Posts by kyle7in1

Quote from beri

I only watched tiebreak that match and last set before that, I don't follow men's volleyball that much to criticize players. However Mikhaylov was beyond terrible at that tb to me, as an Opp he should have been able to side-out at least once for his team but he was such an error machine... I actually remember criticizing him last CL as well and people then attacked me and told me he is great player and I should shut up, great players level drop as well sometimes this is normal... (Reminds me of people not wanting to admit Neslihan's level dropped in Turkish NT bcs she is such a legend)

Ngapeth was just there, I truly missed Leon in this team, I don't think Kazan could have won last CL without him to be honest. The real MVP of Kazan that year

Leon actually choked a bit in CL final last season. He played poorly in first 3 sets. Maxim helped the team otherwise Kazan had no chance for tie-break. But Leon was the king in set 5 after Kazan was down at 7:11. I am ok with MVP being given to Maxim, at least it's not that controversial. But we all know only Leon is the go-to guy for Kazan. Now he's the go-to guy for Perugia.

I think any team from group A will dominate group B, based on the quality matches we have seen so far. Kazan is Euro champion and Russian champion. Skra is Polish champion. They were both out because they are all in group A. The WCWC committee should make the group more balanced next time.

Lube and Fakel advanced to semi-final. The last match between them is only for group ranking.

Ironically, defending champion Kazan got eliminated in group match. It's the worst record for Kazan since 2015.

Fakel only ranked 6 in Russia league last season. But this season they look very competitive.

With Volkov, Kliuka and Udrys, Fakel has a scary attacking line. If they can reduce unforced errors, they will challenge Kazan in Russia league. Too bad they did not qualify for CL this season. Hope to see them in CL next year.

Fakel won set 5 at 21:19. What a recover!

Skra was too relaxed in set 3, then learned a lesson the hard way.

If Skra loses, the set 3 is a turning point. Now the momentum is on Fakel's side.

The pool is not balanced. Group A is too strong.

IMHO, all four teams in group A have the ability to qualify top 6 in CL.

Quote from SHAME

I don't care he's cute.

Seriously: Sokolov is always completely unstable, Juantorena is annoyed and annoying, Leal is technically too waek, Bruno is having way more troubles than expected. Cester and Stankovic are always good, but non so involved on attack. There is left Balaso, who is very good considering he has to share reception tasks with Juantorena and Leal. Simon must consider about playing full time opposite, with his blocking skills he's just too weak for a top team as middle.

Not sure what the fans of Lube see, but they must a look to who's on the passing line beside Balaso.

Cester's serves always caused troubles for NGapeth, even when he's with Modena.

Fans complained Balaso because they like to compare Balaso with Lube's old libero Jenia who has been the best libero in CL three years in a row. With Jenia and Sander's duo, Lube's reception line was pretty solid last season. Either Juan and Leal's reception is shaky from time to time this season, so Lube struggled a lot.

Balaso signed a long contract with Lube, he will also be Colaci's successor in NT.

Quote from Rains

Do you know how many matches the first team of Zenit Kazan played together completely?

When you think about that, there's definitely a chemistry issue.

If they changed several core players like what Sada or Lube did this season, I'll say they may have a chemistry problem. But obviously it's not a case for Kazan. When they led at 14:9, either Maxim or Matt could not kill the ball. This is nothing to do with the chemistry. Maxim and Matt are not new in this team.

Quote from SHAME

Whenever I watch Lube, Balaso is the only player I liked all along.

He is cutest guy in the team.

Fans always complain Fabio's reception, but today his reception is ok, at least better than Juan.

Quote from Rains

I disagree. When you don't have enough chemistry, even with Leon, you'll lose.

This is a very difficult group. Definitely a group of death between the two pools. I like that Zenit Kazan gave an entertaining two matches in a row but when you don't have the chemistry and you're facing strongest opponents, you have to be consistent and unfortunately, they choked but still an enjoyable match in my opinion.

Kazan is weaker than last season. This team only replaced Leon with NGapeth. The chemistry is not the main issue. NGapeth has better defense than Leon, but his offense is not godd enough to carry the team through the tough time.

If they have Leon, Butko will pass most balls to Leon in set 5. But now Butko has no clue of passing the ball in clutch time. That makes a big difference.

If this Kazan plays against Perugia (with Leon), they don't stand a chance.

Quote from Rains

I disagree. Zenit Kazan still doesn't have enough chemistry in their team. Both Anderson and Ngapeth were not in Russia when the superleague begun and Butko was injured while Mikhailov played as an OH after the world championship.

This Kazan has no go-to guy. Ngapeth, Maxim, Matt - none of them could save the team in clutch time like Leon. I don't remember when a top team like Kazan could blow a 14:9 lead in set 5. Butko should also be blamed in set 5. When was the last time Kazan lost two games back to back?

I did not get why both Zhu and Soletjis have to play today. Vakif could win this game even with substitutes.

Kazan swallowed a hard loss. Can't believe they blew out a 14:9 lead in set 5. This Kazan team has no go-to guy. They are gonna miss Leon.

The referee sucks as fuck. Too many bad calls on both sides.

When Volvich told the referee he got injured, the referee ignored him. Volvich had to stay on court, which got him even worse.

Quote from Canter

Vakıfbank is going to play two matches (round 7 and 8 ) within 3 days after today

i suppose they will play with some of their substitues considering the WCWC 2018

they wont want some core players such as Ting,Lonneke etc to get injuried right before the WCWC starts

Vakif's flight to China for WCWC is Nov 30th. The schedule is kind of tight for them. As long as they don't play against ECZ or Fener, they can rest their core players.

Quote from Canter

lets wait till the match vs Vakıfbank also Fener could get set/sets in the second match

The longer the record they hold, the more the tension they bear.

I still can not figure out how Vakif could maintain a 73 winning streak during 2012-14.

Quote from Rains

Butko have Mikhailov who is as good as Leon.

I don't think Maxim could be close to Leon's level, even though they are in different positions. Here are two important games.

In 2017-18 Russian League final, game 2, Kazan 3:2 St. Petersburg. In set 5, Leon got 8 points out of 15. Both maxim and matt almost got no balls from Butko. That's exactly what DeCecoo did today - passing all the balls to Leon in tie-break.

In 2017-18 CL final, Kazan 3:2 Lube. In set 5, When Kazan was down 7:11, Leon became the hero who saved Kazan, while Maxim only got 1 shot after then (if my memory serves well).

Leon could have an attacking PT% = 60+% in 7 games in a row, which I don't see anyone else could accomplish. As an OH, Leon's stats are even better than a top class OPP.

ECZ still did not lose a single set? Do they want to hold this record until the end of the season?

This game shows Leon is still a human being, not a god. Leon is the reason why Perugia lost set 5. He got blocked three times with 2 serve errors, 1 reception error and 1 spike error. I don't blame DeCecoo. When Leon was with Kazan. Butko also passes all the balls to Leon in set 5. But today Perugia were unlucky when they face Monza's monster blocks.

Monza is a strong team, with great attacking lines and power serves. Remember Lube almost lost set 5 last time when they played against Monza.

Monza won a big game. Monza's monster blocks were amazing. They shut down Leon three times in set 5. DeCecoo is kind of conservative in set 5. He did not even pass the ball to Lanza once. Atanasijevic also did not get the ball since he got blocked once.

This is probably the worst game Leon has played in Superlega so far.