DUPR Pickleball Night in America Preview – Ep. 4

📸 @duprpb

We would appreciate it if anyone reading this could let us know if they still interested enough for us to keep doing these previews. It’s unclear what is at stake in tonight’s DUPR exhibition, which is always cause for concern with these things. It seemed the stream numbers for last week’s more interesting, but less well known players, version of Tuesday night pickleball weren’t great from what we saw. We guess tonight’s event could be kind of fun but what is this version of mostly mixed rec play going to look like? Again, tell us if we’re wasting our time doing these.

Here’s a breakdown of the partnerships and the link to the DUPR blog here. They are calling this Texas Hold ‘Em format where the winners of the first match play in the finals and the losers play a consolation match.

Thomas Wilson / Anna Bright – Apparently Anna Bright has quit her job and is now working for DUPR (hat tip to one of our readers for this), which helps explain how she is able to play all of the pickleball now. It was also announced that Bright signed with Top Notch Management, who also represent Tyson McGuffin, Jessie Irvine and Zane Navratil. Bright is officially all-in on pickleball and for good reason. It’s clear the top players have massive respect her game already as her backhand was getting avoided when playing with Irvine over the weekend. Bright and Wilson is scary from a potential standpoint, but we’re not sure where they sit right now as a pair. Wilson is going to keep getting better and is one of the smoother players out there so they may be the most enjoyable team to watch tonight.

Stefan Auvergne / Wyatt Stone – This team is probably the most interesting part of this exhibition with the always caveat of whether the teams are playing 100%. They will he playing Bright/Wilson in the first match. You have two guys who get wins consistently at the pro level but don’t hit podiums yet. How does this team fare against mixed teams with pretty high end males and females? We tend to think this team should hold up against all 3 of their opponents, but Bright/Wilson will be tough for them in the first match.

Dekel Bar / Lee Whitwell – Another concern with these DUPR matchups is that you get most of the Dreamland crew repeating. Bar/Whitwell is a fine enough partnership but these are players we have seen before, and will probably see again. Dekel Bar’s mixed game seems to be improving and Whitwell has established herself as a steady force. Again, Whitwell is limited by the lack of weapons and counter-attack ability, but that is mitigated to some degree by the weapons Bar possesses and his court coverage.

DJ Young / Andrea Koop – Speaking of people who don’t seem to work anymore, is Andrea Koop in-house counsel for DUPR or something? She has been playing a lot of pickleball and it’s hard to imagine much legal work is happening on the weekday trips to Dreamland from Michigan. But we digress. These are two talented players we haven’t seen together before. The mixed teams in this group are all relatively close, and there is an argument that Young/Koop are the best of the bunch. We aren’t quite there with that take, but it is not out of the realm to make that case. Maybe that can be Andrea’s legal work for the week. However, this team we like a smidge better than their first matchup of Dekel/Lee because Koop is the better female player.

Agree or disagree? Let us know in the comments below or email us at nmlpickleball@gmail.com. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook too!  

23 thoughts on “DUPR Pickleball Night in America Preview – Ep. 4

  • April 12, 2022 at 7:58 am
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    The interest is totally there if based solely on the skill and unique formats. What is completely killing the interest is the complete lack of professionalism. From the announcers, to the players, to the refs, to the “introductions,” it’s all a big joke.

    Last week had a higher level of play due to the high payout. But even that was negated by the lack of professionalism.

    Maybe I’m just grouchy, but my four kids that play pickleball incessantly, and all under the age of 18, have pretty much lost interest as well.

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  • April 12, 2022 at 9:20 am
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    Thank you for posting and for your time. Nope, not really interested. Won’t watch. I would like to see how Anna Bright does but not worth it. Agree with CC. If nobody follows the rules (Sherry cheating which won him the game), it’s just rec play. And last week proved, that just because there is more money doesn’t mean… Anything. Thank you for your time.

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  • April 12, 2022 at 9:22 am
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    I enjoy these events and your coverage. The more pickleball the better. As for the stakes, on the dupr blog it says “1st place: $2000, 2nd place: $1500, 3rd place: $1250, 4th place: $1250” – not sure if that is per team or per player. Also, your title is mispeled.

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    • April 12, 2022 at 12:14 pm
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      Good point. Would presume it is per team but based on past payouts it could be per player

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  • April 12, 2022 at 9:39 am
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    I am! I like the different format and appreciate your coverage. I don’t mind the casual attitude, *except* when they try to make broader claims, e.g. assessment of men vs. women with the same rating. But interesting matchups every week in a loose environment? I’ll take it.

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  • April 12, 2022 at 10:05 am
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    I read every single NML post!!! Along with listening to several podcasts. McGuffins, The Picklr, and the Pickle Pod. I personally thought the Irvine/Bright matchup was good, I liked seeing Jessie with AB’s fire!

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    • April 12, 2022 at 12:16 pm
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      That’s awesome! Thanks for the feedback and for reading! Jessie and AB look to be teaming up more too

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  • April 12, 2022 at 10:20 am
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    If you write it, I will read it, but if you don’t think it’s worth it…understood.

    I for one really like PNA. Timing is good (I have better things to do on most weekends than watch P-Ball), I really like the loose atmosphere, and frankly I’m looking to be entertained, so not concerned if they aren’t killing themselves over every point.

    DUPR is the sponsor paying the bills, so chalk that talk up to advertising.

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    • April 12, 2022 at 12:16 pm
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      Sweet! Appreciate the feedback. Sounds like enough ppl are into it

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  • April 12, 2022 at 10:31 am
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    I wouldn’t know about these if it wasn’t for your posts. I liked this post because of the info you had on Bright. I’ll probably watch a little bit of the Wilson/Bright match just to see how they do together. But the overall pace of the broadcast doesn’t hold my interest for long.

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    • April 12, 2022 at 12:17 pm
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      We’ll try to keep giving little nuggets in these to keep it interesting

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  • April 12, 2022 at 10:42 am
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    I’d like to see the commentators be more professional. Some of the cracking and snarky sarcasm is hard to listen to. The match ups have been interesting and pickleball on Tuesday night. What’s not to love?

    The video footage, courts and everything are really nice just need to not dumb it down by the commentators and goofing off.

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  • April 12, 2022 at 11:06 am
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    Am interested in the business side of pb as well as the play. Tell me this: how does DUPR monetize player ratings? I hope its not a facebook/google model — gather all the personal details and sell the data to marketer’s algorithms. Interesting that Bright is working there, and maybe Koop, too. Braverman runs the show. How do they pay all these people?

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    • April 12, 2022 at 12:18 pm
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      The idea seems to be ppl like the product and pay for the premium version. Not sure if that’ll work but that’s what I see currently.

      Steve Kuhn who owns Dupr is very wealthy! Koop does not work there. It was a joke as she is a lawyer in Michigan

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  • April 12, 2022 at 11:47 am
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    I appreciate your commentary and thoughts; you provide different points for views about the players and matchups in both the DUPR events as well as the PPA and APP events. It is refreshing to read/hear views that are not provided by the PPA/APP, such as the “Welcome to the fastest game on earth” statement at the PPA Austin event. (Racquetball and Badminton still faster IMHO) . I enjoy all of your blogs and your fantasy drafts as well, keep up the good work. As far as the DUPR events, they are fun but not overly engaging and the streaming quality is often flakey.

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    • April 12, 2022 at 12:18 pm
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      Awesome! Thanks for feedback. We’ll keep pumping out as much content as we can

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  • April 13, 2022 at 9:43 am
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    Tuesday Night Pickleball = Boring.

    First time I watched and it was pretty boring…..and after Sherry’s revenge line call I was out. As I stated before, stuff like that is insulting to viewers and makes it a joke.

    I tried to watch it last night and after first game I gave up. It is solid pro level PB but just seems like an overhyped exhibition/rec game with little on the line.

    And I don’t find the “rally scoring” until getting to match point interesting at all. I find it silly. Just play by the normal freaking rules. I hope this isn’t an effort by DUPR to try to groom people for rally scoring. One of the dumbest things I have ever heard is how some people claim that rally scoring will help the sport obtain casual viewers who don’t play PB. I predict that if the pros try rally scoring, it will just offend the base supporters of the sport and fail to grow the game among casual viewers. Professional Soccer failed in the US for many years when they tried to make it higher scoring to attract casual fans….but it didn’t work and all it did was turn off the soccer purists who are comfortable with the game as it is. Same thing will happen if you tinker with the PB rules to try to appeal to people who don’t play and appreciate the sport.

    I do appreciate NML putting the time into posting and giving analysis. The NML posts are more interesting than the actual games. I predict PPA’s Tuesday night events will be much better than this DUPR stuff. I look forward to seeing the Johns Bros, Riley and AJ play. That seems really compelling.

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    • April 13, 2022 at 1:12 pm
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      Agree on rally scoring. I think worrying about TV stuff is silly there. Also appreciate the comment haha! I don’t see how PPA will be any more exciting though. Same players that we always see in slightly different partnerships

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      • April 13, 2022 at 1:38 pm
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        My impression from the commentators is the rally scoring has less to do with thinking it attracts viewers, and more to do with alignment with the DUPR branding that “every point counts”.

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  • April 13, 2022 at 9:47 am
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    I enjoy these posts. If nothing else, it reminds me to watch the exhibition tonight. Without your post, I likely would have forgotten.

    I’m sure you’re busy and have other jobs. I can’t imagine pickleball blogging pays the bills *yet*. But please keep it up.

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    • April 13, 2022 at 1:13 pm
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      Not yet Andrew! But thanks for the comment. Good to know there are enough out there who do care

      Reply

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