2018 Volleyball Nations League (VNL)

Quote from scarpetta

Is it me or there are too many foot faults in this game but no one is paying attention

I agree. Quality has gone by now. Who makes less mistakes is going to win.

There's no player but Boyer playing his 100%.

This game is awesome I don't know what you guys are talking about

Congratulatons France. I hope the Blues will win the final, whoever they face.

Quote from scarpetta

Is it me or there are too many foot faults in this game but no one is paying attention

I noticed that, too -- one from Toniutti (!), and one from Holt. That's what I recall.

What !!! Holt, you should have done match better. Very good match. It was like Olympic semifinal, a match USA should have won but lost. Russell made so many direct errors.

Well, I guess overall it's a deserved win for France mainly for the great first two sets. However their level dropped a lot afterwards, Toniutti totally forgot about his middles and forced Ngapeth way too much. They can thank Boyer for being at his best and saving their necks eventually.

Still, very entertaining match overall!

Boyer has improved so much in consistency since his debut last year. He's not just brute force. As a high jumper, this guy has also got skills. He could be better than his predecessor, Rouzier.

Quote from andrea

Boyer has improved so much in consistency since his debut last year. He's not just brute force. As a high jumper, this guy has also got skills. He could be better than his predecessor, Rouzier.

I don't really want to see Russel in Tokyo. He makes too many errors. He's just lucky that he got a good club team that gave him the experience to play in high level but still his errors are always almost rookie mistakes. Defalco and Jaeschke have higher ceiling for improvement and consistency given a good pro experience.

I don't know what you guys are yapping about but the match was above average. Sure there are mistakes here and there but I though it was high level as both teams are grinding on the floor.

Quote from andrea

Boyer has improved so much in consistency since his debut last year. He's not just brute force. As a high jumper, this guy has also got skills. He could be better than his predecessor, Rouzier.

Yup. He has perfect combination of athleticism and technique. I always compare him with Patch since they both debuted last year but Boyer has leapfrogged his game by so much. He is the opposite player to watch out for in the coming years.

Quote from Mapuan

I don't really want to see Russel in Tokyo. He makes too many errors. He's just lucky that he got a good club team that gave him the experience to play in high level but still his errors are always almost rookie mistakes. Defalco and Jaeschke have higher ceiling for improvement and consistency given a good pro experience.

I don't know what you guys are yapping about but the match was above average. Sure there are mistakes here and there but I though it was high level as both teams are grinding on the floor.

Well I don't agree on the level on the match.. Was it entertaining? Yeah sure, but that doesn't mean it was high level.. Too many errors, not too many long rallies.. also USA's defense looked messy to me, free balls and no one calls to get them, easy tips and two players jumping for them, not to talk about the net play... so many missed joust plays..

Congrats to France.. but I do think USA could have done a much better job

Quote from Mapuan

Yup. He has perfect combination of athleticism and technique. I always compare him with Patch since they both debuted last year but Boyer has leapfrogged his game by so much. He is the opposite player to watch out for in the coming years.

Boyer's serve and hit selection are so much better than Patch's now. If he had Patch's height too...

Quote from Matthias

Well, I guess overall it's a deserved win for France mainly for the great first two sets. However their level dropped a lot afterwards, Toniutti totally forgot about his middles and forced Ngapeth way too much. They can thank Boyer for being at his best and saving their necks eventually.

Still, very entertaining match overall!

Le Goff and Le Roux are 7/8 and 5/6 in spiking efficiency, but Toniutti as usual is quite conservative and ignored his MBs most of the time. Le Goff is in top form indeed!

So many balls should have been given to either Boyer or middles in transition but Toniutti went to Ngapeth when the blockers were in front of him. And given that Boyer has been perfect on position 4, he went to Ngapeth On 2.

FloVolleyball -- the US streaming provider for VNL -- doesn't seem to be streaming for the 2nd semi-final. It cost me $150 for the annual subscription. The quality of the service it provides is sub-par.

Quote from Mapuan

I don't really want to see Russel in Tokyo. He makes too many errors. He's just lucky that he got a good club team that gave him the experience to play in high level but still his errors are always almost rookie mistakes. Defalco and Jaeschke have higher ceiling for improvement and consistency given a good pro experience.

I don't know what you guys are yapping about but the match was above average. Sure there are mistakes here and there but I though it was high level as both teams are grinding on the floor.

We already had this talk months ago, when he was back from his injury. Everybody could see how much Perugia's level dropped during the play-offs when Russell was struggling with his shape. The team needed to play 3 matches in the QFs, 5 matches in SFs and the Finals, while in the regular season we were pretty unstoppable with full forces. It would happen the same to the USA team. We all know he's the crucial player of the team, just like N'Gapeth for France.

BTW Aaron looks definitely better now than months ago, even though he's not at his best yet, of course.

The mistake on the american coach speraw's part was taking for granted the result of the poland final round match. They didn't even play well with that lineup(Patch-Anderson-Sander), Poland was just a mess. All the teams outside of the final 6 could beat them considering all their substantial losses before the final round. He probably thought it was his strongest roster or he wanted to see if Patch could go beyond his limits. Conclusion: He's not there yet.

Russia going to get this one. Unless Kovalev decides to check out again

Quote from SHAME

We already had this talk months ago, when he was back from his injury. Everybody could see how much Perugia's level dropped during the play-offs when Russell was struggling with his shape. The team needed to play 3 matches in the QFs, 5 matches in SFs and the Finals, while in the regular season we were pretty unstoppable with full forces. It would happen the same to the USA team. We all know he's the crucial player of the team, just like N'Gapeth for France.

BTW Aaron looks definitely better now than months ago, even though he's not at his best yet, of course.

I guess this Mapuan guy have already forgotten how USA almost went out of the Rio Olympics during the preliminary round if it wasn't for the consistency of that player named Aaron Russell.

USA has been really crappy since the libero Shoji's performance became mediocre and mediocre.

Anyone who thinks he's world class is an idiot who can't observe the games.

Thales is my favorite new libero. He only lacks the defense part. If he could improve his read on the spike trajectories, he'll be world class in no time. He already has one of the best reception in this tournament which is the most important skill by a libero no doubt. The defense would only make him greater.