European Championships - 2013 - hosts Denmark and Poland

    I'm happy Italy manged to reach the semifinal. We're not playing our best volleyball, many silly mistakes and black outs, but the boys showed they really wanted to go to Copenaghen and did everything to beat Finland. I appreciated Beretta, it mustn't be easy for him, it is another level of game than the one he's used to but he did really well. I hope they manage to recuper Savani or Parodi, Kovar is just unwatchable! Good there's Vettori and Zaytsev (and even our MBS) to spike well because Kovar is not reliable to me, shaky reception and mistakes at the serve, without takin any risk...oh and how many block outs did Sivula made on him? :aww:
    Rossini is really good, especially in defense! I like him more and more..


    congrats to Bulgaria, they showed really great power and volley, by beating Poland and then also Germany. It won't be an easy game against them, especially with Sokolov's monster performances!!


    all the pool winners have been eliminated, and also the other semifinal, is really interesting. I'm just wondering what is happening to Stankovic (out of shape??) as he is not performing that well. Kovacevic is doing superb and also Atanasijevic is on high level.


    Really looking forward to the week-end! :super:

    I prepared stats for Top 4 teams.


    Team Rankings:
    Best Serving (Aces/Set):
    1. Russia 2.47
    2. Serbia 1.47
    3. Bulgaria 1.45
    4. Italy 1.35


    Best Blocking (Blocks/Set):
    1. Italy 3
    2. Russia 2.65
    3. Bulgaria 2.55
    4. Serbia 2.37


    Best Receiving (Pos. %):
    1. Russia 64.8
    2. Italy 64.4
    3. Bulgaria 59.7
    4. Serbia 58.6


    Best Spiking %:
    1. Serbia 54.6
    2. Italy 53
    3. Bulgaria 50.1
    4. Russia 47.8


    Serve Errors/Set:
    1. Italy 3.3
    2. Russia 3.41
    3. Bulgaria 3.59
    4. Serbia 4.74


    Reception Errors/Set:
    1. Serbia 0.89
    2. Russia 1.06
    3. Bulgaria 1.23
    4. Italy 1.55


    Spike Errors/Set:
    1. Serbia 1.84
    2. Italy 2.1
    3. Russia 2.12
    4. Bulgaria 2.27


    Errors/Set:
    1. Russia 6.59
    2. Italy 6.95
    3. Bulgaria 7.09
    4. Serbia 7.47

    Gold medal - World League 2013 Prediction Game
    Bronze medal - World League 2012 Prediction Game

    Individual Ranking:
    Best Scorers:
    1. Tsvetan Sokolov (Bulgaria) 131
    2. Ivan Zaytsev (Italy) 88
    3. Aleksandar Atanasijevic (Serbia) 81
    4. Nikolay Pavlov (Russia) 75
    5. Dimitriy Muserskiy (Russia) 74


    Best Scorers/Set:
    1. Tsvetan Sokolov (Bulgaria) 5.95
    2. Nikolay Pavlov (Russia) 4.41
    3. Ivan Zaytsev (Italy) 4.4
    4. Dimitriy Muserskiy (Russia) 4.35
    5. Aleksandar Atanasijevic (Serbia) 4.26


    Best Scorers-Errors:
    1. Tsvetan Sokolov (Bulgaria) 86
    2. Nikolay Pavlov (Russia) 64
    3. Dimitriy Muserskiy (Russia) 59
    4. Ivan Zaytsev (Italy) 49
    5. Thomas Beretta (Italy) 43


    Best Servers/Set:
    1. Dimitriy Muserskiy (Russia) 0.94
    2. Nikolay Pavlov (Russia) 0.53
    2. Evgeny Sivozhelez (Russia) 0.53
    4. Nikola Kovacevic (Serbia) 0.47
    5. Aleksandar Atanasijevic (Serbia) 0.42


    The Most Serve Errors Per Set:
    1. Aleksandar Atanasijevic (Serbia) 1.79
    2. Tsvetan Sokolov (Bulgaria) 1.23
    3. Nikolay Apalikov (Russia) 0.88
    4. Viktor Yosifov (Bulgaria) 0.77
    5. Ivan Zaytsev (Italy) 0.75
    5. Simone Parodi (Italy) 0.75


    Best Blockers/Set:
    1. Dimitriy Muserskiy (Russia) 0.94
    2. Thomas Beretta (Italy) 0.75
    3. Viktor Yosifov (Bulgaria) 0.73
    4. Marko Podrascanin (Serbia) 0.68
    5. Ivan Zaytsev (Italy) 0.55
    5. Emmanuele Birarelli (Italy) 0.55


    Best Receivers (Positive %, min. 25% of all team's receptions):
    1. Evgeny Sivozhelez (Russia) 76
    2. Alexey Verbov (Russia) 75.7
    3. Simone Parodi (Italy) 72.3
    4. Milos Nikic (Serbia) 70.4
    5. Todor Skrimov (Bulgaria) 68.5


    The Most Reception Errors Per Set:
    1. Ivan Zaytsev (Italy) 0.55
    2. Teodor Salparov (Bulgaria) 0.5
    3. Alexey Spiridonov (Russia) 0.47
    4. Jiri Kovar (Italy) 0.4
    5. Todor Aleksiev (Bulgaria) 0.36


    Best Spikers (Spike %, min. 15% of all team's spikes), next to percent, Number of Attempts; Attempts/Set:
    1. Dimitriy Muserskiy 64.6 (65; 3.82/Set)
    2. Nikola Kovacevic 59.7 (67; 3.53/Set)
    3. Aleksandar Atanasijevic 55.6 (126; 6.63/Set)
    4. Tsvetan Sokolov 53.4 (206; 9.36/Set)
    5. Nikolay Pavlov 52.2 (115; 6.76/Set)


    The Most Spike Errors Per Set:
    1. Aleksandar Atanasijevic (Serbia) 0.84
    2. Tsvetan Sokolov (Bulgaria) 0.82
    3. Alexey Spiridonov (Russia) 0.71
    4. Ivan Zaytsev (Italy) 0.65
    5. Evgeny Sivozhelez (Russia) 0.53


    The Most Errors Per Set:
    1. Aleksandar Atanasijevic (Serbia) 2.63
    2. Tsvetan Sokolov (Bulgaria) 2.05
    3. Ivan Zaytsev (Italy) 1.95
    4. Alexey Spiridonov (Russia) 1.76
    5. Evgeny Sivozhelez (Russia) 1.29

    Gold medal - World League 2013 Prediction Game
    Bronze medal - World League 2012 Prediction Game

    Sets played by teams:
    - Bulgaria 22
    - Italy 20
    - Serbia 19
    - Russia 17

    Gold medal - World League 2013 Prediction Game
    Bronze medal - World League 2012 Prediction Game

    Quote from powsoff



    Kaliberda has an annoying surname and so is harshly criticized :). In fact, he was good at both reception and defense. Nobody is perfect of course but I don't think that Kaliberda's technique should be a subject for criticism from the Bulgarian side. Compared to Penchev or Skrimov, Kaliberda is flawless :). As for the last game, Bulgaria targeted clearly Kaliberda with the service and did it really well as he conceded 7 aces. 52% in attack is OK for him as he attacks frequently on the moving block or hits pipe. Despite of his non-arian surname, Kaliberda seems to be a leader in this German team. I have heard that he used to captain the youth team too.


    What do you mean by that???
    There were some questionable serve receptions (besides those 7 errors), when he inexplicably chose to receive low float serve with pass, not underarm and it looked like he carried the ball.



    Quote from kuraf_veiga


    sivozelez gets blocked even against simple block all the time, in every match this ECH so far.... besides, his behaviour on court reminds me of giba and other brazilian players :aww:



    Hm, I haven't noticed anything. What exactly in his behavious reminds you of the brazilians?




    As always, excellent job Kondzio! :obey: surprise! surprise! Russia is doing well in reception. :thumbsup:

    I don't want to get more into yesterdays match, as i wasn't able to watch it.....

    Quote from powsoff

    I don't think that was a good tournament for Germany and the reason, I think, was absolutely wrong conditioning. They played a needlessly stellar first game and from that on it was going down, down, down. My feeling is that the quarter final was the objective of the German team, otherwise I can't explain this planning.

    Well your feeling is absolutely right 8) . The first goal of the team was getting out of the group stage. Just remember, that on last euros the team went out, not winning a match. Furthermore there were a lot of uncertainties before tournament. They started with 3 players in starting 6,who never ever played an international tournament before. Schoeps, who played all world league, got injured shortly before the euros and no one really knew how match fit Grozer really is.
    So I stay with saying, that under the given circumstances, it was a good tournament. There is still place for improvement, but the future doesn't look too bad. :wavy:

    Quote from volley17

    Hm, I haven't noticed anything. What exactly in his behavious reminds you of the brazilians?


    the way he reacts after being blocked ( he stands facing the oponnent player ) or committing an attack error ; when he blocks someone, or score in atack he just looks at the other team as he was superior

    Italy was not demon for Bulgaria until 2012 - in 2004-2011 we had 12-2 victories - losss against them, we started losing when Matey and Rado left the team.

    Quote from raylight

    Italy was not demon for Bulgaria until 2012 - in 2004-2011 we had 12-2 victories - losss against them, we started losing when Matey and Rado left the team.

    I must point out that Italy has changed too (e.g. they have Zaytsev now). In any case, I'm sure there will be no repeat of yet-another-crappy-loss-to-Italy for Bulgaria as they look by far more animated than before. Placi clearly gave carte blanche to Bratoev-the-setter hence his adventurous tips and lots of middle attack. Should be a good game.

    Quote from kuraf_veiga


    the way he reacts after being blocked ( he stands facing the oponnent player ) or committing an attack error ; when he blocks someone, or score in atack he just looks at the other team as he was superior

    Sivozhelez is a nice chap and not some kind of offender or provocateur, so no, his reaction is always very reserved. This fact of course doesn't make him a good player :). His only common feature with Giba is nice well-shaped musculature. My theory is that when Giba falls asleep, his soul travels around the world and sometimes, when reaching old Europe, mistakenly identifies Sivozhelez as its master body. Then, with Giba's help, Frankenstein Sivozhelez may give a brilliant performance, scoring points against any block and serving aces one after another. However, as the clock strikes midnight, Sivozhelez turns back into a pumpkin his usual self and... as I said before the genuine Sivozhelez has very little in common with Giba, apart from the body shape.


    This magical reincarnation normally happens in one game out of twenty, last time this was in the game vs Bulgaria where Sivo scored tons of points with good percentage against organized three-man block.

    Good evening from Copenhagen :) I am already there sightseeing and waiting for the weekend! Both Russian and Bulgarian NTs were waiting today on the neighbouring baggage claim lane, they travelled with the same flight from Gdansk at around noon time.


    I missed the epic Poland vs. Bulgarian game due to a practice (a volleyball one, so maybe I should be forgiven :)), but was online for the game against Germany. I was sure we would beat Germany after the drama with Poland. However, Bulgaria didn't show some remarkable volleyball, excluding Sokolov, but they had spirit and it's all that matters now, as powsoff already stated. I have the same feeling about us beating Italy on Saturday, but let's wait and see if they have learned their lesson.


    I have a slightly different opinion about Germany's failure yesterday. I think it's more psychological than technical, they have always had ups and downs in tournaments (at least recently). Especially valid about Grozer, who just cannot display his monster skills for, let's say, three games in a row. In my opinion, Germany had to start well and they had to use the chance of surprising Russia. I still believe Russians were not ready for that opening game, though. But then, even winning the group in a convincing manner and getting an extra day rest, Germany failed to keep their preliminary group momentum. It's not an easy task for Heynen, I agree he made some very weird choices, but overall I think Germany plays great with him as a coach. Just saying.

    The comparison between Kaliberda and Skrimov got my attention as well. What is it more that you see in Kaliberda, actually? If I am not mistaken, Skrimov jumps even higher, can also do the pipes just as effectively, serves way better (I don't know why Kaliberda stopped using his jump serve, I last saw him do it in Unterhaching) and is maybe a better blocker (disputable, but not worse for sure). In terms of reception both got distracted yesterday, to mention the game that started the comparison, but maybe for this component we have a tie. I would probably select Skrimov based on the above advantages. And yes, Kaliberda did indeed carry the ball like a basketball player several times.

    Quote from YavorD

    The comparison between Kaliberda and Skrimov got my attention as well. What is it more that you see in Kaliberda, actually? If I am not mistaken, Skrimov jumps even higher, can also do the pipes just as effectively, serves way better (I don't know why Kaliberda stopped using his jump serve, I last saw him do it in Unterhaching) and is maybe a better blocker (disputable, but not worse for sure). In terms of reception both got distracted yesterday, to mention the game that started the comparison, but maybe for this component we have a tie. I would probably select Skrimov based on the above advantages. And yes, Kaliberda did indeed carry the ball like a basketball player several times.

    Do agree, we both are biased in the choice between Skrimov - Kaliberda :)). One needs to see them playing side by side to be able to compare them well as German team is quite different to Bulgarian team.


    It is hard to compare the jump height and serve/block efficiency. None of the two is a super-jumper, ace-server or mega-blocker. Kaliberda is marginally taller so may have a small advantage. He also looks much stronger physically. Next, do have a look at Kaliberda's spiking technique. Very elaborate by the way, it looks like he is trying to hide his palm to prevent being kill-blocked. Kaliberda sees the pitch much better and he is definitely a more technical player.


    But these are of course particulars. My biggest problem with Skrimov is his "killer instinct" and leaderships skills, something that Kaliberda possesses for sure. I think we both would agree that Skrimov and Kaliberda play very different roles in their teams. Somehow I don't imagine that Russian NT identifies Skrimov as the main threat and assigns strictly two blockers for him, which they did for Kaliberda. I'm not saying Skrimov is hopeless - he has a perspective to develop into a key player in the Bulgarian NT. But Kaliberda looks already there to me, at the same age. (Let us also not forget that he is not native German, i.e. I'm sure that was not an easy way).


    Last but not the least is CV. I think Skrimov is again fairly modest here. Kaliberda had definitely more titles/medals, which matters a lot, remembering his role in the team.

    Quote from YavorD

    I have a slightly different opinion about Germany's failure yesterday. I think it's more psychological than technical, they have always had ups and downs in tournaments (at least recently). Especially valid about Grozer, who just cannot display his monster skills for, let's say, three games in a row. In my opinion, Germany had to start well and they had to use the chance of surprising Russia. I still believe Russians were not ready for that opening game, though. But then, even winning the group in a convincing manner and getting an extra day rest, Germany failed to keep their preliminary group momentum. It's not an easy task for Heynen, I agree he made some very weird choices, but overall I think Germany plays great with him as a coach. Just saying.

    Heynen made the German team less predictable, this is for sure. Of the games at this ECH, Russia looked prepared only for Bulgaria. All other games felt seriously impromptu, the most notable example being incorrect positioning of the block against the French left-handed OH ("Oh, look at that, he always hits with his left - very unusual, who is this guy?" :))).

    Skrimov is far better receiver and defender than Kaliberda and he is the reason why Bulgaria spiked so many balls in the middle in the first match with Germany. Kaliberda is better in the offensive part and is leader.

    Quote from powsoff

    .... My theory is that when Giba falls asleep, his soul travels around the world and sometimes, when reaching old Europe, mistakenly identifies Sivozhelez as its master body. Then, with Giba's help, Frankenstein Sivozhelez may give a brilliant performance, scoring points against any block and serving aces one after another. However, as the clock strikes midnight, Sivozhelez turns back into a pumpkin his usual self and...

    Great stuff :lol: :P :obey:
    Next days i will fall asleep, hoping De Ceccos ghost is coming over me. Just for one day. (My body doesn't exactly looks like his, but anyway.....)