoff teams because he asked for a commitment if the team reached playoff to play for him. Tennis is a hobby and its fun being hosed by someone during a hobby sucks

 

[spot]

I did ask why I wasn't picked and was told only one player preferred me as his partner, he being one of the strongest players on the team and one that I've played with before and beaten strong teams with we would have easily been a line 1 or 2 squad. He even lobbied for me to the captains by offering a challenge with himself and I vs any other pair in the team we as a pair were that confident

And the obvious reason is that he preferred to put the stronger partner with someone more consistent or who is just stronger. He likely didn't trust you to keep the ball in the court enough to win against a strong team but that you could clean up against weaker teams. He didn't drop you down the lineup to play with someone else because it sounds like the other players didn't want to play with you for some reason.

And another team very well might work better for you. Lots of captains love to put high ceiling guys at high lines assuming that their chances of winning at a high line are not that different compared to their odds of winning against a weaker team. That they can beat anyone or lose to anyone based on whether they 'have it' that day or not.

If I were you I'd focus on why the other players didn't want to play with you as that is likely to carry over to any other team you might join.

 

[shriram]

Being a member of the same team that Centryx is part of, I can attest to the fact that he is one of the stronger doubles players in the team. He has an agressive, yet consistent game. His serve and forehand are strong. I guess his 5-1 record speaks to that. Above all, he's a good guy all-around; knowledgeable, great to talk to, very supportive of the team etc.. He was even a good mentor to the less experienced players of the team throughout the season. I know for a fact that a bunch of team members (including me) are surprised at his exclusion from the shortlist.

 

[spot]

so Shriram- if all that is true then why didn't anyone else want to play with him?

 

[Centryx]

so Shriram- if all that is true then why didn't anyone else want to play with him?

here is a quote from one of the captains on why im not in the lineup

"Most people want someone who plays safe and more consistent during matches even if it means less weapons and a slower paced serve/game
So, in that context, we could not find you a place in the lineups"


this is why I think its a weak response since the way I played with my partners still won matches easily, I don't practice with the team much in all honesty since I end up playing up with my normal hitting partners trying to get better myself

 

[OnyxZ28]

I was OP's teammate last year. I completely concur with shriram about OP's abilities and his character.