it's obviously lang ping's goal to build a tall chinese team over the years.
china never lack tall players but they used to be less athletic.
the scary thing is the younger generation of chinese is getting more athletic and stronger.
you can see it from the progress they made in track & field and swimming etc.
and RUS was always for so many years the great example of tall but un-athletic players, not only in volleyball but also basketball...
Is it me or the level of the teams are decreasing? I know most of them are not playig with full team or playing 100% of their tactical abilities but 80% of the match from Group 1 are boring. The only good match I watched was Brazil VS Italy and China VS USA, and those are like 70-80% of good.
Russia might be a strong team, but they are very boring to watch. Goncharova gets 70% of the ball and her setter is so predictable I wonder how their opponents couldn't set up proper block against Russia. And their MBs (Fetisova excluded) are like non-existent.
Brazil is in danger tbh. Sheilla is no longer a scoring machine. Thaisa lose her jumping height I believe. Fe Garay still struggle against higher block. Only Natalia perform slightly better and Dani Lins is amazing. Tandara is completely out of shape. Brazil is running out of Opp. At least Mari is a dynamic hitter on the Opp. And it seems like that other libero Leia performs good.
I am hoping for a much better action on the following weeks.
Please people must forget the existence of Mari in the NT
i'm no expert nor a doctor, but to think that meldonium doesn't help the athlete seems quite incredible. if that was the case, then why would so many athletes take it? i read a heart doctor in the news who said, there's no reason for any healthy, young person to be taking this drug. so i don't really think it's so innocent that so many russian athletes were taking it.
I absolutely agree! Maybe there is no scientific prove that it helps, but as many things in medicine are not proven, just some theories..
Of course. At the very least Sharapova believed it helped her, otherwise she would not have gone out of her way to take it for years while keeping it a secret. Clearly she didn't think of it as vitamin C or whatever.
As for the level of this year's GP, it's normal. Everyone has much bigger things on their mind. The Olympics are coming up and no team wants to peak too soon or reveal all its cards. By the mid-August, no one will ever remember who won the Grand Prix 2016.
Brazil played the Grand Prix 2008 and the Olympics 2008 with the same roster and same game plan...
They played also the 2012 Grand Prix and 2012 Olympics with the same roster and same game plan...
and this applies to all other competitions...
And that`s why they have won so much...they give their all in every single competion..without playing this BS that a lot of teams does, in resting players, playing with B team and so on...
Ze Roberto gave a interview a while back saying that Brazil trains and plays more than any other team in the World, and that is the reason they have been more consistent than any other team out there...
And I dont like Brazil at all...I rather see anybody else winning besides them, but when they win, is hard to complaing because hard work pays off, while the other teams plays that same crap of resting players, injured players etc etc...When you are the best you should have nothing to hide or worry about.
In 2012 USA sent their B team for the finals and China did same thing in 2014 at the GP...and both came up short at the final (OG and WCH)...
Of course. At the very least Sharapova believed it helped her, otherwise she would not have gone out of her way to take it for years while keeping it a secret. Clearly she didn't think of it as vitamin C or whatever.
As for the level of this year's GP, it's normal. Everyone has much bigger things on their mind. The Olympics are coming up and no team wants to peak too soon or reveal all its cards. By the mid-August, no one will ever remember who won the Grand Prix 2016.
i'm no expert nor a doctor, but to think that meldonium doesn't help the athlete seems quite incredible. if that was the case, then why would so many athletes take it? i read a heart doctor in the news who said, there's no reason for any healthy, young person to be taking this drug. so i don't really think it's so innocent that so many russian athletes were taking it.
I understand what you mean. It looks mighty suspicious right? Initially I thought so too. some of the Russians I know say they believe it is cardio-protective as I mentioned. It gained even more widespread use after the death of a young hockey player.(i'll try to dig up that article). And it has been in existence for 30 yrs and is used by everyone from young to old and is available over the counter, like our L-carnitine which is a similar class of drug to meldonium and is legal. Perhaps it is cultural like how the Chinese part of my family believes chicken essence is the answer to everything 
Yes it does also claim to improve recovery time and fatigue by dilating blood vessels and improving blood flow. It doesn't build up muscles or add strength. There are many methods which are still legal like ice baths to the oxygen chambers. And if Dick Pound has his way he wants them to be banned in the future too. Everything that athletes take or do have perceived benefits, whether it is a placebo effect or true benefits is for science to prove. In medicine, when we put things in guidelines, there must be a level of evidence from I to IV. I only wish WADA will do the same.
Of course. At the very least Sharapova believed it helped her, otherwise she would not have gone out of her way to take it for years while keeping it a secret. Clearly she didn't think of it as vitamin C or whatever.
Of course she believed that. Every athlete does something which they perceive will help them and even vitamin C helps so maybe it will be banned someday too. However she was found not guilty of intentional doping by ITF tribunal. Plus she also didn't declare 2 other supplements either. She did ask the Moscow lab in 2010 and was told meldonium was legal and didn't bother to recheck again. If it is supposed to improve her performance then she should sue as the only 2 times she beat Serena Williams was without Meldonium 
Kosheleva didn't have an achilles injury, it was an ankle sprain. Though that took unusually long to heal...
Really? thanks. That's a relief. My Russian is bad so I thought I read that she initially just had a partially torn ligament or tendon but it was completely torn/rupture. But this is unusually long for a simple sprain. Must be a ligament tear then.
I don't think we can read too much into the level of performance this WGP. Different players and combinations will be tried out by the Rio-bound teams so this is all experimenting here and there. But I don't agree with sending B teams. Like how is that supposed to help the preparations?
China seems to be most ready at the moment. They are scarily good. I worry for Russia and USA. Russia needs to sort their setters out. The setter fiasco against turkey was terrible, from Pankova to Startseva to Sheshenina and back to Pankova in the end 
By the way, can anyone tell me how I can get tickets for the finals in Bangkok? Is it possible to get them from the stadium as the online system seems sold out? They sold out within a day!
i think it's too early for all these prognostications of "this team is OUT!" we never know what will happen once the OG begin. yes, USA and BRA don't look at 100% yet but who is at 100% 2 months before the games? and if they are, then they are gonna be in trouble.
remember 2008, how scary the cubans looked, they won their group beating USA and CHN, then they collapsed in semis and bronze medal match. yanelis santos, who had been a scoring matching with her serve, couldn't get one in, it was pathetic. BRA was the favorite then but they had never won an international major yet and who knew how they would hold up in the final, and only the US collapsing in the final made it easier for BRA to get their first gold. if US had kept their nerves, it would have been a much tighter match.
in 2012, who would have predicted JPN and KOR in semis? CHN had beaten JPN what, 9 times of 10, then JPN rose to the occasion and beat CHN. and who would have predicted BRA struggling and finishing 4th in their group, close to elimination in group play, and then in QF against RUS???? oh my, that was such a crazy match, i'm sure to this day, RUSsians are still mad at that match!!!!!!!!! so many heart attacks from spectators that day!
Some Chinese are still heartbroken to this day at the JPN-CHN quarterfinal.
Coincidentally Lang Ping, the current coach of the Chinese NT, was the TV commentator back then and she shed some tears in the post-match interview.
in 2012, who would have predicted JPN and KOR in semis? CHN had beaten JPN what, 9 times of 10, then JPN rose to the occasion and beat CHN. and who would have predicted BRA struggling and finishing 4th in their group, close to elimination in group play, and then in QF against RUS???? oh my, that was such a crazy match, i'm sure to this day, RUSsians are still mad at that match!!!!!!!!! so many heart attacks from spectators that day!
Some Chinese are still heartbroken to this day at the JPN-CHN quarterfinal.
Coincidentally Lang Ping, the current coach of the Chinese NT, was the TV commentator back then and she shed some tears in the post-match interview.
Yeah, it's one of the lowest points of the Chinese women's volleyball in the modern era...I happened to watch the match in TV, back at that period the CHN NT was not-so-bright team indeed, made of the rather overweight Wang Yi-mei as the main hitter...
However, such big failure also made possible the thorough introspection, some possibly difficult decisions and a drastic restructuring of the system... made possible the second time reunion of Lang Ping as the head coach in 2013. And the rest is history incl. the ones under making...
Please people must forget the existence of Mari in the NT
IKR. She might not be who she used to be, but at least I think she is better than Tandara - especially now that Tandara is extremely out of shape while Mari is bringing the house down on the Indonesian Superliga. Plus, Mari can be a receiving Opp if receiving seems shaky.
Display MoreBrazil played the Grand Prix 2008 and the Olympics 2008 with the same roster and same game plan...
They played also the 2012 Grand Prix and 2012 Olympics with the same roster and same game plan...
and this applies to all other competitions...
And that`s why they have won so much...they give their all in every single competion..without playing this BS that a lot of teams does, in resting players, playing with B team and so on...
Ze Roberto gave a interview a while back saying that Brazil trains and plays more than any other team in the World, and that is the reason they have been more consistent than any other team out there...
And I dont like Brazil at all...I rather see anybody else winning besides them, but when they win, is hard to complaing because hard work pays off, while the other teams plays that same crap of resting players, injured players etc etc...When you are the best you should have nothing to hide or worry about.
In 2012 USA sent their B team for the finals and China did same thing in 2014 at the GP...and both came up short at the final (OG and WCH)...
Agreed. People have been babbling and whining about how Coach Ze is ruining the team because the all-star team got most of the time on court but I think it is a very clever decision. These players played so many games, encountered so many types of tactical plays and different styles of players, that is why they are so easily adapt to different kind of game plays and very consistent. If you wanna be the best, you gotta put your team out there as much as possible to test the water.
Group 2 Semi-Finals:
Bulgaria - Poland
Dominican Republic - Puerto Rico
Who will be Winner?
I hope Puerto Rico will make suprise.
FIVB.. I thought 1st Team from Ranking plays with 4th Team but here 1st with 2nd and 3rd Host with 4th.. the same in Group 3..
PR is mentally weak when they face Dominican Republic, they always lose, no matter what. I hope this is thier momentum to break this curse.
I find overall PR better than DR since last year.
FIVB.. I thought 1st Team from Ranking plays with 4th Team but here 1st with 2nd and 3rd Host with 4th.. the same in Group 3..
they always put host NT as #1
IKR. She might not be who she used to be, but at least I think she is better than Tandara - especially now that Tandara is extremely out of shape while Mari is bringing the house down on the Indonesian Superliga. Plus, Mari can be a receiving Opp if receiving seems shaky.
Much surprise to read that the BRA player: Marianne Steinbrecher aka. Mari and the USA player: Logan Tom are both playing in INA league (in fact they're teammate there). Sound to me like the terminal stage of their volleyball career for the competition quality in INA league is pretty low, even in the SEA Games INA is not competitive. It seems they wanna enjoy easy lives and less intense workplace 
