No Sakoda and Ebata? Gurl, bye. Until you can name one person in that roster who can hit from the back row viciously and play mad defense like Sakoda did, then this will be 2016-Japan NT all over again.
Posts by Genius of the Sky
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If there's one thing I want the new coach to improve on the NT is that he has to pick good looking players more.
I was heavily appalled by so many things in the selecao after Jaque basically drank the life left on Murilo that the NT has to suffer on the looks department and still I have to suffer looking at the pitiful skills being shown by some players. 
Lukas is a hot daddy. I don't mind Lucarelli. He is kinda cute. Bruno seems gay and I like it.
But true tho. I need my favorite team to be good looking. Just look at Italy with Gianelli and Lanza and Piano. And Russia has that wonder kid Poletaev. But still, US has the best looking team. Anderson, Christenson, Holt, Jeschke, Russel.. oh God.
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OMG Eda Erdem is out of this world? She has like 3 back-to-back stuff blocks . And she gave no way for Boskovic - basically the best scoring machine in the League (other than Kim). You can see how demotivated Boskovic was when she was stuffed by Eda. She carried her team with her charisma. I am always skeptical when any team has middle blocker as their team captain because they are not always on the court, but Eda's charisma live through the team even when she is not on court. There's a bit change of feeling everytime she steps on court like you know things are gonna be okay. HAHA.
I have to say Neslihan will always be one of my favorite players. She performed well especially when they need her and her composure on court really makes her stand out as an amazing veteran Turkish player.
And Maja -- I like her. I was shocked when she was given the red card. You can see that her screaming was an act of the moment -- like an adrenaline rush that gets to her. And when she got carded, she was completely shocked, too.
Nootsara is kinda underrated here, imo. Of course when you have killers like Kim and Natalia who can kill high balls with ease, it is much easier. But Nootsara play amazing defense and has smart hands. I wish they will keep these trio Kim-Nootsara-Natalia for next season.
Overall it is a good week. First, Rexona is back on the run to the finals, and now Fenerbahce is through to the finals. Yeay!
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Brilliant game by Gabi tonight with 24/41 in attack. She actually saved her best match for the most important moment so far in the league for Rexona. Great contribution from Drussyla too, I hope Bernardinho uses her even more next season.
Minas could've taken it to a 5th set and won, but it wasn't their day unfortunately. Their middles didn't perform half as well as they did last game. I hope we can have a good match next Friday!
Their reception was tragic. Rexona did a good job with their targeted-serves and completely ruined the reception line of Minas. They need Jaque to be hot all the time because Pri Daroit and Rosamaria can only do so much.
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I was planning to stop following Superliga this season when Minas beat Rexona the previous match. I thought Rexona won't stand a chance. But Gabi truly amazed me. She player her best game so far. And kudos to Drussyla. This is a very important game for Rexona and she stepped up her game. It is a huge responsible for a girl at such a young age to be playing at a dead or alive game, and in fact, being one of the top scorers of the night when the team need to win the most. And her passing and defensive skills is quite good. Plus, she knows when to take clever shots.
I think Rexona will still go through to the final. Minas has crumbled down. They had their best performance in the previous games and it seemed like Coach Bernadinho has read them all over. Everything work tonight for Rexona. What a game!
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I have only recently followed Turkish League as I have been following Brazil Superliga all along. In my personal opinion, Turkish League is more competitive since the bug clubs are neck to neck to each other. There is no clear winner to expect when Vakifbank, Fenerbahce, Eczacibasi, Galatasaray, etc go head on court. But in Superliga, as this season shows, Rexona is still the favorite. There might be some upset here and there like Minas is getting better since Jaque and Destinee Hooker are playing much better, but all in all, Rexona is still the big favorite.
I just wanna say I am surprised at how Natalia play on the Turkish league. I think she is playing much better than she ever did in Brasil Superliga, even better during her stay in Rexona. I think she owes it to Coach Rezende for making her a phenomenal player as she is now. She carried Rexona on her back during the final 2 season she was there.
And Nootsara is always a sweetheart on court. Fenerbahce is so lucky to have 2 amazing setters o their team. Nootsara is playing very well with her fast offense that click right away with Kim as both of these Asian superstars are familiar with playing fast tempo ball like they always do in their home country.
Also I have a newly-found respect towards Eda Erdem. She plays her captain role very well and she is a phenomenal blocker. I think she is definitely one of the best (like Top 3) middle blockers in the world right now.
I just don't understand Eczacibasi. They have the dream-team line-up and yet they are not there on top of the standing. I don't know what happened since I don't follow the league earlier. This is like Osasco back when they have the Olympic all-star line-up with Sheilla, Fe Garay, Thaisa, Jaque, Adenizia, Fabiola, Camila Brait.
My favorite is Fenerbahce.
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I really don`t know what happened to her, and the problem is not even that she is not playing good, the problem is that she is not having fun, she looks uncomfortable, like is she does not belong on the court, she has no confidence at all. Is sad to watch her, I do hope she retires or just go back play in the Philippines.
Bauru, what I can say? They had 2-0, and then 20-17(not sure if was in the 3rd or 4th set) in the first game and they just blew it, really bad, really ugly, Today they had a hot start and once again blew it. But I can`t understand Marcos, Thaisinha can`t block of course, but at least she scored 20 points in the first game, and today he decides to start with Mari?
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I`m glad Brasilia won and i hope to get at least one upset in these playoffs. Let`s see in Minas can play better this time against Rexona and pull a upset.I know, right? I know she is always an ice queen on court but back then her performance speaks for itself. She is one of the most formidable players, can play both outside and opposite position very well. But after she get cut from London, she is no longer the same. Sometimes she just hit the ball over or roll the ball over to give the opponent an easy counter attack opportunity. She actually went to Indonesia last season. But playing in Asian league will give her height advantage, so playing in the Philippines will do good for her. I don't think playing in America or Europe is suitable for her anymore.
I still think Rexona will win it again this year. Destinee Hooker is one amazing player, but the difference between Rexona and all the other team is that while all these other teams has 1 or 2 scoring amchine, Rexona has 5 players that can score. Juciely and Carol are good in blocking and attacking. Gabi is one of the best outside hitters right now. Anne is lethal if she can get it right. And Monique has been consistently good through out the entire game. And not to mention they have Fabi.
It will be a battle between Minas, Osasco, and Rexona for the final spot imo.
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Mari has been useless so far in the match of Bauru VS Minas. Kinda sad to see this because she is one of my favorite players of all time. I don't know what had happened to her. If you see the women from her days post-Athens, most of them are still performing well. Jaque, Paula, even Sassa. I know she suffered a lot of injuries but it seems like most of the time she doesn't give her best -- giving chance ball to the opponent. I think she should just retire.
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Cintha Boesrma also played in Rexona for 2 years during the 90s, but yes, normally the foreigners stay only one year. This includes Logan Tom, Piccinini, Tara Cross, Brankica...
Wow I didn't know that Piccinini played in Brazil.
Anne is playing good, especially in attack, she just needs to be more consistent with her passing. With Rexona losing sponsor, will definitely makes it harder to keep Anne, unless money is not a problem for her and she`s fine with whatever they offer her.
Agreed, when she is hot, she is unstoppable. And I really like her attitude during games. And yeah, her passing is tragic sometimes. I really wish Rexona will find another capable sponsor. It will be sad to see this magnificent team crumbles because of sponsorship.
Last night I was very disappointed with Malesevic, in the first set she did probably 3 passing errs and of course had to be replaced. The bad news for Brazil NT is Paula and Helo. A lot of people were even saying Ze Roberto should have take Paula to the OG to back-up Sheilla. And least from on now she could be the new OP, but the big surprise is that she`s not playing good lately, even lost the starter spot for Bejelica. But Bjelica has not been a "killer" either. And both of them has been switching back and forth on the court.
I thought so, too. Paula had her moment, but she is inconsistent. Monique outplayed her all the time. Too bad Monique is just too short. I doubt Ze will take her to the Olympics despite how dynamic she is.
Coach Ze really needs to find the backup for Sheilla, Fabiana, Thaisa soon. Roberta will fit in Dani Lins' shoes perfectly, even performing better than Dani Lins some times.
I cannot help but to wonder other than Roberta, Gabi, Natalia, and Carol, who will be the next generation of Brazil NT. Coach Ze made one huge mistake for using the all-star team all the time without preparing back-ups.I like the ranking system. It is perfect, (the only problem is that mostly clubs has no money to pay the top class players), imagine if Valinhos could hire Thaiza,Fabiola,Mari Paraiba.....Sesi get back Fabiana,Jaque,Ellen.....Rio do Sul Adenizia,Natalia,Sheila....Pinheiros Joycinha,Suellen,Fe Garay,....Sao Caetano Helo,Pri Daroit, MIhajlovic. But that will probably never happen...or someday it will
It will be interesting to see that, but with this new ranking system, all the players who have potential would want to go to Coach Rezende because he is well-known for developing players into a better ones. Look at Roberta, Gabi, Monique, Carol -- all these players srayed on Rexona's bench for long and now have became great starters.
QUARTERFINAL 1st ROUND
E.C. PINHEIROS 1x3 REXONA-SESC stats video
Pinheiros: Vanessa (OH) 17, Lana (OH) 16, Bárbara (OPP) 15;
Rexona: Juciely (MB) & Gabi (OH) 19, Monique (OPP), Carol (MB) & Anne Buijs (OH) 11;
MVP: Gabi (OH)Roberta's distribution of attacking is amazing. all of her spikers got double-digits.
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Rexona seems a little bit shaky a few games lately but they still managed to win the games. I think that's what sets them apart from the other team, that they have the classic Brazil National team staying power.
Anne Buijs has really stepped up her game. I wonder if they are going to extend contract with her. I think Sarah Pavan is the longest running foreign player Rexona has ever had. Monique is playing well despite her height. She is consistently the best scorer for Rexona in matches. She is definitely going to stay.
I wish Nataliya will be back though. I miss the Naty-Gaby duo. But she is doing well on her own with Fenerbahce. I doubt she will return to Brazil any time sooner.
I wonder how the newly-revised ranking system is going to affect the team next season.