Men's World Championship 2018

I`m not gonna lie....I have not been watching this WCH....I just can`t deal with this Pool Play...plus more Pool Play...and another Pool Play...and we have to do all this match etc to find who`s advancing or not...I will watch only when it matters Semis and Final.

But I looked it up and I see that they will play Final 6 ( dumbest thing ever) WED, THU, FRI....and Semis on SAT and FINAL Sunday....just like VNL....that means at least 2 teams will have to play 4 games in a row if they were to advance.... I can`t even...this is the WCH ...they can`t do that.....

Quote from B-quick

LOL so i just heard Velasco was suspended for over-celebration?! No shade here. Just find it funny. I need to watch the replay to relive that moment

I think he made an improper gesture a few times during his "over-celebration", but the commentator didn't say anything, so I thought "it sounds ok?" at that time.

Martin Ramos seldom delivers a decent performance when he plays as OPP on court, but still Argentina likes to keep using him.

Interestingly, Argentina has already used 4 different players as OPP in this tournament so far -- Gonzales, Lima, Ramos and Conte. In this squad, Poglajen once also played as OPP in the past (2015 World Cup IIRC).

Bruno Lima is just pathetic.

Was that challenge from Argentina at 20:20 for antenna touch or net touch?

Quote from andrea

Was that challenge from Argentina at 20:20 for antenna touch or net touch?

They challenged antenna touch because the referee's initial call was that the ball touched the net outside the antenna (which it didn't), but the replay showed that a player actually touched the net, so the point still went to Serbia.

From my quick summation, I think Serbia has the best "second" team in the world championship. The quality doesn't drop that much and there are times when it exceeds the first team.

Quote from Matthias

They challenged antenna touch because the referee's initial call was that the ball touched the net outside the antenna (which it didn't), but the replay showed that a player actually touched the net, so the point still went to Serbia.

Gotcha. In this case, would it be considered a challenge success (such that Argentina still kept two challenges that set), even if the score still went to Serbia?

After such a good performance in the last VNL, I really expected a better performance from Canada. I know they are badly missing TJ, however they havent shown a good game so far.

I am still wondering why Bann hasnt been the starter in the past matches.

How can they show good performance when the setter is just so bad.

Quote from ryleybarnes

How can they show good performance when the setter is just so bad.

I didnt know/expect the gap between TJ and Blankeanau was so deep

Quote from Leonardo.D

After such a good performance in the last VNL, I really expected a better performance from Canada. I know they are badly missing TJ, however they havent shown a good game so far.

I am still wondering why Bann hasnt been the starter in the past matches.

Bann is also injured.

Quote from Leonardo.D

I didnt know/expect the gap between TJ and Blankeanau was so deep

Not only is the setting a problem but also the defense. He can't dig at all.

Quote from ryleybarnes

Bruno Lima is just pathetic.

He's been easily Argentina's worst player in this WCh. Second worst is Conte (yeah, despite the 33 points v Japan). Poor Lima is having such low confidence that he's making float serves since a few matches ago despite he normally serves strong jump serve.

However, to be fair, Lima is another OH being used as Opp. We have tried so many Opp. in the last 10 years and still can't find anyone half as reliable as Marcos Milinkovic!

I have no idea how German Johansen (Opp, MVP of U23 Wch last year) didn't make this squad.

About the match, not much to say, just another show of the "consistent inconsistency" of Argentina. Many people say the main problem of this NT is physicality but I actually think the biggest problem is mental. They just don't have the correct mentality for volleyball which is taking every point as the same... they are very emotional and have some streaks where they can defend and score anything, and then other streaks in which they can't receive a float serve correctly for like 6 consecutive points. Velasco has pointed out this weakness of the team many times but in 4 years of work he still can't improve this aspect.

Has Sclater played that bad so far, that he doesn't get a single set? During that long rally it was almost painful to watch how blankenau avoided setting to him......

Marshall manage to top the digging category in the 1st round. And still is after yesterday’s match.

Canada have multitudes of problems.

The biggest problem I see is their opposite. They just aren't meant for scoring. I think Schmitt could've come back since Vernon-Evans lost his explosion on his feet when he jumps. He's really slower than last year's world league.

Canada's serve is also quite weak. Vernon Evans used to ripped a good and consistent serve but he's not confident anymore. Perrin from China is also not the same player in my opinion.

It's not that the opposite plays so bad. I think Blankenau doesn't have confidence to go to position 1. I have seen him trying to do that and the connections weren't always there.

Quote from TimHH

Has Sclater played that bad so far, that he doesn't get a single set? During that long rally it was almost painful to watch how blankenau avoided setting to him......

Heynen would have called a challenge on that......