Japan Women's NT 2021

    Quote from Hassan Kadem

    is sato's injury major? if they add seki and sato won't be able to play that's gonna be weird af


    iwasaka isn't at a good enough spot where she can be reserved for the nt. and if she gets in, okayama fans are gonna be mad as hell again.


    nagaoka is gonna make the NT no matter what percent she's at even at 0% she already made nakada's list. nakada would rather sacrifice ishii I can bet my whole existence on it. not that it would happen but it should

    Sato is aiming for Olympics https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/sp…/article/article_107.html. No idea what her condition is

    Quote from gottebene

    During the 2018 World Cup it was Nagaoka, Koga, Kurogo as the main 3. It's likely to be a repeat

    World Championship, but I don't think those three were ever on the court together, maybe in that amazing win over Serbia :) That tournament was mostly Shinnabe and Koga, with Ishii taking over for Kurogo, like in the match against Brazil when they had to get a set or go home.


    I think that's the three Nakada hoped/planned on for the cycle, and would probably love to see it finally happen but Nagaoka is a gamble at this point. Or maybe not. She looks physically good to me (if a little thin) but as others have pointed out the mental aspects are another story.

    Quote from sitenoise

    World Championship, but I don't think those three were ever on the court together, maybe in that amazing win over Serbia :) That tournament was mostly Shinnabe and Koga, with Ishii taking over for Kurogo, like in the match against Brazil when they had to get a set or go home.


    I think that's the three Nakada hoped/planned on for the cycle, and would probably love to see it finally happen but Nagaoka is a gamble at this point. Or maybe not. She looks physically good to me (if a little thin) but as others have pointed out the mental aspects are another story.

    Nagaoka is locked


    Hopefully this embed works. Here's half of the docu on Nagaoka (originally 3 hours) you can see Nakada and that highschool coach testifying to what I believe is Nagaoka's role at the Olympics. I don't have the translation just the tweet from bonpapamick


    trigger warning or whatever


    3 HOURS holy shit=O


    Do you know where I can watch the whole thing? even in parts?

    Quote from sean1

    3 HOURS holy shit=O


    Do you know where I can watch the whole thing? even in parts?

    Nope. I believe those were intentionally omitted because there were some parts where Nagaoka was naked in the process. Censored but still not posted in the original Sports Watcher digital version.

    Quote from Hassan Kadem

    is sato's injury major? if they add seki and sato won't be able to play that's gonna be weird af


    iwasaka isn't at a good enough spot where she can be reserved for the nt. and if she gets in, okayama fans are gonna be mad as hell again.


    nagaoka is gonna make the NT no matter what percent she's at even at 0% she already made nakada's list. nakada would rather sacrifice ishii I can bet my whole existence on it. not that it would happen but it should

    I don't any of us fans knows the extent of Sato's injury, but she's in street clothes now, after a very brief couple of appearances early in the season. It's too bad. I saw her as the one who was growing towards the main setter position.


    What do you think of Aki Momii? I think she and Seki are both doing well for kids, but I think in a push coming to shove match like the Empress Cup final, Momii schooled the heck out of Seki. Sure, Momii had Drews , who btw took more swings in that match than the entire rest of JT combined , but she played it smart.


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    I know Okayama fans are easily triggered but why are they more particularly mad about Iwasaka? It can't be a matter of Oikawa v Iwasaka is it?

    Quote from gottebene

    that highschool coach

    Ouch ! :rolll:


    As far as I know the story, he's the one who 'discovered' her and brought her to his high school. So they go way back.

    Quote from sitenoise

    Ouch ! :rolll:


    As far as I know the story, he's the one who 'discovered' her and brought her to his high school. So they go way back.

    Oh


    What's his name? I auto-translated the tweet from the OP I got the link from and they didn't mention his name lol

    Quote from sean1

    I can't what even8| how is it that long is that an Avengers movie... ngl I would pay

    It's part of TV Tokyo's docuseries called "Human Watcher" under Sports Watcher. The whole documentary has other athletes in it that's why it's 3 hours long

    we'll have to see once vnl starts but i think sato is still bound to be the main setter given her age and that BEST SETTER award still gleaming.


    it's a nakada bias thing. not iwasaka in particular but basically having an excess of saga members in the NT and none chosen from okayama.

    Quote from gottebene

    Oh


    What's his name? I auto-translated the tweet from the OP I got the link from and they didn't mention his name lol

    That's Coach Lovebunny aka Noboru Aihara, coach of the Legendary 2019 U20 squad that won a couple Gold Medals. I'm just teasing though. He was a HS coach for like 30 years. His HS team won five consecutive championships around the Nagaoka years with Akutagawa, Nabeya, Iwasaka, Erika Sakae, Mana Toe, Yuki Kawai, and Erica Chuman 9-ball player extraordinaire to name a few.


    Someone here pointed out a while back that his old school, Higashi Kyushu Ryukoku, mostly funnels players to Hisamitsu Springs.

    Speaking of the controversial Iwasaka, the middle blocker thing is going to be difficult. Seems like Japan MBs can either score or block, not both :lol:


    Beyond Araki, that is. She's a lock , we know that. But who else?


    Oikawa and Akutagawa are the other two that have at least some balance between scoring and blocking. Oikawa is a bit of an youngish unknown (and plays for the NoSmilers) but I see her growing when Coach K lets her play.


    Shimamura is nuts on the scoring front but slim on blocking. Yamada is good blocking against high sets but not so much against fast game. Her scoring is underwhelming. Okumura is fast but short, and weak on scoring.


    Aya Watanabe and Mai Irasawa have their moments but I think time has passed them by. For the wide list I'd replace them with Shimamura and Denso's Mami Yokota.


    Nana

    ** I just looked at the League stats and was puzzled why Akutagawa wasn't listed in Attack%. I was sure she was neck and neck with Oikawa, around 6th place.


    She is, at 44.4%, but Akutagawa hasn't taken enough swings to qualify for the ranking even though she's played every set JT has played. I wonder what's going on there ;)

    Quote from sean1

    Is no one else excited for Kotona Hayashi? she doesn't have that much of a presence now but I think there's a good chance for her to outshine Mayu. I see improvements in every game (the ones I've watched lol) especially in her defense.

    I give Hayashi props every chance I get. She has a great all around game. She's fast and smart but she's that mystical 173cm and skinny so I think people don't notice her