Japanese NT 2018

  • Somehow I missed the fact that Yuka IMAMURA has been clipped from the wide roster for the VNL. What a crushing blow. I hoped she might sneak on one of the weeklies but now that's not possible. With Yumi NAKAGAWA also having been edited out, it leaves only one of my crystal ball predictions: Aika AKUTAGAWA. Fact.


    I'm on pins and needles. Don't let me down, Aika :heart:

  • Japanese roster for the 1st week:

    • S: 10. Koyomi Tominaga, 22. Kanami Tashiro
    • OPP: 19. Mari Horikawa
    • OH: 2. Sarina Koga, 7. Yuki Ishii, 18. Saori Takahashi, 20. Arisa Inoue, 21 Ai Kurogo
    • MB: 3. Nana Iwasaka (C), 9. Haruyo Shimamura, 13. Mai Okumura, 24. Aika Akutagawa
    • Li: 15. Kotoe INOUE, 23. Akane Yamagishi, 27. Mana Toe


    Source: 1


    Arisa Inoue made it but Yurie Nabeya didn't? ?(




    Somehow I missed the fact that Yuka IMAMURA has been clipped from the wide roster for the VNL. What a crushing blow. I hoped she might sneak on one of the weeklies but now that's not possible. With Yumi NAKAGAWA also having been edited out, it leaves only one of my crystal ball predictions: Aika AKUTAGAWA. Fact.


    I'm on pins and needles. Don't let me down, Aika


    sitenoise You asked for Aika, you got Aika.

  • sitenoise You asked for Aika, you got Aika.


    :woohoo:


    I hope she does well!

  • [18 - 25 , 17 - 25 , 22 - 25]


    • No one on Japan can swing hard at a ball out of system. Scaredy-cats!
    • Court spacing was horrible. Haven't seen so much free real estate surrounding a ball since a Denso game
    • Too many balls hitting the floor in front of the 3-meter line. I want to kill myself
    • Got block coverage?


    Japan has a libero problem

    • Kotoe Inoue (L) is ailing from something. Not even close to 100%. Worried
    • Akane Yamagishi starts her first game ever with the NT as receiving libero against Bosko and Brankica. :white:
    • Haruyo Shimamura slept through the match. Needs a better strategy
    • Aika Akutagawa should have played. Would have brought life
    • Nana Iwasaka played well. Looked like the only player who wanted to win
    • Ai Kurogo has a confidence problem. She's not ready for this. Starting her, letting her play poorly for a set and then taking her out probably didn't help
    • Yuki Ishii played a lot better on the rewatch. You have to really concentrate on her to notice it
    • Mari Horikawa should have played. Japan really needed some attitude
    • Arisa Inoue may surprise us. Or not
    • Koyomi Tominaga is a fine setter. Poor defender
    • Kanami Tashiro improved the defense a teeny bit
    • Sarina Koga is going to drive me to drinking. Did she even play?
  • [25–22 , 18-25 , 23-25 , 11-25]


    Really fun games because practically the whole match was out of system. Balls flying around everywhere, bouncing off the net, off player elbows. Lots of overpasses, goofy stuff all around. The sad part is that Brazil played better defense than Japan. That should never happen, and there's the rub: Japan's identity as a team is not evident so far in this tournament.


    Japan has a libero problem

    • Kotoe Inoue (L) is ailing from something. Not even close to 100%.


    Kotoe played the whole game this time. (She played only defensive position against Serbia while Akane Yamagishi shouldered receiving duties). Kotoe's simply not up to speed. This is a big problem and Nakada has only staffed her with backups who've never played at the international level before, while Arisa Sato sits at home twiddling her thumbs. :wall:


    My darling pick for the NT, Aika Akutagawa (MB) provided a net fault on the first play of the game. Ouch. After that she sent her second serve of the game into the stands (more or less). After that she was mostly invisible. Baby steps. She'll get there.


    Japan should be able to beat this short version of Brazil any day of the week. I'm not sure yet if players are just playing poorly or if this is a team that's just not up to it. There are problems at setter as well. Neither Tominaga nor Tashiro can play defense. And don't kid yourself thinking Miyashita and Nakamichi didn't have a LOT to do with Japan's defense.


    Yuki's reception is MIA.
    Koga is starting to come out of her shell.
    Arisa Inoue may surprise us.


    Still, a very fun match. Watch it:


  • [25-21 , 25-23 , 21-25 , 25-17]


    Well ... at least Japan ended the gosh awful first round of competition with a win.


    The Good News


    Sarina Koga had a good game. Scored about 25. I saw a glimmer in her eye, and I think I witnessed Yuki seeing it too. That has to happen, folks, before we can move on.
    Mari Horikawa had a good game. And she's loud, literally and figuratively. Her kill % sucked but she was enough of a threat to allow Sarina Koga to have a good game. That's a good strategy.
    Mai Okumura kicked butt! 9 blocks, 8 kills, and an ace. She rocks my world. She should rock yours too.
    Nana Iwasaka does not suck.
    Kanami Tashiro (S) had 5 points. She has some clever moves.
    Arisa Inoue may surprise us. She has a pretty cool serve.

    The enigma that is Yuki Ishii

    She has a great down the line slash shot and she made some great digs, but her kill % is probably in the low 20% so far and her reception is embarrassing. Something that is both blessing and curse for her is that when she is playing poorly and boinks a reception it's gone and forgotten in the time it takes her heart to beat once. I admire that.


    Japan has a libero problem


    Kotoe Inoue didn't play. I'm sure Akane Yamagishi is a fine young woman but this is the big leagues and I'm not feeling it for her.


    Here's the thing about liberos--all players really, but especially liberos who are paid to give up their bodies and dive for balls--if you dive for a ball and start worrying about how you are going to land before you've successfully dug the ball you have failed. You can spot this easily. Chickens will rotate their body slightly to the side so they come down on one arm and then the side of their body. So, during replays if you see someone sliding across the floor whose nose is not to the ground you are looking at a chicken. Pray it is not your libero. And beyond that, chickens won't really do a full on swan dive belly flop; they do more of a running squat and scootch. Lets not even talk about that Special Spidey Sense that great players like Arisa Sato use to skate to where the puck is going to be.


    I'm disappointed Japan didn't do better these first three games because it is so unusual to have intelligent English commentary in the first round of this tournament and I love re-watching games with intelligent English commentary. I care less if they lose or win, but they have to at least play well so it entertains me, or I end up sad and don't want to re-watch.


    I think there was more I wanted to talk about but I'm anxious to just get this week behind me.


    Enjoy while it lasts: [FloVolley had it taken down]

  • 3 Nana Iwasaka MB (C)
    2 Sarina Koga OH
    4 Risa Shinnabe OH/OP
    7 Yuki Ishii OH
    8 Mami Uchiseto OH
    9 Haruyo Shimamura MB
    10 Koyomi Tominaga S
    13 Mai Okumura MB
    15 Kotoe Inoue L
    19 Mari Horikawa OP
    20 Arisa Inoue OH
    21 Ai Kurogo OH
    22 Kanami Tashiro S
    27 Mana Toe L


    My girlfriend Aika Akutagawa has been cut. ;(


    We also bid adieu to Saori Takahashi & Akane Yamagishi (L)


    Still no Nagaoka, Nabeya, or Miyashita

  • [20–25 , 16–25 , 23–25]


    Sarina Koga = 2 points


    USA Coach during a timeout: "Hit the Libero hard"

  • Sarina disappeared into the night like a real Koga ninja.

  • The Japanese are such a mess right now...They are not even fun to watch.... They did beat Brazil and Serbia last year....so there`s still hope....but still...I don`t know.....Hard to believe they will have any chances against Brazil/Serbia and even Netherlands at the WCH.

  • They are not even fun to watch....


    That's what's killing me. I really don't care if they lose games if they at least put up a fight.


    They are without Nagaoka and Nabeya, though, but who knows about Nagaoka. Sometimes injuries end an NT career, at least in the way Ebata drifted away.


    Japan has a libero problem
    Have I mentioned that :D


    Their defense just plain sux all around.

  • I`m worried about Nagaoka....1 year without playing?? That`s a lot.....something is not right... Unless they want to make sure she will be back only when she`s 100%...but still it is concerning.


    And yeah you are about about the liberos :wacko: ...not good at all for the Japanese.

  • I`m worried about Nagaoka....1 year without playing?? That`s a lot.....something is not right... Unless they want to make sure she will be back only when she`s 100%...but still it is concerning.


    Quote

    On April 30th, the Hisamitsu Springs faced high school team Kinrankai in the Japanese Volleyball Association’s Kurowashihata (Black Eagle Flag) Invitational Tournament. The Springs also had a surprise for the Kinrankai team, Japanese national team player Miyu Nagaoka would be making her first appearance in a competitive match in 13+ months.


    I watched that game and Nagaoka looked weak and tired.

  • Yeah I remember that now....But I don`t think she played the whole match right?? ....well they showed her sitting on the stands during the V-League finals and she looked super down....but on the court we only see the Japanese smiling...maybe that was just the "normal" Nagoka outside the court ....lol


    unless she`s practicing a lot....otherwise when she comes back she will be super out of rhythm, and jumping in the WCH right away is not a good thing...

  • She played the whole game against the High School Club but I don't remember her playing in any games down the line against other V.League teams. Here's a link to the match if anyone is interested


  • Here's what happened:


    Koga and Yuki were tasked with reception during Week 1. It was a disaster.


    Risa and Uchiseto took over reception in week 2.
    Koga scored 2 points (in a set and a half) in game 1 against the USA before getting yanked.
    In game 2/week 2 against Belgium, about midway through the second set Belgium spiked one that went off the block and then off Risa's elbow toward the stands. Uchiseto ran after it, about directly behind the ref and just before hitting the audience guardrail, and managed to hit the ball back towards the court. Koga was playing between zones 1 and 6. The ball landed just inside the court in zone 5, but Koga had already quit the play and didn't get to it. If I were Coach Nakada I would have yanked Koga right then and there and sent her home. You can't quit a play before it's over at this level of competition.
    Koga was yanked a few plays later.
    Koga didn't play in game 3 of the week against NED. She was replaced by Kurogo. She was replaced by youngster-with-potential, not-ready-for-this-level-of-play, Kurogo.


  • :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:



    I was curious to see what improvements Uchiseto would show us after spending a season in Italy (2nd division)...and she actually showed a decent season.


    but so far I don`t like what I see.


    vs USA - 6/12
    vs Belgium - 6/20
    vs Ned - 1/15


    I was not able to watch any of these 3 games, I hope she at least received well.