Cuvet Posted on February 20, 2026 at 02:33:06 PM by Craig G
One other thing I noticed while replaying those Danel points, which ties into your 'smart' observation.
Something that keeps most of the backs down in singles is that they don't have the skill to take control of the point when an opening pops up. So you have an opportunity where a top front would immediately put their opponent on the defensive with a well-placed passing shot, but instead it's just another return.
But Danel was defo causing some trouble off the back wall. Nice to see.
Now... Cuvet.
This is where I have a different POV. I watched Alberdi-Cuvet win their NAJF tourament convincingly. And they weren't the seeded team, so had to play in the qualies first. In the Miami round, when I watched them as visitors rip thru the lineup from post 6, I knew they were a major force. I believe they won 3 of the 4 games that night.
I attended all 8 rounds of the whole event and really enjoyed watching my favorites win. And with Cuvet, it was fun watching him progressively creep forward as he took control of point. What you left out with your, "charge up and stand next to his front courter and not go back in position" statement is that it is a strategy and a clear trade-off. From that central position his right side was powerful enough to go right thru anybody. I think that Miami's top team was was Michelena-Irastorza, and they couldn't handle it either.
So here's my probably-shared-by-no-one perspective.
If you have a mismatch, where in a normal rally the dominant player or team is likely to win 85 to 90% of the time, then when the outclassed player goes for a wild 30% chance shot, that is actually a 'winning' choice. Despite the risk of looking like an idiot the 70% of the time when it fails.
So when I see Cuvet paired with an outclassed front, a guy who overall is about a 1 in 30 or worse chance to win from the 5-6-7 posts, then it makes perfect sense that the only chance he has with this guy is to make it happen himself. Passive defense goes down in flames. Is it better to play your position "correctly", or take some risks based on your strength?
And the fact that Cuvet had winning records with the elite fronts, and also his great performance in the NAJF, tells us that he is not just some clown who doesn't know how to play.
And... since most other players do not have as lethal a right side from that range, the 'conventional wisdom' of how to play is based on what is best for the other backs.
Anyway, it a just a short while ago that Benny told us that he would rather risk an overserve in singles than set up his opponent with an easy advantage. So it's the same trade-off idea but in a different setting.
Replies:
Re(1): Cuvet - By decayFebruary 20, 2026 at 06:10:32 PM
Re(1): Danel - By Fred SilvaFebruary 20, 2026 at 07:46:39 AM
Tiger's Jai-Alai Chalk Talk
