2015 World Cup - Japan - 8/22

    Kwiek's job is too extreme, I would be so fed up with this end if I were him :D


    Beautiful play by Mambru and Castillo, despite this loss they played a good match overall, much better than I expected. De la Cruz's absence was too much for them, they had clear chances to end this match up, but none of them could finish.


    Japan is so strange, they play better with Koga than Kimura. IMO Otake and Shimamura are not NT materials, perhaps only for their low domestic league. They need someone like Ai Otomo and Kaori Inoue.

    Otomo and Inoue retired. ;(


    Otake has good blocking skills. Her problem is the height. She's too shorts to stop world class players. Shimamura is weak to me too. Iwasaka and Araki are needed.


    Soga is the new star of the team. She changed NEC Red Rockets in 2014-15 season with her arrival and now she's taking the leadership of NT. Ebata and Ishii found a serious contender for the starting position.

    Dont know whats with the question regarding Koshe and Goncha's power?
    they are definitely the strongest duo in the world...
    we can check that in the stats
    Goncha 66/132 50% - currently 3rd
    Koshe- 42/76- 55%- currently 2nd


    they are not even playing whole games.

    i watched serbia- s.korea and what happened to korean team? they were so bad..their setter was pretty bad...


    btw..i checked the stats of japan-dominic r....japan had 14 blocks :lol: ..i never remember japan's blocks were that much against tall teams..

    Quote from ravens#7

    Otomo and Inoue retired. ;(


    Otake has good blocking skills. Her problem is the height. She's too shorts to stop world class players. Shimamura is weak to me too. Iwasaka and Araki are needed.


    Soga is the new star of the team. She changed NEC Red Rockets in 2014-15 season with her arrival and now she's taking the leadership of NT. Ebata and Ishii found a serious contender for the starting position.


    Agree. She's only 19 years old and already plays like a veteran, with gaining more international experiences she would be a really good player, It was impressive how she used opponent's blocks.
    Totally agree about the MBs, I miss great sliders like Sachiko Sugiyama and Ai Otomo. I watched some of NEC matches and Shimamura was dominant out there, I suppose she's just not a NT material. Iwasaka and Ono are better.

    2015 World Cup - Day 5


    Russia 3 x 0 Cuba (25 - 19, 25 - 13, 25 - 18 )
    Best scorer: Obmochaeva (RUS), 16 points
    Best player: Pasynkova (RUS)
    Video, Stats


    Algeria 0 x 3 USA (7 - 25, 2 - 25, 5 - 25)
    Best scorer: Dixon (USA), 16 points
    Best player: Robinson (USA)
    Video, Stats


    Kenya 0 x 3 Argentina (12 - 25, 17 - 25, 20 - 25)
    Best scorer: Moim (KEN), 13 points
    Best player: Piccolo (ARG)
    Video, Stats


    Peru 0 x 3 China (11 - 25, 18 - 25, 17 - 25)
    Best scorer: Yuan (CHN), 16 points
    Best player: Yuan (CHN)
    Video, Stats


    Korea 0 x 3 Serbia (16 - 25, 19 - 25, 16 - 25)
    Best scorer: Bošković (SRB), 17 points
    Best player: Bošković (SRB)
    Video, Stats


    Dominican Republic 2 x 3 Japan (18 - 25, 25 - 20, 32 - 30, 15 - 25, 13 - 15)
    Best scorer: Rivera (DOM), 26 points
    Best player: Ishii (JPN)
    Video, Stats


    Ranking - First Round


    1. Russia, 5 wins, 14 points
    2. USA, 4 wins, 13 points
    3. Japan, 4 wins, 12 points
    4. China, 4 wins, 12 points
    5. Serbia, 4 wins, 11 points
    6. Dominican Republic, 3 wins, 10 points
    7. Korea, 2 wins, 6 points
    8. Argentina, 2 wins, 6 points
    9. Cuba, 1 win, 3 points
    10. Peru, 1 win, 3 points
    11. Kenya, 0 wins, 0 points
    12. Algeria, 0 wins, 0 points

    well, that was a stupid, useless challenge on that last point of JPN x DOM. jineiry m. should have just told kwiek she touched the net but instead she said she didn't…


    haven't watched the whole match but historically DOM always have trouble with the JPN style of very fast attacks, great defense and very precise volleyball. DOM also gets frustrated when the ball doesn't drop easily so they make more mistakes. the fact that JPN can outblock DOM also tells me the JPN hitters are much smarter, they hit on the edges of the block, and are faster. DOM players, even someone as tall as brayelin m. hit straight down into the block too often, and they are also much slower and make so many errors.


    without de la cruz, there's a big whole in reception because kwiek has either brayelin or pena passing, and they are both a liability; and he's not gonna use a 2-woman passing scheme. castillo can only do so much by herself.


    as for how DOM played at the WCh last year, i recall that they also struggled with most teams, winning all in 5 sets (except 3-1 against AZE) and losing to JPN (they could not stop sakoda from back row). on the other hand, they took CHN to 5 sets and they beat ITA at home. but yes, they are definitely not as good now as last year and bethania is a very big factor.

    Quote from Martin


    List of players and their respective clubs 2015/2016


    http://volley-ball-chamalieres…on-par-france-3-auvergne/



    merci, danke, martin. very interesting. just imagine, with all the raw physical talent, what great teams african countries would have if they only invested in women's sports????



    btw why do DOM have '18' written on their shoulders?????

    The Dominican Republic will make you play long matches because it seems like they dig everything. That was one of the reasons why they went to the Final Round of the World Championships last year.


    They should have participated in the World Grand Prix this year.


    Saori had a really bad offensive game. I know that it is killing her to be the "ace" of the squad and not participating, and she even mentioned it in interviews. But she is leading this team by being supportive of and training the younger players. Koga has done really well in this tournament. Nagaoka as well.


    Watching the replay this morning of the highlights and you know it is important when Manabe takes off the ipad when coaching. He knew he had to win this match. A loss who have put them very far behind in the standings, with still matches against Serbia, China and the USA to come.


    I still don't think that they'll qualify with this tournament. But it will be a great learning experience for them.


    FIVB, needs to look at itself and say how many of these matches are 3-0?
    Out of 30 matches, 23 have been in straight sets. So, these are not competitive matches. I know that we need to look at the points breakout.


    Algeria should not even be here. 2 points in a set? and that was with the USA reserves?


    World Cup teams should look like this
    Host (Japan)
    World Champions (USA)
    Continental Champions (2nd place or top ranked team as some championships have not been played yet) (Kenya, China, Argentina, Russia, Dominican Republic)
    Next 5 World Ranking teams (maybe a limit of 2 teams total from 1 continent in this area only) (Italy, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Puerto Rico)


    With my versions, Italy, Thailand and Puerto Rico replace Peru, Algeria and Cuba.


    Yes this will look similar to that of the World Grand Prix, but the truth is that those are the "best teams." Brazil of course would not be in it this year due to the hosting of the Olympics.