Turkey - Vodafone Sultanlar Ligi 2025-2026

    They have been creating this situation themselves putting together rosters with dead-ends for years. Their strategy for next year is no different. Castillo wont fix any of their problems just like Orro and Korneluk didnt give them any improvement. They are making the same hype with Castillo and Ogbogu now. They always act like those new players are some supernatural beings and their former players were dead weight. Gizem was one of the top liberos but is getting worse every season because she barely got any help. Like previous setters and blockers were not the issue, Gizem is not the reason they have a bad defense here. So same story different casting with no chemistry. You cant fix systemic issues with individual talent.


    Hande was bad but the solution is not Ana Cristina. She didnt change outcome they still lost because their issue was not the attacking, it was defense as always and she proved it again failing at reception in the most critical time. They should already have alternatives for Hande or she should be alternative for more capable OH.

    Quote from KVB

    Taking Hande out was a correct decision. She kept sending overpasses before she was benched, and AC scored after entering the court. Agree on the Orro part though.


    Next season they will have Jack, so they could play with Arina/Hande, Eda/Jack, Orro/Vargas + Brenda. But their biggest problem will still be the OH2. If Hande still plays like this (I’m 95% sure she will), they don’t have a solution for that.

    I'm pretty sure Russia will play some friendly games in the summer, just like they did last year with Serbia

    Given what's happening in other parts of the world and that the countries doing it are facing no sanctions at all, it's total bullshit that Russia is not allowed to play

    Regarding the discussion about OH, I think the big question is how long she can stay at the top.


    Sokolova and Artamonova were "strong" but they were technical and didn't rely solely on reach like Kim too.


    A clear example for me is Calderon; for me, she was the most incredible player I've seen in terms of jump, reach, and power (even more so than Mireya).


    But her peak lasted very little (2005-2007). When she left the Cuban national team and went to Europe, she never performed the same way again because the training methods were different.


    The biggest question for Markova is: can she stay at the top for a long time? Zhu, due to injuries, couldn't (2013-2019).

    Generally this kind of player have a shorter prime. The moment their physical advantage disappears, they tend to be average; not to mention this game style exposes them to injury way more. Technical spikers find a way to tool the block and being effective for much longer. Sokolova has been Sokolova for 15/20 years, no matter she played middle, opposite or outside hitter.

    Have you even seen Markova play? She has like 100 different ways to score points in different situations. They make her use her reach yes, but she definetely does not rely only in her strengh and she has top level technical skills. Even when she will start lossing her power, she will stay at the highest level, because she is super tall...

    Also Zhu is still one of the best OH's in the world. When she is healthy, she's easily top 5 for a lot of people, player and coaches.

    Quote from Realista

    Zhu Ting at the 2016 Olympics scored 22ppg on +50%/40% attack rate/attack efficiency - that was until Markova the best left wing spiker ever in my eyes. Now, obviously there's a difference in overall importance of the events, and OG 2016 is like a legendary carrying job (and Zhu was also a cornerstone of Vakifbank in her glory days as well) - but Markova this year may be even better in terms of pure level of pos. 4 attack.


    Peak Kim could be a more impactful player overall, and there's the whole group of all-round players from the modern era and names like Sun Yue, Sokolova, and so on, up to Gabi now, but I was strictly talking about the offense, and left wing attack more precisely. And there, Markova really may be the one.

    If you are talking purely about offense from left side, Besides Zhu and KYK, I'm thinking about peak Kosheleva too. She was constantly hitting over blocks of huge MBs. Pity that she had to deal with many terrible injuries and she didn't work with great coaches like Guidetti to unleash her full potential. Also current Arina isn't very far behind of Markova offensively.

    Quote from KVB

    Taking Hande out was a correct decision. She kept sending overpasses before she was benched, and AC scored after entering the court. Agree on the Orro part though.


    Next season they will have Jack, so they could play with Arina/Hande, Eda/Jack, Orro/Vargas + Brenda. But their biggest problem will still be the OH2. If Hande still plays like this (I’m 95% sure she will), they don’t have a solution for that.

    Can't fener play with Arina/Hande, Eda/Ogbogu, Orro/Vargas + Brenda/Gizem. I mean Brenda replacing Ogbogu in the backrow and Gizem coming in when ogbogu goes to the front? Then they can maximize both of their foreigners

    Quote from nina011

    I'm pretty sure Russia will play some friendly games in the summer, just like they did last year with Serbia

    Given what's happening in other parts of the world and that the countries doing it are facing no sanctions at all, it's total bullshit that Russia is not allowed to play

    Yes hypocrisy of Western world🤦 meanwhile baby killer shitraël is even allowed to join all sport events and Eurovision 😒 and USA can host world Cup and Olympics :aww:

    Quote from serdar

    Can't fener play with Arina/Hande, Eda/Ogbogu, Orro/Vargas + Brenda/Gizem. I mean Brenda replacing Ogbogu in the backrow and Gizem coming in when ogbogu goes to the front? Then they can maximize both of their foreigners

    It can be an option, but given their performance this season, I’d start with Jack over Ogbogu.

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    Markova and Boskovic both with 3 errors in set 1 which is like way more than they usually give up sometimes even in a match and they still won thre set