2018 FIVB World Championship - Japan

    Quote from serdar

    I don't like American team in this tournament. Everybody is showing less than what they are capable of. Akinradewo has never been a good blocker so if she is not used as a scoring player in a team, she will be very useless. In theory, Hill&Larson duo should most balanced OH duo in the world but both are quite bad at both attacking and reception. Opp is still a problem. Dixon is not showing anything special. They should play with Gibby instead. The only thing I like about this team is Robinson. She plays like a very experienced libero and she is one of the best of this tournament so far, she is very consistent especially at reception. I hope she can show such good performance in Vakifbank this year. All in all, I won't be surprised if they will be out of semis with a defeat against NED

    I agree with you on some things, but I have different opinions about others. This WCH Larson has been superb in attack, especially these last few games where no one is stepping up, she always scores when needed.. wheather it's a hard hit, or smart tip she does her job, leads by example. It's true Hill is playing badly, her reception is shaky, but also she gets defended pretty easily even on those super fast sets, which hasn't been the case so far. In her defense Carli has been giving her many balls off the net, and there's no way to use those. I agree on Akinradewo, but she has had quite a few blocks this WCH.. to be honest I think her attacking is bad, especially today, but of course all the sets she got were trash. Even if the set is good, Carli is running such a predictable offense that Foluke faces 2 blockers most of the time. Dixon has been useless I agree.. Gibby should start, maybe even Adams. The OPPs are not that disappointing this tournament IMO.. Lowe has been good most of the time, whether it's part of the double sub, or playing full time.. And Murphy was good today, and yesterday too.. problem is Carli forgets about them, especially when back row. The thing I liked during the friendlies against Brazil is that Micha and Lauren, both used them on the pipe, or simply setting a right backcourt attack.. also Micha is using Hill on the pipe a lot, and she has been successful in that.. The most disappointing player for me is Carli.. she's simply playing bad. Bad decisions, predicatble sets, not enough creativity, many bad sets to the MBs (if given any balls). I'm not blaming her though, she's a very talented setter, but this system is not meant for her and that's about it. Micha was doing a much better job.

    People say having Goncharova would make Russia even stronger, which is a resonable thing to say, but I kinda disagree.. and let me tell you why before judging me.


    They played much better these last few matches because Startseva was distributing her sets evenly, more balls to the MBs, less predictable offense.. Goncharova of course would kill the sets she's given, BUT having her on court makes Startseva go to 'all balls to Goncharova' mode.. less sets to the MBs, teams expecting the ball to go to Natalia and so on..

    Good thoughts serdar and USAvolleyfan Thanks for sharing without diversions into pools and politics. :)

    I agree with the compliments for the excellent analysis.


    The golden generation of Thailand should make it to the games this time: there's just a few months to the Olympic qualification route starting and they never looked better than this.


    Other factors: Japan is qualified, China looks strong enough to qualify in the world tournament and all the other Asian teams are amateurish at best, even South Korea with KYK as of now. If the Thai volleyball federation manages to host one of the qualification tournaments, the crowd will give these amazing players the standing ovation and Olympic ticket they deserved (and were robbed of twice in a row).

    to make things worse.... Serbia did end up as the only team that did not take all the games seriously because they were already qualified. Italy and China could have done the same but instead they came out and showed even stronger performances. Lang Ping could simply eliminate the heavy favorites, but this is not what a Olympic Champion does. Bravo China.


    Not even to mention all the teams that were already eliminated and playing for nothing.. But still. They went out there and played with everything they have.


    I hope the Serbian players watched Bra Vs Jap and learned from Brazil what playing for PRIDE means.

    I find good reception is a very underrated part of the game sometimes. Powerful spikes, huge blocks, perfect sets and incredible digs are all very important of course, but so often having good, solid, consistent passing is the key to victory so I put together the total perfect reception % for the 6 remaining teams if anyone is interested.


    Japan - 37.3%

    USA - 35.33%

    Italy - 28.14%

    Serbia - 25.16%

    Netherlands - 25.09%

    China - 24.63%


    I guess it’s no surprise that the teams that look to play quick volleyball are quite comfortably higher than the teams that mainly rely on one or two terminators. I am a little surprised to see China bottom of the list though. They might need to improve this if they are going to bring home the gold this time.

    Quote from pope

    to make things worse.... Serbia did end up as the only team that did not take all the games seriously because they were already qualified. Italy and China could have done the same but instead they came out and showed even stronger performances. Lang Ping could simply eliminate the heavy favorites, but this is not what a Olympic Champion does. Bravo China.


    Not even to mention all the teams that were already eliminated and playing for nothing.. But still. They went out there and played with everything they have.


    I hope the Serbian players watched Bra Vs Jap and learned from Brazil what playing for PRIDE means.


    Yeah, unfortunately that's how it all went down. I don't think their primary goal was to eliminate Brazil, it's just that they tend to get like this when stakes are low. I dreaded the today's match because no Bošković + not a do or die match = recipe for disaster. I just didn't expect such a horryfing performance and such a brutal beatdown - and I don't think they did either. Now this can either light some fire inside them and get them to come out all guns blazing, or it could send them down the downward spiral. I think both options are equally possible.

    Terzić is currently being raked over the coals by the fans and if Serbia ends up without a medal, there's gonna be a serious outcry. And if Bošković really is injured and is unable to recover in time, it will be very difficult to justify why she had to be the starter against the likes of Kenya and Kazakhstan.

    Quote from JoanaBG

    Yeah, unfortunately that's how it all went down. I don't think their primary goal was to eliminate Brazil, it's just that they tend to get like this when stakes are low. I dreaded the today's match because no Bošković + not a do or die match = recipe for disaster. I just didn't expect such a horryfing performance and such a brutal beatdown - and I don't think they did either. Now this can either light some fire inside them and get them to come out all guns blazing, or it could send them down the downward spiral. I think both options are equally possible.

    Terzić is currently being raked over the coals by the fans and if Serbia ends up without a medal, there's gonna be a serious outcry. And if Bošković really is injured and is unable to recover in time, it will be very difficult to justify why she had to be the starter against the likes of Kenya and Kazakhstan

    I honestly think the backlash of the game against Japan got into their heads and that's why the game against the Dutch was so tragic. And who knows maybe even if Mazanti and Lang Ping were thinking about resting players they certainly changed their minds after seeing what happened with Serbia and they just wanted to stay out of any drama.


    I honestly think Terzic should have used the bench against Mexico and a mix against Germany.. And they would still have won... Then go full strength against Japan and NED which would be a great test for them.


    I'm just praying that this Boskovic injury is just a excuse to be honest... It would not be fair if she's truly injured.

    Quote from JoanaBG

    Yeah, unfortunately that's how it all went down. I don't think their primary goal was to eliminate Brazil, it's just that they tend to get like this when stakes are low. I dreaded the today's match because no Bošković + not a do or die match = recipe for disaster. I just didn't expect such a horryfing performance and such a brutal beatdown - and I don't think they did either. Now this can either light some fire inside them and get them to come out all guns blazing, or it could send them down the downward spiral. I think both options are equally possible.

    Terzić is currently being raked over the coals by the fans and if Serbia ends up without a medal, there's gonna be a serious outcry. And if Bošković really is injured and is unable to recover in time, it will be very difficult to justify why she had to be the starter against the likes of Kenya and Kazakhstan.

    yeah, agreed. It’s so stupid because they had so much momentum and a kind of invincible aura and they just threw it away. Japan are probably already thinking “we beat them once so we can beat them again.” Of course, I expect them to play better from now, but this attitude has not helped them at all.

    Quote from Sisko95

    yeah, agreed. It’s so stupid because they had so much momentum and a kind of invincible aura and they just threw it away. Japan are probably already thinking “we beat them once so we can beat them again.” Of course, I expect them to play better from now, but this attitude has not helped them at all.

    I've tried to avoid thinking about how the Japanese players feel about the whole thing.


    Not holding my breath or anything, but it would be hilarious if Japan beat Serbia this weekend. :cheesy::lol::super:

    Quote from sitenoise

    I've tried to avoid thinking about how the Japanese players feel about the whole thing.


    Not holding my breath or anything, but it would be hilarious if Japan beat Serbia this weekend. :cheesy::lol::super:

    it wouldn't be hilarious... It would exonerate the "Crime" everybody thinks they commit. It might actually happen you know because its obvious winning hasn't always been their goal

    ..

    about that ball from egonu that hit startseva in the face: that was not the ball that ended the point, so play continued. there was no way for anyone to know that she was hit badly in the face until she left the court, so there was no chance for her to apologize. the insinuation that egonu acted badly is totally unfair.

    Quote from sitenoise

    I've tried to avoid thinking about how the Japanese players feel about the whole thing.


    Not holding my breath or anything, but it would be hilarious if Japan beat Serbia this weekend. :cheesy::lol::super:

    Let's see, maybe Japanese players will give Serbian lesson to be learned

    I didn't expect Japan to enter the 3rd round. sorry Nakada. I'm surprised she rebuilt the team from the Asian Games.


    and I loved the Russian volleyball in this WCH. energy, passion, teamwork, Pankov made a good team. I would like to see strong Russia in Tokyo2020. Japan and Russia ( Soviet Union ) played at the final of the volleyball's first Olympic Games in Tokyo1964 and made a history after that.


    Quote from USAvolleyfan

    I agree with you on some things, but I have different opinions about others. This WCH Larson has been superb in attack, especially these last few games where no one is stepping up, she always scores when needed.. wheather it's a hard hit, or smart tip she does her job, leads by example. It's true Hill is playing badly, her reception is shaky, but also she gets defended pretty easily even on those super fast sets, which hasn't been the case so far. In her defense Carli has been giving her many balls off the net, and there's no way to use those. I agree on Akinradewo, but she has had quite a few blocks this WCH.. to be honest I think her attacking is bad, especially today, but of course all the sets she got were trash. Even if the set is good, Carli is running such a predictable offense that Foluke faces 2 blockers most of the time. Dixon has been useless I agree.. Gibby should start, maybe even Adams. The OPPs are not that disappointing this tournament IMO.. Lowe has been good most of the time, whether it's part of the double sub, or playing full time.. And Murphy was good today, and yesterday too.. problem is Carli forgets about them, especially when back row. The thing I liked during the friendlies against Brazil is that Micha and Lauren, both used them on the pipe, or simply setting a right backcourt attack.. also Micha is using Hill on the pipe a lot, and she has been successful in that.. The most disappointing player for me is Carli.. she's simply playing bad. Bad decisions, predicatble sets, not enough creativity, many bad sets to the MBs (if given any balls). I'm not blaming her though, she's a very talented setter, but this system is not meant for her and that's about it. Micha was doing a much better job.

    This is True!!!


    I don't know what happened to Team USA. but, I got bored because the level of play that they are showing is just not them.


    on my observation their main problem is setting. Lloyd has terrible setting decision. I can even predict where she'll go. she rarely used a pipe attack to the fact that Hill even just don't expect that she'll be given at the back because Lloyd only use her front attacker to be exact 60-70% are given to her opposite. but if MBH is in court she will give it to her at the back. see? very predictable. Hill and Lloyd can't connect. Hill usually just drop the ball or just off block or sometime blocked because the sets are either too low or too high.

    If you want anyone to blame in Serbia: without any doubt this is Terzic' approach to meaningless matches (from his view). Because the Serbian players value him highly, they simply follow his path to do nothing more serious, but take it easy in such moments. In the past he rested nearly or all of his strong players than, but now it looks more like they don't try hard anymore than. Of course you can blame the players too though, because they can decide on their own, but in women's volleyball much more is told in detail to players generally as in men's volleyball (not to everyone of course, there are enough taking their own decisions though), so this not such a big surprise. We will see, how all of it turns out now in (pre-)medal time, but I'm sure we will see a rather strong Serbian team again now.

    These numbers, together with strong service by Italy, are giving the core reason, why Italy defeated China: they were better in reception, in that match even more I think - at least in sets three and four.

    Sisko Do you have Brazil's numbers?

    Because Chinese liberos are weak, they can barely receive themselves, let alone helping the others. Unlike other top teams, most liberos can cover their OHs.