2012 Olympics: Men's Indoor Midway Through Pool Play

The defending gold-medalist U.S. men's squad is off to a fast 3-0 start. The first two wins came over Serbia and Germany. Yesterday, as noted in this Los Angeles Times article, "...the U.S. men stormed back to defeat world No. 1 Brazil in four sets. No longer can the defending Olympic champions fly under the radar here."

Below is a screen-capture of men's hitting statistics from the London 2012 website, to which I added the U.S. players' positions. (You may click on the graphics to enlarge them. For additional explanation of the features of the chart, see yesterday's entry on women's play, immediately below the present entry.)

As can be seen, the U.S. currently ranks second in hitting percentage (or efficiency) at .386 (or 38.55%), behind Poland (.414). The Americans' balance is impressive, with four players hitting between .377 and .458.

On the actual London 2012 webpage, you can click on the tabs (shown at the top of the chart) for Service, Block, Dig, etc., to see statistics in those areas. The U.S. ranks first in ace serves per set (2.00) and second in blocks per set (3.30, behind Bulgaria's 3.60).