Japan - V.Premier League 2017-2018

  • OMG...this is my favorite picture ever "my latte is cold" :lol: :lol: :lol:


    (sorry for :offtopic: )

  • I don't know why #3 Nanaka Sakamoto gets all the playing time over #4 Rei Kudo. :white: :wall:


    Denso's sweeps Hitachi tonight. New player #19 Miyu Kubota did okay-ish receiving and attacking but seemed out of sync on floor defense.


    I feel sorry for Hitachi, and by that I mean I feel sorry for myself because I like them and they stink. No one can play defense except Arisa. :obey:

    Yurie Nabeya
    is getting so good at slapping the ball in some weird direction as a method of scoring.

  • 13:00 Ageo Medics v JT Marvelous ... 2–3
    13:00 Denso Airybees v Hitachi Rivale ... 3–0
    15:00 NEC Red Rockets v Hisamitsu Springs ... 0–3
    15:00 Toyota Body Queens v Toray Arrows ... 3–2


    NEC is playing a new setter since the break #09 Yuna Okuyama. She seems a little slow. Shimamura and Aratani started and played the bulk of minutes. No sign of Ueno! NEC was competitive for two sets and then took a trip to suckville. I was happy with Aratani's performance (12 kills, 4 errors).


    Denso didn't play Kudo at all :down: , Hitachi tried out some new players.


    I watched those two 3-0 sweeps. Haven't seen the others yet.


    Current Standings:


    1 Hisamitsu Springs - 49pts ... 17-0 -- (51,11)
    2 JT Marvelous - 38pts ... 13-4 -- (45,22)
    3 Denso Airybees - 27pts ... 9-8 -- (36,32)
    4 Toray Arrows - 23pts ... 8-9 -- (30,35)
    5 Toyota Body Queens - 21pts ... 7-10 -- (29,37)
    6 NEC Red Rockets - 20pts ... 6-11 -- (27,37)
    7 Ageo Medics - 16pts ... 5-12 -- (24,40)
    8 Hitachi Rivale - 10pts ... 3-14 -- (19,47)


    Ongoing season results, highlights, and schedule in ->this post

  • JT won't blunder their second place standing. Four matches left, eleven points ahead of Denso. JT would have to lose every game. Not gonna happen. Denso would have to win every game also, which includes JT, Hisamitsu, and Toyota.


    I think the standings right now are where they'll be at the end. Toyota and Toray could swap, as Toyota has a marginally easier last four games: Ageo, Denso, NEC, Hitachi.
    Toray has: Denso, NEC, Hitachi, Hisamitsu.


    But one never knows! :super:


    JT has one more chance to spoil Hisamitsu's unbeaten record


  • i didnt know four matches were left, after empress cup..are you sure ?17+4 =21 matches ???
    if so Denso has no chance for second place

  • i didnt know four matches were left, after empress cup..are you sure ?17+4 =21 matches ???
    if so Denso has no chance for second place


    I'm just looking at the schedule posted in >this post<. I think it's correct as I believe I read somewhere that every team plays each other team three times. 21 games.

  • Sat 06 Jan 2018
    13:00 JT Marvelous v Toyota Body Queens ... 3–1
    13:00 NEC Red Rockets v Denso Airybees ... 2–3
    15:00 Ageo Medics v Toray Arrows ... 1–3
    15:00 Hisamitsu Springs v Hitachi Rivale ... 3–0


    Sun 07 Jan 2018
    13:00 Ageo Medics v JT Marvelous ... 2–3
    13:00 Denso Airybees v Hitachi Rivale ... 3–0
    15:00 NEC Red Rockets v Hisamitsu Springs ... 0–3
    15:00 Toyota Body Queens v Toray Arrows ... 3–2


    Ongoing season results, highlights, and schedule in ->this post

  • ... on a serve!


  • She went up for a monster block alongside Chris Furst and came down on Chris's foot:



    This makes me very sad. :(

  • Only three games played last night (only two tonight). Unfortunately, neither of the two games I watched had commentary. I don't understand Japanese but hearing the commentary adds a lot to my enjoyment of the games.


    13:00 Ageo Medics v Toyota Body Queens ... 2–3
    13:00 Toray Arrows v Denso Airybees ... 2–3
    15:00 Hisamitsu Springs v JT Marvelous ... 3–0


    Ageo v Body Queens: I don't enjoy watching Ageo so I have no idea why it took Toyota 5 sets to beat them.


    Toray v Denso: I'm often surprised by Yurie Nabeya's numbers not being as godlike as she seems to be when watching her. She has such soft arms for receiving, is hitting the ball harder than ever, and is developing a crazy smart way of slipping the ball past defenders. And gosh bless her she is clearly giving it 150% all game long. I'm also confused about why Denso insists on starting Nanaka Sakamoto over Marvel Comics Superhero Rei Kudo. If Denso isn't going to win in three sets they will sub Kudo for Sakamoto to win the game in five. Kudo made a couple critical blunders down the streatch but she also delivered a few critical kills. Why not just start Kudo?


    Heartbreaking to see Airi Tahara pushed around in a wheelchair after the game. I've been concerned watching Chris Furst get a little too cozy with My Little Sweet Pea when teaming up for a Monster Block, thinking that something like this might happen. I hope it's not serious, as Airi has been bringing me much joy recently. She did have one kill block last night and almost wet her pants about it. I love watching her play.


    On the Toray side, Mari Horikawa continues to frighten but Love After Dark seems to be retreating into a bubble of fear and trembling. She made seven service errors, one at set point. Her receiving isn't blunderous but she looks to be without confidence most of the time lately. She was taken out of the fifth set--which isn't going to help her confidence. Kind of sad and disappointing.


    Hisamitsu v JT: Speaking of godlike ... Foluke Akinradewo. I understand that MBs usually have a higher kill percentage than OH/OPs, but 15/20? Why not just let her swing 80 times like the other foreigners? See if she gets 60 kills. She's unstoppable. Like Hisamitsu needs it on a team filled with NT starters and vets. Brankica Mihajlović looked tired. What she doesn't understand is that she doesn't need to be on fire for her team to win. When she's not playing well and starts in with the Euro Fake Pissed Drama Pout nonsense it brings the rest of the team down. So ugly.


    Remarkable that at some point earlier in the season it looked like it was going to be the year of Kitsui and Kanasugi. JT's mid-season pick up Yuka Meguro is getting the minutes these days alongside (understandably) Mizuki Tanaka. I know Kitsui is coming off an injury but Kanasugi has just drifted off into oblivion.


    #1 Aika Akutagawa. Fact.


  • Hisamitsu v JT: Speaking of godlike ... Foluke Akinradewo. I understand that MBs usually have a higher kill percentage than OH/OPs, but 15/20? Why not just let her swing 80 times like the other foreigners? See if she gets 60 kills. She's unstoppable.


    So quick MB comparison, Araki vs. Foluke. Who gets more sets? Foluke because her team looks for her. Araki is good, maybe not as athletic as Foluke. However, if the teams don't run the middle after the first pass (sadly many Japanese national teams have this action) you are forcing the outside hitters to be really efficient as the rally continues. With Foluke she opens up the offense for the outsides because you have to make sure you are blocking Foluke. That little difference is everything. I love Erika, but she does not get the ball enough.


    She isn't getting 60 kills in a match. 20 kills in the middle means you can't stop her and if you can't stop her, it should be over in 3 at most 4 sets. 60 kills would mean 12 a set. If she gets 12 sets per set played, she'll likely get 8-10 kills, team only needs 15-17 more points to win set, so if there are 6 opponent errors 9-11 points from the rest of the team to win the set. With Hisamitsu's strength, 25 kills is probably the max she'd get.

  • However, if the teams don't run the middle after the first pass (sadly many Japanese national teams have this action) you are forcing the outside hitters to be really efficient as the rally continues. With Foluke she opens up the offense for the outsides because you have to make sure you are blocking Foluke. That little difference is everything. I love Erika, but she does not get the ball enough.


    I think I understand that. :) I think it also sheds some light on something I heard the other day while re-watching the 2015 World Cup match CHN v RUS. Near the end of the game the commentator (Clayton Lucas, I believe) gets really excited by a play and says: "Brilliant set by Ding Xia! She had the courage to go Middle in transition!" I wish Japanese NT would up their MB game. A lot. Foluke is a perfect puzzle piece for a Japanese team.


    (great game, btw, that 2015 WC. I really love 18 y/old Yuan Xinwei's dominating performance. I finally heard her scream!)

  • 13:00 Ageo Medics v Hitachi Rivale ... 3–0
    13:00 Hisamitsu Springs v Denso Airybees ... 3–0


    Ageo v Hitachi: Okay I give up. Hitachi won't make the playoffs this year. I'll never know why my love, Arisa Sato, didn't play with the NT in 2017, and now, if Hitachi gets demoted to the Challenge League, VL2, her career may come to a sad end and I'll never see her again. Sads.


    After my first year of enjoying Japanese Volleyball, the two players I picked as most favorite, Saori Sakoda and Akari Oumi, both retired. Not to mention Saori Kimura. Life isn't fair.


    Hitachi didn't play Watanabe or Kurihara (or beautiful MB Maiha Haga), and I think Toi is on the injured list. Yikes. The Hitachi player with the most swings (45) was the husky newcomer Fuyumi Hawi Okumu Oba. Life is spiraling out of control.


    Hisamitsu v Denso: Ahhh, the lullaby-like sound of female Japanese commentary returns. I'm willing to bet that one of the lovely ladies pouring sugar into my ears is former NT player Motoko Obayashi:


    Hisamitsu's been resting Nomoto and Iwasaka, but Risa and Yuki continue to play almost every minute of every game. I tease the Sleepy Sisters but maybe they're so freaking good they are impervious to injury. I'm loving Yuki lately. She doesn't get enough credit, and by that I mean I don't give her enough credit for being a superb floor defender (along with her superior receiving skills). She's quick and smart (knows how to skate to where the puck is going to be), and most importantly she's courageous with her body. I think the reason this goes unnoticed is that she doesn't look particularly athletic. Healthy and fit, but not particularly athletic. She might be the most feminine looking volleyball player out there--to the point of girly, almost meek. I remember being surprised the first time I heard her speak, that she could even speak. You go girl!


    Imamura had the most swings (35/15) and scored the most points for Hisamitsu. Foluke was only 18/11. Risa had only 3 kills, but 4 blocks.


    Denso, oh my Denso ;( Is it only because My Little Sweet Pea is out that you got clobbered so? It's heartbreaking for me, and I can't be sure (because of the crap stream), but this looks more like a cast than a bandage:


    Not to mention she's tooling around in a damn wheelchair ;(


    I think all our hopes for the Denso Revolution have been dashed. :sos: :wall: :down: :gone:



    Current Standings
    :


    1 Hisamitsu Springs - 55pts ... 19-0 -- (57,11)
    2 JT Marvelous - 38pts ... 13-5 -- (45,25)
    3 Denso Airybees - 29pts ... 10-9 -- (39,37)
    4 Toray Arrows - 24pts ... 8-10 -- (32,38 )
    5 Toyota Body Queens - 23pts ... 8-10 -- (32,39)
    6 NEC Red Rockets - 20pts ... 6-11 -- (27,37)
    7 Ageo Medics - 20pts ... 6-12 -- (29,43)
    8 Hitachi Rivale - 10pts ... 3-15 -- (19,50)


    Ongoing season results, highlights, and schedule in ->this post

  • what a competition btw Toray and Toyoto for fourth place ! Toray is just 1 point ahead ..the other stats are almost the same


    For the last three games both of them play NEC and Hitachi. Easy pickins. Toyota also plays the depleted Denso, while Toray faces Hisamitsu. Toyota could pull ahead. It would be great if Toyota played Toray the last game of the season in an ultimate shootout, but alas.


  • For the last three games both of them play NEC and Hitachi. Easy pickins. Toyota also plays the depleted Denso, while Toray faces Hisamitsu. Toyota could pull ahead. It would be great if Toyota played Toray the last game of the season in an ultimate shootout, but alas.


    do you really find NEC match easy pickin ? ?(

  • do you really find NEC match easy pickin ? ?(


    Sadly, yes. But I can't put my finger on exactly why ... but I did become aware recently that, aside from the one OH that never plays, #04 Ayana Oyama, all their attackers are kids. I refer to #13 Misaki Yamauchi as a newcomer youngster. She's the oldest one of the bunch at 22 years old. Koga and Yanagita are 21; Hirose is 20; Aratani is 19.


    I keep looking for excuses :what:


    :super: