Friendly NT Matches

But guys, Natalia is not jumping yet.. what are you all expecting from her? Even if she manages to get in some kind of competitive shape, I do not think she'll be better than the other players.. Rosamaria should for sure be in the roster, the least as sexond OPP.. I mean Ze can take 1 OPP, and 5 OHs

The two liberos of USA should be Robinson and Courtney ,they are much better than Benson imho.

Has Bia lost her starting spot? Her performances in the last two matches were very weak honestly

Madi Kingdon is a good player, but she really struggles to hit those super fast and low balls.. every time she gets a set in system, she tips it, or gets blocked.. when they were out of system, she got s higher ball, and always managed to score a point

Ze pushed his luck after winning world grand prix.

He had chances to use younger players but he opted for his older players and then his older players are injured or his club players played like a mess before world championship.

Amanda was even replaced by Carla in Praia because she played terribly in the final and now that she is in Barueri, she suddenly starts ahead of Rosamaria who was instrumental in winning Montreux and World Grand Prix.

Ze can't fool everyone. He practically summoned almost half of the players from Hinode Barueri to the NT this year. If there's no politics in his decisions for this year. I don't even want to hear the explanation.

Brazil 2x3 USA video

while I agree there will always be coaching issues, I think there are also a lot of other variables here. Is this bunch of players a combination of some of the best in Brazil, well yes actually. With all the other competitions going on with the juniors, this group is most likely the group that would be representing Brazil. However when layers are given the opportunity then they also have to make the most of it. This group (even with Amanda) showed in the volley nations league , and pretty much all of last year, that they could compete with the best teams - the inclusion of the other players like Dani Lins, Thaisa etc should therefore be making things BETTER. Look at the USA team, players are being given opportunities and they are showing a desire to compete for positions in the team - look at the young Turkish team, Polish team etc. Its not like Brazil is a team of flailing over 30s - this is a young group relatively, and a young group with some talent. There's not a huge talent gap between them and the top 3 teams in the world, and they have beaten all those teams already recently. So its not that they are not the right players, I question the effort.

What Ze needs to work out why they can play a very good match one day and then an awful match the next day. Why for example was Gabi hitting ball after ball into the block when she knows how to hit high off the block? Why is Tandara going through patches of hitting ball after ball out? I feel sometimes that he is very positive and supportive of his players and takes responsibility for their failure, but there should also be a huge demand on them to deliver - even in a friendly at home. I think we have seen a bit of this with the men as well - some of the players seem entitled, and play matches without a lot of commitment, and constantly looking crestfallen and depressed - almost like they expect to just with everything without having to put their all in it.

I think these are good players producing mediocre play - and maybe the failing of the coaching is the apparent inability to demand higher level of accountability from them.

Dani Lins performance has been catastrophic, she has absolutely 0 connections with the middles. They are playing European style as the middles are there just to block.....BUT there`s still a lot of time to go until the WCH BUT they gotta work really really hard on that...ROBERTA IS WITHOUT A DOUBT BETTER THAN DANI LINS at the present moment...

I would not be so worried about Brazil...they are playing with Amanda 5th OH and Rosamaria 6th...one of them won`t even make the WCH unless Ze Roberto only takes 1 OPP...and Gabi is still the 3th or 4th ( Drussyla). And the reception has been worse than the Russians. With Garay, Natalia and Suelen they will be a different team.

The whole team looks tired and super off...and they still have to play Mountrex and finally the WCH... and then right away they will be joining their clubs already.

In the past Ze Roberto has forced all the starters to play every single including friendly games etc...but the difference is that the Golden Generation could play 50% and still win....this is not the case with this generation.

Last year Natalia played 6 friendly games....Mountreux....Grand Prix...South American Championship...Champions Cup....and look what happened. And he will force her to play in Japan even if Minas does not want her to.

Another thing to consider...Brazil is getting ready for Mountreux so I think right now they are still lifting a lot of weights in the gym that`s why they are playing super slow...( poor Tandara she looks gazed even before the game starts).

But if Brazil plays like this in Mountreux then for sure something is not right...

Rosamaria is versatile as OH or Opp. I don't believe anyone from Gabi,Amanda and Drussyla are capable of playing that position and while there's Natalia, I don't think it's wise for Ze to gamble twice on a player who hasn't played for half a year like he did in London. She's not 21 years old anymore and I doubt she could take a hit and it's fine because she's still young.

I guess we will see. I don't think Amanda will get the call unless Minas forces ZRG to dismiss Natalia from the NT or Gabiru is eliminated from the NT and changes Amanda to a libero.

In my opinion Gabiru is improving though. She's more mobile now but that reception error on her part during the last point was just a little disappointing.

Quote from pope

Dani Lins performance has been catastrophic, she has absolutely 0 connections with the middles. They are playing European style as the middles are there just to block.....BUT there`s still a lot of time to go until the WCH BUT they gotta work really really hard on that...ROBERTA IS WITHOUT A DOUBT BETTER THAN DANI LINS at the present moment...

I really wouldn't go that far with about Roberta... I guess we have just become used to seeing her in that position as a starter at the same time as Dani Lins was absent, so I think there aren't a lot of objective comparisons here...The middle attacking hasn't been exactly great with Roberta either. Adenizia has still been erratic in attack, as has Bia.

Sure she is a good setter, but she is not as stable as Dani Lins in my opinion (but it is just an opinion). London 2012 and WGP 2016 are good example of this, compared with the WGP final 2017 (where Roberta was the setter).

The middle attacking is directly related to passing - the passing is just not great and as a result the middles don't get any rhythm. Dani Lins has been very great with her middles, but she has also been the recipient of good passing with the Jacqueline/ Garay/ Fabi combo. Also, Ze Roberto is constantly telling his setters he wants precise outside setting, and then use of the middles. This has worked very well for Brazil generally.

I sttill think for MOST games, Dani Lins is a better starter (obviously for setting experience counts for a lot for the stability)

As for Natalia - I really think there are some very high expectations of her. Her passing last year was less than good and she had to be rescue on a few occasions by Tandara stepping in to pass! Ofcourse she can be a good offensive weapon and her height is important in blocking - but for this year she really cannot be counted on. I agree that Rosa Maria does need developing as an opposite, she can play some points from that position, but needs to be developed as a genuine starter in that position - right now there isn't an actual substitute for Tandara.

The only negative I can say about Lowe is her defense.

Drew and Murphy are rather good defenders but their attack can be too inconsistent. Lowe may be really bad at first but she seemed to be getting better as the match goes on although Brazilian OHs are rather small that could be a hella factor why she can overpower them but her defense is still not good for top level volleyball and then there's Bartsch who could play opposite too. Decisions, decisions.

Quote from guilhermessartor

Brazil 2x3 USA video

thx for the replay. i tried to watch the second part of the sets..OH Lee's passing looked good to me in this match.she needs to better at attacking

Quote from crovolley

Lowe is definitly player who USA was missing. Yeah She is not TOP OPP in the world but She is the best one in USA next to Hooker and Nicole right now.

hooker and fawcett? you are dreaming... they're both past their prime by a few years.

Quote from ossubtus

hooker and fawcett? you are dreaming... they're both past their prime by a few years.

you really thinks that Drew and Murphy are better OPP than Fawcett and Hooker even now ??

Last season Fawcett proved that she is yet NT material

didn't hooker and fawcett struggle in brazil last season?

i only watched a little bit of the friendlies vs. BRA. drews seemed to be playing much better than lowe.

lee seems to be struggling. she played well in the pan am cup, but this is a much higher level competition.

Quote from ossubtus

didn't hooker and fawcett struggle in brazil last season?

i only watched a little bit of the friendlies vs. BRA. drews seemed to be playing much better than lowe.

lee seems to be struggling. she played well in the pan am cup, but this is a much higher level competition.

Hooker a little bit, but Fawcett in play-offs was amazing. I think she could grab a spot, but she is not lefty, so... nevermind

I'm quite surprised by Drews,she did a great job not only when she played as starter but also during the double subs in these matches. I think Lowe hasn't reached her best shape yet.

Chiaka Ogbogu has a great potential,she looked dominant,especially in blocking. Usa has so many good middles

IMO Ogbogu showed that she deserves to be in the roster for WCH in Japan instead of Dixon. After these friendly matches I would say that she's the best blocker in the USA. Kingdom also did impress me, she's a smart hitter, I would take her as 4th OH. Both Drews and Murphy are better for me than overrated Murphy, but I doubt that Karch won't take her to Japan.

about US OPP.

i didn't really watch the BRA league finals but i did watch one match in which fawcett was in the bench (and instead carla played, who's not very good). i like fawcett for the most part, i don't think she's any worse than murphy. i wonder why the US program decided to drop her.

drews seems to have improved in the recent matches against BRA, she seems to attack a bit faster. also if US can get 2 good passing OHs, bartsch can also move to OPP.