This is the first time I’ve seen Koga spike at 93 km/h. It used to be only around 72-83. She has gotten stronger while maintaining high precision.
Posts by Zack Fair
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if they took out one more libero during the olympics they might as well drop out now.
Isn't it common practice to field only one libero in the Olympics? I've noticed that the typical roster composition in the Olympics is 4 OH + 2 OP + 3 MB + 2 S + 1 L = 12 players. I've never seen a team with two liberos, except for Zayasu and Risa Sato together in Rio 2016 (Zayasu was a substitute for reception, not really played as a libero).
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Week 1 roster
OH/OP: Koga, Ishikawa, Hayashi, Inoue, Wada, KurogoMB: Yamada, Araki, Watanabe, Miyabe
S: Iwasaki, Seki
L: Kojima, Fukudome
It seems like this would be their lineup for the Olympics, minus one middle blocker and one libero, to make it a total of 12 players.
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Is this confirmed? Nanami Seki will play for Imoco next season.
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It will be played this year after the Regular V.League finishes
I noticed it’s played every before the Olympics.
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Jaja is a gamechanging move for JT. Really bolstered the team so they stopped repeating the same mistakes they made before Annie went to Italy.
Come to think of it, the past and the present JT girls would make a great all-star team!
OH1: KYK
OH2: Mijahlovic
MB1: Ai Otomo
MB2: Jaja
OPP: Drews
S: Takeshita or peak Momii (can't believe she slumped this early)
L: Kobata
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Okayama is 6/6 in Back Attacks
I'm going home Okayama? Back attack?? Isn't this a paradox? Will check that out haha
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OKAYAMA vs TORAY
Nwakalor looking kawaii~
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I want Miiku Iwasawa on court. damn it
ikr! I remember her being so good at passing long balls last season because she's not a midline passer (Karch would like her!). It made her the best receiver during the first half of the league, earning her a spot on the NT. Then in the 2nd half, Yamagishi replaced her and I'm not sure why she hasn't retired when Iwasawa has already blossomed.
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Niida is peaking. It would be hard for Kurogo to redeem herself.
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letv8.cc and live.qq seem to be blocked.
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I'm not sure which teams you're talking about but Koga in the context of strength, started out her NT recognition because of her being absolutely explosive. 2015 Koga had that smash going on.
Also Ishii stronger than Koga? in what universe? Zack Fair Ishii most definitely is not known for power. As for Kurogo, we all know Mayu now holds a bigger swing than her.
Numbers don't lie. Yes, Ishii is not known for power but she's relatively more powerful than Koga. You can check some of their highlights on YT from 2015 up to the present date. Most of Koga's spike speeds range only from 75 to 83 km/hr when compared to Ishii and Kurogo.
I didn't mean to pick up a fight here. I actually see Koga better than Ishii and Kurogo. Koga is more precise and is more likely to score on an out-of-system play than the other two. Expect Ishii to get blocked 80% of the time when it's out of system or when the set is tight. She's so used to Hisamitsu's emphasis on in-system plays. That's why Manabe prefers Koga to Ishii circa 2015 even when Koga was still a rookie because he likes OHs who can who can score even when it's out of system (plus Koga's spikes have more variation). It's just that Ishii had the upper hand in reception/defense during those years that's why Koga was cut from 2016 Olympic lineup (even Nabeya was chosen over her for this reason).
It's hard to explain everything but If you guys really follow Japanese volleyball, you would know that more powerful doesn't necessarily mean better. Lorenne Teixeira in the V.league is a perfect example of this. The Japanese are only intimidated often by teams/players with high spike/block reach and can go over the block.
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Koga is about the same height as ChatchuOn and Gabi but with less intensity. Her swings aren't as sharp and her vertical doesn't pack as much force as the other 2. But I distinctly remember when Koga first came to the scene or the very first time I saw her, there was a lot more thunder to her spikes. Crazy how different it is from now. She's not built to be a terminator.
I don’t think Koga has ever been explosive. I still remember her spike speed during her early years in the NT, which only ranged from 75-83 km/hr. Ishii and Kurogo are even more powerful than her (85-91 km/hr spike speed). I recall watching a video that explained how you give up power when you prioritize accuracy and lose accuracy when you prioritize power. The Japanese are trained to hit like this, which is why they always spike with an “L-shaped” arm instead of rotating their whole arms like Gabi and Drews do (if you know what I mean). What makes Koga the player we know is her accuracy, agility, and versatility.
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Yeah there are also many Seitoku almuni in Saitama (Irisawa, Niida, Shiina, Yamazaki) and the Saitama retirees who are her batchmates (Horie and Yamaguchi)
*Tominaga-Iwasaki is also from Seitoku
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Makes sense
Yeah there are also many Seitoku almuni in Saitama (Irisawa, Niida, Shiina, Yamazaki) and the Saitama retirees who are her batchmates (Horie and Yamaguchi)
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2 MBs are almost invisible at position 3. Yuan and Wang attacked without any trouble.
Japan has been struggling with defending against tall MBs, even in the V.League. I hope they'll find a way to fix it.
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She and Mayu are transferring... Where are they going??
Mayu's transferring to Il Bisonte Firenze. It'll be interesting to see her play with Herbots. I don't know about Ogawa tho.
OT: Why do I feel like Kurogo and Ogawa have a "special" relationship?
Is she leaving because it's not allowed to have lovers in a team? Makes sense coz they were HS rivals (rivals turned lovers story??) -
Does anyone know where she's going?
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Kyoko Aoyagi has been killing it for years
So happy for Aoyagi!
I think she's just waiting to be called up to the national team before she retires -
I believe this is the first time Koga's attack rate go below 30% this season.