2016 FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix

Natasha time

Malykh hits ten times better at zone 2 and she likes fast balls. I hope to see more attacks from the middle.

Goncharova's attacks + Zaryazhko's blocks = story of the match for Russia.

Quote from USAvolleyfan

I can't believe USA had so much trouble against Germany, and even lost a set... I haven't watched the game, I wait for the replay to see what their problem was.. I am still not too worried because Olympics are far away but they haven't done anything great since their WCH gold.. They did win the 2015 WGP, but neither China nor Brazil were with their full A team..Were the favorites for the WC and came up short to Serbia and Russia.. Weren't so great at their continential qualifiers since they lost sets to Puerto Rico and played tight in the other matches.. Now this is their first major tournament and they don't look promising..
However we still have 2 months till the Olympics so I hope they can improve

I agree. Its not as fun to watch USA anymore. I think one of the problems is the second OH. Larson is outstanding, she has great abilities in all over the court but both Hill and Robinson are not sufficient. Hill is just a piece of a puzzle and Robinson has troubles to kill the ball even where there is no block at all (I think this happened 2-3 times today). Same for US opposites, noone really looks like she will kill the ball. Sets in general are forcing hitters to hit blindly, they just pound it as hard as they can and simply gives no time for them to think where they should hit. I also find US middles not as efficient in attacking any longer, except Adams today. Karch needs to find a way to increase the team's attacking ratio because they will need much better numbers against stronger teams.

Where is Kitipova and that famous middle blocker?

Quote from USAvolleyfan

I can't believe USA had so much trouble against Germany, and even lost a set... I haven't watched the game, I wait for the replay to see what their problem was.. I am still not too worried because Olympics are far away but they haven't done anything great since their WCH gold.. They did win the 2015 WGP, but neither China nor Brazil were with their full A team..Were the favorites for the WC and came up short to Serbia and Russia.. Weren't so great at their continential qualifiers since they lost sets to Puerto Rico and played tight in the other matches.. Now this is their first major tournament and they don't look promising..
However we still have 2 months till the Olympics so I hope they can improve

Don't underestimate Germanys team, although this competition in their current composition is rather hard for them. They have several good servers, a very experienced and strong libera (Dürr), several decent centrals and solid receivers, alongside with some not too bad attackers. That they couldn't get any point so far is also a result of a bad draw for them and the general high level of WGP. And all German players have learned in recent years to fight for every ball until last point, regardless what happened before, because Bundesliga (Germany first league) became a really tough environment now. And finally they could learn a lot from last game just one week before against team USA, when those played with nearly the same roster (just replaced Alexis Crimes with Rachael Adams so far I know). Don't underestimate the extensive game and video analysis carried out by German staff too.

Quote from StefanS

Don't underestimate Germanys team, although this competition in their current composition is rather hard for them. They have several good servers, a very experienced and strong libera (Dürr), several decent centrals and solid receivers, alongside with some not too bad attackers. That they couldn't get any point so far is also a result of a bad draw for them and the general high level of WGP. And all German players have learned in recent years to fight for every ball until last point, regardless what happened before, because Bundesliga (Germany first league) became a really tough environment now.

Ich stimme dir absolut zu.

Quote from Sidney

Where is Kitipova and that famous middle blocker?

Kitipova is on bench because Barakova is better than her by now, "that famous middle blocker" aka Strashi Filipova is pregnant.

Quote from Matthias

Quoted from "Sidney"

Where is Kitipova and that famous middle blocker?
Kitipova is on bench because Barakova is better than her by now, "that famous middle blocker" aka Strashi Filipova is pregnant.

thanks. And is Elitsa on the bench? Looking at the stats, she is, but I thought she was injuried.

I'm in shock that Poland won end of the set.

Quote from Matthias

Kitipova is on bench because Barakova is better than her by now, "that famous middle blocker" aka Strashi Filipova is pregnant.

Kitipova was setter in Stuttgart some years ago and although she was very good in this, she was somewhat difficult to handle for staff and the other players. This may contribute too to less times on court than you would expect only due to technical and tactical skills of hers.

Strashimira Filipova was last playing for Lokomotiv Baku and due to the downgrade development in Baku/Azerbeidchan she may have decided, that this is the right time getting pregnant?

Quote from rbdfabio

About South Korea, I don`t know which year it was, (MAYBE 2014)Korea withdrew from the Grand Prix, I guess after that they lost their spot, but I dont know why they are not on the 3rd divison yet..

South Korea was absent in WGP 2015.

I don't know how many Dimitrovas exist in Bulgaria but this girl with number 3 is impressive.

Quote from Sidney

And is Elitsa on the bench? Looking at the stats, she is, but I thought she was injuried.

I thought so too, as far as I remember she was supposed to have a knee surgery after club season. But she is there and also dressed for the match, so probably she's recovering well.

Poland is playing better..who is this number 18 from polish team dear polish users ?

Quote from Canter

Poland is playing better..who is this number 18 from polish team dear polish users ?

It's Emilia Mucha from BKS Bielsko-Biała. We're still far away from top europen teams.

Quote from Loyd

It's Emilia Mucha from BKS Bielsko-Biała. We're still far away from top europen teams.

is she good or bad in polish league ?

Quote from Canter

is she good or bad in polish league ?

Everybody knows that NT coaches preferably invite BAD league players to NT

Quote from Emil

Ich stimme dir absolut zu.

Seriously, are we saying this german team is good? Besides, comparing with US? Frankly, Belgium and Germany are the worst teams of division 1 so far but Belgium has at least some consistency. I really can't come up with 1 single german player that is doing an excellent job so far. Don't misunderstand me, I'm sure with Kozuch, their real setter, Geerties and such, I'm sure they are a much better team. But right now, unless their opponents stop playing (which happened with US), there is no chance for the German team to win a single set. Bad receiving, weak attacks, inconsistent setting, no block/defense harmony and no contribution from MBs. I'm sure the staff are doing an excellent job, otherwise we would watch a much worse team.

Quote from Canter

is she good or bad in polish league ?

She's one of the best OH in reception and quite good in attack.

Quote from Canter

is she good or bad in polish league ?

she's decent passer what is unusual here her spiking skills could be a little bit better, but overall she's player who deserves to play quite a lot, because IMHO she's quite promising like Anna Grejman both played well in Pałac Bydgoszcz 3 seasons ago unfortunately both wasted too much time on benches...