Logan Tom & Destinee Hooker - What Went Wrong?

  • sorry if this topic has been discussed before but i really want to read more on personal opinions and thoughts about why these 2 great players leave the USA NT after London? is it because of poor performance during that iconic finals? afaik, Logan Tom showed up on that match and basically the only functioning players front and back court. Destinee wasn't up to her usual performance, but she has been a phenomenal player all year long. so what happened? is it because of attitude problem?


    i have read it somewhere that Logan Tom is not an easy player to play with. even that tragic USA NT libero, Nicole Davis said so in her live podcast interview. but to what extent that you have to sacrifice one of the best players in the world because of her seemingly on-going attitude problem? and Jordan Larson, Foluke, Thompson. and Kerri Walsh also at some point voiced out the same thing that Logan was not a good team mate.


    post 2012, the USA NT still remains as one of the best teams in the world, but with Logan and Destinee, they might be able to be the best. so any of you guys in here knows anything? especially those that follows USA NT closely.

  • Well Hooker got pregnant and Tom got injured. After these events I don’t think either player has shown their best performance at club level. Hooker is still arguably USA’s best OPP but Karch doesn’t like her because he doesn’t think she fits the way he wants the team to play. I haven’t seen Logan play recently but she is 36 years old and her attacking ability had declined even by 2012 so I expect it will be even worse in 2018. She was a great player of course, but I don’t think she’d help the current USA team.

  • IMHO both got cut because the magnificent trainer wants to be the one and only diva in the team: both of them would outshine him.


    This, ok maybe Logan Tom in 2018 would not be the best idea anymore but especially for Destinee Hooker I can't even come up with an excuse, imo easily still one of the best in the world as Opposite. Cutting her for so long is so disrespectful towards her for such an amazing player. I am not rooting for US anymore ever since they left :/

  • No matter what, Logan Tom didn’t deserve such a goodbye. It should have been different, maybe a proper goodbye event. She was a true legend as a player. It is said that she was not a good teammate but we don’t know a specific fight.


    Regarding Hooker, I also think she should have been given a chance but we all should accept the fact that she is a trouble maker and a coach has a right not to call her to his team. She had a bright future but I don’t she is one of the best at the moment.


    I also agree with the opinion of Kiraly is such a diva himself he knew that these two would have outshined him.

  • Nicole Davis Interview on The Net Live


    Go to 43 minutes in to start as it starts with the murder of Hugh's father-in-law in Beijing. It then transfers to the team going towards London in 2012. About 20 minutes long.


    Some people feel that Nicole threw Logan under the bus. I don't think that she did only because she was explaining the dynamics of the team, which includes Logan. Additionally she added how the coaching staff dealt or did not deal with conflict within the team. The trust of the players was loss between them. Karch, made the choice to not have Logan and Destiny on the team.

  • Well, there were just 3 players in this generation who could actually outshine Kiraly and his ego: Logan Tom, Destinee Hooker and Megan Hodge.


    Logan Tom and Destinee Hooker were kicked out. A 4-times olympian shouldn't get to know she's out of the NT program by an email after months of silence. She's an hero for almost every girl who starts playing volleyball in the USA. How did he dare kick her out that way?


    Megan's case is just a side story, becuase she has been injured and pregnant, but still, she never had a real chance under Kiraly. Just think about it: 4 times All-America First Team (like Logan Tom), Freshman of the Year (like Logan Tom), and National Player of the Year (like Logan Tom, who got the award twice in a row).


    Those 3 players attract the media. On the other hand, another phenomenal player like Akinradewo never had such a charme on the media (3 NCAA finals lost in a row) and kept her position into the team.


    Since Kiraly is the head coach, all you can hear from TVs and internet or social media is Kiraly's team.

  • wow. there are so much new information here. never thought that this would happen for a team as great as the us.


    i feel bad for logan. she is definitely one of the legends when it comes to female volleyball. when you think about USA women's volleyball, her name will forever be the first come to our mind. too bad that she got kicked out by Kiraly in such manner. a legend like her deserve better. she might not be as good as she used to be, but that is no way to send off one of your icons away.



    hooker is slaying in brazil superliga for 2 seasons now is a huge blow in the face of kiraly. she might be a trouble-maker, but she could have been the difference-maker that the US need on the Olympics.


    i don't like nicole. she is NOT that good of a libero. and that failure on the 2012 gold medal match has her name written all over it. even Coach Ze also admit that their tactical play during the final is to serve hard at Nicole. at one point Logan has to play second libero on court. i wonder why Nicole stayed on court when she was ruining the momentum they had on the 1st set.


    i still wanna know how much of a diva Logan and Destinee are. Brazil NT is filled with diva, too but on court, they seemed to get along very well. there might be some ice queen like Mari and some snobbish diva like Jaque, but on court they still played like a team -- which is completely different from what Nicole said about the US team.