2024 U.S. Nationals Men's Free Skate

[lariko]

I kinda thought Max suffered from skating after Jason.

he only won in my eyes by skating after Brown, because his youthful energy is undeniable, and his big jumps look even better. Anyway, unlike the old guard here, it's actually Naumov big, bright performances that makes me his fan over Pulkinen and, moreover, Brown... I mean, when even Tara comments aloud that he unerrotates left and right on tripples... they better hope the rest of the remaining judges in the world drink cool-aid.

I understand the caclualtion that Brown is old reliable for Worlds, and Pulkinen was there longer, but meh. I hoped to see Naumov and Malinin live again. At least, Malinin will be there.

 

[yelyoh]

I work by Penn Station and live in Teaneck, just on the other side of the GWB. Have tons of friends on the UWS. I'd love a skate-watching buddy. I don't have one either!

You've got one! Let's see if we can work something out for Worlds. My Name is Tim.

 

[Spiralgraph]

I agree that as of now Ilia has no domestic competition that can come near him technically, and IMO he should have at least one. Nathan had Vincent, who at most competitions would attempt the same number of quads that Nathan would do. And it helped both of them as skaters.
Easy wins sometimes are too easy.

 

[kan01]

What the heck are you talking about?

Peace out.

Have you ever seen someone great that doesn't have haters? They have their role too I guess.
Every year, eeevry comp same old bitterness. WHy iS JaSoN BroWn hiGhER tHAn X, Y or Z?
But to come for his smile is a first (Sorry)

 

[kan01]

Jason Brown - beautiful human being, and beautiful, talented skater, but that 2nd placement was a gift. At this point, I would much rather see the other guys go to Worlds and earn more experience. They all fought for it and Camden and Max did great. At this stage of Jason's career, a Worlds medal isn't going to change how much he's loved by FS audiences or his overall artistry. Let the other guys grow as competitors and feel the pressure of retaining spots for Worlds.

This is not a thing. If a skater wants to go and qualifies, he will go. He doesn't owe anyone his earned spot because they are younger and he is older or whatever reasons people come up with.
Besides, Jason is the reliable one, and the federation knows it well.
As long as Jason will want it and will qualify, he will be the one going. Imagine watching the great Jason Brown at Worlds and thinking, "God, I wish it was this guy who was 4th or this guy who was 5th instead of him." Could never be me.

 

[cailuj365]

This is not a thing. If a skater wants to go and qualifies, he will go. He doesn't owe anyone his earned spot because they are younger and he is older or whatever reasons people come up with.
Besides, Jason is the reliable one, and the federation knows it well.
As long as Jason will want it and will qualify, he will be the one going. Imagine watching the great Jason Brown at Worlds and thinking, "God, I wish it was this guy who was 4th or this guy who was 5th instead of him." Could never be me.

That's definitely not what I meant. I never said Jason should give up his spot or he's not deserving, but personally, I didn't think his overall performance (technical + PCS) was better than Camden's or Maxim's and would have had him 3rd or 4th on the night. At the end of the day, the judging is what it is, and he was tallied up to 2nd. I had no expectation that he would not be named to the team. I hope that he trains hard over the next few months so that he's ready for Montreal and delivers a great performance.

 

[kan01]

That's definitely not what I meant. I never said Jason should give up his spot or he's not deserving, but personally, I didn't think his overall performance (technical + PCS) was better than Camden's or Maxim's and would have had him 3rd or 4th on the night. At the end of the day, the judging is what it is, and he was tallied up to 2nd. I had no expectation that he would not be named to the team. I hope that he trains hard over the next few months so that he's ready for Montreal and delivers a great performance.

I get your point and I want to add that time and time again I've seen US skaters do very well at the US Nationals and when sent to World Championships or even 4CC, they do bad (as opposed to their Nats performance).
Jason had problems with his 3A this season but he nailed two of them in the free, so I think the federation now feels calm about relying on him (even if he's not perfect he can easily be top 7-8ish or better).
He's only had two full competitions this year, so he's expected, with his experience and track record, to get better by Worlds and do a decent job. The others, except Camden, will have their chance to prove themselves at 4CC.
So for me Ilia and Jason are still the logical bet to secure the 3 spots. (And I expect Jason to be relied upon to help with that for the 2026 three Olympic spots as well, by the way.)
Score-wise at Nats, Ilia is overscored, Nathan was overscored, other top scaters throughout the years were overscored, but when Jason is overscored, it's a problem...

 

[MarkinBerkeley]

Jason confirmed at the post SP Press Conference that he is returning to the Impossible Dream for his LP.

Good choice. I saw the "Tarzan" skate and it just wasn't right for him. Hopefully, he can avoid the mistakes he made at Nationals. At least 10-12 points were left on the table due to poor landings and missing the double axel, so he could have beaten Ilia in the free skate.

 

[MarkinBerkeley]

That's definitely not what I meant. I never said Jason should give up his spot or he's not deserving, but personally, I didn't think his overall performance (technical + PCS) was better than Camden's or Maxim's and would have had him 3rd or 4th on the night. At the end of the day, the judging is what it is, and he was tallied up to 2nd. I had no expectation that he would not be named to the team. I hope that he trains hard over the next few months so that he's ready for Montreal and delivers a great performance.

I would have placed him in 4th with that skate. Too many technical errors.