European Championship 2017 Azerbaijan&Georgia

  • Congrat SRB, NED, TUR :rose:


    I would like to congratulate our girls,also. At least they gave signals of coming back to international arena.


    Sometimes, I think AZE on purpose lose to TUR considering Faig Garayev connection with TUR federation.
    I mean how can you substitue Samadova with Bayramova? How can you receive with Mammadova and Bayramova. In the first match, the team started with them, but even HUN made easily points. I think it was wrong decision to substitute Samadova, maybe we could play with Bayramova and Samadova.


    What about setter Habibova? She didn't play all the tournament, how can you gave her chance in the most important match? She was not doing well, why not substitute her with Yagubova? Faiq Garayev already gave up in the 3rd set :wall:


    Probably, it was Valeriya Mammadova's last match in the NT. I'm happy she finished with award :heart:

  • I guess what happened to Azeri girls is the same that happened to Poland in ECH 2007 when they were clear favourites and they were playing amazing but in the semis they lost to Serbia 0-3 after trashing Serbia in group phase 3-0. And in 3rd place match against Russia they were just absent on the court and probably they couldn't believe what happened day before. They just lost this match 0-3 without any fight.


    I don't think Azerbeijan was favourite to win gold or sth but they had a chance to be in the final at least and it is just psychology :whistle: Also probably they were supposed to get some big rewards from federation for medal as in EG 2015...


  • single legged back row attack ? 8|
    i havent seen those vids...can you send me the video link of those attacks.
    i have watced both players in Turkish league..Zhu was not that great against Galatasaray and Boşkoviç not great against Fenerbahçe either at semi finals..
    i think i will watch them better this season and by the end of the Turkish league season i can better talk about their weak and strong points
    anyway,two very good players..Chine and Serbia are lucky countries to have them

    Here is the back row attack series of zhuting in Turkish league and Champions league 2016-2017 from chinese video website. Which one you like most?
    I like the one in champions league Vs German Desrden? Naz sets ball to Slotejes but not with enough power,


    zhuting jumps from the backrow and makes a unbelievable back row attack.(at4:00-5:00 of the following video link)


    "Single legged back row attack" is at last minute of the following video link!


    I can not wait to see more in the coming season!!


    https://www.bilibili.com/video/av11036795/


    btw, Zhuting is the only outside hitter, which has about 55% successful rate in turkish league , Only four middle blockers have higher attack rate.
    Here is the link of efficiency and succesful attack rate in turkish league. You also can check the data in Champions leauge. She is also No.1 at attack efficiency!


    http://tvf-web.dataproject.com/CompetitionHome.aspx?ID=19


    http://www.cev.lu/Competition-Area/Statistics.aspx?ID=968

  • I think she is far from the best slider in the world but overall she must be one of the best middle blockers, there are very very few middle blockers in the world having both blocking and attacking abilities among the best in the world.

    I agree! I think Robin and Akinradewo are better sliders than Eda but Eda is probably one of the most complete MBs in the world considering how good a blocker she is also. I would actually say Sinead Jack is pretty underrated thinking how a monster she can be with a good set when she slides. Her blocking is also far better than Robin for example.

  • Both Sloetjes and Dijkema say on Dutch TV they don't deserve the spot in Allstar-Team :)

  • i don't know, nati, i have no idea what the connection is between the AZE coach and TUR federation, but i watched the two matches of AZE (semi and 3rd place match), and AZE is really not that impressive other than rahimova's cannon.


    samadova could not kill the ball so she was substituted by bayramova, who came in and had several kills. she's not a great player but she kept AZE alive for a while against the NED.


    i saw many matches of AZE in the 2014 WCh and while they have improved somewhat, they still lack a lot of good, basic skills (passing, defense, setting, blocking, transition play etc.). natalya mammadova in spite of her height gets blocked a lot and often can't kill the ball (she was substituted by samadova later in the match against TUR). rahimova can't block in spite of her height (gozde kirdar went up several times against her in the 3rd set and tooled her every time). the team is disorganized and can't pass the ball. all the setter can do is set high balls to rahimova.


    if they were not at home, they would not finish 4th. let's see how they do in the WCh next year. i doubt they'll be in the top 10.


  • I agree yeah.. Bayramova coming in was the right decision since in the semifinal against the NED she had a big role in Azerbaijan's comeback..

  • Here is my two cents on the Zhu vs. Boskovic comparison.


    Both are phenomenal players that come once in a generation. They are in a different league from anybody else. Both are dominant on the net with tremendous spiking skill and great blocking skill, and both are average on the defensive side (understandable given their size).


    That being said, there are subtle differences between the two. Boskovic plays in the prototypical European opposite style that takes a long approach from outside, and generates tremendous power and speed with a forward jump and full swing. She is most lethal when spiking the ball away from the net so she can choose many angles to attack. That way she is less reliant on the height of spike, rather relying hitting different angles to beat her blocks and strength of the spike to make back row defense near impossible (of course she can still hit over the block if it is not tall enough). For her, keeping the ball in bound and not making too many errors is most crucial and she has improved a lot recently. By comparison, Egonu plays in a similar style but is still very error prone.


    As for Zhu Ting, I have never seen a woman player so naturally gifted in playing volleyball. Her attacking approach is unorthodox by European standards, as she usually starts much closer to the net and takes a couple of small steps to adjust her position before generating an extremely fast spike with her forearm and wrist (BTW, this style also makes it easier for her to attack after reception). She has an uncanny ability to hit the ball at her full jump. She prefers balls closer to net as she can usually hit over most blocks. She is also a more instinctive attacker in my opinion, often choosing the best attack approach almost by reflex. The biggest difference, however, is Zhu plays outside hitter position and and is an important receiver in her team. The impact of not having Zhu in the Chinese team is bigger than that of not having Boskovic in the Serbian team.


    Since Boskovic is a younger player, there is a possibility that she can be better than Zhu in the future. But for now, I think Zhu is a slightly more complete player and more important to her team.

  • i cant understand how much more Boşkoviç should be better in the future ? she is already a very good OPP..what does she miss in her game so that she can improve on in the future ? jumping 4 meters or spiking harder or collecting 75 points on her own in a match or what ?


    i dont think Boşkoviç could be any better than this in her attack this could be her best and this is both good and bad bcz volleyballikers will always demand from her more.... if she can play the game she played aginst Tur,Ned against Chi,Bra and usa than thats enough!
    maybe she can improve her defence or be more consistent on serving


    the same for Zhu...i dont think she can be better than this as attacker..these two players are at their best at such a young age.this could be both advantage or disadvantage!
    both Zhu and Boşko should try to stay on this level avoding injuries taking well care of themselves etc..


    however Paola Egonu could improve in the future bcz she makes more errors than she should for high level

  • There will be a big battle between Boscovic and Egonu in the future, they play the same position. Zhuting's club contract is 1.35 million euro now(highest ever). If zhuting's level drops or other stars worth more than Zhuting in the future, I think the club will pay other players. Pro volleyball is very cruel. Potential Market,Gold medal, Domestic and international Cups are everything for the club. :teach:

  • Nati it's quite pathetic to think Azerbaijan lost the match on purpose just because the Azeri coach works in Turkey 8| Azerbaijan still lacks a lot and just because they beat the teams in a rather weaker group they won't become champion. I only thought they were impressive in the NED match and huge part of that was bcs of Bayramova like many mentioned. Samadova played bad got substituted, pretty simple logic if you ask me and Bayramova was far from 'the problem'. And it's not even like Azerbaijan used to beat Turkey before this so I don't understand why you're so shocked. I can't remember a single time they did actually.

  • I actually think that Azerbaijan could win against Netherlands if they had a better coach. He was quite passive in important moments and didnt take the risks on time. It was pretty clear already in the beginning of the match that Samadova was causing problems and Bayramova should have been in much longer. Same with Mammadova, she contributed alot in attacking against Netherlands but against Turkey, she did nothing. I wonder what was so hard for Faig to think that Samadova-Bayramova duo could work better with better receiving and balanced attacking. I really didnt like the Azeri setter, they sure could afford a better one. All that was expected from her was giving decent placed, high sets but she was very inconsistent. They also need a solid MB, Poznyak is not enough for this level and Hasanova's serves are like a joke.


    I was actually thinking why volleyball never grew in Azberbaijan despite all the efforts they put. I mean that would be excellent for an Azeri girl to join a team like this with some stars, although most of them are paid transfers. I know football is not a big sport in Azerbaijan either, neither Basketball. Which sport do they really invest? :?:

  • I actually think that Azerbaijan could win against Netherlands if they had a better coach. He was quite passive in important moments and didnt take the risks on time. It was pretty clear already in the beginning of the match that Samadova was causing problems and Bayramova should have been in much longer. Same with Mammadova, she contributed alot in attacking against Netherlands but against Turkey, she did nothing. I wonder what was so hard for Faig to think that Samadova-Bayramova duo could work better with better receiving and balanced attacking. I really didnt like the Azeri setter, they sure could afford a better one. All that was expected from her was giving decent placed, high sets but she was very inconsistent. They also need a solid MB, Poznyak is not enough for this level and Hasanova's serves are like a joke.


    I was actually thinking why volleyball never grew in Azberbaijan despite all the efforts they put. I mean that would be excellent for an Azeri girl to join a team like this with some stars, although most of them are paid transfers. I know football is not a big sport in Azerbaijan either, neither Basketball. Which sport do they really invest? :?:


    maybe wrestling

  • Wrestling, judo, boxing, weight lifting. But a lot of their best athletes in those sports are also imports from ex-USSR. They've also imported some African runners.
    The biggest irony of all is that they actually had a world class native athlete in Ramil Guliyev, who is now the world champion in 200 m, but is representing Turkey. :lol:

  • What about setter Habibova? She didn't play all the tournament, how can you gave her chance in the most important match? She was not doing well, why not substitute her with Yagubova? Faiq Garayev already gave up in the 3rd set :wall:


    I just watched the semifinals. In my opinion, she played really bad. Rahimova was getting some awful sets from her and still killing. Azerbaijan would stand a chance against Netherlands with another setter. Many counter-atacks wasted cause of her sets and it's not the case she was busy thinking who's gotta getting that. :lol: