I want to see Yeum Hye-seon and Park Eun-jin. We need an upgrade on An Hye-jin and Han Song-yi.
And let's pray Kim Hee-jin can recuperate fast. Cause Jeong Ji-yun doesn't make the cut...
Posts by econmtl
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Ok good news for tomorrow's game against Thailand. It seems the game will be broadcast on KBS Life instead of KBSN Sports.
AQStream fortunately has a working stream of that channel. I hope it'll still work tomorrow 🙏.
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AQStream of course doesn't work for KBSN...
Well, we international fans will have to let go of Korean commentary...
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A good night's sleep. Up early at 5 in the morning, put in some work to pay the bills.
Then at 10 AM, nothing, NOTHING can keep me away from this game.
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For tomorrow's game against China at least I believe this place will stream it (probably with Chinese commentary?):
I'm not sure if Naver will broadcast the games. I couldn't find it in their schedule...
I paid $16 USD to watch through Volleyball World TV to ensure a quality stream and the possibility to replay all the games. Usually a British dude who does the commentary.
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The wait is torture.
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Here's the interview with Lavarini that was reported in Korean media in the last week.
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Who will be Korea’s starting libero since Haeran isnt ?
Oh Ji-young
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That is real? I thought it was a rumor
Yes, it's true. Apparently a one-year deal.
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I think Oh Jiyoung is good enough. I don't see the need to bring 2 libero.
Agreed. Especially when KYK is your only starting OH that has any experience in high-pressure international games... I would much rather bring some extra insurance in case one of them crumbles...
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Interview with Coach Lavarini.
- Lee So-young will be the starting OH to replace Lee Jae-yeong
- Park Jeong-ah is the new main OP
- Yeum Hye-seon, An Hye-jin and Kim Da-in will compete for two spots at the Olympics, but Lavarini will give all three of them opportunities at the VNL
- Coach likes Kim Da-in because she has an unconventional style and suits his brand of fast volleyball
- Yuk Seo-young has power and a spike serve that will be useful in the absence of Kang So-hwi and Kim Hee-jin
- Han Da-hye has good reception, which is the most important ability for a libero, especially in his brand of volleyball
- Lee Da-hyeon is a bit short for international play, but has good skills and timing
- Lavarini plans to bring two liberos at the Olympics (Interesting!)
https://sports.news.naver.com/…hn?oid=109&aid=0004408327
I'm surprised he wants to play two liberos. So that brings it to only 3 OH at the Olympics. Assuming KYK and Lee So-young are locks, the others including Kang So-hwi will fight for the last spot. It seems a bit risky to me. I hope we don't see a repeat of 2016.
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Team Korea for the VNL
V-Toon calendar of the games
Source: V-Toon Instagram
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I'm a Lee So-young skeptic for international games. You just can't buy height. From the sample of games we've seen of her, she has not looked very good. My highlight of her is being called upon in a game clinching set before getting chain blocked by Mexicans and amassing 0 point.
We'll have to see more of her as a starter to really know. I sincerely hope it works, but I won't be surprised if it doesn't. In V-League, I'd pick her before any other player besides KYK and Lee Jae-yeong, but V-League =/= international games. I'm worried about putting her on the front row. Ideally, she would only be used sporadically as a backup to stabilize the defense. But her being on the back row gives you one less effective attacking option as opposed to a Lee Jae-yeong or even a Park Jeong-ah.
Kim Hee-jin's loss will hurt a lot if she can't go to the Olympics. In a height deficient team, you have to find a way to keep a respectable front row for as long as possible. For one time in every set, when your main setter rotates to position 4, you can substitute your backup OP in for her and your backup setter in for your main OP in position 1. You can do another double switch when your backup OP gets back to position 1. That way, you maintain a high wall longer and hide your setters from the front row. Someone like Kim Da-in could be used exclusively on the back row if we wanted. Having both Park Jeong-ah and Kim Hee-jin allows you to play two tall options interchangeably and not lose any power. Subbing in a 180 cm Jeong Ji-yun on your front row instead will make you MUCH less effective...
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IBK won their 1st championship and regular season in the 2nd year after the team was founded. Did they select the players the way Pepper did? 1st pick of the high school players, and unprotected players from the rest of the teams?
i mean.. it's quite a feat to be able to win those if you're newly founded.
They also got incredibly lucky being founded that year. They could pick 10 players from three high schools in the 2010-2011 draft + 1 unprotected player from each team.
From the 10 high school rookies, this is who they got:
Kim Hee-jin
Park Jeong-ah
Chae Seon-ah
Lee Na-yeon
Choi Eun-ji
The two best damn Korean strikers below KYK for many years before Lee Jae-yeong stepped into the game! I doubt anyone from the 2021-2022 draft even come close to those... Chae Seon-ah was also a very serviceable defensive OH on those championship teams.
And to top it off, they picked "retired" setter (future legend) Lee Hyo-hee, who briefly quit the pros after a contractual conflict with the Heungkuk team. There certainly ain't any Lee Hyo-hee available for free this year...
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So now they have one foreign player and this 5 players. How the roster will be finished?
They can draft the first 6 players out of this year's high school rookie draft. So that makes it 12 already.
To complete the roster, they can also sign Korean free agents that have not been offered a contract during the off-season. Two notable players are ex-Hi-Pass opposite Ha Hye-jin and ex-IBK libero Han Ji-hyeon.
I believe they'll also scout the amateur leagues to potentially bring in players à-la Kim Ju-ha last year for Hyundai. There is the ex-setter for KGC Lee Jae-eun, who left V-League in 2019. Not sure what her situation is right now.
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That's a better team than I thought they could get. Their idea seems pretty clear, go with promising youth to build for the future rather than proven talents. I thought for sure they would steal an established MB or libero from GS Caltex rather than an unknown value like Lee Hyun. Coach Cha must be opening up some champagne to celebrate as he has not lost any important piece for a win-now run.
Ji Min-kyeong was on the verge of being a starting OH before she got injured. KGC must have chosen to protect Ha Hyo-rim and Park Hye-min instead. I've got no clue who Ji Min-kyeong or Park Hye-min will be better in the long run. It could end up being a mistake that will bite them in the future, or not... Lee Han-bi has power but was relegated to the bench due to Heungkuk's depth.
Pepper still needs a somewhat experienced libero though. I don't think it's a good idea to throw a high school kid to the wolves as it's a difficult position to adapt right away in the pros. Another experienced setter as well to lead this young team and show them the ropes.
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Now with the one day rest between the two games, I hope Korea can field their best lineup against both China and Japan to see how it stacks up.