Posts by andrea

  • Bulgarian NT for 2010 season

    Yes, at European Championship last year one obvious change was that they played middle quick attacks (much) more than before, and, the good news was, the quick attacks were threatening and effective! I've never seen Tsvetanov being in so good shape before. Yosifov also did a decent job in offense. It seems that suddenly their weakest link (MBs) disappeared.


    As for Zhekov, he's described as "outstanding" probably because he is good at categories other than setting: block, serve and defense. For his major role in the team, setting, I'm impressed by his jump set the most - he's probably the player who jump sets the most frequently. This keeps a quick tempo in the team's offense by shortening the time of a set in air. His quick set really improved a lot in the last European Championship. As to his downside, as a captain as well as setter, he needs to hold his nerve at important matches. If he collapses, the team's offensive system will not work and the whole team will collapse with him.

  • Italy Serie A1 2009-2010

    Quote from AFROMAN

    Nikolov said in an interview that he was not going after the ball but he was going to hug his wife - Maya, who has been very supportive throughout the whole season :)


    Who said that Trento are not going to win in 5 games...are you Nustradamus :D Come on, you all know that it was unfair no matter who have won, but the more important issue is that is more unfair for Trento who have lost their home advantage and crowd who are always amazing (Trento's supporters)


    Where can I find the match Bulgaria vs Netherlands last year in European Championships? I know this is a very (somewhat unexpectedly) close match, but cannot find where to download.

  • Italy Serie A1 2009-2010

    Quote from HeeelMooi

    Grbic might not be technically th best setter (his sets to the middle attackers are still somewhat weak), but as far knowing how to win, he's the best player I know. Especially when linked up with Nikolov. And actually Henno and Wijsmans both have a lot of the killer instinct as well. They're a very stubborn bunch of people, who refuse to be beaten.


    Yes, I can't agree more abut the point of Grbic's weakness in setting to MBs. I've noticed this since Grbic's early career. Quite often, relatively to his top-class level, he had difficulty in running combinations with Mester, Geric, etc. His talented judgement in ball distribution has covered this weak spot pretty well, though.

  • Champions League 2009/2010

    Withdraw from semifinal?? What do you mean?


    Quote from asia


    he defending own interest and it is ok, but not in this way!
    by talking that they are only one team who 'pay' for moving final 4!
    it is unfair and disrespectful for the other teams.
    yes, Bled, Dinamo and Skra knew before that final 4 will be played 1-2 May and they have made special preparation for it... and Zenit Kazan withdraw from semifinal... only Trentino has to play semifinals.

  • European Championships 2009 - Turkey

    Quote from Matthias

    Usually I don't care about men volley at all, but I must say Germany: :thumbdown: :thumbdown: :thumbdown:
    I have no idea why players like Steuerwald and Schwarz are out there and Tischer and Kromm are on bench.
    I just hope our women will do better...


    Yes, I can't understand why Tischer is kept on bench, while Kromm's reception could be a problem. Is the current starting setter really playing very well? Tischer is much taller, and most importantly, his setter skills have no big problem!

  • European Championships 2009 - Turkey

    Can anyone watch using LaoLa? I used to use LaoLa without any difficulty in the past one or two years, but now every time I tried to watch a game of European Championship from LaoLa, the media player just pops out "The URL is invalid." Just wanna know if it's my problem only or anyone has similar experience.

  • European Championships 2009 - Turkey

    Quote from YavorD

    I read somewhere that there was a dispute between Igor Kolakovic and Novica Bjelica. Kolakovic just didn't want him in the NT and so Bjelica returned to Piacenza to start preparation for the new season.. I think this is the story behind...


    No wonder he's not in the team, and seldom used in previous tournaments at NT this season. Serbia may not have enough strength in MB position, too. Geric's form has been declining rapidly.

  • European Championships 2009 - Turkey


    Thanks Armel for such a detailed report. Yes, I remember I've watched Geiler's play as an OH in World League before, and was a bit unexpected that he's switched to OPP. Speaking of Granvorka, he's also switched to OPP from OH at NT at a later stage. It seems that OPP is pretty hard to find in France.

  • European Championships 2009 - Turkey

    Quote from Raul

    So no Le Marrec (as i understand retired), Pujol (injured) and Ragondet and Moreau. What is going on with them , these are really hard missings?


    Wasn't Le Marrec still playing at NT earlier this year? How come he retired just before the most important tournament of the year? France is missing both starting and reserve setters who've been playing for NT for many years!




    Bjelica is not in the list. Is he really in such a bad shape this year? I think that he's still playing ok at the club. It's known to be a problem that Serbia cannot get a pair of OHs as a stable starting lineup who're well balanced between attack and reception, from the albeit skillful Janic-Nikic-Kovacevic trio. I'm wondering if bringing five OHs can lessen the issue, though.

  • European Championships 2009 - Turkey

    No Plamen Konstantinov?



  • World League 2009

    Take a look of the linesman's show at 29-29 in set 3. That's really cheap.

  • World League 2009

    Quote from AFROMAN

    I agree with the squad but I'm a little bit dissapointed cause Smilen Mlyakov (AZS Chestochowa) is missing. Also Pirin Balkanstroi's libero Atanas Mitrev is missing, some people expected him to be in the squad. Anyway 3 players should be dismissed from the list in order the number of players to be reduced to 19.

    where is yordanov?

  • Cuba NT 2009 - Michal Sanchez is back!

    I'm really glad that Sanchez is back! His absence was really critical to Cuba's failure of Beijing Olympics qualification.


    Can somebody tell us how Sanchez was injured so severely?


    Also, is this squad final? I can't see the 207cm-tall setter, Oriol Camejo, on the list. Also, the another Sanchez who played in World League last year, Y. Sanchez, is also missing!