2014 CEV DenizBank Champions League

    Resovia...



    (credit to the user of some Polish volley forum who reminded me of it).


    They clearly went there for vacation. Didn't even bother with the match.

    Piacenza is beating Tours 3:0. Best scorer for Piacenza: Kaliberda (19 points, 71%) :thumbup: . He has improved so much, great to see.
    In second and third set, Tours had its chances but first Simon and then Vettori finished them off with their serves. Piacenza really has a good team this year :teach:


    http://www.cev.lu/Competition-…hStatistics.aspx?ID=25646

    Ok, can someone who watched the match write, please, what the hell happened in Budva? :what: 'Cause I was literally catching my falling-out eyes when I saw a score :what: :what: :what: :what:

    Quote from raylight

    YavorD, what do you think about Zhekov's setting to MB in Tomis? Seems to score often with them, Raphael didn't have the same success in the last match, he was more predictable in the center.


    I am not really an expert, but I can share my opinion :) It's obvious Zhekov has regained his desire for volleyball. I guess the break was very much needed and, as a matter of fact, to get distracted for a year from what you've been doing all your life practically is not necessarily a bad thing. In his absence the NT did OK, perhaps better than OK, especially in London, so when he gets his physical stamina we can actually say he came back more focused and showing a better diversity in his game. I watched 2-3 matches with him already, the sets in the middle is something I last saw him do quite a while ago. Against Halkbank last night he surprisingly had some low passes to Nemec from a jumping position, passes that he almost never does wrong. Anyway, a new opposite, several bad moments, a situation that can happen, he was cooperating great with Haikal in the previous games, so I won't draw conclusions now. The big surprise to me was the easiness he was showing when finding the MBs. And has been showing ever since he put volleyball shoes on. I am neither a psychologist, nor a friend of Zhekov, but I guarantee that watching some volleyball on the sofa at home helped him discover missing components. Or at least gave him the what-appeared-to-have-been-lost confidence.


    About last night's match specifically. I think it's harsh to compare them with Raphael. Mauricio was also a new signing for Halkbank, he played for the first time with Raphael (if I am not mistaken, too lazy to check it now). The Turkish MB Emre Batur is not really an amazing player and I believe both Tomis' MBs will outshine him (or won't be worse, to say the least). It's a totally different thing that Halkbank weren't impressive yesterday and that there is obviously something wrong in terms of motivation, level of teammates or whatever.


    I definitely share your enthusiasm about Zhekov, we have a reason to be happy. Remember how much and sometimes often we needed a more experienced substitution for Bratoev than Dobri Dimitrov. I am not even sure anymore that Zhekov will be on the bench, but it's probably the safest choise as a start. It's not the NT thread, I won't expand the NT discussion. Facts are facts and they say Zhekov is playing without any problems in the middle.

    Thank you for your answer, YavorD :) I had so many disputes over Zhekov setting to MB with other people and I explained them that he is capable of doing it well, so I am happy he is finally showing that :set:

    Quote from Kaziyski

    How many teams are going to CEV Cup? 2 the worst 2nd ranked teams and 2 the best 3rd ranked teams?

    I think so, but remember that the CL F4 host will most probably be (as it should be) among the teams to have already qualified, so maybe only the worst second-ranked team and the three best third-ranked ones will go to CEV Cup. There is a high chance one (or maybe two) of Noliko, ZAKSA and Friedrichshafen to go to the CEV Cup.