I respectfully disagree.
D&D do not lack technical difficulty in their programs. The base value of their short program is 33.80 and the base value of their long program (as of the GPF) is 58.65. These values are very competitive with those of the top teams, even without the 3twist.
Then why are they scoring so much lower than the two Chinese teams and the Germans? Their scores have remained stagnant since Skate America, while the other teams have improved with each performance. The reason is D/D are
attempting harder elements, but they haven't been successfully executing them. The top 3 are far more consistent in their execution, and the two Russian teams have improved their difficulty and their scores over time.
For sure, there’s still lots of room for improvement, but given how young they are, I expect we’ll see them continue to grow and improve significantly for at least the next couple of years.
D/D are 20 and 22, and they are in their 5th year competing together. The Germans are older (24 and 28), and have been together only 4 years, but their rate of improvement has far surpassed what D/D have done. The Zhangs are also young (22 and 24), and they have been together the longest; while they have mastered the hardest 'tricks', they have a ways to go with interpretation---but they too have plenty of time to improve in the coming years.
Regarding their speed, have you seen them live this season? TV can be very deceptive. One very knowledgeable poster at FSU who attended Skate America stated he would have given them the win there simply based on their speed and ice coverage. I attended Skate Canada this year and found their speed to be very good to excellent in practice. They were a little slower and more cautious in competition, but still not slow by any means. Certainly they don’t yet skate with the power and confidence of the German team, but they were blazingly fast compared to K&S.
I saw them live at Skate America. D/D were slow even compared to the lesser teams who skated there, and IMO, their FS music is slow and repetitious and makes them look even slower than they actually are. Sure, D/D are faster than K/S, but then K/S are about the slowest team around; they have been together less than two years and still have a ways to go (but they have landed a quad throw).
Also, FYI, D&D are no longer a “smaller” team. As shown in this photo, they are taller than S&S:
Bryce and Robin are pretty much the same height, and Jessica is 2 inches taller than Alyona. But absolute height isn't the issue: it's the height difference between the two partners and their body proportions that set the overall look of the team. Alyona is fine-boned and tiny, while Robin is muscular with well-developed shoulders; when they skate together, the height difference is magnified. They both have great extension and stretch, so their lines are clean and elegant.
Jessica is small but she has a much more muscular build than Alyona, which makes her appear shorter even when she is stretched. Bryce is lacking somewhat in upper-body mass so he doesn't appear to be that much taller or more massive than Jessica (Tatiana Tarasova commented on Russian TV during the GPF that Jessica is "too big" for Bryce). Together, they just don't have the same elegance of line that the Germans do.
IMHO, they are one of the most elegant teams to come on the scene since B&S. Beautiful body positions and gorgeous “natural” stretch (as opposed to the very deliberate balletic “point” of the Russian teams). I guess this comes down to our own personal definitions. I would describe the Germans as powerful and innovative, not classical and elegant.
Yes, that is your opinion and you are entitled to it. You are a D/D fan and you see them through rose-colored glasses. But given the huge difference between the PCS of the Germans and that of D/D, the international judges apparently don't see it that way and are far more in agreement with me.
It’s difficult to predict where D&D will finish at Worlds since with the young teams there can be a quite a substantial improvement in skills and polish from the beginning of the season to the end of the season. Anywhere from 2nd to 6th is a possibility. 4CC’s will be a good test for them.
The Zhangs and Mukhortova/Trankov are both young teams also, and both have improved since the beginning of the season. Zhangs already have the skills and they have been well rewarded with scores basically unattainable by D/D. Savchenko/Szolkowy have both skills and polish, and each performance has been better than the last. Pang/Tong have also improved with each performance, and beat D/D by 13 points at the GPF, even with mistakes. The problem D/D has is they are trying to learn new skills and so far have not been able to complete them successfully. It's tough to work on polish when the skills aren't there yet. I think that's why D/D's scores haven't risen since the beginning of the season.
Therefore, second or third, is highly unlikely. Fifth or sixth is where they will probably end up.
I don't think that the lack of triple twist will hurt D/D that much, especially if they are able to nail that new throw lutz that they've been working on and land the SBS jumps. 
hwell:
