- Joined
- Feb 16, 2014
So why is the WTT Men's SP the Maxim Kovtun thread? :think: He's gotten more post then the seven people who finished above him!
My two cents: I don't see why we can have a more nuanced discussion about Kovtun without resorting to "hater" or "boohoo he's so hated by fans" status.
My take on Kovtun is that when he brings the quads and the 3As, he is a forced to be reckoned with, but I think it's done to cover quite a few weaknesses, which is why, even with execution of quads and 3As, he doesn't get those super high scores relative to others who also do the quads. And when those quads and 3As are MIA or not cleanly executed, there isn't much left to hold him up. He doesn't do a flip or a loop.
I do think Kovtun has sincerely tried to improve his artistic weaknesses, especially in reaching out to Charlie White during their time on The Ice to work on step sequences, but it's definitely still a work in progress. I also think he does tend to do a lot of reprogramming on the fly to make up points when me makes an error, which means he doesn't give up as others claim.
So today, he had a major step out on the 4S and a 3A<. He isn't necessarily the best at the non-jump stuff, so the result a TES of 36.58. For comparison (on TES only), Jason Brown got 36.50 with a 4T<<, 3A< and a 3F-3T(x) at 4CC SP, but he made up for those DG/UR with his spins and steps. Kovtun's score is similar, despite fewer URs because 1.) he front loaded all this jumps and 2.) his spins and step levels + GOE held him back.
I think Maxim is talented and had moments of brilliance this season, but it's clear there are some stuff he has to work on in the off-season (like every skater out there ).
Well, these threads are usually all about Jason and/or Yuzuru, causing me to zone out (I still like Yuzuru, but it gets old real fast), so I'd rather read about Kovtun or anyone else for a change. But you're right that the posts are very repetitive indeed - especially the ones accusing anyone who criticizes any aspect of Kovtun's skating of being a "hater." I basically agree w/your assessment of him - he does try & I wonder if anything he ever does will be good enough to make him not-a-punchline for those who have already made up their minds about him. But I can't get excited about his skating either, at least not now. I keep an open mind and hope he improves & gets better programs, if only to put an end to the same tedious posts over & over again.
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