2021 Dream Team (VOTE)

    MBH was great all year, look at where she was in Euro club 2nd, VNL 1st, Olympics 1st. No mention. Really?


    JWO as a libero was just so solid for the USA. Her being this high was actually fair.
    KYK as a going away present, I could see in the top ten and yes she carried South Korea, but in the VNL they were horrible. #1 no.

    Most everyone else in the top 12 was fine, maybe a spot or two different, but I could live with.

    I have to say overall I’m (surprisingly) satisfied with the selection by FIVB this time. For sure we all have questions like should MBH & Fe Garay be included? Yes. Should Larson the Olympic MVP deserve a higher rank? Absolutely.


    But at the same time I think the 12 players in the list are well deserved to be there. To have 3 players from USA & Brazil respectively already show the recognition that they are the best 2 teams in 2021. If adding MBH, Fe Garay & even Washington or Drews, there will be nearly 8-10 players from just 2 countries that we all know it’s not how FIVB is trying to promote the sport as the worldwide popular one.


    I’m just again super happy for KYK, she deserves it:heart:

    God , i just saw the comments and everyone is talking shit about Tori Dixon. I mean.. can you just be human and respect someone's opinion and dont be mean . Yes of course you can disagree, but talking like this is just awful. I dont know if what Kelsey Annie and Tori did was nice or not , but i think they did not do something wrong. They just shared their opinion , like everybody does.

    Quote from volleyball22

    they just showed their support towards their NT friends, there is absolutely nothing wrong about it, they did not say that someone else doesnt deserve to be on the list but just that MBH and Larson deserve to be high on it.

    Yep and they're not wrong. I mean If VBW' going to make a list ranking the best players of 2021 they shoulda made sure they had a sweet spot somewhere in the top 5 for the most decorated player of 2021.


    I think VBW got so smitten with a future superstar that it screwed the ranking up. Nothing against AF, she's going to be a major stud. BUT....putting someone with a resume as thin as an onion peel that high up on the list and then totally snubbing MBH (et Washington, Zehra, Garay, Moki) really made it a Grade-A pure fucking horseshit of a ranking.


    But really who cares? Certainly not MBH. Right now she's probably wearing her hater blockers on trying to shield her big beautiful eyes from the blinding and shiny and new medals that she recently added to her still growing collection. 8)

    Quote from Sillynameplus567

    I think VBW got so smitten with a future superstar that it screwed the ranking up. Nothing against AF, she's going to be a major stud. BUT....putting someone with a resume as thin as an onion peel that high up on the list and then totally snubbing MBH (et Washington, Zehra, Garay, Moki) really made it a Grade-A pure fucking horseshit of a ranking.

    Sorry but I can’t agree that Arina is “someone with a resume as thin as onion peel”… She was the best player of her NT in the Olympics, she led her team as the best scorer to knock China, which was one of the heavy favourite, out of the competition in the most decisive match in the group phase, at age 17! Also let’s not forget they are the only team that had a victory over USA, the eventual champion, in the whole competition.

    Then she won the bronze medal in the Club World Championship and was named as best OH. Again she was the best player of her team, without her Fenerbache would probably lost to Praia and failed to reach the final 4.
    Above achievements may not be as shiny as the medals of MBH, Washington & Fe Garay, but being such a phenomenal player at only 17 to achieve all these, she should definitely be recognized as one of the best in 2021.
    (I just find it quite silly for FIVB to name only 12 players. I mean, why 12? It’s not a top 10 list anyway, they can name 15 or even 18/20 to include all players that deserve the recognition and easily prevent the current outcome.)

    Quote from KVB

    Sorry but I can’t agree that Arina is “someone with a resume as thin as onion peel”… She was the best player of her NT in the Olympics, she led her team as the best scorer to knock China, which was one of the heavy favourite, out of the competition in the most decisive match in the group phase, at age 17! Also let’s not forget they are the only team that had a victory over USA, the eventual champion, in the whole competition.

    Then she won the bronze medal in the Club World Championship and was named as best OH. Again she was the best player of her team, without her Fenerbache would probably lost to Praia and failed to reach the final 4.
    Above achievements may not be as shiny as the medals of MBH, Washington & Fe Garay, but being such a phenomenal player at only 17 to achieve all these, she should definitely be recognized as one of the best in 2021.
    (I just find it quite silly for FIVB to name only 12 players. I mean, why 12? It’s not a top 10 list anyway, they can name 15 or even 18/20 to include all players that deserve the recognition and easily prevent the current outcome.)

    Her resume is thin..... She was named to the dream team at 1 tournament... which their only inclusion was because it was based in turkey...


    Jordan Thompson was better against China than Arina was... (Goncharova beat the USA btw)


    Over the entire national team season, Voronkova was better than Arina was, but doesn't get any of the respect.


    no one is saying Arina isn't a great player... but if we're basing the list off of their 2021 season.... she doesnt come close to MBH or Fe Garay.

    Quote from avid

    no one is saying Arina isn't a great player... but if we're basing the list off of their 2021 season.... she doesnt come close to MBH or Fe Garay.

    I have to restate that I agree MBH & Fe Garay won much more than Arina and it’s a clear fact, I just disagree that Arina’s resume is onion peel like thin. If Arina isn’t named as one of the best in 2021 would be definitely weird to me. Boskovic was the last player who was able to perform at similar level and made big impact in major tournament at age 17, and that was already 7 years ago. It tells what Arina achieved was extraordinary.

    MBH & Fe Garay not being selected are also weird to me, but when looking at the whole list there are already 6 of their teammates in the list already, I understand why they put Arina instead of them in it. Not that I agree to it but it’s just what FIVB would do (and again, why 12??)

    I have no problem with them recognizing her greatness but not at the expense of others with a much more succesful 2021. It's really about how VBW not giving this list a full thought.


    The fact that KYK secured spot at the top of the ranking while having a less than stellar club and NT season then ignoring MBH altogether is just mind boggling. Its the best of the last year not a few weeks of last summer.


    The reasoning for KYK and Arina's inclusion from the fans just doesnt track well if you look at the list of names that wasnt even acknowledge. Garay did as much if not more. Brazil wasnt even a favorite to medal and they went on a tear undefeated until the finals. Went further than the eventual number one and statiscally better comparatively.


    I agree that VBW handcuffed themselves by making this a ranking of the "12 best" when they could've easily just made a long lists of top players of 2021 in no particular order and another to highlight players to watch for 2022.


    To me it looks like one person decided the ranking which is kind of dumb considering their working relationship with fivb. Should have surveyed vb personalities, coaches, ex players etc but I guess that expecting too much from them

    Quote from Sillynameplus567

    I agree that VBW handcuffed themselves by making this a ranking of the "12 best" when they could've easily just made a long lists of top players of 2021 in no particular order and another to highlight players to watch for 2022.


    To me it looks like one person decided the ranking which is kind of dumb considering their working relationship with fivb. Should have surveyed vb personalities, coaches, ex players etc but I guess that expecting too much from them

    Exactly

    Quote from avid

    I disagree. JWO was the USAs best and most consistent player this summer.


    I mean do we need to go back to 2018 to know how important the libero is to USA 💀💀

    I agree that libero position was the most problematic position of USA since Sykora. But this contrast creates over- appreciation to JWO's performance. Clearly she had a good tournament but she wasnt the reason why USA won the gold medal. From impact point of view I think it was Larson>MBH>Washington>Poulter=JWO. That's why I would have definitely add MBH in the list instead of JWO. This was one of the biggest robs of 2021


    On the other hand, I'm happy with KYK as number 1. She showed a legendary performance at that age (if we are appraising Arina's age, we should appraise KYK's age as well) at the most important tournament of volleyball. NOBODY else elevated her team so much and dragged her team single handedly to OG semis. To me this success > performance of all the rest


    https://giphy.com/gifs/iconic-…y-shes-co5Iboa0dZrR7OXivh

    I don't think seeing Arina and Macris in top12 of the year is that weird... Even if they weren't top12-material, they would be close.. we had people here voting for them.. it's not that farfetched...