Japan Women's NT 2021

Wait is #10 Denso's MB. Holy shit it's 2 hours I'll have to watch the whole thing another time

Regarding the OG getting the "worst team" title that's a huge slump to get over and we don't know what other accidents could happen in the future. That's why I think it has to start with JVA giving them the necessary and best possible training practices to ensure the health of all their athletes. I don't see anything about it on their website. In the first place, weren't they about to change the president? what happened to that?

I had to do some research on the women's basketball team, they had some incredible upgrades in equipment and trainers to ensure the fitness of every member and this all happened when that volleyball lady took over.

The men's team have over 50 trainers while the women's team only have 10 including Saga/Nagaoka's physiotherapist. When Koga got injured the doctors and therapists that came to her aid were all from the men's team. There's such an overwhelming difference that you definitely get the sense JVA is the one who gave up on the women's team.

Just me venting but I hope these issues get some kind of attention. It's one thing to find and develop players which is of course a priority but what if they all start getting injured one by one again and by 2024 they have to rely on whoever's healthy enough to put out there.

Matsui does look confident and gives clear instructions so you know she's in command which is what I think Momii lacked while in the NT. I get that the difference in pressure is huge but that's something I want to see Momii do. I like both setters. Someone pointed this out already before the NT became active but Momii is really awkward when it comes to defense but it has a lot to do with her build

Quote from sitenoise

It's funny, when I first noticed Momii in her Summer League debut, it was her defense that caught my eye. That's the first thing I look for in a setter Ya'll may know I have this fetish about keeping the ball off the floor in front of the three point line. I think her defense (at that, anyway) has also been good with JT , but no getting around she was "awkward" with NT. I write it off as the pressure to be offense/setter took up her head

In her mind she probably wanted to do more of that Ognjenovic waterfall attack to help with scoring but the opponents already have their hands to where she's about to dump so it just ends up with her having to literally push the ball in... forcibly

I remember posting about JVA's election here but yeah there were not other follow ups on it so I assume everyone voted for Shimaoka to stay. Their main objective was to have more female members in the board of directors and they got 2 I think and called it a day

That Yan Ni incident was a brainfart moment. Momii was standing too near the net and was already holding up the ball with her one hand. Yan Ni was like wtf is this girl doing so she just hit the ball out of her hand before Momii could even set. I doubt we'll see an individual video of it but that was so amusing. Momii was so lost

"Mistakes help you grow"

This is a little off-topic but is there a reason why dating is not allowed for active NT players? I saw a fan tweeting about it last night. It didn't even occur to me that that might be a thing for athletes.

Quote from voly

This is a little off-topic but is there a reason why dating is not allowed for active NT players? I saw a fan tweeting about it last night. It didn't even occur to me that that might be a thing for athletes.

They are allowed to date, that's not something you can control anyway. They're just not allowed to share their relationship publicly or they put their partners at risk, this applies to family members as well

Quote from sean1

They are allowed to date, that's not something you can control anyway. They're just not allowed to share their relationship publicly or they put their partners at risk, this applies to family members as well

At risk of what?

Quote from voly

At risk of what?

At risk of being harassed by overzealous fans

Japan has this weird idol culture that also applies to popular athletes, that's why there's such a thing as fanservice during home games. Remember Saori's husband had to hire protection for himself when fans discovered his identity

Quote from Phoenix

Crisis in Volleyball. Takeshita's OP ED.

https://number.bunshun.jp/articles/-/849436

Takeshita conveyed her frustration

Did you feel the heat in volleyball this time?

The men's team reached the quarterfinals for the first time in 29 years at the Tokyo Olympics, which concluded on August 8, and finished in seventh place. On the other hand, the women's team was eliminated from the preliminary round for the first time in 25 years since the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

"The men's race was interesting because it gave me hope, but the women's race was tough."

Takeshita herself takes these words very seriously.

"To be honest, there is sense of crisis. The women's basketball team that won the silver medal looked fun to watch, and they had a great unity. But it wasn't just fun. The basketball players practised so hard, their team and results were the result of their desperate efforts. The women's volleyball team worked just as hard, but why were the results different? For the sake of the future of the volleyball world, I think it's important to look back on this situation and see how we can give feedback."

When results are achieved, they are praised; when they are not, they are criticized." She understands this pain better than anyone else. That's why Takeshita, out of love for volleyball, dared to be harsh in her reflections on the Tokyo Olympics.

The reality was that the women's volleyball team had won one game and lost four in the preliminary round. The women's volleyball team fell extremely short of its goal of winning a medal, but Takeshita sensed the signs even before the tournament.

When I looked at the 12-member team," she said, "I wondered why there were four middle blockers and so few outside hitters. In fact, there was no reserve for Kurogo, so there must have been a lot of pressure on her, and Koga got injured. It was certainly unexpected, but the outside players have a lot of work to do on offense and defense, so they should have been able to anticipate that situation.

Maybe Erika Araki and Haruyo Shimamura, are veterans, so the staff might have been concerned about their physical strength for a series of games. But they had proven themselves to be calculable players in the Nations League just before the tournament. I didn't understand the reason for this lineup.

Takeshita understood from her own experience as a coach in Himeji and from having seen many coaches as a player that you need to have extraordinary mental strength to be able to fight. That's why she has a lot of feelings for Kumi Nakada, "She was more committed to the Olympics than anyone else, so I'm sure she's suffering from a sense of responsibility,"

Coaching Staff Changes

At the same time, however, I have many doubts. Why did the coaching staff change every year in the Japanese national team, which builds trusting relationships, the accuracy of its combinations, and the way it should fight as a team over the years? If I were in the position of a coach or a player," Takeshita questioned in a strong tone, "it would be impossible for me."

"The coach, players, and the staff all need to have a sense of unity to be able to fight. There was no explanation as to why the coach in charge of training suddenly became the coach of the top team in the first place. The players on the field may have had more doubts than those of us who were watching. In terms of tactics, there must have been some differences compared to the previous system. We may have accepted that as 'inevitable,' but it would have been good if the players had been more assertive in saying, This is what I want to do. When you look at the articles that were published during the tournament, you can't help but wonder if they were properly questioned."

Takeshita pointed out an article that was published after the fourth game of the preliminary round against South Korea, which she said bothered her

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Establishing team unity is not something that happens just because they played in VNL and won some games. The roster leading up to Nakada's OG was put together as an urgent team not the real team that Nakada wanted. I doubt she truly trusted certain players but had no other choice. It was already happening, she had to work with what's left.

Her term was riddled with players getting injured that ultimately led to hasty decisions particularly the tragic choice of bringing 4 MBs. Her coaching staff minus Aihara, bringing in 2 new sub coaches from Toyota was another questionable choice. Why Toyota? There were 2 former players who had nothing outstanding to offer. They didn't even have sufficient experience.

To sum it up the entire team including the staff was just bizarre.