2014 FIVB World Championship - Italy - 9/23

    Quote from estranged


    :rolll: :rolll: Godina just rulz!!


    And thanks so much for writing this! I couldn't really focus yesterday on what she was saying, so I understood almost nothing. Guess she finally lost patience or something. And I can't blame her after seeing how this team plays now. Plus last year's chemistry is gone with the sodding wind. It seems to me that Marichev wanted too many things at once - Gamova, Obmochaeva, Malykh, Sokolova (and why not Estes since we're at it?) insted of choosing 1-2 things and make hard, but necessary cuts.


    Absolutely agree with you! And also for me - Startseva playing in starting 6 is just kills any hope for the better.

    just finished watching this match (except set 1). i wonder what happened because at the begin. of set 2 the ref gives a yellow card to both coaches! so something happened in first set…


    DOM amazing blocking against ITA, that made the difference. i wish marte would set the middle more (specially arias) and specially when she gets a good pass. really cannot just rely on OH/OPP attacks all the time, although betania had a MONSTER match. she was hitting over 50%. in any case match didn't mean much for ITA and they played without costagrande. also DOM couldn't cope with diouf serve, just killing them.

    Quote from semisonic


    Absolutely agree with you! And also for me - Startseva playing in starting 6 is just kills any hope for the better.

    IMHO Marichev should try Kosianenko more. Maybe she doesn't have that connection eith Gamova or Moroz, but her style of play is less predictable and ordinary :wavy: Kosheleva is doing her job perfectly, pity that Obmochaeva was converted back to OH so late. They knew that Gamova will probably return, so they should've let her play as OH as early as possible :wavy: and she must improve her defence. Seeing how is it looking like right now I think that even medal can be tough to get (though level could be higher, so there's still a chance for them) and they can forget about gold...


    Godina said clearly what she saw and she's right :thumbsup:

    Gold medal - World League 2013 Prediction Game
    Bronze medal - World League 2012 Prediction Game

    Quote from kondzio


    IMHO Marichev should try Kosianenko more. Maybe she doesn't have that connection eith Gamova or Moroz, but her style of play is less predictable and ordinary :wavy: Kosheleva is doing her job perfectly, pity that Obmochaeva was converted back to OH so late. They knew that Gamova will probably return, so they should've let her play as OH as early as possible :wavy: and she must improve her defence. Seeing how is it looking like right now I think that even medal can be tough to get (though level could be higher, so there's still a chance for them) and they can forget about gold...
    Godina said clearly what she saw and she's right :thumbsup:


    Yes, this idea with Kosha-Goncha as OH duo could work only if Goncharova would be in offensive form like Kosheleva now, but she's way from that, and also libero should be 100% reliable - Kryuchkova isn't. I don't understand Marichev choosing Startseva at all. It was supposed for Gamova's profit. But Gamova isn't scoring like everyone in Russia was hoping she would. So why not try Pankova more? Her sets are way faster and she thinks more than Startseva. Reception is bad, but unfortunately it's not the only bad part. Defence is just :wall: :wall: Russians didn't have an advantage over Holland, so I don't see why they should have it over Bulgaria, Turkey, Serbia. Winning those 3 game would be an achievement already. Medal is looking so distant now. Gold is just impossible.

    Quote from kondzio

    Well, Vargas as OH was a short experiment in Yeltsin Cup, but it was probably in lasst year :lol: but it's not first MB tried as OH, earlier we saw Fersola or Eve (but she's universal and she can be aslo OP :wavy: ) on this position. Anyway De La Cruz with Rivera are an optimum for OHs and next is Peńa, while Binet helps a lot in defenxe/reception/serve. Martinez as OH doesn't work on that level, so she's better as backup OP for Mambru (I haven't seen Mambru receiving at all...).


    Anyway I wonder how does Eve's health look like now and if she can fight back for her position in NT :roll: I have seen her somewhere in Spanish magazine recently :wavy:

    Hmmmm ... I didn't often watch Martinez's games. But yesterday she looked very very very slow and Mambru is by far stronger than her. She's still very young. Diouf improved a lot, why not Martinez.

    kondzio, maybe it's not unusual for MB playing as OH but annerys was terrible at it, even though she's so tall. maybe eve was better. kwiek really has some weird ideas and experiments.


    it'll be interesting to see how DOM do against CHN, JPN and BEL. i can see them beating BEL but much tougher time with CHN and JPN. specially JPN, the kind of game that JPN plays, constantly defending and fast counter-attacking really frustrates the DOM and makes them make even more mistakes. good thing THA is not here… :- )


    both martinez and pena need to improve passing and defense, and although both are big hitters, also need to improve their smarts when hitting 'cause sometimes they make stupid mistakes in that area too.

    Gamova ?
    Well time to follow the path of half Italy NT after these WCH : becoming a TV commentator.

    China coach Lang Ping: " It is
    difficult to travel so much as there is not enough time to recover
    properly. It is the first time for us to have match schedule like this. "
    ...
    I didn't know Italy was a so big country 8|
    ...
    Lang Ping always complaining, always believing in a plot against the team of the Great Republic of China.
    Typical paranoia from an apparatchik of the only one political party of her country (besides a wonderful country)
    Shameful.
    :set:


    Very funny this declaration made after Lang Ping spoke : Japan coach Masayoshi Manabe: "We are ready and in good condition for the second phase of tournament. Travelling has never been a problem for
    us."

    Quote from ianrodriguez94

    Valeskinha capitalized on fast plays back then. Her speed compensates for her lack in height, though she can block too, it was all on right timing. Diagonal with Walewska in 2004 and bench for 2008.



    hi ian, i thought (from what i remember from YT but not from watching it at the time), the MBs in 2000 for brazil were janina and valeskinha, not big walewska.

    Quote from ossubtus

    kondzio, maybe it's not unusual for MB playing as OH but annerys was terrible at it, even though she's so tall. maybe eve was better. kwiek really has some weird ideas and experiments.


    it'll be interesting to see how DOM do against CHN, JPN and BEL. i can see them beating BEL but much tougher time with CHN and JPN. specially JPN, the kind of game that JPN plays, constantly defending and fast counter-attacking really frustrates the DOM and makes them make even more mistakes. good thing THA is not here… :- )


    both martinez and pena need to improve passing and defense, and although both are big hitters, also need to improve their smarts when hitting 'cause sometimes they make stupid mistakes in that area too.

    I saw Vargas as OH and it was funny :rolll: the same was with Cindy Rondon - another MB, who was quite useless :wavy: :lol: and Eve comparing to these two was really good OH :D I saw some matches in WGP when Eve played as OH :wavy: both Pean and Martinez still has to learn, Pena knows Japanese style a little because she played in Toray in V-League :D and agree that it can be tough for Dominican to deal with Asian teams, but Belgium is beatable ^^

    Gold medal - World League 2013 Prediction Game
    Bronze medal - World League 2012 Prediction Game

    btw anyone remember that once danny scott had to play as OH in GP due to injuries in US team???? i didn't see but heard about it.


    ok, watching US x RUS now… can women stop changing names when getting married? now i have to remember dietzen, burbach, mukasey and obmochaeva? did hooker change names too ? hodge????


    at least brazilians just use their first name/nicknames and that never changes...

    Quote from ossubtus

    hi ian, i thought (from what i remember from YT but not from watching it at the time), the MBs in 2000 for brazil were janina and valeskinha, not big walewska.


    nope, it's janina and walewska. backup MB was karin rodriguez.

    Quote from serdar

    I've just noticed that Zhu Ting made 9 blocks against Japan :white: Isn't it a record for a non-MB player ?(


    From memory, other non-MBs have made that many blocks before in match although only American names easily come to my mind: Logan Tom (Grand Prix vs Russia), Destinee Hooker (Grand Prix vs Italy)... I'd bet there are others.



    Good for Zhu Ting. Blocking is a skill that takes a little while to develop and do well. It is a good achievement :)

    Quote from ossubtus

    btw anyone remember that once danny scott had to play as OH in GP due to injuries in US team???? i didn't see but heard about it.


    I remember Scott playing hitter in her pro club teams, but with USA team it's not ringing a bell... ?( Probably before my time following them.

    Quote from semisonic

    Estranged, I wanted to tell you about Godina's commentary yesterday, I don't know if you saw (understood) it. She was on fire) Finally her personality came through) I've never seen any Russian commentator criticizing the team so seriously, I think. Although she was telling obvious things - Startseva is way too predictable and Russians are so lazy in defence and cover for the block, other comentators don't talk about it straight like that. I liked her comment directed to Goncharova after one of her "defensive attempt": "Dear Natasha, that ball was hanging in the air for so long you definitely had time to make steps towards it and not just wave your long arms in the air like you're a Swan Queen" :D
    Godina said that after this game they will not let her comment on national tv ever again) But I think she's doing good)


    Good job Godina! I just cannot see others just standing there watching while one is spiking, clearly no one is covering for the block. And Marichev never says about it.

    Quote from marshmellow

    From memory, other non-MBs have made that many blocks before in match although only American names easily come to my mind: Logan Tom (Grand Prix vs Russia), Destinee Hooker (Grand Prix vs Italy)... I'd bet there are others.



    Good for Zhu Ting. Blocking is a skill that takes a little while to develop and do well. It is a good achievement :)


    I remember Kim and Fe Garay, though no memory of games.

    Quote from marshmellow

    From memory, other non-MBs have made that many blocks before in match although only American names easily come to my mind: Logan Tom (Grand Prix vs Russia), Destinee Hooker (Grand Prix vs Italy)... I'd bet there are others.



    Good for Zhu Ting. Blocking is a skill that takes a little while to develop and do well. It is a good achievement :)



    I remember Kun Feng made 8 blocks in the epic olympic final in Athens against Russia. Quite a remarkable feat specially for a setter.

    carducat,


    about lang ping and traveling: that's the same with the men's WCh in poland. everybody here was bitching about the traveling so it's not unusual to complain about it.


    about martinez: i have seen some matches in which she was absolute killer (in WGP or GCC?) but yes, she is a bit slow, as you say, even diouf has improved her movements. but martinez is still better than, for example, mudritskaya, who's tall and slow as ice…


    Dude no politics here. A woman can always complain about travel unless it's for shopping. :offtopic: