Japan Women's NT 2022

  • I don't recall Hayashi being this good last 2021. My feeling is that the coaching style is really significant as to how the players perform. This Japan team under Manabe is completely different from last year under Nakada. I feel like no one can stop Japan in this tournament and they can possibly win the title. Hoping for the bes

  • I don't recall Hayashi being this good last 2021. My feeling is that the coaching style is really significant as to how the players perform. This Japan team under Manabe is completely different from last year under Nakada. I feel like no one can stop Japan in this tournament and they can possibly win the title. Hoping for the bes

    hayashi didn't get as much court time last vnl as far as i can remember. for starters, manabe wasn't pushing underperforming players which is basically what nakada did. she just threw those toray duo to start in practically every game despite one of them clearly lacking behind. all this happening and we still haven't even seen airi.

  • Amazing crowd tonight! :cheesy: Hayashi is so good this game! Some angles of her shots are just beautiful to watch live.

    For once i thought JPN was playing on their home turf, the crowd is indeed amazing tonight!!


    Do you think Koga can surpass Saori's peak times? Both achievement-wise and performance-wise.

    By the way I always thought Nagaoka would be the new 'ace player' for Japan after Saori's retirement, I guess so many injuries took a toll on her

    Achievement-wise, it's really hard for any JPN OH to reach Saori's level. At 24, she already got 3 consecutive V-league crowns, 1 Asia Championship gold medal, 1 World Championship bronze medal and countless individual awards in both domestic and international tournaments. And by 26 (the same age of Koga now), She already bagged an Olympic medal. I also thought Nagaoka or Risa would match Saori's achievements at the end of their pro careers but the injuries did them bad.

    Performance-wise, Koga at the moment is a bit better on the net (block and attack) but still has a long way to go in order to match Saori's skills on the floor.

    I feel like no one can stop Japan in this tournament and they can possibly win the title. Hoping for the bes

    Im not sure whether JPN is too good or everyone else simply doesn't take this tournament seriously. Can't remember when was the last time JPN won against CHN with a set like 25-12. Let's see if Manabe can still play his magic against the real team A of Italy/USA/Brazil in later stages.

  • Im not sure whether JPN is too good or everyone else simply doesn't take this tournament seriously. Can't remember when was the last time JPN won against CHN with a set like 25-12. Let's see if Manabe can still play his magic against the real team A of Italy/USA/Brazil in later stages.

    That's the rub, tho I'm a little more concerned about a Bosko'd up Serbia than Italy. Brazil's blockers are my worst nightmare


    One thing I'm seeing/liking with this current Japan is that they don't completely deflate when things don't go well for a spell. Small accomplishments like coming back from 0–2 against Germany, coming back from , whatever they were down , in set 1 against Thailand, coming back from that disastrous set 1 against China. They've been down a few times in sets (even Bulgaria pushed them) and managed to ummph forward toward the end of the set. That's new for Japan and suggests a mindset, a willpower, a team chemistry that is invaluable


    Another thing is that they don't seem bothered by being out of system. That's a good thing because their reception is weak. Manabe stressed serve and serve receive. He got serve but serve receive is not up to Japan standards. Manabe also stressed a new category he made up: assists. I think he's got that, and that's why OOS isn't such a big deal. Everybody "two-tier" passes (is that what we call it?) really well. Kojima seems like a better setter than receiver


    Even though Ogawa can't block, I think she's a better option than Yokota because she's more of a threat offensively. I'm not seeing as much MB coolness since she sat down. Japan needs their opponents to honor the MB so the OHs get a little more opening

  • Carol is going to be a big problem :lol:

    We need someone to eliminate Brazil somehow so we can avoid them. Not looking forward to Serbia either

  • A lot of the opponents aren't complete so it's not really a test of how good they are now if you only look at the win-loss recors. What's important is looking at how they play and the things they still need to work on. At the end of the day, these wins are still good as it can give them more confidence in facing stronger opponents and can give them cushion against the future losses in terms of the World Ranking points earned. That's why, even though I don't think they are the best in the world or what based on the standings since they are not facing complete teams, the WR points they are getting from this is enough for me to be really happy about the wins, especially with the WR points more important this quad with the new Olympic qualifications.

  • volleyb I trust you had a fabulous time attending the games. It was very fun living vicariously through you, and your 'on the scene reporting' was great :drink:

  • It's kinda weird Yamada has disappeared. She's supposed to be the future. Maybe there's an injury? She did look unmotivated during the time she did play. Who knows? We will never know

  • It's kinda weird Yamada has disappeared. She's supposed to be the future. Maybe there's an injury? She did look unmotivated during the time she did play. Who knows? We will never know

    I think they should've included her in the week 2 roster instead of getting 3 setters and not using Miyashita anyway. I hope she gets another chance for the week 3. I'm initially not impressed with Yokota but she is actually very agile and getting more block touches.


    by the way, I just remembered yesterday that we were laughing about how strong Kojima is. After the games, the winning team gets to throw signed mini balls to the audience and for all the teams, almost everyone's throw is just until the lower level. When Kojima threw the ball last night, it almost reached the highest level in the arena :lol:

  • Seriously not a good look for Miyashita. She's officially Tashiro'd. They're already doing well here so all the more reason to use both Seki and Matsui during WCH which doesn't leave much room for Miyashita anymore. I wasn't really sure of Seki she's always been a mess when things get out of hand with Toray and even if she's the least graceful one, she did show improvement this time. Maybe she had Takeshita to thank for? or maybe it's the Manabe Magic whatever it is she's less shaky and more focused.

  • even if she's the least graceful one

    hahaha, I was watching the CHN match earlier and laughing to myself at how Frankenstein-y she clodhoppers around :S


    doesn't matter how you get from Point A to point B , I guess

  • hayashi didn't get as much court time last vnl as far as i can remember. for starters, manabe wasn't pushing underperforming players which is basically what nakada did. she just threw those toray duo to start in practically every game despite one of them clearly lacking behind. all this happening and we still haven't even seen airi.

    Yeap, last VNL she only got substituted in, but never really started, so she didn't really have time to make any startling impact although her receives did help!


    Super happy to see Hayashi improving so much, idk what they're feeding her or teaching her but it's working :super:

  • Don't worry about Serbia. Even boskovic can't save them.

    I mostly understand, but their blockers worry me