Japan will probably be 4-1 in the first round. The Germany match may trip them up, but they are much better than Argentina, Cameroon and Mexico. They are not taking down the Netherlands.
Japanese NT 2018
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Japan will probably be 4-1 in the first round. The Germany match may trip them up, but they are much better than Argentina, Cameroon and Mexico. They are not taking down the Netherlands.
That sounds about right.
Then 2-2 in the second round. With my luck, they'll beat Brazil and lose to DOM.
So close, yet so far.
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The Japanese team has the easy draws until the 2nd round at least. The team is "lucky" need not to face the Thailand or the South Korean team, only the weak Kazakhstan concerning the fellow Asians plus some other lesser teams. Btw talking about this, the World Cup's Round-Robin format is the best, the fairest... Just no luck of draws and inescapable, every one must face every body, love it or not... no argument, no doubt, no dispute!
But that could be a very decent small prize to earn from throwing in huge money to host the largest event in volleyball... just imagine, 23 guest teams times how many official headcounts per each team, then over two week duration! And the Japanese team plays an interesting volleyball to watch, and its name guarantees a strong contention in the Asian Continent. I also love to see Japan hosting the volleyball events, it's a quality and friendly host (basically all these three Asian NOC: Japan, China and Thailand are the very capable hosts with the various excellent infrastructures), and of course its time zone is very friendly within the own continent
Just love it!! -
The Japanese team has the easy draws until the 2nd round at least. The team is "lucky" need not to face the Thailand or the South Korean team, only the weak Kazakhstan concerning the fellow Asians plus some other lesser teams. Btw talking about this, the World Cup's Round-Robin format is the best, the fairest... Just no luck of draws and inescapable, every one must face every body, love it or not... no argument, no doubt, no dispute!
But that could be a very decent small prize to earn from throwing in huge money to host the largest event in volleyball... just imagine, 23 guest teams times how many official headcounts per each team, then over two week duration! And the Japanese team plays an interesting volleyball to watch, and its name guarantees a strong contention in the Asian Continent. I also love to see Japan hosting the volleyball events, it's a quality and friendly host (basically all these three Asian NOC: Japan, China and Thailand are the very capable hosts with the various excellent infrastructures), and of course its time zone is very friendly within the own continent
Just love it!! This would essentially be an entire month. You cannot play every day per FIVB rules. So you could play 3 matches in a row over three days. So you need 4 cities to host each 3 day round (and the finale with only 2 days). Let alone have simple connections between cities for teams. There would be probably be 2 days when you switch cities. I can't see the FIVB ever doing this. Let alone national teams wanting to do this.
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I wish the time zone was more friendly to me
The Japanese matches are on at 3:20 AM 
I haven't experienced a World Cup yet, but I liked the VNL this summer where everybody just played everybody.
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Somebody help me understand the Sarina Koga situation. Does Coach Nakada have a problem with her? The notion that she sat out the Asian Games, "resting" for the WCh, is absurd. She's 22 years old, second youngest on the team. You rest Arika Eraki, not Sarina Koga.
Was there any news she had a minor injury?
The lineup that started this WCh showed a spark I haven't seen from Japan since Nakada took over. After the loss to NED, Coach Nakada remarked (something to the effect of--I can't find the exact quote) "It's time to look at our starting lineup".
What?
Team A:
Koga/Shinnabe - Kurogo - Araki/Okumura - Tashiro - the great libero tag team
vs
Team B:
Ishii/Nagaoka - Uchiseto(whomever) - Shimmamura/Iwasaki - Tashiro/Tominaga - the great libero tag team
Risa Shinnabe is key. If she's having a bad day, or if the matchup deems Nagaoka better for a stretch, then do it. Yuki Ishii can sub Kurogo for a spell. But keep the team anchored on Sarina Koga. It makes it easier for Kurogo to sneak in a bunch of points.
You could see the transition from Team A to Team B during the match against Mexico (following the loss to NED).
Against CAM, Nakada tried a variation on Team B:
Ishii/Shinnabe - Kurogo ... (Did Nakada think they were playing the Denso Airybees?)
Ishii/Shinnabe - Koga doesn't work
Ishii/Nagaoka - Kurogo doesn't work
Ishii/Nagaoka - Koga ... which is different from Koga/Nagaoka - Ishii ... doesn't work
This is not the V.League
It's great that Japan has a pretty even talent pool across their swingers. It's not a point of saying that Koga is better than any of them. It's that the chemistry, the spark, that Team A demonstrated opening this tournament is worth sticking to. Let them play together and get better. If Nakada keeps flip flopping around, Japan is going to look all flippy floppy like they have since she took over as coach. Nakada is hurting my Koga dreams
Who is she going to start against GER? It will say a lot about how far they'll go in this tournament. GER is not a throwaway by any means. Japan has to come out and kick some butt, get three points, build confidence/rapport/chemistry/SPARK. DEFENSE
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I did not watch Asian Games and only watched Japan against the Dutch... So I can't really tell what's the deal with Nakada... Koga.. Or the whole team.
Like I mentioned before that loss for the Dutch might have already cost them a spot in the final 6...they will need a miracle to beat Serbia... And probably another one to beat Brazil... The Brazilians will come out looking blood after that terrible loss against Serbia and I just don't think Japan will be able to handle them... But we will see... I hope I'm wrong.
How about Nagaoka? Is she considered a backup now?
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The Koga/Shinnabe team did their job against Germany. Risa scored 3 points! Nagaoka came in as serve sub, got the set, made a kill. Sat down.
I hope Coach wasn't just resting the Ishii/Nagaoka team for the second round
[update] Coach Nakada on Koga:
Quote(Sarina) Koga has shown a lot of feeling this season. I think she wants to change something and wants to absorb something. She has a very strong passion for these things, she shows that in practice. She has bumped into walls and having been through such experiences she is where she is. I think she has changed the way she engages herself with volleyball, which has given greater depth and width to her play. The way she strikes each ball and is more observant of the block by the opposition and goes around it, it seems like she’s putting a lot more ideas into her play now. In today’s match too; not flashy, but very stable without too many fluctuations.
almost brought a tear to my eye
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JPN v PUR:
Coach Nakada: "I didn't use (Ai) Kurogo today because I didn't want her to get hurt. I gave her a rest."
Erika Araki THE MIDDLE BLOCKER was high scorer for Japan with 12 points. She was most excellent!
Then Yuki and Mai Okumura THE MIDDLE BLOCKER each had 10 points.
Okumura has been killing it from position 3 more than she used to. She's usually a slider.
Japan is using the pipe attack a lot more in this tournament than in recent memory.
Something is happening with Japan.
Coach Nakada: "we will try to unify the hearts
of the team and have everyone together to give our all to proceed to the next round" 
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Hi there. I am a new fan of volleyball in general and Japan volleyball in particular. I have quick question, what do you guys think of Tashiro? It seems like she always set the balls for either Koga/Korogo in recent matches, like 90% of the time. And sometimes 2-3 consecutive times in a single rally and most of the time they got blocked because the opponents already knew. Like the match against the DOM, they could have won 3-0 but the DOM knew and set up blocks for Koga/Korogo everytime. It frustrated me to no end, and Nakada late substitution didn't help at all. Like why would you wait til the very last minute to sub in Nagaoka/Tomi (set 4 of the match against DOM)? Although Tomi is a weaker defender compares to Tashiro, with her the team play seems more diverse, as in the 5th set of the same game, no?
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Hi there. I am a new fan of volleyball in general and Japan volleyball in particular. I have quick question, what do you guys think of Tashiro? It seems like she always set the balls for either Koga/Korogo in recent matches, like 90% of the time. And sometimes 2-3 consecutive times in a single rally and most of the time they got blocked because the opponents already knew. Like the match against the DOM, they could have won 3-0 but the DOM knew and set up blocks for Koga/Korogo everytime. It frustrated me to no end, and Nakada late substitution didn't help at all. Like why would you wait til the very last minute to sub in Nagaoka/Tomi (set 4 of the match against DOM)? Although Tomi is a weaker defender compares to Tashiro, with her the team play seems more diverse, as in the 5th set of the same game, no?
Pos 4 is where the mismatch is.
It's purely tactical. Dominican Republic outside hitters are taller than the right side blockers(setter and opposite).
You have to avoid that as much as you can.
You also have to realize another thing about Nagaoka. She doesn't serve-receive. She's a pure opposite by nature and considering Japan's shaky reception without Shinnabe, it was probably a last ditch effort to save the match by putting in Tominaga and Nagaoka.
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Display MorePos 4 is where the mismatch is.
It's purely tactical. Dominican Republic outside hitters are taller than the right side blockers(setter and opposite).
You have to avoid that as much as you can.
You also have to realize another thing about Nagaoka. She doesn't serve-receive. She's a pure opposite by nature and considering Japan's shaky reception without Shinnabe, it was probably a last ditch effort to save the match by putting in Tominaga and Nagaoka.
yeah I understand that about Nagaoka. My main concern is about the setter position. Let's say, strictly about setting the ball, who is better between the two, Tomi or Tashiro? As in who can utilize all their attack points on the court? From what Ive seen so far Tashiro tends to set the ball to the side most of the time, if not all. In matches against weaker opponents she is a bit more flexible, but when it comes to opponents that are on-or above- JP level, to the sides (Koga/Korogo) it is. It tires them out quickly. Koga seems to have taken a beaten as seen in the last match against PUR. What are your thoughts about Tashiro? Can it be that coach Nakada insists on using her because she fits better with Kurogo/Koga than Tomi?
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Risa Shinnabe is key.
Against CAM, Nakada tried a variation on Team B:
Ishii/Shinnabe - Kurogo ... (Did Nakada think they were playing the Denso Airybees?)
Ishii/Shinnabe - Koga doesn't work
Ishii/Nagaoka - Kurogo doesn't work
Ishii/Nagaoka - Koga ... which is different from Koga/Nagaoka - Ishii ... doesn't work
Great post. I wholeheartedly agree that Shinnabe is the most stable/consistent player JP has right now. Her receive and defense is top notch.
Also I will need to rewatch that game against CAM to fully understand what you meant here. Still quite new to volleyball and your posts have always been pretty intriguing. I love your take on things. Keep them up I love reading haha
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Pos 4 is where the mismatch is.
That's pos 4 for the opponent, against Pos 2 for Japan, right? I think you've been talking about this since, well ... ever since I joined the forum
and I might actually almost understand it now. This is where your lovely image of Okumura going on a suicide mission comes into play, right? -
If you would have asked me before the WCh started who I thought was a better setter--strictly speaking--I would have said Tominaga. Not to say that now I think Tashiro is a better setter--strictly speaking--but things are going well and things look different to me. As I pointed out in the post above, the MBs were the high scorers for Japan against PUR. That doesn't happen very often. Okumura attacking from the middle is happening more. And overall this tournament I'm seeing more pipe attacks, which I think is crucial for Japan's game. Tashiro is making those things happen.
That's a great observation. I had the chance to watch Japan's last matches and I was happy to see Okumura and Araki were being set by Tominaga. Since Takeshita, I was thinking that their game was quite predictable before this WCH. Better championship of Japanese team in these past two years.
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As I pointed out in the post above, the MBs were the high scorers for Japan against PUR. That doesn't happen very often. Okumura attacking from the middle is happening more. And overall this tournament I'm seeing more pipe attacks, which I think is crucial for Japan's game. Tashiro is making those things happen.
Well compared to the VNL the team obviously has gotten much better, tho I still don't think is good enough. Against weaker team (like PUR) Tashiro can put out a more diverse play, setting the balls to MBs like Okumura and Araki, but when they face stronger teams it's like she's scared to put it to the MBs and opts for a safer approach - in her perspective - that is to the balls for the OHs - those she thinks have higher chance to score. But well that can only work for so long before it gets predictable and the other teams purposefully set up blocks for the OHs. But yeah all things considered (as you have pointed out), Tashiro might be a better starter. Which brings me to the next frustration: the coaches do not substitute players soon enough. And when she does it is usually too late! Under Manabe players got switched out if they failed 2-3 points consecutively. Lucky for them this tournament Koga and Korogo have play exceptionally well. And I'm happy Nana got sit out during these matches tho lol With Okumura on the court I feel much safer haha
Another question, do you guys have any news about Miyabe? She seems to be very promising, or so I have heard?