Serbian Women's NT 2023

    I wouldn't write off Kocic so easily. Her mistake was club choices, she could have improved way more if she would have played in stronger leagues like Turkish or Italian leagues however everytime I watch her, she impresses me a lot. I agree that she didn't make the big step everyone was expecting from her but I doubt she reached her ceiling yet. I see some of you guys are really hyped about osmajic, hurtagic and uzelac. I m not really impressed by neither Uzelac nor hurtagic but I haven't watched osmajic much yet so I take your word for that. I still think Kocic would be big part of next Olympic cycle. She is not old anyways.


    I'm positive about Brankica's inclusion to Olympic roster given that she would have a similar roster with her 2022 shape. Olympics requires experienced players for stepping in at clutch points. That's why I'm generally in favour of bringing players who have already Olympic Experience. In that case I would bring two liberos and drop Bjelica&Lazovic. Lazovic can have a shot during next Olympic cycle and Bjelica just should be happy to have all those free medals she got which she didn't contribute much (to me, she is Serbian version of Melis Gurkaynak😂)


    Lastly I agree that Drca should be the starting setter in Olympics although she had a bad summer too, I think Maja is hurting her team more than she helps at this point.

    Quote from serdar

    I wouldn't write off Kocic so easily. Her mistake was club choices, she could have improved way more if she would have played in stronger leagues like Turkish or Italian leagues however everytime I watch her, she impresses me a lot. I agree that she didn't make the big step everyone was expecting from her but I doubt she reached her ceiling yet. I see some of you guys are really hyped about osmajic, hurtagic and uzelac. I m not really impressed by neither Uzelac nor hurtagic but I haven't watched osmajic much yet so I take your word for that. I still think Kocic would be big part of next Olympic cycle. She is not old anyways.


    I'm positive about Brankica's inclusion to Olympic roster given that she would have a similar roster with her 2022 shape. Olympics requires experienced players for stepping in at clutch points. That's why I'm generally in favour of bringing players who have already Olympic Experience. In that case I would bring two liberos and drop Bjelica&Lazovic. Lazovic can have a shot during next Olympic cycle and Bjelica just should be happy to have all those free medals she got which she didn't contribute much (to me, she is Serbian version of Melis Gurkaynak😂)


    Lastly I agree that Drca should be the starting setter in Olympics although she had a bad summer too, I think Maja is hurting her team more than she helps at this point.

    Kocic will be 26yo next year, I don’t think she has any time to improve if there is even any space left.


    Kurtagic is youngest MB we’ve seen on NT level this year. She dominated all youth categories she played with and she would’ve dominated U21 this year if she was there, and she just turned 19 last month. You had very little chance to watch her as she played for couple of points during VNL (where she got block on Annie Drews imidiatey when she entered) and ECH (where she went 2/2 in attack in 3 rotations she played) + block against Chinease in last set, where she did look lost but it was her first full set on such high level. She will improve now that she plays abroad but she already has solid blocking technique and insane good block and spike reach.


    Osmajic on the other hand is deadly good slider and she is currently better overall then Kurtagic (but a year older as well). Very athletic and fast. She will play against Vakif and Milano in CL do there will be chance to watch her, although her team is much much weaker and setter is unstable.


    But both of them dominated youth categories on european and world level.. and actually have good height, jump, power and technique to take it to senior level.


    Uzelac performance fell off by the end of season, but she was dropping 20 points regurarly against strong teams in VNL. She is just raw and doesn’t have best technique, but is tall, instanely good jumper and has a lot power while also can hit good angles. She also just turned 19 but it’s unfair to compare her to Arina and Ana C who are incredible top talents but also had much more experience on high level in both NT and club level. Italian clubs were interested in her but I’m happy she opted for Brazilian league and club with good youth coach who can actually help her with technique and to get experience. She struggles with mental pressure of big games so taking smaller steps is surely better for her to overcome that rather then being bench player in big clubs or choking under pressure. She will be big thing in 2-3 years, additionally because there are very little top OH prospects in younger generations and Uzelac can actually be very well rounded OH, her reception isn’t that bad at all and it will only get better with practice and experience.


    While I’m on Drca train if she is shape, we can’t say Maja did bad job thsi season overall.. sure there were games where she played for opponent, but she really dominated some games. She should make an incredible sub if she even wants to be sub.

    Quote from serdar

    I wouldn't write off Kocic so easily. Her mistake was club choices, she could have improved way more if she would have played in stronger leagues like Turkish or Italian leagues however everytime I watch her, she impresses me a lot. I agree that she didn't make the big step everyone was expecting from her but I doubt she reached her ceiling yet. I see some of you guys are really hyped about osmajic, hurtagic and uzelac. I m not really impressed by neither Uzelac nor hurtagic but I haven't watched osmajic much yet so I take your word for that. I still think Kocic would be big part of next Olympic cycle. She is not old anyways.


    I'm positive about Brankica's inclusion to Olympic roster given that she would have a similar roster with her 2022 shape. Olympics requires experienced players for stepping in at clutch points. That's why I'm generally in favour of bringing players who have already Olympic Experience. In that case I would bring two liberos and drop Bjelica&Lazovic. Lazovic can have a shot during next Olympic cycle and Bjelica just should be happy to have all those free medals she got which she didn't contribute much (to me, she is Serbian version of Melis Gurkaynak😂)


    Lastly I agree that Drca should be the starting setter in Olympics although she had a bad summer too, I think Maja is hurting her team more than she helps at this point.

    regarding the setters maja and Drca are still two of the best setters in the world. Majas problems really aren’t related to her age imo. She still has the ability to be fantastic she just has wrong mindset. If she is willing to adapt more she can still be a very positive addition. And for drca ? She really didn’t get good chances this summer. She barely got to play with Boskovic. I’m not worried about her either. I truly don’t believe setter will be any sort of issue in Paris. I fully believe they will step it up. My concern position wise is middle blocker. Stevanovic is in terrible form. And Mina is only good offensively

    Just to clarify, I meant Kocic for next Olympic cycle. Of course for Paris stevanovic, aleksic and popovic are locked. We have seen many late bloomer MBs. So Kocic can lead the team next cycle only if she would make better club choices though.


    I get your points on youngsters. I haven't watched osmajic and kurtagic enough to make a serious judgement yet so jury's still out for them. I've watched Uzelac a lot this summer and she is obviously very talented. By the way, any players who went to Brazil at a young age turned out to be great players (tom Logan, piccinini, C. Bosetti). Hopefully playing as a foreign player will improve her mental strength.

    Quote from Madden54

    regarding the setters maja and Drca are still two of the best setters in the world.

    except that they are not😂. Setter position WILL be a problem for Serbia in Paris and probably also after Paris. Maja is already a walking dead while running after bad reception and she basically can't run any other volleyball style rather than boring Boskoball which we have to watch for whole summer. She will be a year even older in Paris so she won't be able to play more than 2 sets , let alone starter for whole tournament. Drca had one good summer last year and this year she played mediocre to say the least. Unless she steps up her game big time, she won't be more useful than Mirkovic :roll: and after Paris, well good luck 😉

    About Kurtagic i think everyone her talked here about how good she is and great potential, but i am pretty sure we said she is not ready for this level yet. Osmajic was first in line, because she already have both, blocking and attack. But i guess Hena reputation won at the end and GG choose her. Or maybe because she already worked with foreigner coach in Tent. Kurtagic is literally post Paris player, while Osmajic was ready even this summer to play at ECH full time.


    About Uzelac, this is her first season at this level, nobody expected from her to be main player of the team, She had really good games and also really bad games, but this is normal for growing. Sometime she was problem, when pressure got her, sometime was Maja with bad sets, or no sets at all.


    For example, Lozo also had problems with Maja and she played ECH so so, not good not terrible. But after that she killed OQT, mostly because she finally received enough balls for her to shine. So she finished season with good impression. I think even Maja trust her now.

    Quote from serdar

    except that they are not😂. Setter position WILL be a problem for Serbia in Paris and probably also after Paris. Maja is already a walking dead while running after bad reception and she basically can't run any other volleyball style rather than boring Boskoball which we have to watch for whole summer. She will be a year even older in Paris so she won't be able to play more than 2 sets , let alone starter for whole tournament. Drca had one good summer last year and this year she played mediocre to say the least. Unless she steps up her game big time, she won't be more useful than Mirkovic :roll: and after Paris, well good luck 😉

    they are…. You’re just biased against them. Boring bosko ball was VERY close to beating you all at European championships and that was with maja being very sick. She’s still very useful and an absolute legend. You may annoy me but I know you’re not stupid and I also know you know volleyball well enough to know that Drca and maja are not the serious concerns you’re making them up to be. Maybe it’s what you’re hoping but it’s not reality.

    Quote from Madden54

    they are…. You’re just biased against them. Boring bosko ball was VERY close to beating you all at European championships and that was with maja being very sick. She’s still very useful and an absolute legend. You may annoy me but I know you’re not stupid and I also know you know volleyball well enough to know that Drca and maja are not the serious concerns you’re making them up to be. Maybe it’s what you’re hoping but it’s not reality.

    Close, but wasn't enough obviously. And I don't think it will be enough against other big teams in Paris.


    After being called all sorts of bad names by you in the past, 'not stupid' sounds like a compliment.


    I won't drag this longer to keep the peace in forum, let's agree on disagree. We will see who is right in a year😉

    Between Italy rolling out Orro and Bosio

    USA rolling out Carlini and Hancock

    Brazil with Midcris and Roberta



    I’m really supposed to believe that a serious concern of my team is Maja Ognjenovic ? With the back up being Drca ? lol. I’ll take my duo over every other duo in the world. besides maybe the polish duo.

    Macris-Roberta, Carlini-Hancock, Wolosz-Wenerska, Cansu-Elif are all better setter duos than Serbia's. Even Van Aalen is in a better shape than Maja-Drca right now. I agree that they are better than Orro-Bosio though.

    Quote from serdar

    Macris-Roberta, Carlini-Hancock, Wolosz-Wenerska, Cansu-Elif are all better setter duos than Serbia's. Even Van Aalen is in a better shape than Maja-Drca right now. I agree that they are better than Orro-Bosio though.

    LOL. Don’t bother saying anymore. Your inclusion of those first 2 duos as “better” than maja Drca is clear that you have no intention or interest in being truthful or unbiased.

    Only in papers. Maja is playing terrible and she has no connection with the most of the team. To play Boskoball in tournaments like Olympics does not lead anywhere. So yes. The setter is your biggest problem and everyone from the players who mentioned before could be an upgrade compare to Maja. To win you need the whole team and you know that Maja can not use them all. Drpa could be the solution but Guidetti has obsession with Maja and he is not going to invest in Drpa. So if Maja does not change the game plan for 100% sure Serbia will not get the gold.

    Quote from Steven12453

    Only in papers. Maja is playing terrible and she has no connection with the most of the team. To play Boskoball in tournaments like Olympics does not lead anywhere. So yes. The setter is your biggest problem and everyone from the players who mentioned before could be an upgrade compare to Maja. To win you need the whole team and you know that Maja can not use them all. Drpa could be the solution but Guidetti has obsession with Maja and he is not going to invest in Drpa. So if Maja does not change the game plan for 100% sure Serbia will not get the gold.

    you must not have watched our game vs the Dutch this week. Maja spread ball around and the team had insane performance in attack

    Quote from Steven12453

    Only in papers. Maja is playing terrible and she has no connection with the most of the team. To play Boskoball in tournaments like Olympics does not lead anywhere. So yes. The setter is your biggest problem and everyone from the players who mentioned before could be an upgrade compare to Maja. To win you need the whole team and you know that Maja can not use them all. Drpa could be the solution but Guidetti has obsession with Maja and he is not going to invest in Drpa. So if Maja does not change the game plan for 100% sure Serbia will not get the gold.

    This! besides, Maja will be one year older. So she will be even worse

    I don't think Ognjenovic/Drca is a weak duo at all but Guidetti needs to be ready to change things up when necessary. I don't expect Drca to return to her 2022 form but she has always been a solid option and can massively relieve the pressure on Maja when Maja is having one of her bad days. On the other hand, Ognjenovic can also come in and provide a real spark for the team as she still shows repeatedly. Honestly, if I was Guidetti I would be prepared to use both of them equally depending on who's playing well and helping the team most at that particular moment

    Quote from Sisko

    I don't think Ognjenovic/Drca is a weak duo at all but Guidetti needs to be ready to change things up when necessary. I don't expect Drca to return to her 2022 form but she has always been a solid option and can massively relieve the pressure on Maja when Maja is having one of her bad days. On the other hand, Ognjenovic can also come in and provide a real spark for the team as she still shows repeatedly. Honestly, if I was Guidetti I would be prepared to use both of them equally depending on who's playing well and helping the team most at that particular moment

    THIS. There is absolutely no problem if gio is willing to use both. There is only a problem if maja is given way too long of leash.

    Quote from Sisko

    I don't think Ognjenovic/Drca is a weak duo at all but Guidetti needs to be ready to change things up when necessary. I don't expect Drca to return to her 2022 form but she has always been a solid option and can massively relieve the pressure on Maja when Maja is having one of her bad days. On the other hand, Ognjenovic can also come in and provide a real spark for the team as she still shows repeatedly. Honestly, if I was Guidetti I would be prepared to use both of them equally depending on who's playing well and helping the team most at that particular moment

    Not necessarily very weak but weaker than other setter duos and for sure they are not two best setters in the world like Madden54 claims:roll: