Posts by redaellic

If the team which is said to be demolished by the opponent team's serves have actually better reception stats, that team is basically destroyed by their own setters. The number of blocks from the setter of one team is almost equal to the number of total blocks of the opponent. Giovanni clearly had a point with the changes he made this season.

Players play for themselves and the country they are representing there anyways. Who were they playing for previously? For Ze's sake and happiness? A team will go to a really challenging tournament physically or tactically unprepared and a meeting between the players will change everything drastically. This is way too simplified. They were clearly ready to play since the very beginning and you need to give a bit of credit to the people other than players for this preparation as well. If they didn't perform at their best or commit fully in the preliminary rounds because of ongoing conflicts with the coach, that's another issue to be discussed. I guess after 7 years with the team, changing a coach just 1 year before olympics wouldn't have been a smart decision.

Although I agree that he didn't make any magical extra moves during the matches, the same thing can be said for many other coaches as well. While Brazilian girls were simply not playing at their usual level for some reason, another Brazilian coach, who had a wonderful experiennce with Brazilian NT before, simply gave the match as a gift on the first day. Do we need to mention the mental collapse of McCutcheon in the final or Massimo's collapse against Korea? What kind of magic were you expecting from Ze to do during the tournament which he didn't?

Mari or Natalia? Fabiola or Dani or Fernandinha? Everthing ends up as a drama in Brazil.

Francesca or Giulia? Glass or Thompson? Bown or Scott? The list goes on and on. I don't recall Alisha Glass or Bown creating a buzz themselves via twitter, facebook, interviews, etc. People can question or criticize these guys' choices.. We all have the right to do so. However, I don't think that they have to reveal every single detail behind their decisions to the public. Did anyone read a detailed explanation from US coach why Thompson was there instead of Glass or Llyod? Was it only tactical? Does anyone know the exact problems between Francesca and Massimo? Coaches take these decisions and they deal with the consequences themselves. That's it.

Is there a better option? We all saw what happened with Marco after Sydney. I think it is one of the most challenging national teams to deal with as a coach. Pressure coming up with huge expectations, complicated and difficult personalities, never-ending criticisms, etc. In my opinion, it is a huge success to lead such a team for almost a decade with two olympics titles and two WCH silvers. It would be really unfair to give all the credit to players for the gold medal. He hasn't had a single injury free and all around OH performing consistently well since 2008. No need to talk about issues with the setters either. Is Brazil the only team in such an unpleasant situation? Everything is getting more public for some reason unfortunately.

It is definitely difficult for Lloyd at the moment. She doesn't have a 'go to' hitter. I would rather prefer Faucette as the starting opp nowadays.

For some reason, Turkish setters' hands are getting more wet compared to others:).

If we will judge setters just by considering their current shapes and forms, there is not a single great setter in the world at the moment. This is not a problem specific to Turkey. Even the countries with a huge volleyball tradition like Brazil or us are lacking bright prospects. To be honest, I think Turkey's situation is much better at this particular position since they have a young talent who has the potential to become a special setter at least. People have to learn to be patient with setters.

Lioubov looks EXTREMELY happy in her new team. I guess this is the first time in her career playing with such mediocre setters. I really wonder how she will act during the rest of the season. This duo crashed the dreams of whole national team. Do these 2 directors have any volleyball history or background? You need to close your eyes and ears completely in order to transfer them together.

What kind of volleyball was Italy playing during the last European championship and the Olympics? What a co-incidence?

Who is responsible for the transfers of Galatasaray? Do they have a director or something?

Giovanni was clearly tired of playing with incompetent setters. Here you go Lorenzo, it is your turn now. It is shocking how a club with tons of money have to rely on such terrible setters for how many years now!!!