Max Dean is in a tough spot. He took a couple of weird losses this year and just lost his conference title to a guy most wrestling fans didn't know existed until a few weeks ago. I think he will get revenge 2/nd round by turning this young upcomer and doing Max Dean things throughout the match. 6-3 type final score. I also think he will beat Nino. I watched both wrestle bastida this year and Dean is simply far better when everything is clicking. PSU and Max Dean in particular tend to click at this tournament. Come Friday Max will have beaten Nino putting himself in the 1 seed position. I wonder who he will have in the finals? I won't be surprised when Warner spings some "upsets" as well joining Max on the podium.
Dean- Respect Tour
- Thread starter James P. Whitters III
- Start date
100% Agreed! Max is the tough draw! Don’t get it twisted.
One thing I’ve come to notice with Dean is that he often doesn’t take a committed shot but instead it’s more of a single leg “reach” from the standing position. I understand that this isn’t very uncommon to the bigger weight classes, but I also think it’s prob not the hardest thing to scout and defend. That said, he’s an NCAA champion, a 2-time finalist and has the best possible coaches to figure out the adjustments needed to win next week and weekend. One thing is certain; he cares deeply and will be giving his very best.
That's often a function of how near you are to the opponent. And Dean does tend to get very close on feet.
He could have prevented it. Seeding to a large extent ignores there difficulty of the conference.
That said I don't know what all the bitching is about. If Max had gone undefeated and been seed #1 he would be in exactly the same spot in the bracket after 2 matches as he is at with the #9.
The path to the finals is pretty tough regardless. He was always going to have to beat Beard anyway. If he doesn't take out Bonaccorsi on the way, it's more proof he didn't deserve the #1.
Honestly, I am less concerned about the seed, than I am his lack luster performances as of late against tough competition.
He seems far too reluctant on offense, and it's proving a bit too easy to get to his legs and convert. That's not who I remember from last year.
All of that aside, if he can get on his horse and secure the first takedown in the first period I know he can go to the finals again no problem. If he sits back and let's Allred & Beard get first period takedowns against him, his back will be against the wall. He is wrestling like a man who has lost his confidence. Mid-March is the time to stop that shit.
It ain't rocket science. "If you don't shoot you don't win". I think that is a Vince Lombardi quote.
The unpopular take would be - this post season could all be karma cashing in the checks from a few of the good breaks Max enjoyed at 2022 NCAAs.
Not sure I agree that Dean needs the first takedown against Allred - he definitely needs to avoid giving up the first takedown (and then the second takedown in the second period). We still don't know if Max can dominate Allred from the top position and win the match there - that's the wildcard imho. Dean giving up the takedown in the 1st and then another after escaping in the 2nd allowed Allred to take Neutral in 3rd when it was his choice - game over..... as Allred dominated him in Neutral and took him down again in the 3rd. If Dean just prevents any takedowns (which admittedly might require him to focus completely on defense and stall - which I'm not crazy about), he may have won that Allred match - he would have been up 1-0 going into 3rd forcing Allred to take bottom.... and again, we still don't know if Allred can deal with Max's top-wrestling which is superior.
We still don't know how Allred will do against Max's ride - that may be the key in the rematch. Max getting dominated in Neutral is what allowed Allred to take Neutral in 3rd. Hate to say it, but I think Max is really going to have to focus on defense in Neutral in rematch against Allred.
Maybe he should focus on neutral offense and start that top ride in the first period.
This will end how Deaner wants it to end , ya get what you earn. I’m not paranoid about a team title, won’t change my life, just cheering like Cael for kids to reach their goals, not mine
Maybe, although it's pretty clear imo that it's Max's weakest position against elite competition.
I said multiple times but the Allred match is literally deja vu to the Pat Brucki match against Michigan, only Allred was smart enough not to take bottom, get ridden out and be tired in SV and instead go the counter takedown at the end. Max is who he is as a wrestler, some physical limitations but a tough SOB, nobody expected him to jump massive levels from his 6th to 7th year out of HS right? Need to take it one match at a time bottom line.
Warner is going to have a very difficult time to AA this year. Assuming he loses to Elam in the 2nd round he will face the loser of Dean/Nino in the blood round.
Max is 3 wins away from being the #1 seed. Sure, he could have gotten these three wins over the last few months, but if he gets them in the next week it will be even better.
Why didn't these coaches figure out the adjustments he needed to win the B1G tournament? Did he not care or give it his best?
Maybe because it was the first time Dean wrestled Allred.
Yeah he never forgot the "not caring" thing from his days at Cornell
That too. I was being snarky too; not sure it came across. Can’t make adjustments to things exposed in a loss before the match.
I always thought that coaching was all about preparing a wrestler to win matches, not just to adjust after losing a match. That strategy doesn't seem to work well in, say, the World Championships or the Olympics.
Wrestlers on the international scene don’t wrestle matches outside of and leading up to the Olympics and Worlds and make adjustments based on what didn’t work in them?
I completely agree with this in all accounts with Dean and Warner. I think Dean will figure out a way to get 1 TD versus Allred and that will be the difference maker. He will use that to build a ton of riding time and potentially turn him. At that point it’s a completely different match. 1 TD and Dean wins v Allred in Tulsa. They will have a plan for 1 TD! LFG. There is a scenario Nino loses to Dean in the Quarters and doesn’t make the podium from the wrestle backs. At least that’s how my bracket has it.
Yeah, however, playing devil's advocate the whole field has figured out Max can kill you on top. They have started to deny him the choice.
I like him having two chances to wear guys down from top. If he gets the takedown in the first and is leading on points his opponents probably choose down, and he gets a second crack at our favorite move later in the match.
If you have noticed this season, if his opponent scores a takedown in the first and gets the lead, they are routinely choosing neutral, and Max risks going the whole match without ever getting on top. Honestly, this is a losing strategy for Max, and they all know it. Max has to adapt to this change in his opponents strategy or he isn't going to get it done.
If Max isn't leading at the end of the first period he is behind the 8 ball, from a strategic point of view. For whatever reason his neutral defense isn't as solid this year. He can be taken down, so he has to get there first IMO. To control his own destiny he needs that first period takedown.
Wrestlers in the Olympics and World championships have no opportunity within that tournament to make adjustments after losing. All the coaching has to go into preparing them to need no adjustments, or to adjust within a given match.
Can't he choose top when it is his choice? There have been guys who are so dominant on top that they choose that.
Of course but you don't see it much. You are pretty much giving up that escape point for the opportunity to get a riding point or turn. I don't like the idea in the second if he has choice but in the 3rd maybe depending upon the points situation. Oddly enough Spencer doesn't typically choose top if it's the second period either. Noone is more dominant on top and he doesn't think it's a great idea, granted he usually gets out then takes the other guy down within the first 30 seconds.
Does it work in Soccer.? This is about the NCAA tournament rather than the Olympics or worlds. Nice job of picking a different sport/event to prove a point. Max knows who he will have 2/nd round and it so happens that the guy just beat him with 3 takedowns to none. Max will need to adjust and take away that which beat him, and his coaches will help him decide the best way to go about doing this. That is what GREAT NCAA D1 wrestling coaches do between conference tournaments and the NCAA tournament. PSU does this better than anybody which is why they so often flip results in a 2/nd match.
What would happen in the NCAA tournament if they met for the first time? Same result as in the B1G tournament?
But between tournaments, like Dean is now, they do.
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Just look at DT vs Yazdani from Oslo to Zagreb. Yaz scored from the front headlock somewhat easily in 2021, but DT and his coaches figured out how to shut that down. Sometimes it’s a chess match.
Allred looked so dominating I have to wonder if the timing of the weigh-in had something to do with it. Max is giving up a lot of size to some of these guys at 197 and it's really difficult to overcome that when the other guy has time to fully recover from weigh-in.
Then it's a good thing that the B10 Tournament is not the Olympics or the World Championships, or their equivalent.
When someone picks up an occassional loss, you always have to ask the question if something was "off" that day. It is possible that Dean was sick on Sunday or dealing with a minor injury. Also possible that Dean had a bad day and wrestled like crap and lost on Sunday, no excuses. Sometimes in sports you just don't have it that day for whatever reason, when that happens all you can do is hope the competition is mediocre, if not, your in trouble. Allred is not mediocre.
Doesn't really matter, since starting Thursday is all that matters.
Not that i disagree with this comment, however many times watching Max I feel like the size he is giving up is height and not weight. IMO i cannot see how hes been at 197 for 2 years now and hasnt grown into a full 197 lber
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