Japan Women's NT 2021

Quote from sitenoise

lol . I believe Mutekada did try to help her in her Japanese way, but I don't think Japan has the culture of holistically nurturing young players that , say , China does. They teach the fundamentals of volleyball and probably not much more.

Miyashita ... oops, I'm weighing in .... may be like Koga in certain respects. The transition from wunderkid, where you aren't expected to know anything yet beyond playing volleyball, to public adult is a big one, fraught with unknowns and unknown expectations. Neither one of them seem packed with social skills

I just hope Koga gets her confidence back because it is a waste to see a talented player not playing to her level. Another thing I want to see change is media stop hyping up players before they even get a chance to play on the big stage. Too much exposure leads to pressure, which is not a good thing for young prospects. Just let them grow without the distraction. Japanese media does a lot of showcasing from what I have seen.

Quote from sitenoise

She's not going to be a Boskovic

Of course not, that's Kurogo's job. Their faces actually have a slight resemblance...

Quote from sitenoise

She's got it back. It's a matter of maintaining it at this point. Japanese players can be fragile, though, and we have to wait and see how it holds up in international competition. I'm glad she wasn't one of the competing "face" players this go round, and the a-word was rarely used that I ever encountered. Thank god for that. I hate that word. She's not going to be a Boskovic. She just needs to do her job and it will benefit the team.

She's the next Saorin.

Quote from jetmasters

There's always pressure playing for club or national team. I think for her, playing club has much less pressure than playing for national team. Not much scrutiny when you are performing poorly. You get the hate from club fans vs entire volleyball fans for poor performance. Mutekada needs to bring her confidence back.

You clearly don't know just how much pressure Kawamoto puts on Haruka which she has been talking about for ages now. He's insufferable and wants perfection out of all their players especially when they have no foreign players playing for the team. Oikawa also talks about it when she first got into the NT wide roster.

Also lol Saolin is not Kimura alone it's a combination of Sakoda and Kimura hence the media's term of double Saori

they should stop with the next kimura because that's going to be a rut. if koga proves to be great then she's koga. nobody called kimura the next oriental witch ace

Having low-self esteem is innate to all athletes but it didn't gobble them up.

Anyway nobody is talking about who's gonna be the ace when the whole team isn't looking too strong. The fact they couldn't score even 1 set to China both in the practice match and the actual match is the larger issue now.

I honestly don't think Miyashita will be called unfortunately. If Sato is rehabilitating well she would be the priority.

Kurogo not performing as well as expected should be a cause for concern right? it's a bit worrying that she might fall into a slump now starting with the back to back JT travesty. i.e. Hande Baladin performed terribly during the regular season and she got a lot of criticism from fans since she was considered as one of the most promising ones in the NT, but it happens.

If they switch Kurogo back to OH and Shinnabe Jr. gets to take on the OP position will it be effective? Ishii could also work as an OP

Quote from gottebene

Kurogo not performing as well as expected should be a cause for concern right? it's a bit worrying that she might fall into a slump now starting with the back to back JT travesty. i.e. Hande Baladin performed terribly during the regular season and she got a lot of criticism from fans since she was considered as one of the most promising ones in the NT, but it happens.

If they switch Kurogo back to OH and Shinnabe Jr. gets to take on the OP position will it be effective? Ishii could also work as an OP

ishii has never played as opp, i doubt it will start now. i think mayu played as an op in the 2019 season but again her main issue is height and she's easy to block because her aim isn't as sharp. hayashi seems to be a lot stronger ironically

Nakada and Araki's postmatch interview. The video in the tweet needs VPN to be viewed lol Japan

The caption translates:

Nakada: "Playing China at a time like this will motivate the players."

Araki: "We will connect the challenges from today's match to future games"

Quote from sitenoise

There's all this odd mythology being built up about Shinnabe Hayashi

Mayu is taller than Hayashi. Mayu jumps higher and hits the ball harder than Hayashi, especially OOS balls.

but will nakada make mayu play as op? she seems decided on kurogo or hayashinnabe. im surprised hayashi was able to overtake nabeya just like that. nabeya must be too

Quote from Blue Moon

but will nakada make mayu play as op? she seems decided on kurogo or hayashinnabe. im surprised hayashi was able to overtake nabeya just like that. nabeya must be too

Yoshino could have overtaken Nabeya. She's one of those players that are just there.

Quote from Blue Moon

they should stop with the next kimura because that's going to be a rut. if koga proves to be great then she's koga. nobody called kimura the next oriental witch ace

Reminds me of Yuan Xinyue, when she was compared to Zhao Ruirui (for literally no reason other than they're both 1.99m middle blockers) and her response on if she will be the next Zhao Ruirui:

"I want to be the first Yuan Xinyue"

Quote from zhutingfan

Reminds me of Yuan Xinyue, when she was compared to Zhao Ruirui (for literally no reason other than they're both 1.99m middle blockers) and her response on if she will be the next Zhao Ruirui:

"I want to be the first Yuan Xinyue"

it's ridiculous and cancels out their own strengths. i understand that its mostly a term people throw around for the next big thing but it's cringe. imagine if you were kimura and you don't agree with the comparisons. not a dig at koga btw koga is awesome.

lebron didn't have to be called the next mj he's lebron. if the player is strong they're gonna be known for themselves not just as a successor (which doesn't pull through most of the time)

Quote from Blue Moon

it's ridiculous and cancels out their own strengths. i understand that its mostly a term people throw around for the next big thing but it's cringe. imagine if you were kimura and you don't agree with the comparisons. not a dig at koga btw koga is awesome.

lebron didn't have to be called the next mj he's lebron. if the player is strong they're gonna be known for themselves not just as a successor (which doesn't pull through most of the time)

Yup. So so cringe. Just say she could be the next superstar -- no one will have an issue with that.