Men's World Grand Champions Cup 2017

  • Choke is always possible as potential can't be fullfiled on every tournament. :teach: But this team will be ready to explode in Tokyo ;) ofc along Italy and USA :olympia:


    And do u think Brazil will not be a contender for 2020? :white:, all these teams that you mentioned has a lot of work to do to get even close to Brazil`s level. One thing that Brazil has and no other team has in consistency. Brazil has reached the Final of every single major tournament since 2002.

  • And do u think Brazil will not be a contender for 2020? :white:, all these teams that you mentioned has a lot of work to do to get even close to Brazil`s level. One thing that Brazil has and no other team has in consistency. Brazil has reached the Final of every single major tournament since 2002.

    Yes Brazil has been very consistent indeed, but they did not get top 4 in 2015 World League though the Final 6 was held in Brazil.

  • Yes Brazil has been very consistent indeed, but they did not get top 4 in 2015 World League though the Final 6 was held in Brazil.


    That`s true, they failed that year. But when I said "major tournaments" I meant to include only Olympics and World Championship. There`s also the World Cup, but that is round-robin system, which means there`s no pressure of playing semis and finals, and Brazil finished 3rd in 2011, and of course they did not compete in 2015.


    But yeah, if we were to include the World League and Champions Cup, this would make Brazil even more consistent, especially if we compare than to others.

  • I simply think Kaziyski – for all the things you mentioned – took for granted that Brazil will be one of the major contender in Tokyo (as in every tournament, actually!).
    After all, he was speaking about team that 'will be ready to explode in Tokyo'. Brazil is already ready :P
    While this Italy (and this France) aren't 'OG ready' right now.


    On the other hand the USA except for Lee have the same titulars of the OG, so I would consider them 'already ready' as well. Even if they too have interesting youngs emerging, it's not impossible that the titulars will be mostly the same in Tokyo, imho.

  • I simply think Kaziyski – for all the things you mentioned – took for granted that Brazil will be one of the major contender in Tokyo (as in every tournament, actually!).
    After all, he was speaking about team that 'will be ready to explode in Tokyo'. Brazil is already ready :P
    While this Italy (and this France) aren't 'OG ready' right now.


    On the other hand the USA except for Lee has the same titulars of the OG, so I would consider them 'already ready' as well. Even if they too have interesting youngs emerging.


    Good Point. I also would include, besides Russia, Serbia/Belgium and Poland on the race to Tokyo among the European Teams.

  • Stats highlights before the last set of games:


    Best Scorer #1 Vettori 81pts He's been the go-to scorer the last 2 games
    Best Spiker #1 Anderson His efficiency vs BRA is way up high to those who watched the game
    Best Blocker #1 Chinenyeze Most stable of FRA roster. #s 2 and 3 are Piano and Mazzone, so...
    Best Server #1 Anderson Again, Mr. Anderson racked up pts yesterday especially at the last stretch to win the 2nd set
    Best Setter #1 Gianneli #s 5 and 6 are Bruno and Toniutti. Well...
    Best Digger #1 Satoshi No surprise. Tillie is #5 overall mind you :)
    Best Receiver #1 Rossard This is surprising at least to me who have watched all the games. Didn't even notice


    Based from FIVB site as of today

  • ITA 2 sets up to none. Just wow! The passing unit is flawless the 1st 2 sets. MBs are blocking at will. Mazzone is firing in all cylinders. USA seems a bit lost. Changed starters twice. Shoji is now the main setter. Sander is yet to be field in. Is he injured?

  • Congrats ITA! What a game. USA has not played their usual selves. ITA took advantage of their situation and stood their ground. Guaranteed of silver who would have thought :-)

  • Congrats ITA! What a game. USA has not played their usual selves. ITA took advantage of their situation and stood their ground. Guaranteed of silver who would have thought :-)

    Yes. Disastrous WL (finished dead last in Group 1) and ECH (eliminated by Belgium in the quarterfinal). Congrats to Italy. Their middles play very well

  • Sander is yet to be field in. Is he injured?


    Didn't he play the first set?



    I hate how psychology works for and against Italy according to the team they play against: one day we are Brazil's pigeon, the other we play the US like it's the easiest thing in the world.


    So true, at least in this tournament. I thought the same even before this match started, since I didn't like our game very much vs Japan and France (somehow I did prefer how we played vs Iran, not considering the serve...)



    Oh well, a medal to save this disaster season. If only had we won that match against Iran it could have been a gold, but still a better tournament than expected


    Yeah, I was thinking the same! And also if USA would have won the tie break vs Brazil...
    I would gladly change this medal with a victory vs Belgium in the quarterfinal, but since it's not possible I'm gonna celebrate for it :D



    Their middles play very well


    That's something you don't expect to hear when speaking about Italian NT :lol: (but I agree that they did good today)

  • When Lanza plays a tournament like this, nobody can beat Italy, only Brazil can, but this time they beat Brazil and lost for Iran... And they don`t even need Zaytsev,Juantorena,Bira or Butti.


    But when Zaytsev and if Juantorena/Bira comes back and Lanza plays like this, only Brazil can beat team.


    Is Juantorena coming back for the WCH?


    I think Gianelli should win best setter, Lanza best OH, and Piano or Mazzone best MB>


    I was really impressed with Mazzone`s spikes.

  • YEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! :woohoo: :dance6:
    I watched the match with around 20 minutes of delay but still 'live' for me, so I couldn't come here to comment to avoid spoilers :P


    I'm very happy for the victory, USA played this tournament very well so I knew we had a tough match ahed, but somehow I was positive about it because it's a long while USA doesn't won crucial matches vs us (and now that I said it they will eliminate us from the next WCh for sure :lol: ) plus, as vabo said, we were often adjusting our level to the opponents, so I was hoping we could play well since USA do.


    Anyway, we are really good in winning the final match when it's not a true final :lol: Too bad that's never enough to grab the gold (I'm thinking of the 2015 WC, ofc).
    Still, since we don't win a gold since 2005, I'm not sure I wanted to 'waste' a gold in this tournament and wait another 12 years for another one xD
    [Yes, I'm taking for granted Brazil will won by 3 vs Japan, but Japan is very welcome to prove me wrong :rolll: ]



    The first set was probably the best we play in the whole competition, imho. Even when the USA came back, it was for their merits and not for our demerits.
    I loved how we stepped up at the end of this set and of the second.


    On the other hand, from the service line we wasted our chances to close the gap in the third (2 serve mistakes in a row when we where -1 to help them maintain the gap), but at the end we were very close to reopen the set with two very good serve by Vettori: too bad we couldn't use the free ball we earned at 23-24 (good job by USA in block-defense and counterattack).


    That last set was KILLING me, also because I knew that an eventual 3-2 loss wasn't enough to stay in the podium in case of a 3 points victory by Iran.
    We wasted tons of serve at the end giving USA set point after set point; finally, we could make the crucial break when our worst serve (Piano) was at the 9 meters line, how ironic. Putting the ball in was enough, after all (and thanks USA for the gift :flower: ).


    Beside the fact we made many errors from the service line fro a certain point, and probably beside the fact Vettori wasn't involved enough in the game, I liked our game.
    Finally we remembered we can block-defense too (may be not as well as USA, but well enough...)



    Few casual comments:
    - I'm not sure I've ever seen a one-hand "seven" (the MB attack almost in zone 4) from him, it was simply lovely. :heart:
    - Since when Christenson is left handed?? :white: I don't remember seeing him spike with the left hand from the net, but in this tournament I saw it twice in one match and a half I watched by USA! :box:
    - Today it was the first break point Italy achieved with Spirito serving. And it was the luckiest ace ever :lol: (the commentator couldn't believe it!). I'm pretty sure he gained a break point only once also during the ECh, and also that time it was an ace with the ball touching the net. But then we did another point, for the record.
    - I'm so glad we will have Sohji (Eric) in Italy, too bad he isn't playing in a top team, but Latina has an interesting team this year.
    - 35 errors vs 41 by USA, I'm not sure if being happy for making less mistakes than them or pissed because we made a lot of mistakes anyway :P



    Last argument: now that we grab a sliver (at least), some Italian players will "have" to receive an award.
    But, I really can't see who can be awarded... I'm not sure we actually have a player that played better than 1/2 opponents players, to be truthful.


    For the moment, I would to see Chinenyeze awarded but I guess it may also depend on France position in the final standings...
    One thing is sure, anyway: if they want to award someone from Japan, it will be the libero :rolll:

  • OMG I hadn't realized how long was the previous post :lol: Sorry :rolll:


    Is Juantorena coming back for the WCH?


    I said he is available if the team wants him.
    I guess he will, presenting to the home WCh without him can be very risky. It will also depend on his condition, Kovar (but I don't think he will be back) and Zaytsev presence/role (plus Giannelli-Vettori intesa).



    I think Gianelli should win best setter, Lanza best OH, and Piano or Mazzone best MB>


    Oh I'm glad to hear it, I hadn't read it yet when I wrote the previous post. I was thinking about the same players, but again, not sure there aren't 1/2 players that played better. Anyway, the stats put Mazzone quite high, so that's may be a factor.



    It's Jaeschke who played in the first set.


    OMG how could I not notice that? :lol:



    I don't think we stopped the middles even once today. so yeah


    I may remember a moment when I thought 'this is the first time Mazzone is blocked (or whatever)', so I guess you're (almost) right, that was my overall impression too.

  • I don't think we stopped the middles even once today. so yeah :super:


    For the record, Mazzone spiked with 60%, 1 faults (that in FIVB can mean also blocked, not only direct errors..), 9 points on 15 attempts.
    Piano 5 kills on 11 spikes (45%), 2 faults.


    Best % for Lanza and Patch, 59%, followed by Antonov 55% (or better, best % among the top scorers: FIVB gives only the % of top 3 spiker scorer of each team, I didn't calculate the others except for our MBs).



    @rdfabio
    I'm not saying in Italy nobody deserve the award, but that I'm not sure there is someone that specifically deserves it more than others players, since the competition is tough (especially for the setter, imho – all the top 4 have an amazing setter) ;)
    Well, thinking about it better, may be Lucarelli and Lanza can honestly work as best OH duo.