pesazi

Hm, I guess I meant Martino instead of Fortunato, I'm confused. Even more confusing are all those new guys with non-italian sounding names. First, Zlatanov, then Lasko and Travica and now Kovar... I didn't even know he is italian. Sry btw for spamming Butkos video, somehow we lost the topic.

pearl, I think the italian NT is the strongst since the OG in Athen. For sure not a favorite to win a tournament, but at least a contender for the medals. About the substitutions: Outside hitters: there are so many, I don't even know who plays behind Zaytsev and Savani. Parodi, Maruotti, Fortunato, Zlatanov? Maybe not world class, but pretty impressive as bench players. Middle blockers: Luigi, Fei(?), Birarelli, Sala, Buti, Tencati. Not bad either I would say. Setters: Vermiglio didn't convince me in Kazan so far, but he knows how to play for sure. Travica is okay. Opposite: Lasko, Fei(?), Sabbi...(?) That's the weakest position. I like Fei, but he seems to play middle again. Lasko... I just don't like his game, even though he improved the last years and seems to play a good season in Poland so far. Not sure if that means much. Sabbi won't play anyway. Libero... always easy to find one. Maybe I'm totally wrong with my comment and missed players. I didn't pay attention to the development of italian volleyball the last years. But if Italy should struggle, I don't think it is because of their bench players. Is it?

Hard to tell which one connects better with Mikhailov. Both do pretty well. I didn't see Butko in the NT that often to tell if they really work better. I'll have an eye on that. All I know for sure is that Grankin and Mikhailov were finally able to speed the game up. That helped the russians alot, especially in their K2 complex. They became so much better in transition from block/defense to offense. Not as good as Brazil, but they still improve...

Interesting comments right here. I am surprised to read your opinions about Grankin. He may not have the strongest mentality (ok, bad thing for a setter), but his setting is extremly good. At least as long as he keeps his mind. Grankin deserves some respect for the change of the russian NT over the years. Kamuttskikh was a charismatic guy and leader, but his game was to slow to beat the top teams. Just compare the connection between Vadim/Poltavskiy and Grankin/Mikhailov. Seriously, Grankin made the russian NT to one of my favorite teams, after being exactly the opposite. I like Butko alot, but he didn't reach that level in setting yet. That doesn't mean, he couldn't lead Russia to a gold medal in London. I don't see any team able to stop them, as long as they don't mess up like thy did in the ECh. Russia is blessed to have two world class setters, which can offer different things to the team.

I know raylight, I checked the stats of the last matches. Kampa played against Rome and Cuneo, Zhekov against San Giustino. Seems like Lorenzetti wants to find out which one of them connects better with the team. Maybe the opponents play a role too. Don't get me wrong, Zhekov is the better setter. It's a compliment for Kampa to play in this team and replace Zhekov from time to time.

I'm surprised that Kampa already seems to replace Zhekov as Piacenza's starting setter. Sure, Zhekov is very predictable and his game is sometimes unstable, but still he is so much more experienced than Kampa. Good thing for Germany, Kampa has talent. Playing in Serie A will help him to get better.

Not a single highlight by Verona? Maybe the title of the video should be changed in Trentino highlights vs. Verona... I'm glad to see Sokolov on the court. Imo he needs to play way more to develope his game. He has a tremendous potential. Hopefully for Bulgaria, he will be able to replace Nikolov in the next years.

Not always, but most of the time. A player has to be extremly good in one aspect of the game to cover his leaks, and still beeing recognised as a good player. Only very few players are as good in attacking to hide their weakness in reception and defense. Trento is lucky to have two of them.
The last years, most teams wheren't ready for Trentos powerstyle. Cuneo was in a couple of matches, and Trento lost.
This year Trento will lose to Kazan in the final four, maybe even sooner.
Remember my words.

The reaction and the save at 0:30min are soo crazy

I don't hate Kaziyski. Actually he seems to be a very nice guy, and most of all he doesn't have an attitude, like others do. And of course he is outstanding in attacking and serving. Still he is not a complete player, and he'll never be. For that reason he is far from beeing the GOAT, or what some of you think he is. Even though he might be the most dominant now. If you don't agree whith me that's fine. But argue, don't accuse me of hating bulgarians or sth.

Haha thanks Henrique.
I just thought I should help you out a little bit against our polish and bulgarian kids, who need a deeper understanding of the game.

I know, and you're right. But remember, an opposite player doesn't affect the teams reception, which has an important role in the asian concept. raylight mentioned Kaziyski, so I was referring mostly to this particular position.
The reason for asian clubs to buy opposite players is obviously. The average team in this league is extremly undersized. Even a mediocre player like Rooney can dominate by going over the block every single time.
I was talking about the asian NT. Thats a totally different thing, because hitting against a russian block is a little different than hitting against a block of little chinese guys, who mostly doesn't even play for their NT.

I didn't want to offend you, sry if I did.
But I really think you should understand the meaning behind a volleyball concept/style of playing/philosophy. Whatever you call it, it means the same thing.

Screwing the concept of a team is always important. And always negative. Every team needs a concept. I'll give you some examples later.

True, but remember, you would still take away the teams biggest force. Especially asian teams rely ALOT on their concept. And even if a Kaziyski-like player would give the team something they didn't had before, he won't score 100% of his attacks.

Henrique already posted an answer to "unlimited" players... please stay serious

Big mistake right here. If a club decides to run a certain concept, it has to choose certain players, who fit in this concept. It's not the other way round. It's very hard to develope a concept for a given set of players. Someone mentioned the example of Dante, who didn't play in the NT, until his reception was good enough for the brazilian game. Altough he was a great attacking player already.

Now some examples for teams with great players, but no concept:
Miami Heat (lost NBA finals versus Dallas with James, Wade and Bosh)
Real Madrid (lots of money and stars, but didn't reach the CL final for years, and struggle always against Barcelona)
Manchester City (compilation of star players, but struggle national and international)
Bulgarian NT (players, which are at least seen as stars by many people, but they don't win anything)

Sry raylight, but you just proved once more, that you don't understand the volleyball basics.
Volleyball is all about working as a team. It's about 7 players, playing the same style on the court, following the same philosophy.
Asian teams play a style, that requires everything, Kaziyski doesn't have.Beside their speed and creativity, they rely on their reception and their defense strategy. Kaziyski would screw that base, like Zyta said.
Sure he could solve some difficult balls, but in the long run the team is definitlely weaker and more predictable.
BTW the same thing would happen if you put Fuzukawa or Gottsu in the bulgarian NT.

About Kurek... he has everything to be a great player, which he is not yet.
But he has to realise (and work accordingly), that winning spike competitions and hitting the 3m line in every second game might get him the admiration of some polish kids, but not the recognition of those who know the game.

Haha yeah, I wasn't sure if I should name Visotto, exactly for the reason you mentioned. Then I just did it to have one more name on my list. I don't like Visotto's game either. I guess I have problems to give credit to players, which rely primerily on their natural given, physical abilities. As for Schöps, he is still my favorite opposite, although I know he might not the most effective. His ball control, court vision and understanding of the game top every other opposite. It's hard to get footage from Odintsovo, but I recently saw him playing Krasnodar, and he and Depestele seriously owned! He also leads the league in scoring. I dont really know what you mean with his inconsistancy. Actually I would say he is one of the more consistent players. For sure way more consistent than Grozer.

Absolute powerhouse, no doubt about that. Beside that, I must admit I am not his biggest fan. He hits hard and high, but without much variation and control. His hitting technique is not that great. He likes to let the ball drop to low, what takes away his height advantage that he has over most blockers. Defense doesn't really exist. Another thing is, that imho he has problems to solve difficult balls. In Trento it's not a big problem, because Kaziyski is responsible to score the points in difficult situation, but I saw the czech NT struggle several times due to that. A well coached team can easily take advantake of those leaks in his game. Don't get me wrong, Stokr is still a very good opposite player. But to reach the level of players like Mikhailov, Miljkovic, Schöps, Visotto... he really has to work on his technique and ball control. I guess the Trento fans won't like my post. So please, think first, then reply.

Even if HCLT is teasing you polish guys a little bit, you can't deny he's right. The russian superliga and the italian serie A1 are way stronger than PlusLiga. De Cecco doesn't fit in the superliga, so Italy is an easy choice. He is by far the most talented setter at the moment. It's interesting to see how he developes in the next years.

Okay, obviously I exaggerated a bit talking over Trentos slow game. It`s not as bad as the USSR 50 years ago... What I wanted to explain, is that Trento doesn't need a Ricardo-like setter, because they dont play the superfunky, supersonic speed volleyball. And that means Zygadlo is not automatically a great setter, just for playing in Trento. @NightFox: Trento's pipe is pretty standart, for sure not the fastest version. The sets to the outside position are average, I would say slower than the CL average.(And yes, I've seen most games they played in the past years, at least in the CL) @Henrique: Not sure if Zagumny wasted his potential, you might be right about that. Still I think he was one of the best setters some years ago. And he was one of the reasons for the polish volleyball boom. Gotta give him credit for that. BTW, you mentioned Tichacek. I saw him a lot in Friedrichshafen, and back then, I would share your oppinion that he could be a great setter in the next years. But his last performances in Rzeszow made me wonder what happened to his game. He played bad and was substituted early. Very strange.

@Overlook: Do you really think that Zygadlo should be more recognised for beeing chosen by Stoychev? Okay, Trento is quite a good team, but only because of their outside hitters, which can overpower most teams. The setter of the team has only little to none impact to their success. All he has to do is sending high balls to the outside hitters. None of them can handle fast sets. Did you realize that Trento was still successfull when Grbic left and Rafael came? Grbic was a dizillion times better, but his skills weren't needed. @Henrique: I don't think Zagumny is mediocre. He is definitly a good setter and leader, but there are better ones out there. Edith: How in the world do I quote??