It's unfortunate we have to compare two specific coaches. But Al Caravelli ran the USA men's 7s team for the first half of the 2011-2012 season (5 tournaments), and Alex Magleby ran the team for the remaining four.

We wanted to see how the team compared first half and second half. Is this all up to the coaches? Of course not. The players' ability to learn, the fact they went into residency in January, and injuries all affect the team's performance.

But, for what it's worth:

Points Earned
1st Half 23 (4.6 per tournament)
2nd Half 18 (4.5 per tournament)

Won-Loss Record
1st Half 6-19 (.240)
2nd Half 7-16 (.304)

Points Scored/Allowed
1st Half 329-453 (Average 13pf - 18pa per game)
2nd Half 342-452 (Average 15pf - 20pa per game)


Record v. Top 9 teams in Series:
1st Half 1-12, 111pf 286pa  4 shutout losses
2nd Half 0-13, 130pf 304pa  1 shutout loss

Record v. Middle 7 teams in Series (6 not counting USA)
1st Half 1-5 79pf  110pa 
2nd Half 5-2 132pf  95pa

Record v. Other Teams
1st Half 4-2 139pf 57pa
2nd Half 2-1 80pf 53pa 


Overall, then, there wasn't that much difference between the USA's results in the first half and the second half. The team's offense improved somewhat, but their defense dropped commensurately.

The big different was how the Eagles played the middle teams in the series (Scotland, Kenya, Canada, Spain, Portugal, Tonga).

In the first half, the Eagles were 1-5 and averaged a score of 13-18.

In the second half, the Eagles were 5-2 and their average game score was 19-14.