WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.339 Hi volleyball fans and welcome back to Volley 00:00:02.339 --> 00:00:04.519 Talk, the podcast created for volleyball lovers 00:00:04.519 --> 00:00:06.900 who want to dig deep into what is going on in 00:00:06.900 --> 00:00:10.160 NCAA and international volleyball. I'm your host 00:00:10.160 --> 00:00:12.039 Sarah Pavan. I'm an Olympian, beach volleyball 00:00:12.039 --> 00:00:14.980 world champion, former Nebraska Cornhusker, and 00:00:14.980 --> 00:00:18.059 longtime pro, both indoor and on the beach. And 00:00:18.059 --> 00:00:20.460 I'm Adam Schultz, former indoor player, international 00:00:20.460 --> 00:00:23.219 volleyball coach, and the show's resident stat 00:00:23.219 --> 00:00:28.379 guy. The past week was week one. of women's VNL, 00:00:28.559 --> 00:00:34.960 and we had a wide range of experience and depth 00:00:34.960 --> 00:00:39.600 show up on the various rosters from these teams, 00:00:39.679 --> 00:00:44.119 okay? I think it's fair to say we had some moments 00:00:44.119 --> 00:00:47.960 where we were very impressed and some moments 00:00:47.960 --> 00:00:53.960 that left us concerned. Confused. Scratching 00:00:53.960 --> 00:00:59.149 our heads. But we are very excited to share our 00:00:59.149 --> 00:01:02.950 thoughts on what we observed from this week of 00:01:02.950 --> 00:01:06.489 play. And it is early. We understand that. But 00:01:06.489 --> 00:01:09.590 we have thoughts anyway. You know that. So as 00:01:09.590 --> 00:01:12.469 I said, we're very excited. So let's get started. 00:01:26.120 --> 00:01:28.620 We've got just a quick little rundown of some 00:01:28.620 --> 00:01:33.420 highlights this week. Something that nobody probably 00:01:33.420 --> 00:01:38.799 expected. Flore Marie Heredia Colon, who left 00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:42.480 Miami for Florida in NCAA Women's Play, of course. 00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:44.640 Can we go an episode without touching on it? 00:01:44.700 --> 00:01:48.620 No. She's heading back to Miami. That's just, 00:01:48.719 --> 00:01:52.900 it's an awkward situation. So awkward. I'm leaving 00:01:52.900 --> 00:01:57.189 probably to look for more money. oh wait or a 00:01:57.189 --> 00:02:00.250 better team because i don't think this team's 00:02:00.250 --> 00:02:02.450 good enough or whatever her reason was we don't 00:02:02.450 --> 00:02:05.750 know and took a few months in florida now nobody 00:02:05.750 --> 00:02:08.250 else wants me so i'm back no kennedy martin pieces 00:02:08.250 --> 00:02:10.569 out the writings on the wall for florida and 00:02:10.569 --> 00:02:15.110 she's like hey can i come back it's yeah well 00:02:15.110 --> 00:02:18.009 they took her so maybe she left on good terms 00:02:18.009 --> 00:02:21.509 but she is heading back she just took a sabbatical 00:02:21.509 --> 00:02:24.129 that's it's okay down the road to gainesville 00:02:24.729 --> 00:02:27.189 It's a tough look for the team coming into the 00:02:27.189 --> 00:02:28.870 dressing room, I think. I think it's going to 00:02:28.870 --> 00:02:32.169 be. Yeah, that's tricky. But I wanted to touch 00:02:32.169 --> 00:02:34.610 on that because it was just kind of different, 00:02:34.870 --> 00:02:37.650 you know? Different than what we usually see. 00:02:38.189 --> 00:02:42.469 We also have a few new signings for Love. There 00:02:42.469 --> 00:02:45.150 were three more added this week. The first one 00:02:45.150 --> 00:02:50.990 is Indre Sorokaite. She is a very experienced 00:02:50.990 --> 00:02:57.669 Italian player. She, gosh, she's got to be close 00:02:57.669 --> 00:03:01.009 to my age at this point. I played against her 00:03:01.009 --> 00:03:03.629 from the beginning of my pro career, which was 00:03:03.629 --> 00:03:09.370 eons ago. So I'm pretty sure her last international 00:03:09.370 --> 00:03:14.090 appearance for Italy was in 2017. But she is 00:03:14.090 --> 00:03:16.349 very experienced. She's played in numerous Champions 00:03:16.349 --> 00:03:22.669 Leagues, Cups, Super Copas, you name it. So Sorokajce 00:03:22.669 --> 00:03:26.189 is heading to love. We've also got Magdalena 00:03:26.189 --> 00:03:33.210 Jurczyk. She's Polish. I like to try my hand 00:03:33.210 --> 00:03:35.469 at the accents, you know, and to get the names 00:03:35.469 --> 00:03:38.310 right, I'm butchering all of them. But she has 00:03:38.310 --> 00:03:40.949 played her entire career, I believe, in Poland. 00:03:41.719 --> 00:03:44.139 played for Poland's national team, was at the 00:03:44.139 --> 00:03:47.539 Paris Olympics. Poland came sixth, so she's heading 00:03:47.539 --> 00:03:50.740 there. And a Bulgarian player named Miroslava 00:03:50.740 --> 00:03:56.979 Paskova also signed. So those are the three new 00:03:56.979 --> 00:03:59.419 additions that are confirmed for Love Season 00:03:59.419 --> 00:04:01.939 2, aside from the ones we touched on last week. 00:04:02.240 --> 00:04:05.120 Since we're talking about everything not VNL, 00:04:05.259 --> 00:04:07.580 one of the questions was, have we heard anything 00:04:07.580 --> 00:04:12.060 about Major League yet? Crickets, everybody. 00:04:12.599 --> 00:04:15.520 Crickets. I can't even keep a straight face because 00:04:15.520 --> 00:04:20.639 they had a lot to say. In January. In January. 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:23.839 They had a lot to say about all the stuff they 00:04:23.839 --> 00:04:27.240 were going to do and how major it was going to 00:04:27.240 --> 00:04:30.459 be. Time's a ticking. You're going to get this 00:04:30.459 --> 00:04:32.639 league going in six months, apparently. So, no, 00:04:32.680 --> 00:04:36.040 we haven't heard anything. I wonder if it's going 00:04:36.040 --> 00:04:38.430 to happen. I wonder what's going to happen to 00:04:38.430 --> 00:04:40.850 the Omaha Supernovas after all of that bluster, 00:04:40.870 --> 00:04:44.550 too. Because you've got to think that the owners 00:04:44.550 --> 00:04:47.269 of the leagues are not happy with how that all 00:04:47.269 --> 00:04:49.790 goes down. So it'll be interesting to see. Maybe 00:04:49.790 --> 00:04:51.470 forced new ownership. Who knows? I mean, you 00:04:51.470 --> 00:04:56.850 stir up all that in the PVF, you better execute. 00:04:58.110 --> 00:05:00.610 I don't know. Anyway, crickets. We love the drama. 00:05:00.649 --> 00:05:03.110 We love it so much. But no, we haven't heard 00:05:03.110 --> 00:05:08.250 anything about that. See? Wow. snip snap super 00:05:08.250 --> 00:05:12.509 quick just had to hit on you know a couple things 00:05:12.509 --> 00:05:16.850 that happened that crossed my eyeballs that we 00:05:16.850 --> 00:05:20.089 had to share so that is what happened aside from 00:05:20.089 --> 00:05:23.589 women's vnl this week let's get into the vnl 00:05:23.589 --> 00:05:26.949 because there's lots to talk about we are breaking 00:05:26.949 --> 00:05:29.170 this down into a couple sections so let's start 00:05:29.170 --> 00:05:35.230 with the vnl week one recap Japan, Italy, and 00:05:35.230 --> 00:05:39.329 Turkey all went 4 -0 with Japan currently in 00:05:39.329 --> 00:05:41.649 first place because they have a perfect set ratio. 00:05:42.209 --> 00:05:45.649 Yeah, Italy and Turkey won a couple matches in 00:05:45.649 --> 00:05:50.110 five, I believe, or one of them in five. So I 00:05:50.110 --> 00:05:55.410 would say not surprising. I was a little surprised 00:05:55.410 --> 00:06:00.509 at how dominant Japan was. But I expected Italy 00:06:00.509 --> 00:06:04.060 and... Turkey and that group to kind of be up 00:06:04.060 --> 00:06:07.980 there, yeah. I will say Japan, their serving 00:06:07.980 --> 00:06:10.279 just puts teams in so much trouble and their 00:06:10.279 --> 00:06:12.139 ability to keep rallies going was impressive 00:06:12.139 --> 00:06:16.019 to watch. The consistency of their service pressure. 00:06:16.839 --> 00:06:20.439 As we're watching all these games, and to be 00:06:20.439 --> 00:06:23.980 frank, we didn't watch every single game, you 00:06:23.980 --> 00:06:27.180 guys. We didn't watch every single team. So please 00:06:27.180 --> 00:06:30.930 keep this in mind before... You get mad at us 00:06:30.930 --> 00:06:33.550 for something. I mean, but we did watch a lot. 00:06:33.589 --> 00:06:36.430 We watched a bunch, but we didn't hit everybody. 00:06:36.649 --> 00:06:39.649 I think I watched six or seven matches. I think 00:06:39.649 --> 00:06:42.329 you probably watched ten. I don't even know. 00:06:42.790 --> 00:06:45.250 I was addicted to it this week. Yeah, we watched 00:06:45.250 --> 00:06:47.209 a legitimate amount of volleyball this week. 00:06:47.550 --> 00:06:51.209 But, okay, yeah, we didn't see absolutely everything. 00:06:51.870 --> 00:06:56.089 But Japan, you see a lot of these games. And 00:06:56.089 --> 00:06:58.230 you'll see some ebbs and flows with the service 00:06:58.230 --> 00:07:00.189 pressure. Like when teams are feeling it, they 00:07:00.189 --> 00:07:02.329 really go for it. And then you can see the puckers 00:07:02.329 --> 00:07:04.269 start to happen sometimes and they like really 00:07:04.269 --> 00:07:07.610 take the pressure off. Japan does not quit. No 00:07:07.610 --> 00:07:09.790 matter what the situation, they know that they 00:07:09.790 --> 00:07:11.810 need to get teams out of system and keep them 00:07:11.810 --> 00:07:14.769 off the net. So they are relentless in their 00:07:14.769 --> 00:07:16.930 service pressure and they're very consistent. 00:07:17.670 --> 00:07:21.750 Yeah. So those teams top the heap going into 00:07:21.750 --> 00:07:25.980 week two. Poland and Brazil are in. fourth and 00:07:25.980 --> 00:07:30.160 fifth with three wins each fair enough again 00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:33.420 expected yeah Italy beat Brazil handily which 00:07:33.420 --> 00:07:36.540 I wasn't really expecting Brazil was missing 00:07:36.540 --> 00:07:40.339 Gabi but but they had they had a lot of players 00:07:40.339 --> 00:07:43.139 there so Rosa Maria wasn't there yeah so that 00:07:43.139 --> 00:07:46.379 I was a little surprised to see that result but 00:07:46.379 --> 00:07:48.300 I'm not surprised that they did well in pool 00:07:48.300 --> 00:07:52.639 play and then we had Korea and Serbia are at 00:07:52.639 --> 00:07:57.370 the bottom they went Oh, and four. Serbia has 00:07:57.370 --> 00:08:00.610 three points. Korea has one. Serbia almost squeaked 00:08:00.610 --> 00:08:03.350 one out against Canada at the end, but did not. 00:08:04.490 --> 00:08:08.069 And then we have USA, France, Thailand, and Belgium 00:08:08.069 --> 00:08:12.149 all with one win each. They all have three points 00:08:12.149 --> 00:08:16.490 except for the US who has four. So, yeah. We've 00:08:16.490 --> 00:08:20.870 got, of course, this is week one. Things are 00:08:20.870 --> 00:08:22.769 going to change. Things are going to shake up. 00:08:24.279 --> 00:08:28.740 You know, we got solid group, usual suspects, 00:08:28.899 --> 00:08:32.500 kind of what we expect at the top. Korea probably 00:08:32.500 --> 00:08:36.899 expected to be at the bottom. Serbia, I mean, 00:08:36.919 --> 00:08:38.840 we'll get into the roster construction for week 00:08:38.840 --> 00:08:42.159 one soon, but like Serbia probably doesn't intend 00:08:42.159 --> 00:08:45.299 to stay down there. But that is what happened 00:08:45.299 --> 00:08:49.399 this week. That's where the teams currently are 00:08:49.399 --> 00:08:54.409 sitting, heading into their week off. So I think 00:08:54.409 --> 00:08:59.070 a question that I have for you is, which teams 00:08:59.070 --> 00:09:03.730 made a good impression on you and which ones 00:09:03.730 --> 00:09:07.389 did you feel were disappointing? I would say 00:09:07.389 --> 00:09:10.269 for me, when I looked at China's roster, who 00:09:10.269 --> 00:09:13.769 has an average age of 21 and a half on their 00:09:13.769 --> 00:09:16.950 week one roster, they were better than I thought 00:09:16.950 --> 00:09:20.480 they were going to be. China for me... They surprised 00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:23.240 me at how well they played, how much composure 00:09:23.240 --> 00:09:26.139 they had for such a young roster. Yeah, I was 00:09:26.139 --> 00:09:29.200 not sure. And a 16 -year -old setter. Yeah, I 00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:31.820 was not sure what I expected when I saw their 00:09:31.820 --> 00:09:34.500 roster, but it was not that, and they were good. 00:09:35.399 --> 00:09:39.840 Netherlands, for me, was also surprising. They 00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:42.980 have a lot of young players, a lot of... kind 00:09:42.980 --> 00:09:47.379 of 2002, 2003, 2004 in critical positions. And 00:09:47.379 --> 00:09:49.580 we are going to get into the roster breakdowns 00:09:49.580 --> 00:09:53.559 later. We understand that some teams showed up 00:09:53.559 --> 00:09:58.220 with their stars. A lot of teams did developmental, 00:09:58.259 --> 00:10:01.580 but we will touch on that later. So hang tight. 00:10:01.740 --> 00:10:05.879 Yeah, so I think watching them play, I was impressed. 00:10:06.080 --> 00:10:10.360 And then probably Germany, I thought. did better 00:10:10.360 --> 00:10:12.960 than I was expecting. I think they pushed a couple 00:10:12.960 --> 00:10:17.220 teams in pool play, which I thought were probably 00:10:17.220 --> 00:10:22.600 going to be 3 -0 beatings. So I didn't watch 00:10:22.600 --> 00:10:24.740 them play a ton, but the results given at the 00:10:24.740 --> 00:10:26.879 pool they were in, I was surprised. I did watch 00:10:26.879 --> 00:10:32.019 them play against Brazil. They were solid. The 00:10:32.019 --> 00:10:37.200 full team effort, not one player was relied upon 00:10:37.200 --> 00:10:40.710 super heavily. I thought, yeah, very balanced. 00:10:40.970 --> 00:10:42.830 I thought they did a good job. The only team 00:10:42.830 --> 00:10:47.149 that I would kind of add to that is Turkey, simply 00:10:47.149 --> 00:10:53.769 for the fact that they brought a more developmental 00:10:53.769 --> 00:10:57.029 roster. They did have Baladin there. They had 00:10:57.029 --> 00:11:01.549 a few players there, but the meat of their roster 00:11:01.549 --> 00:11:04.850 that we typically see at big tournaments did 00:11:04.850 --> 00:11:09.470 not even show up. They were not there. to see 00:11:09.470 --> 00:11:15.610 the sort of B -line, the B -side, play so solidly, 00:11:15.610 --> 00:11:19.830 I would add them. But I agree. I had Germany, 00:11:19.929 --> 00:11:23.629 Turkey, China on my list. China was playing at 00:11:23.629 --> 00:11:28.590 home, which is helpful, but that does come with 00:11:28.590 --> 00:11:32.350 a lot of pressure at the same time. But with 00:11:32.350 --> 00:11:35.830 a 16 -year -old setter stepping into that role, 00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:41.559 very, very young athletes going head -to -head 00:11:41.559 --> 00:11:45.620 with Poland, with Turkey. There were a couple 00:11:45.620 --> 00:11:49.159 weaker teams in their group, but yeah, they impressed 00:11:49.159 --> 00:11:53.840 me as well. I think, and maybe this is bias, 00:11:54.059 --> 00:11:58.700 but I was disappointed by North America. Those 00:11:58.700 --> 00:12:01.179 are the two teams I had on my list as well, not 00:12:01.179 --> 00:12:06.419 going to lie. Yeah, and in fairness, I thought 00:12:06.419 --> 00:12:09.480 Van Rijk played really well. Pretty much all 00:12:09.480 --> 00:12:13.159 pool play matches. Like, she was very good, but 00:12:13.159 --> 00:12:17.480 the rest of the team kind of is lacking. They 00:12:17.480 --> 00:12:21.659 won a couple matches riding her ability to score 00:12:21.659 --> 00:12:24.840 and serve. Matches that, honestly, they won in 00:12:24.840 --> 00:12:27.080 five, and I don't think it should have been five. 00:12:27.320 --> 00:12:29.779 Yeah. They lost opportunities, for sure, this 00:12:29.779 --> 00:12:32.720 week. Fair. So, you know, credit where credit's 00:12:32.720 --> 00:12:36.250 due, Van Rijk is very good, but... They don't 00:12:36.250 --> 00:12:40.830 have any other pieces there that I thought could 00:12:40.830 --> 00:12:43.610 help carry the team. Nobody else could score 00:12:43.610 --> 00:12:46.970 consistently. And then if I look at who they're 00:12:46.970 --> 00:12:49.870 going to possibly bring in, I'm not sure who 00:12:49.870 --> 00:12:52.610 that is. Alexa Gray's not even on the V &L roster, 00:12:52.710 --> 00:12:56.009 so she's not playing. I kind of felt like that 00:12:56.009 --> 00:12:57.929 was maybe the best roster they could put on the 00:12:57.929 --> 00:13:03.139 floor. Agreed. The only one is they had Jazz 00:13:03.139 --> 00:13:05.799 White as an alternate. Who played against Serbia. 00:13:06.039 --> 00:13:10.620 They called her up in the final match against 00:13:10.620 --> 00:13:13.980 Serbia. But other than that, I'm pretty sure 00:13:13.980 --> 00:13:18.519 they brought the best roster they could. And 00:13:18.519 --> 00:13:22.200 they didn't have very many of the best teams 00:13:22.200 --> 00:13:30.419 in their pool. No. I was expecting more. Bree 00:13:30.419 --> 00:13:33.659 O 'Reilly struggled. I thought their outsides 00:13:33.659 --> 00:13:37.759 struggled to score. I thought Maglio was good 00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:40.779 at times, but their passing wasn't super consistent 00:13:40.779 --> 00:13:43.600 to get her the ball. I thought Thockboom, as 00:13:43.600 --> 00:13:45.519 a young player coming in, did a pretty good job. 00:13:45.639 --> 00:13:48.039 But they're going to need to find more players 00:13:48.039 --> 00:13:52.919 to score points other than Van Rijk. It can't 00:13:52.919 --> 00:13:56.779 be a solo show. I think I knew they were in trouble 00:13:56.779 --> 00:14:02.039 in match one. When they played Bulgaria, which 00:14:02.039 --> 00:14:04.980 Bulgaria, they did better than I expected this 00:14:04.980 --> 00:14:07.759 week, but they had to set Van Rijk almost every 00:14:07.759 --> 00:14:10.659 ball. Like as when I'm like, if they're going 00:14:10.659 --> 00:14:14.480 to rely on her that much against the likes of 00:14:14.480 --> 00:14:18.580 a Bulgaria, this isn't going to be a smooth VNL 00:14:18.580 --> 00:14:21.820 for them. And I understand they're missing a 00:14:21.820 --> 00:14:24.659 huge piece in Alexa Gray, but I think this week 00:14:24.659 --> 00:14:29.080 really showed how big of a piece. They are missing 00:14:29.080 --> 00:14:34.259 with Alexa Gray. And a lot of the starters from 00:14:34.259 --> 00:14:36.620 last season, the last couple of years or back, 00:14:36.720 --> 00:14:41.799 we had Thockboom switch with Jazz White. We had 00:14:41.799 --> 00:14:46.500 Mitrovic come in for Alexa Gray's spot that we've 00:14:46.500 --> 00:14:51.000 typically seen. But I agree. I was very disappointed 00:14:51.000 --> 00:14:53.720 in Brie O 'Reilly. I think her location and her 00:14:53.720 --> 00:14:57.610 consistency was not good. And I was... Her bump 00:14:57.610 --> 00:15:02.450 setting was... Sorry. I was disturbed. Honestly, 00:15:02.629 --> 00:15:04.789 that's the best word I can come up with for her 00:15:04.789 --> 00:15:07.409 bump setting. Unhittable. And she had to bump 00:15:07.409 --> 00:15:10.789 set a lot of balls. But not just her. The team 00:15:10.789 --> 00:15:15.070 in general, their out -of -system setting, not 00:15:15.070 --> 00:15:18.629 okay. The number of free balls that were put 00:15:18.629 --> 00:15:20.929 over or balls that people didn't even jump on 00:15:20.929 --> 00:15:24.750 where you're not even running that far to set 00:15:24.750 --> 00:15:28.740 it. The added system setting, lack of production, 00:15:28.840 --> 00:15:33.759 and Hillary Johnson, for me, you've been a starter 00:15:33.759 --> 00:15:36.960 for years, and where did you go? Where did you 00:15:36.960 --> 00:15:40.419 go? Not producing offensively, ball control was 00:15:40.419 --> 00:15:46.960 lacking. I was not happy watching that. I think 00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:49.120 the last piece I want to talk about for Canada 00:15:49.120 --> 00:15:53.700 was their lack of on -court leadership. Again, 00:15:53.759 --> 00:15:56.580 we're not on the court, but in observing, it 00:15:56.580 --> 00:16:00.039 seemed like a lot of the energy, a lot of the 00:16:00.039 --> 00:16:03.360 pushback was coming from Guidetti on the sideline. 00:16:03.559 --> 00:16:07.000 And there was nobody on the court that really 00:16:07.000 --> 00:16:11.940 looked like they were running things from an 00:16:11.940 --> 00:16:15.679 emotional, motivational perspective. It just 00:16:15.679 --> 00:16:18.320 seemed like a lot of going through the motions 00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:22.889 and nobody was really taking charge. on the court 00:16:22.889 --> 00:16:28.269 and in crunch time it looked like most athletes 00:16:28.269 --> 00:16:31.629 were tentative except for van rijk well she can't 00:16:31.629 --> 00:16:33.950 afford to be tentative i'm sorry and she did 00:16:33.950 --> 00:16:36.490 again she did a good job but it'll be interesting 00:16:36.490 --> 00:16:39.529 to see listening to some of the timeouts guidetti 00:16:39.529 --> 00:16:43.970 is very blunt very kind of in your face with 00:16:43.970 --> 00:16:46.350 his feedback with what's happening i felt his 00:16:46.350 --> 00:16:49.950 feedback was accurate though totally very It 00:16:49.950 --> 00:16:52.370 was right. Totally agree. But there were the 00:16:52.370 --> 00:16:55.889 body language coming out of those timeouts sometimes 00:16:55.889 --> 00:16:59.409 looked like a little shocked or surprised at 00:16:59.409 --> 00:17:02.389 what they were hearing. And, you know, given 00:17:02.389 --> 00:17:06.990 Canada's history with European coaches, it's 00:17:06.990 --> 00:17:13.230 not stellar. I'm curious to see how this goes 00:17:13.230 --> 00:17:16.630 and processes with kind of that. That little 00:17:16.630 --> 00:17:19.269 bit of clash, I would say. Okay, so here's my 00:17:19.269 --> 00:17:23.329 take on that. This might be a hot take, but this 00:17:23.329 --> 00:17:27.509 is from years of observation and experience firsthand. 00:17:28.349 --> 00:17:33.190 My experience is that North American athletes, 00:17:33.329 --> 00:17:35.950 North American volleyball players in general, 00:17:36.170 --> 00:17:38.809 there are obviously exceptions to this. North 00:17:38.809 --> 00:17:40.730 American volleyball players in general do not 00:17:40.730 --> 00:17:42.930 like to be confronted with their inadequacies 00:17:42.930 --> 00:17:48.410 in... a straightforward in your face way. North 00:17:48.410 --> 00:17:52.009 Americans like to be, have it massaged, you know, 00:17:52.009 --> 00:17:54.490 like say it to me, but say it to me in a nice 00:17:54.490 --> 00:18:01.230 way. Being thrown this information in an aggressive 00:18:01.230 --> 00:18:06.390 way, being held accountable in a very blunt way. 00:18:07.289 --> 00:18:10.190 I've seen it so many times. It is not always 00:18:10.190 --> 00:18:13.509 received well. And while I think Guidetti's feedback 00:18:13.509 --> 00:18:17.789 was spot on. Totally accurate. You could almost 00:18:17.789 --> 00:18:20.630 see the players shrinking. He looked at the left 00:18:20.630 --> 00:18:24.710 side and said, you're passing at under 33 % past 00:18:24.710 --> 00:18:27.329 the ball in one of the timeouts. Totally fair 00:18:27.329 --> 00:18:28.529 and accurate. I was watching the game. I'm like, 00:18:28.589 --> 00:18:31.269 100%. Yes. Yes, that's exactly what's happening. 00:18:31.710 --> 00:18:35.109 The world of volleyball, aside from North America, 00:18:35.230 --> 00:18:39.609 is very in your face, blunt. This isn't good 00:18:39.609 --> 00:18:43.940 enough. you are confronted with your shortcomings 00:18:43.940 --> 00:18:49.200 in a very direct way. And yeah, in my experience, 00:18:49.240 --> 00:18:53.019 North Americans struggle with that broadly. So 00:18:53.019 --> 00:18:55.220 that'll be interesting to see how that plays 00:18:55.220 --> 00:18:57.079 out. Like Van Rijk has played in those situations. 00:18:57.180 --> 00:18:59.299 So, I mean, she'll get over it. You've seen her 00:18:59.299 --> 00:19:02.779 perform. No, she did her job. You could not ask 00:19:02.779 --> 00:19:06.099 more from Kira Van Rijk this weekend. Unfortunately, 00:19:06.259 --> 00:19:09.480 it is going to be a very long VNL for her and 00:19:09.480 --> 00:19:12.039 for Canada in general if somebody else can't 00:19:12.039 --> 00:19:14.759 figure out how to score a point. Yeah. So it'll 00:19:14.759 --> 00:19:18.220 be, I'm curious to see because their next pool 00:19:18.220 --> 00:19:22.839 is not going to be easy. No. The U .S. Okay. 00:19:23.480 --> 00:19:26.480 I know what I am disappointed in. What are you 00:19:26.480 --> 00:19:29.779 disappointed in? So I understand that the roster 00:19:29.779 --> 00:19:35.670 is not young, but they're not experienced. I 00:19:35.670 --> 00:19:39.569 think a whole bunch of players played fine. I 00:19:39.569 --> 00:19:42.609 mean, you're up against Italy and Brazil. Who 00:19:42.609 --> 00:19:45.150 brought good rosters? You're not going to win. 00:19:46.170 --> 00:19:48.970 I was expecting to see a little more pushback 00:19:48.970 --> 00:19:52.109 in those matches than I did. Like they got, you 00:19:52.109 --> 00:19:53.769 know, minus one set against Brazil. I think they 00:19:53.769 --> 00:19:56.589 went to overtime, but they got rolled pretty 00:19:56.589 --> 00:20:00.970 good by those teams. Czech Republic, you got 00:20:00.970 --> 00:20:04.630 reverse swept against them. You know, that's 00:20:04.630 --> 00:20:07.130 a team that's in their first VNL. So they have 00:20:07.130 --> 00:20:11.470 even less experience than you do. You know, that's 00:20:11.470 --> 00:20:14.369 a game you probably shouldn't lose, you know, 00:20:14.369 --> 00:20:15.930 and they won their last one, which was good. 00:20:16.009 --> 00:20:20.150 But I think for me, the concern, maybe it's disappointment's 00:20:20.150 --> 00:20:22.490 the wrong word. The concern I have is that I 00:20:22.490 --> 00:20:27.609 didn't see much change from a college level style 00:20:27.609 --> 00:20:32.930 of volleyball. So what I mean by that was. Their 00:20:32.930 --> 00:20:35.109 offense was pretty slow. Granted, they didn't 00:20:35.109 --> 00:20:38.049 pass amazing for most of the tournament. And, 00:20:38.289 --> 00:20:41.410 you know, you're running high balls outside. 00:20:41.710 --> 00:20:43.930 We're not running a lot of speed. Defensively, 00:20:43.930 --> 00:20:46.210 I didn't see many adjustments. You're packed 00:20:46.210 --> 00:20:48.470 into the court, you know, defending the middle 00:20:48.470 --> 00:20:51.069 of the court similar to a college -style game 00:20:51.069 --> 00:20:53.470 where, you know, in my opinion, you need to be 00:20:53.470 --> 00:20:56.950 back a little bit more. The defensive systems 00:20:56.950 --> 00:21:00.759 and setups didn't seem to be adjusting. with 00:21:00.759 --> 00:21:03.339 the style of play or the opponents that you were 00:21:03.339 --> 00:21:06.579 playing. It just, I understand that they're there 00:21:06.579 --> 00:21:09.460 to learn, but they didn't seem to get better 00:21:09.460 --> 00:21:13.140 or change at all over the course of the tournament. 00:21:13.240 --> 00:21:17.059 And I think that was maybe the most disappointing 00:21:17.059 --> 00:21:20.359 thing for me. I hear what you're saying. I agree 00:21:20.359 --> 00:21:23.200 with what you're saying. I don't think, like, 00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:26.180 this is a different situation for me than the 00:21:26.180 --> 00:21:28.559 Canada discussion we just had. Because Canada... 00:21:29.710 --> 00:21:32.109 A lot of those players who were on the court 00:21:32.109 --> 00:21:36.289 have V &L experience, were making a run at Olympics 00:21:36.289 --> 00:21:41.289 like they have been here before. In this situation, 00:21:41.769 --> 00:21:45.869 I think my disappointment isn't necessarily with 00:21:45.869 --> 00:21:50.089 the athletes, but with the coaching staff. I 00:21:50.089 --> 00:21:54.250 think they were playing a very college style 00:21:54.250 --> 00:21:58.589 of volleyball. Internationally, they swing perimeter. 00:21:59.319 --> 00:22:01.759 You don't see people take rips straight down 00:22:01.759 --> 00:22:04.759 unless there's a huge seam, unless an opportunity 00:22:04.759 --> 00:22:08.400 presents itself. But how as a coaching staff 00:22:08.400 --> 00:22:11.559 are you allowing that type of defensive setup 00:22:11.559 --> 00:22:16.440 to happen? These girls are sucked into the court 00:22:16.440 --> 00:22:19.140 and it's just like internationally that is not 00:22:19.140 --> 00:22:21.839 going to fly. I'm sorry. You need to play perimeter. 00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:26.319 You need to be told that. And you don't have 00:22:26.319 --> 00:22:29.000 the experience to necessarily figure it out yourself 00:22:29.000 --> 00:22:31.740 or know that yourself. But as a coaching staff, 00:22:31.859 --> 00:22:36.960 you need to guide these athletes and get them 00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:42.200 to make those changes. I saw no defensive adjustments, 00:22:42.519 --> 00:22:47.039 block defense. I was watching so many games being 00:22:47.039 --> 00:22:51.519 like, you are getting beaten by ABC. Well, then 00:22:51.519 --> 00:22:53.960 you listen to timeouts and it's just like, all 00:22:53.960 --> 00:22:57.140 right, next point. It was the positive North 00:22:57.140 --> 00:23:00.160 American coaching that we talk about. There was 00:23:00.160 --> 00:23:03.420 no, again, we don't know what goes on behind 00:23:03.420 --> 00:23:05.519 closed doors, but the difference in listening 00:23:05.519 --> 00:23:08.099 to the timeouts of other teams versus the U .S. 00:23:08.099 --> 00:23:09.980 timeouts, there was no technical feedback. There 00:23:09.980 --> 00:23:12.799 was no tactical feedback. It was like, hey, keep 00:23:12.799 --> 00:23:15.619 going. Like we're here. Next one, next one, get 00:23:15.619 --> 00:23:17.920 the next one. And it's like, no, these players 00:23:17.920 --> 00:23:23.599 need to be. guided you need to like help them 00:23:23.599 --> 00:23:25.980 learn by teaching them what they should be doing 00:23:25.980 --> 00:23:29.940 this is what take this away on the block we discussed 00:23:29.940 --> 00:23:32.640 doing this in video it's not working let's pull 00:23:32.640 --> 00:23:36.279 the position one digger back position six let's 00:23:36.279 --> 00:23:38.640 back it up move a little bit to your left adjust 00:23:38.640 --> 00:23:43.920 from there there was zero guidance no adjustment 00:23:43.920 --> 00:23:48.900 discussion nothing and I lay that at the feet 00:23:48.900 --> 00:23:51.960 of the coaching staff because you don't know 00:23:51.960 --> 00:23:54.380 what you don't know as an athlete. I think the 00:23:54.380 --> 00:23:56.660 one thing that they did figure out, which was 00:23:56.660 --> 00:24:00.420 very obvious, is being successful in college 00:24:00.420 --> 00:24:03.619 does not translate internationally. No one cares, 00:24:03.799 --> 00:24:07.299 okay? You can be a great college player. It does 00:24:07.299 --> 00:24:10.400 not translate. I think they learned that. At 00:24:10.400 --> 00:24:11.900 least I hope they learned that because it was 00:24:11.900 --> 00:24:17.619 obvious. But the coaching staff, completely dropped 00:24:17.619 --> 00:24:20.579 the ball for me yeah i i would agree with you 00:24:20.579 --> 00:24:23.180 i was i was disappointed to see the stuff like 00:24:23.180 --> 00:24:25.819 you didn't see them trying different things in 00:24:25.819 --> 00:24:28.500 an attempt to get better to see what they were 00:24:28.500 --> 00:24:30.880 trying to do like we saw sarah franklin hit the 00:24:30.880 --> 00:24:33.700 same shots we've seen her hit in college right 00:24:33.700 --> 00:24:36.119 like well and then finally against czech republic 00:24:36.119 --> 00:24:38.640 they were forcing her to hit line she missed 00:24:38.640 --> 00:24:41.160 the line four or five times in a row and it's 00:24:41.160 --> 00:24:43.750 like These are the adjustments. You are successful. 00:24:43.750 --> 00:24:46.049 You scored in the first two sets against Czech 00:24:46.049 --> 00:24:48.430 Republic, hitting your sharp angle that you really 00:24:48.430 --> 00:24:51.009 like. They changed their defense and made you 00:24:51.009 --> 00:24:54.450 uncomfortable, creating some errors. That is 00:24:54.450 --> 00:24:58.009 what volleyball is. Well, and I think the reverse 00:24:58.009 --> 00:25:02.069 sweep was coaching and tactical changes. 100%. 00:25:02.069 --> 00:25:07.970 And so, you know, we'll see what... comes of 00:25:07.970 --> 00:25:10.390 this week well i'm curious to see what roster 00:25:10.390 --> 00:25:11.910 they bring like they need to start winning some 00:25:11.910 --> 00:25:14.390 games they they have to make the final eight 00:25:14.390 --> 00:25:16.549 because you need that experience for those players 00:25:16.549 --> 00:25:20.470 to play in that environment and i'm curious to 00:25:20.470 --> 00:25:24.609 see what happens what changes they make if they 00:25:24.609 --> 00:25:28.069 come out who adjusts their attacking style because 00:25:28.069 --> 00:25:31.349 here's the other thing for me is the u .s doesn't 00:25:31.349 --> 00:25:34.509 have the players to run a slow offense and beat 00:25:34.509 --> 00:25:37.160 the best teams in the world It's just, it's not 00:25:37.160 --> 00:25:39.140 going to happen. They need to add some speed 00:25:39.140 --> 00:25:41.900 into their game. They need to create some seams 00:25:41.900 --> 00:25:44.019 and some holes for their outside hitters. Like 00:25:44.019 --> 00:25:47.619 Franklin and Skinner, Eggleston are used to being 00:25:47.619 --> 00:25:52.700 physical enough to score points by being more 00:25:52.700 --> 00:25:56.940 physical and hitting hard. That is not going 00:25:56.940 --> 00:25:58.539 to, you're going to need more tools than that. 00:25:58.619 --> 00:26:01.839 And so I'm curious to see how they put them in 00:26:01.839 --> 00:26:04.359 positions to learn that. Does Franklin add that 00:26:04.359 --> 00:26:07.910 line shot? How Skinner made some great tips against 00:26:07.910 --> 00:26:09.809 a smaller block, but that's not going to work 00:26:09.809 --> 00:26:11.569 against a bigger block. To be fair, she didn't 00:26:11.569 --> 00:26:15.069 really get a chance. They sat her a lot until 00:26:15.069 --> 00:26:18.210 Korea in the matchup. Maddie Skinner against 00:26:18.210 --> 00:26:24.569 Korean block. Good night. To me, it's how are 00:26:24.569 --> 00:26:26.950 you going to change? How are they going to help 00:26:26.950 --> 00:26:31.049 these young players develop more skills, more 00:26:31.049 --> 00:26:35.130 shots, more ability to get out of trouble? Who's 00:26:35.130 --> 00:26:40.710 going to pass? I'm sorry, but with this particular 00:26:40.710 --> 00:26:44.490 roster, you could not have Eggleston and Skinner 00:26:44.490 --> 00:26:47.470 on the court at the same time. You couldn't. 00:26:47.970 --> 00:26:53.130 They were both really struggling passing. Yeah, 00:26:53.190 --> 00:26:55.410 so while everybody's probably up in arms that 00:26:55.410 --> 00:26:57.569 Maddie Skinner didn't play, she started against 00:26:57.569 --> 00:27:00.609 Italy, did not do well. Eggleston came in and 00:27:00.609 --> 00:27:02.289 did a little bit better, which made sense why 00:27:02.289 --> 00:27:06.140 they stuck with her. have them both on the court 00:27:06.140 --> 00:27:09.180 at the same time as left sides yeah yeah and 00:27:09.180 --> 00:27:12.099 i think a couple players it was very obvious 00:27:12.099 --> 00:27:15.940 they were out of their depth uh the most experienced 00:27:15.940 --> 00:27:18.819 player in morgan hence like honestly if i had 00:27:18.819 --> 00:27:22.599 to pick a player that i wanted more from it was 00:27:22.599 --> 00:27:25.440 her just from a leadership perspective yeah i 00:27:25.440 --> 00:27:28.220 think leadership was also lacking not only on 00:27:28.220 --> 00:27:30.559 the bench from the coaches but on the court from 00:27:30.559 --> 00:27:34.220 the athletes as well She was deferring and looking 00:27:34.220 --> 00:27:37.339 to her teammates to get a tip to go set a ball. 00:27:37.460 --> 00:27:39.920 And it's like, no, as the libero internationally, 00:27:40.440 --> 00:27:44.480 at any level, you need to take charge of what's 00:27:44.480 --> 00:27:48.059 going on. But the number of balls she was deferring 00:27:48.059 --> 00:27:51.140 to for passing, et cetera, her out -of -system 00:27:51.140 --> 00:27:57.180 setting was unhittable. Unhittable. I wanted 00:27:57.180 --> 00:28:02.630 more from her. I thought she passed fine. well 00:28:02.630 --> 00:28:05.210 when she decided to take it exactly she just 00:28:05.210 --> 00:28:06.990 kept looking at other people like you can't do 00:28:06.990 --> 00:28:10.470 that so i think from an execution standpoint 00:28:10.470 --> 00:28:13.650 it's there from a decision making and leadership 00:28:13.650 --> 00:28:16.829 and telling people she needs to run the defense 00:28:16.829 --> 00:28:20.970 so i she performed when when she performed she 00:28:20.970 --> 00:28:23.670 performed better than i was expecting but it 00:28:23.670 --> 00:28:26.690 needs to be was not okay passing passing and 00:28:26.690 --> 00:28:29.980 digging and And she just needs to get comfortable 00:28:29.980 --> 00:28:32.599 in that role and realize, like, I have the most 00:28:32.599 --> 00:28:34.539 experience here. I need to be directing traffic. 00:28:34.779 --> 00:28:37.740 I need to be taking more seams. She needed to 00:28:37.740 --> 00:28:40.680 insert herself into the fabric of the team a 00:28:40.680 --> 00:28:43.680 little bit more. I thought Lednicki was fine. 00:28:43.960 --> 00:28:48.200 I thought Lednicki and Babcock were fine. Lednicki's 00:28:48.200 --> 00:28:50.880 not the answer long term, I don't think. I was 00:28:50.880 --> 00:28:54.619 the most kind of impressed with how Babcock handled 00:28:54.619 --> 00:28:57.279 herself. I think on the right side of the court. 00:28:59.500 --> 00:29:04.579 They were trying. They were scoring points. I 00:29:04.579 --> 00:29:07.200 think the blocking lineup, particularly for Logan, 00:29:07.319 --> 00:29:14.779 was not good. And I think Amber IG'd against 00:29:14.779 --> 00:29:18.720 the top teams. They didn't serve well enough 00:29:18.720 --> 00:29:20.720 against the top teams. They had five options 00:29:20.720 --> 00:29:21.880 all the time. They weren't going to do anything. 00:29:22.240 --> 00:29:24.819 But I think against the Czech Republic and Korea, 00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:28.369 I think IG'd. solidified herself she was she 00:29:28.369 --> 00:29:33.430 was solid yeah I just my disappointment for the 00:29:33.430 --> 00:29:37.650 Americans was to see them a play a college style 00:29:37.650 --> 00:29:43.569 of volleyball and be the coaching staff so Adam 00:29:43.569 --> 00:29:46.130 kind of started touching on this earlier but 00:29:46.130 --> 00:29:51.069 as we mentioned there were a lot of young rosters 00:29:51.069 --> 00:29:54.289 young athletes that were playing in week one 00:29:54.289 --> 00:30:02.029 so That being said, which young players made 00:30:02.029 --> 00:30:06.410 the biggest impression on you? Okay, so I'm going 00:30:06.410 --> 00:30:10.329 to miss somebody for sure. But what I did was 00:30:10.329 --> 00:30:13.170 I went through and I looked at a lot of the athletes 00:30:13.170 --> 00:30:17.089 who were born 2004, 2005. Those were kind of 00:30:17.089 --> 00:30:20.170 elsewhere in the world because the North American 00:30:20.170 --> 00:30:22.289 athletes are in general kind of a little bit... 00:30:23.039 --> 00:30:25.220 because they go to college from an experience 00:30:25.220 --> 00:30:27.599 standpoint. But I was curious because we talk 00:30:27.599 --> 00:30:29.779 a lot about, hey, the U .S. is sending an inexperienced 00:30:29.779 --> 00:30:32.700 roster. And I wanted to look at, you know, how 00:30:32.700 --> 00:30:34.299 do the young players coming up in some of these 00:30:34.299 --> 00:30:37.920 other countries kind of line up with the talent 00:30:37.920 --> 00:30:40.240 coming out of the U .S.? Because let's not make 00:30:40.240 --> 00:30:42.640 any mistake. The U .S. athletes are not young. 00:30:43.799 --> 00:30:46.680 They're inexperienced. Correct. Like there are 00:30:46.680 --> 00:30:50.220 some legitimate young athletes playing. So like, 00:30:50.279 --> 00:30:54.200 for example. The opposite from Bulgaria, and 00:30:54.200 --> 00:30:58.420 I'm way worse with names than Sarah is, but Stoyanova, 00:30:58.539 --> 00:31:04.920 she is a 2005 opposite, and I thought she was 00:31:04.920 --> 00:31:08.440 fantastic. She carried the load for her team. 00:31:09.059 --> 00:31:14.079 She was fearless. She hit angles. She was attacking 00:31:14.079 --> 00:31:17.680 front row, back row, blocked well, served well. 00:31:17.839 --> 00:31:21.630 I was really impressed by her. There was, I would 00:31:21.630 --> 00:31:27.170 say, a trio of young Dutch players who, some 00:31:27.170 --> 00:31:29.529 of these were a little bit older, that I thought 00:31:29.529 --> 00:31:33.849 were good in a combination of D 'Ambri, Vos, 00:31:33.849 --> 00:31:37.809 and Kok. Again, 2002, 2003, 2004. I thought that 00:31:37.809 --> 00:31:40.490 was a really good trio who played well for the 00:31:40.490 --> 00:31:44.009 Netherlands. And then, specifically from Serbia, 00:31:44.309 --> 00:31:47.349 Kurticic in the middle was, I thought she played. 00:31:47.349 --> 00:31:49.259 Who we've talked about plays for... Played for 00:31:49.259 --> 00:31:51.559 Milano last season. Yeah, and that's the thing 00:31:51.559 --> 00:31:53.180 where it gets a little interesting because she's 00:31:53.180 --> 00:31:55.099 a 2004 who's playing on one of the best teams 00:31:55.099 --> 00:31:59.599 in the world already. You just can't compare 00:31:59.599 --> 00:32:05.920 her to, let's say, a Lednicki or somebody just 00:32:05.920 --> 00:32:09.640 coming out of college. It's just they're playing 00:32:09.640 --> 00:32:12.119 almost two different sports at this point. Well, 00:32:12.140 --> 00:32:14.559 let's make no mistake. Ana Cristina from Brazil 00:32:14.559 --> 00:32:20.039 is 21. Yeah. You look at the Chinese setter, 00:32:20.099 --> 00:32:23.859 and then you compare her to the options that 00:32:23.859 --> 00:32:26.819 you're bringing in college -wise from the U .S. 00:32:26.900 --> 00:32:32.460 So in looking at that, I was kind of shocked 00:32:32.460 --> 00:32:36.500 to find out how young some of these star players 00:32:36.500 --> 00:32:40.299 are on some of these teams. And it kind of put 00:32:40.299 --> 00:32:42.829 into perspective for me. Like when we're talking 00:32:42.829 --> 00:32:45.289 about a Maddie Skinner, when we're talking about 00:32:45.289 --> 00:32:48.589 a Sarah Franklin, when we're talking about, you 00:32:48.589 --> 00:32:51.910 know, a Babcock. Like Babcock's physical, she 00:32:51.910 --> 00:32:53.589 does well, but how does she compare to some of 00:32:53.589 --> 00:32:55.950 those other players? Like if these players, if 00:32:55.950 --> 00:32:58.109 these young international players came and played 00:32:58.109 --> 00:33:02.869 NCAA. No, it would be. The landscape would be 00:33:02.869 --> 00:33:05.650 completely different. Like it's not even close. 00:33:06.390 --> 00:33:10.569 So, you know, we talk about these. young American 00:33:10.569 --> 00:33:13.029 athletes needing to develop and getting a chance. 00:33:13.230 --> 00:33:15.650 Those are the athletes they're chasing from a 00:33:15.650 --> 00:33:19.490 performance standpoint. So it's going to be really 00:33:19.490 --> 00:33:23.910 interesting to kind of see, A, how the next couple 00:33:23.910 --> 00:33:26.730 weeks go, who stays on the roster, and then B, 00:33:26.910 --> 00:33:29.170 if any of these young players make world rosters 00:33:29.170 --> 00:33:32.289 and how they perform. The U .S. is banking on 00:33:32.289 --> 00:33:36.250 these young players to develop faster than everybody 00:33:36.250 --> 00:33:41.279 else's internationally. And it will be very curious 00:33:41.279 --> 00:33:45.519 to see how they go about doing that. After watching 00:33:45.519 --> 00:33:49.019 this, my thought was anybody who you need or 00:33:49.019 --> 00:33:51.359 who you think might have a chance for 2028, you 00:33:51.359 --> 00:33:54.259 need to find them contracts in Europe on the 00:33:54.259 --> 00:33:57.119 best teams. They need to be playing against these 00:33:57.119 --> 00:33:59.380 other athletes. Okay, so other than those ones 00:33:59.380 --> 00:34:01.440 you mentioned, who are your other favorite youngies? 00:34:03.000 --> 00:34:06.279 I mean, Anna Christina. Anna Christina's okay. 00:34:08.809 --> 00:34:12.130 And then Karatsu from Turkey. I thought she played 00:34:12.130 --> 00:34:17.550 well. She's a 2003. What? Yeah. That's, that's 00:34:17.550 --> 00:34:19.610 what I'm saying. Like some of these players are, 00:34:19.690 --> 00:34:24.369 are very good. Like starting big point getters. 00:34:25.130 --> 00:34:28.610 It's, it's impressive to see. So Canada had a 00:34:28.610 --> 00:34:33.010 couple of really young ones. Yeah. So, uh, Gerson. 00:34:33.550 --> 00:34:37.690 Okay. Goosen. Goosen. 2005. Got some playing 00:34:37.690 --> 00:34:40.769 time. I thought she was okay. She didn't look. 00:34:40.769 --> 00:34:43.929 She was green. Yeah. But there was potential 00:34:43.929 --> 00:34:46.349 there. I thought Thockboom did pretty well. DeLibero 00:34:46.349 --> 00:34:48.590 for Canada Watson. I thought she passed well. 00:34:49.289 --> 00:34:51.889 Defensively, she got blown up. The speed of the 00:34:51.889 --> 00:34:53.630 ball was a little faster than she was used to. 00:34:54.329 --> 00:34:57.329 Like I said, I thought Babcock kind of showed 00:34:57.329 --> 00:35:00.230 the most potential on the U .S. She is the youngest 00:35:00.230 --> 00:35:02.150 one, right? And she is the youngest one. What 00:35:02.150 --> 00:35:07.000 is she, 20? She's a 2005. Okay. So I would put 00:35:07.000 --> 00:35:08.900 her, like if I was looking at kind of the top 00:35:08.900 --> 00:35:11.360 prospects coming out there, I liked how she attacked 00:35:11.360 --> 00:35:14.440 the ball. I thought physically she was kind of 00:35:14.440 --> 00:35:17.960 in her element with some of those other opposites. 00:35:19.179 --> 00:35:22.400 Decision -making on a couple plays was maybe 00:35:22.400 --> 00:35:24.239 not as clean as some of the other ones who have 00:35:24.239 --> 00:35:26.119 played internationally, but that's to be expected. 00:35:26.400 --> 00:35:29.420 I was, out of everybody I watched on the U .S., 00:35:29.420 --> 00:35:31.480 I was most impressed when she got a chance to 00:35:31.480 --> 00:35:34.280 play. Well, and the Czech right side was young 00:35:34.280 --> 00:35:39.699 too. Correct. Yeah, the Czech girl was very good. 00:35:40.139 --> 00:35:44.760 So, yeah, there were a lot of 19-, 20 -year -olds 00:35:44.760 --> 00:35:50.320 that made a huge impact on their teams. I will 00:35:50.320 --> 00:35:54.300 be curious to see if they bring those players 00:35:54.300 --> 00:35:59.630 along to be subs for their staple stars. just 00:35:59.630 --> 00:36:02.730 to continue to get them experience. Or if they're 00:36:02.730 --> 00:36:04.570 like, this is your chance, let's see what you 00:36:04.570 --> 00:36:06.670 can do, and then we're going to send you back 00:36:06.670 --> 00:36:11.610 to U23 or whatever, or U21 for the summer. Well, 00:36:11.630 --> 00:36:12.789 and it's interesting because a lot of the young 00:36:12.789 --> 00:36:14.769 players coming in who were scoring lots of points 00:36:14.769 --> 00:36:17.690 were opposites. So it's a really good comparison 00:36:17.690 --> 00:36:22.530 of what the U .S. is looking for and what some 00:36:22.530 --> 00:36:25.949 of her peers are doing. Okay, so as we mentioned, 00:36:26.050 --> 00:36:29.969 we were kind of all over the place. We saw some 00:36:29.969 --> 00:36:33.250 teams bring their best athletes. We saw some 00:36:33.250 --> 00:36:36.449 bring more developmental rosters. So we just 00:36:36.449 --> 00:36:40.289 kind of wanted to give a little bit of a breakdown 00:36:40.289 --> 00:36:44.690 of the roster experience we saw throughout the 00:36:44.690 --> 00:36:47.710 week and maybe some predictions of what will 00:36:47.710 --> 00:36:51.489 happen moving forward. Okay, so I looked at the 00:36:51.489 --> 00:36:55.369 rosters from an average age perspective. perspective 00:36:55.369 --> 00:36:58.429 for people who are actually on the week one roster 00:36:58.429 --> 00:37:04.170 not including alternates okay so who were the 00:37:04.170 --> 00:37:06.909 old rosters or who were the rosters who brought 00:37:06.909 --> 00:37:12.750 their legit lineup so like thailand technically 00:37:12.750 --> 00:37:17.420 was the oldest team but italy had the second 00:37:17.420 --> 00:37:19.719 oldest roster. They brought all of their guns. 00:37:19.860 --> 00:37:22.900 They were ready to go. Dominican had a legitimate 00:37:22.900 --> 00:37:24.980 team there. They were the third oldest team there. 00:37:25.420 --> 00:37:29.480 Poland brought a legitimate roster at four. The 00:37:29.480 --> 00:37:31.699 Czech Republic actually had a pretty old roster. 00:37:31.780 --> 00:37:34.800 Now they've never competed in VNL. So that was 00:37:34.800 --> 00:37:37.139 probably a scenario where it's like these players 00:37:37.139 --> 00:37:38.800 have been playing in the national team system 00:37:38.800 --> 00:37:41.500 forever, finally break into VNL and they're like, 00:37:41.559 --> 00:37:43.659 okay, we'll stick it out. We want to try. Yeah. 00:37:43.719 --> 00:37:47.329 And then Brazil had a legitimate. older roster 00:37:47.329 --> 00:37:50.429 there they were they were sixth overall um there 00:37:50.429 --> 00:37:53.449 were a whole bunch of teams kind of in the middle 00:37:53.449 --> 00:37:55.510 so those those rosters had an average age of 00:37:55.510 --> 00:37:58.769 like 25 26 there were a whole bunch of teams 00:37:58.769 --> 00:38:01.869 u .s included who were kind of in the 24 year 00:38:01.869 --> 00:38:04.349 old roster so you would have some young players 00:38:04.349 --> 00:38:07.110 some experience there the youngest roster by 00:38:07.110 --> 00:38:09.949 far was china they had an average age of 21 and 00:38:09.949 --> 00:38:15.320 a half at this roster which was wild netherlands 00:38:15.320 --> 00:38:18.519 had an average age of 22 so they were also very 00:38:18.519 --> 00:38:21.400 young france but i think some of those players 00:38:21.400 --> 00:38:26.659 made the run last like i recognize some of the 00:38:26.659 --> 00:38:29.239 dutch players from the last vno so even the young 00:38:29.239 --> 00:38:34.150 players who were like 2004s, 2003s. This is their 00:38:34.150 --> 00:38:36.570 third VNL. Whether they played or not, but they 00:38:36.570 --> 00:38:39.730 kind of have been around, seen how it works. 00:38:39.989 --> 00:38:42.849 As far as an experience perspective, do we know? 00:38:43.849 --> 00:38:46.710 China, I think they brought their like baby babies. 00:38:46.789 --> 00:38:48.730 Yeah, they brought. China, not a ton of experience. 00:38:49.090 --> 00:38:52.789 The U .S., not a ton of experience. Italy, Brazil. 00:38:53.829 --> 00:38:58.969 Dominican. Dominican. Poland was relatively experienced. 00:39:00.059 --> 00:39:02.820 Canada was pretty experienced. Canada was experienced. 00:39:03.159 --> 00:39:05.699 Of kind of the better teams who you would expect 00:39:05.699 --> 00:39:08.469 to do well. What about Japan? I feel like they 00:39:08.469 --> 00:39:11.010 were... Japan was right in the middle, like 24 00:39:11.010 --> 00:39:13.929 and a half. I was actually, I thought Wada was 00:39:13.929 --> 00:39:16.289 an individual athlete who stuck out to me watching 00:39:16.289 --> 00:39:18.989 Japan play. You know, when they play such a defensive 00:39:18.989 --> 00:39:22.510 and serve aggressive game, she scored a lot of 00:39:22.510 --> 00:39:24.989 points for them. She had a fast arm. So fast. 00:39:25.869 --> 00:39:29.449 So she was fun to watch. I enjoyed watching them 00:39:29.449 --> 00:39:32.409 play. So they were kind of in the middle. USA 00:39:32.409 --> 00:39:34.949 was in the middle. You know, Serbia was pretty 00:39:34.949 --> 00:39:38.010 young. Turkey was young but had some experience. 00:39:39.150 --> 00:39:41.429 Not their big, big guns, but they had people 00:39:41.429 --> 00:39:43.630 who had played before. Serbia brought baby babies. 00:39:43.849 --> 00:39:46.570 Yeah. Bulgaria was kind of in the middle as well. 00:39:48.010 --> 00:39:55.349 So China, U .S., Turkey, Serbia brought their 00:39:55.349 --> 00:40:00.929 more inexperienced athletes, whereas Italy, Poland, 00:40:01.070 --> 00:40:05.530 Brazil, Dominican, Canada brought. A solid roster. 00:40:05.989 --> 00:40:10.889 In round two, we are moving to Istanbul, Belgrade, 00:40:10.929 --> 00:40:14.610 and Hong Kong. My prediction is that you'll see 00:40:14.610 --> 00:40:17.150 Turkey and Serbia bring their big guns because 00:40:17.150 --> 00:40:19.010 they're playing at home. You better believe it. 00:40:19.489 --> 00:40:21.989 I think Dominican has to keep bringing their 00:40:21.989 --> 00:40:24.610 big guns because they're not deep as a country. 00:40:24.789 --> 00:40:29.150 Canada, same thing. Poland, I want to say same 00:40:29.150 --> 00:40:33.030 thing. I think we're going to start to see... 00:40:33.630 --> 00:40:36.289 The veteran athletes start to trickle in, but 00:40:36.289 --> 00:40:38.670 those are the ones that I think are going to 00:40:38.670 --> 00:40:43.329 be there for sure in week two. Which teams do 00:40:43.329 --> 00:40:46.929 you think have the depth to make significant 00:40:46.929 --> 00:40:52.050 upgrades? I think Turkey can upgrade big time. 00:40:52.570 --> 00:40:56.449 I'm not sure how much of an upgrade Serbia can 00:40:56.449 --> 00:40:58.909 make because they had such turnover, but Boskovic 00:40:58.909 --> 00:41:02.710 is an X factor. Adding her to the mix just... 00:41:02.880 --> 00:41:05.659 completely changes the landscape. How much better 00:41:05.659 --> 00:41:08.860 do you think Brazil is with Gabi? Well, Gabi 00:41:08.860 --> 00:41:12.280 and Rosa Maria. You know, I think Julia Bergman 00:41:12.280 --> 00:41:15.280 did a good job. I think she was solid. I think 00:41:15.280 --> 00:41:22.599 Gabi, her ball control, her consistency, I think 00:41:22.599 --> 00:41:28.380 she adds an extra dynamic that, yeah, it's like 00:41:28.380 --> 00:41:31.380 an intangible, you know? But it is tangible because 00:41:31.380 --> 00:41:34.420 she produces. What do you think, do you think 00:41:34.420 --> 00:41:38.119 China is committed to this roster for LA? Do 00:41:38.119 --> 00:41:40.960 you think we'll see any of the older athletes 00:41:40.960 --> 00:41:43.780 or are they, this is just how they operate. These 00:41:43.780 --> 00:41:46.079 are the athletes, they're young, we're going. 00:41:46.440 --> 00:41:49.260 No, but they had like eight on the long list 00:41:49.260 --> 00:41:52.630 who came back. For this year. I think China's 00:41:52.630 --> 00:41:55.730 roster will evolve. They always kind of do weird 00:41:55.730 --> 00:41:58.289 stuff. Like. And they'll keep their top athletes 00:41:58.289 --> 00:42:00.989 at home. Until the final. And if like the young 00:42:00.989 --> 00:42:04.590 ones get them there. Fabulous. And if not. Darn. 00:42:05.530 --> 00:42:12.829 You know. Yeah. I'm not sure we'll see. I mean. 00:42:13.050 --> 00:42:15.289 Daldrop for Netherlands. There's a couple pieces 00:42:15.289 --> 00:42:18.710 that could be added for Netherlands. But. The 00:42:18.710 --> 00:42:22.760 two. that I think are going to get a big boost 00:42:22.760 --> 00:42:26.780 in week two are Turkey and Serbia. What do you 00:42:26.780 --> 00:42:30.219 think the U .S. does? Okay, I have some players 00:42:30.219 --> 00:42:32.679 that I think are going to be left home after 00:42:32.679 --> 00:42:39.559 week one. My predictions for the switches, I 00:42:39.559 --> 00:42:43.559 think Zoe Jarvis will be left behind. I think 00:42:43.559 --> 00:42:47.179 Serena Gray and Anna Dodson will be left. And 00:42:47.179 --> 00:42:50.920 I think Ella Mae Powell will be left. I'm expecting 00:42:50.920 --> 00:42:56.159 to see Avery Skinner and Dana Retke. I'm expecting 00:42:56.159 --> 00:42:59.179 Lanier to show up at some point, too. So, honestly, 00:42:59.480 --> 00:43:03.159 if those two are going, I would leave Eggleston 00:43:03.159 --> 00:43:06.480 home, too. Yeah, I think that's probably right. 00:43:06.699 --> 00:43:10.780 I mean, the next round for the U .S. is interesting 00:43:10.780 --> 00:43:16.880 because they don't have any top, top teams. Now, 00:43:16.980 --> 00:43:20.039 I believe they have Serbia in their pool. be 00:43:20.039 --> 00:43:22.780 interesting to see what Serbia comes, but they 00:43:22.780 --> 00:43:25.619 don't play any of the best teams. They already 00:43:25.619 --> 00:43:28.900 did that. They already did that, but there's 00:43:28.900 --> 00:43:32.739 no gimme matches in their pool either. So, you 00:43:32.739 --> 00:43:35.119 know, with a record of one in three so far, if 00:43:35.119 --> 00:43:37.280 you want to make that top eight, this next round 00:43:37.280 --> 00:43:39.659 is going to be important. Like this is going 00:43:39.659 --> 00:43:41.920 to be kind of a show me round for the U S in 00:43:41.920 --> 00:43:45.179 my opinion, they're going to need to win some 00:43:45.179 --> 00:43:49.219 matches. So I'm curious to see. how they approach 00:43:49.219 --> 00:43:52.940 this. I mean, the checkmatch was a lost opportunity, 00:43:53.000 --> 00:43:56.860 in my opinion. But, yeah, those are the ones 00:43:56.860 --> 00:44:01.000 that stick out for me as I think being left off. 00:44:01.219 --> 00:44:05.400 Yeah, I think that makes sense. Again, week one, 00:44:05.400 --> 00:44:09.099 V &L, everybody's feeling things out. Some stars 00:44:09.099 --> 00:44:13.440 who had really long pro seasons are kind of allowed 00:44:13.440 --> 00:44:17.179 to take a break. kind of work their way back 00:44:17.179 --> 00:44:20.219 into the national team system so obviously things 00:44:20.219 --> 00:44:22.239 are going to change but it's fun to talk about 00:44:22.239 --> 00:44:25.719 anyway yeah and see what the priorities are who's 00:44:25.719 --> 00:44:29.519 bringing which players you know which countries 00:44:29.519 --> 00:44:32.280 are it's important for them to win i think for 00:44:32.280 --> 00:44:35.650 me now the management game kind of starts. Who 00:44:35.650 --> 00:44:37.429 do you bring? Like, I know the U .S. didn't have 00:44:37.429 --> 00:44:39.889 a ton of choices in terms of people coming back 00:44:39.889 --> 00:44:42.230 from contracts, injuries, those kind of things. 00:44:42.349 --> 00:44:45.070 Now that you've had a couple weeks to settle 00:44:45.070 --> 00:44:47.409 in and make some choices, what does that look 00:44:47.409 --> 00:44:49.750 like? Okay, let's get into some listener questions. 00:44:50.510 --> 00:44:55.070 Question one, what can Minas fans, that is a 00:44:55.070 --> 00:44:59.030 team in Brazil, expect from Hillary Johnson next 00:44:59.030 --> 00:45:01.639 season? Do you think she's capable of stepping 00:45:01.639 --> 00:45:03.699 up for Canada during the summer now that Gray 00:45:03.699 --> 00:45:08.000 is absent? Did you want my answer before or after 00:45:08.000 --> 00:45:12.079 this round? After this round. I was not impressed. 00:45:12.880 --> 00:45:15.099 I expected more from her. I thought she would 00:45:15.099 --> 00:45:19.900 step up more with Alexa Gray gone. And, you know, 00:45:19.960 --> 00:45:24.119 I don't know what pressures these athletes feel 00:45:24.119 --> 00:45:29.030 playing at home. It's your first time back competing, 00:45:29.329 --> 00:45:35.409 first round of the VNL. She was a good P2 to 00:45:35.409 --> 00:45:41.150 Alexa Gray's P1. I don't think she has the P1 00:45:41.150 --> 00:45:45.349 DNA. Yeah, but I don't think she passed that 00:45:45.349 --> 00:45:50.909 well. Also. So forget that. No, she didn't pass 00:45:50.909 --> 00:45:54.900 well. And again, you have a new coach, you have 00:45:54.900 --> 00:45:58.260 a new system, you have expectations. There are 00:45:58.260 --> 00:46:01.699 a lot of changes happening in that program, even 00:46:01.699 --> 00:46:04.519 though a lot of the athletes are the same. And 00:46:04.519 --> 00:46:09.159 so I would say jury's out. Its expectations aren't 00:46:09.159 --> 00:46:12.119 super high after week one, but I'll give her 00:46:12.119 --> 00:46:15.719 another round to see if she can kind of settle 00:46:15.719 --> 00:46:18.300 in. I know Brie O 'Reilly got hurt at the end 00:46:18.300 --> 00:46:20.739 of that match in Serbia. We'll see if she can 00:46:20.739 --> 00:46:22.960 play or not and what happens at the setting position. 00:46:23.300 --> 00:46:25.219 Yeah, she's going to need to be better than she 00:46:25.219 --> 00:46:29.340 was this week. As far as playing in Brazil... 00:46:29.340 --> 00:46:32.179 She's going to get served a lot. I think she'll 00:46:32.179 --> 00:46:35.199 get served a lot. I don't know. I think the Brazilian 00:46:35.199 --> 00:46:40.400 training system of just very high volume, high 00:46:40.400 --> 00:46:46.219 rep, I think is good. The Brazilian environment... 00:46:47.559 --> 00:46:52.920 is very vocal, it's very loud to play in. The 00:46:52.920 --> 00:46:57.099 fans are very passionate about their team. I 00:46:57.099 --> 00:47:00.000 don't know her personally to be able to know 00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:03.380 how that will affect her. But the Brazilian League, 00:47:03.460 --> 00:47:08.019 even though a lot of the top national team players 00:47:08.019 --> 00:47:11.659 now play overseas, the league is still strong. 00:47:12.039 --> 00:47:17.190 I don't know how it's going to go. She's going 00:47:17.190 --> 00:47:20.730 to learn a lot. She will learn a lot. She will 00:47:20.730 --> 00:47:23.730 learn a lot. She will get a ton of touches. Will 00:47:23.730 --> 00:47:27.230 they translate? We'll find out. Question two. 00:47:28.250 --> 00:47:31.130 If the U .S. women fail to show up and perform 00:47:31.130 --> 00:47:33.630 well this summer and potentially next year, do 00:47:33.630 --> 00:47:36.050 you see a lot of the players going back overseas 00:47:36.050 --> 00:47:39.710 to help develop their game, specifically passing 00:47:39.710 --> 00:47:43.670 defense out of system hitting? Will that hurt 00:47:43.670 --> 00:47:46.349 the future of the domestic leagues if they can't 00:47:46.349 --> 00:47:48.809 raise their level of play to mirror the Italian 00:47:48.809 --> 00:47:51.730 -Turkish leagues? Because this person was saying, 00:47:51.869 --> 00:47:55.030 I don't think it's any coincidence that a lot 00:47:55.030 --> 00:47:58.610 of USA's top talent are still choosing to play 00:47:58.610 --> 00:48:02.670 overseas. If I was coaching the US national team, 00:48:02.889 --> 00:48:06.809 I would send all of them overseas without question. 00:48:07.010 --> 00:48:11.050 You can see it in the players we talked about 00:48:11.050 --> 00:48:14.760 today. You have 19 -year -olds, 20 -year -olds 00:48:14.760 --> 00:48:18.679 that are putting together just outstanding performances. 00:48:18.940 --> 00:48:22.420 Winning Champions League, competing for championships. 00:48:22.739 --> 00:48:27.440 I'm sorry. I'm a fan of building a league in 00:48:27.440 --> 00:48:32.360 North America. I'm 100 % behind that goal. But 00:48:32.360 --> 00:48:38.000 building a league and winning LA, those are two 00:48:38.000 --> 00:48:41.900 different things. And eventually, can America, 00:48:42.119 --> 00:48:44.420 can the Love League or one of the leagues get 00:48:44.420 --> 00:48:46.280 to a point where it's a top league in the world? 00:48:46.340 --> 00:48:49.800 Yes, absolutely. I fundamentally believe that. 00:48:49.840 --> 00:48:52.519 But as of right now, you're not playing against 00:48:52.519 --> 00:48:57.219 the best athletes in the world. I would send 00:48:57.219 --> 00:49:01.300 my top four players from each position overseas 00:49:01.300 --> 00:49:04.360 if I can, without question. I think the athletes 00:49:04.360 --> 00:49:06.579 just have to figure out what their priorities 00:49:06.579 --> 00:49:10.610 are. Unfortunately, in the landscape of professional 00:49:10.610 --> 00:49:14.550 volleyball, as a North American, you can't have 00:49:14.550 --> 00:49:19.210 everything. You can't make a lot of money and 00:49:19.210 --> 00:49:22.090 play against the best competition and be comfortable 00:49:22.090 --> 00:49:27.170 and close to family all at the same time. It's 00:49:27.170 --> 00:49:30.289 unrealistic as a North American with how professional 00:49:30.289 --> 00:49:34.269 volleyball is right now. One of the three variables 00:49:34.269 --> 00:49:37.110 have to give. And you just have to decide which 00:49:37.110 --> 00:49:39.809 one is the one you're willing to sacrifice. And 00:49:39.809 --> 00:49:42.389 I think like coming out of their first year and 00:49:42.389 --> 00:49:44.610 first year of a cycle and wanting to be a part 00:49:44.610 --> 00:49:48.929 of the league as it starts, like Maddie Skinner 00:49:48.929 --> 00:49:52.650 and Sarah Franklin, like I get wanting to be 00:49:52.650 --> 00:49:55.329 a part of that movement, but you already see 00:49:55.329 --> 00:49:57.590 it. Sarah Franklin is going overseas, right? 00:49:57.829 --> 00:50:01.789 Dana Reckie, Avery Skinner, already, you know, 00:50:01.809 --> 00:50:06.730 all already overseas, right? For now, that's 00:50:06.730 --> 00:50:09.489 what they have to do if they want to win in LA. 00:50:09.750 --> 00:50:14.329 And I think you're going to see Sarah Franklin 00:50:14.329 --> 00:50:17.090 be a different player next year after a year 00:50:17.090 --> 00:50:19.889 in Italy. It's going to change her game completely. 00:50:20.170 --> 00:50:23.510 If they want to win, they need to do that. Question 00:50:23.510 --> 00:50:26.590 three, is passing a mental skill just as much 00:50:26.590 --> 00:50:29.769 as a technical one? Absolutely. Didn't even hesitate. 00:50:30.650 --> 00:50:33.869 I mean, if you're sitting there and you're getting 00:50:33.869 --> 00:50:36.730 bombs, blasted at you consistently and you're 00:50:36.730 --> 00:50:39.449 thinking please don't serve me the ball you're 00:50:39.449 --> 00:50:43.530 toast that ball comes so fast the angles are 00:50:43.530 --> 00:50:46.510 absurd with the float serves that some of these 00:50:46.510 --> 00:50:49.570 girls are hitting you know van rijk bombing jump 00:50:49.570 --> 00:50:52.449 serves at you the ball's moving around like you 00:50:52.449 --> 00:50:56.650 need an aggressive serve me attitude oh and if 00:50:56.650 --> 00:50:59.210 you change your mind your facial expression at 00:50:59.210 --> 00:51:01.969 all or if your eyes get big or look at the ground 00:51:02.980 --> 00:51:05.179 everybody notices and they are going to destroy 00:51:05.179 --> 00:51:07.619 you. Now, don't get me wrong. You need to be 00:51:07.619 --> 00:51:09.659 technically able to pass the ball as well. It 00:51:09.659 --> 00:51:13.039 is both. It is 100 % both. You're right. Yeah. 00:51:13.940 --> 00:51:16.179 You can want to pass all you want, but if you 00:51:16.179 --> 00:51:18.840 can't do it, then it's not going to work either. 00:51:19.380 --> 00:51:21.420 Okay, last question of the day. When players 00:51:21.420 --> 00:51:23.619 are deciding where to play professionally, it 00:51:23.619 --> 00:51:26.159 seems like salary and the competitiveness of 00:51:26.159 --> 00:51:28.940 the league are major factors. How much do things 00:51:28.940 --> 00:51:32.090 like the coach... or even which other players 00:51:32.090 --> 00:51:34.389 are signed to the team play into that decision? 00:51:34.590 --> 00:51:37.570 For example, does the coach's reputation or the 00:51:37.570 --> 00:51:40.269 presence of certain teammates influence a player's 00:51:40.269 --> 00:51:42.809 choice? I mean, I think that you are probably, 00:51:43.050 --> 00:51:46.809 I never had the luxury of making those decisions, 00:51:46.909 --> 00:51:49.730 so it's probably a question for you. You are 00:51:49.730 --> 00:51:55.050 right. Salary, I think, you know, salary, strength 00:51:55.050 --> 00:52:00.619 of league, life conditions. do play a factor 00:52:00.619 --> 00:52:04.079 I will say when I would make decisions I would 00:52:04.079 --> 00:52:06.019 look at who they have on their roster how they 00:52:06.019 --> 00:52:09.619 did the year before what the potential outlook 00:52:09.619 --> 00:52:11.780 of the team looks like like if a team performed 00:52:11.780 --> 00:52:13.679 badly the year before but they brought in a lot 00:52:13.679 --> 00:52:16.539 of good players like and the other conditions 00:52:16.539 --> 00:52:18.420 were right like yeah I would consider it for 00:52:18.420 --> 00:52:23.420 sure I would say coaches when you get to the 00:52:23.420 --> 00:52:27.300 top top teams the coaches resumes are all legit 00:52:28.079 --> 00:52:31.480 So I wouldn't say that it necessarily is an impact 00:52:31.480 --> 00:52:34.400 if you're going, if you're considering like a 00:52:34.400 --> 00:52:37.440 really good team. If you're a more inexperienced 00:52:37.440 --> 00:52:39.719 player and your national team coach tells you, 00:52:39.760 --> 00:52:42.519 do you want to come with me to this team? You 00:52:42.519 --> 00:52:45.579 should probably say yes. But I would say the 00:52:45.579 --> 00:52:50.239 coaching and the teammates decision is probably 00:52:50.239 --> 00:52:55.960 less of a factor than how good is this league? 00:52:56.699 --> 00:52:59.820 What are our chances of winning? Are we going 00:52:59.820 --> 00:53:03.860 to be in Champions League? What kind of money 00:53:03.860 --> 00:53:06.619 am I going to make? What is my quality of life? 00:53:07.159 --> 00:53:08.920 Yeah, and I think probably the other thing with 00:53:08.920 --> 00:53:11.019 that is, I mean, you and I were married when 00:53:11.019 --> 00:53:13.480 you were playing most of your career overseas. 00:53:13.559 --> 00:53:15.639 So we were always together. So I think that for 00:53:15.639 --> 00:53:18.539 a lot of people, like knowing at least one or 00:53:18.539 --> 00:53:22.579 having a native speaker on your team. Well, so 00:53:22.579 --> 00:53:27.340 for example, I played a season in Brazil. And 00:53:27.340 --> 00:53:30.860 then when it came to re -signing, for me that 00:53:30.860 --> 00:53:33.500 year in particular, it came down to going to 00:53:33.500 --> 00:53:39.940 Moscow or going back to Rio. And Moscow offered 00:53:39.940 --> 00:53:45.860 me a lot more money than Rio did. But I knew 00:53:45.860 --> 00:53:50.429 what I was getting into in Rio. had a good experience 00:53:50.429 --> 00:53:53.710 there. I knew the coaching staff. I knew the 00:53:53.710 --> 00:53:55.469 players. I knew I was going to get better. The 00:53:55.469 --> 00:53:58.909 league was good. The money was nothing to slouch 00:53:58.909 --> 00:54:02.190 at. But when I thought about like my life there, 00:54:02.389 --> 00:54:06.030 I was willing to sacrifice the difference in 00:54:06.030 --> 00:54:10.769 the salary for quality of life and things like 00:54:10.769 --> 00:54:14.130 that. So yeah. Lots of factors. There are lots 00:54:14.130 --> 00:54:16.949 of factors to consider for sure. As always, we 00:54:16.949 --> 00:54:20.000 love these questions. I always love seeing what 00:54:20.000 --> 00:54:22.460 people write in. It's always an exciting day. 00:54:22.900 --> 00:54:27.519 All right. So week one of Women's VNL in the 00:54:27.519 --> 00:54:30.400 books. Really interesting. Some great volleyball. 00:54:30.719 --> 00:54:33.639 If you didn't get a chance to watch them on Volleyball 00:54:33.639 --> 00:54:35.480 TV, you can go back and watch any of the matches. 00:54:35.820 --> 00:54:38.119 Well, the Americans decided that it's going to 00:54:38.119 --> 00:54:41.719 be on CBS Sports and stuff too. So like literally 00:54:41.719 --> 00:54:43.860 the day before VNL started, they're like, oh, 00:54:43.900 --> 00:54:46.019 PS, you can watch it here. Thanks so much for 00:54:46.019 --> 00:54:49.619 your membership. So lots of good volleyball to 00:54:49.619 --> 00:54:51.940 watch. So the women have the week off. We're 00:54:51.940 --> 00:54:55.260 heading into week one of the men's VNL this week. 00:54:55.420 --> 00:54:58.820 We're in the same countries, China, Canada, and 00:54:58.820 --> 00:55:02.739 Brazil for the men's VNL. We're in Xi 'an, China, 00:55:02.980 --> 00:55:06.900 Quebec City, and back in Rio. We've got Wednesday 00:55:06.900 --> 00:55:10.670 at 8 p .m. Eastern, Canada versus Germany. We've 00:55:10.670 --> 00:55:13.409 got Thursday at 8 .30 Eastern, Poland versus 00:55:13.409 --> 00:55:16.190 Japan. Very different styles. Very different 00:55:16.190 --> 00:55:18.110 styles. Very good teams. That will be exciting. 00:55:19.070 --> 00:55:23.389 Friday at 8 p .m. Eastern, France and Italy. 00:55:23.809 --> 00:55:28.710 Now, that's must -watch TV. Yeah. So I would 00:55:28.710 --> 00:55:30.630 circle that. Get your popcorn out. That's going 00:55:30.630 --> 00:55:32.869 to be a ton of fun. I hand -selected all these 00:55:32.869 --> 00:55:35.670 matches, you guys, okay? These are Sarah's recommendations. 00:55:35.809 --> 00:55:38.550 Again, which ones were watchable based on the 00:55:38.550 --> 00:55:41.969 time? And which ones I thought would be entertaining. 00:55:43.210 --> 00:55:47.429 And then on Saturday, 1230 p .m. Eastern, USA 00:55:47.429 --> 00:55:51.369 versus Slovenia. So USA men and women are in 00:55:51.369 --> 00:55:55.170 a similar boat. We got a young USA roster, a 00:55:55.170 --> 00:55:57.449 Slovenian team that we've been told to not sleep 00:55:57.449 --> 00:56:00.349 on. Don't sleep on Slovenia. They're good. So 00:56:00.349 --> 00:56:02.510 it'll be interesting. One other thing I wanted 00:56:02.510 --> 00:56:04.869 to put out there I'm curious to see is I'm curious 00:56:04.869 --> 00:56:07.409 to see the difference in coaching style because 00:56:07.409 --> 00:56:10.260 you had two different. Two inexperienced rosters 00:56:10.260 --> 00:56:11.960 on the women's side and on the men's side to 00:56:11.960 --> 00:56:15.199 see what Karch does with the young men he's bringing 00:56:15.199 --> 00:56:17.800 to this pool play. I want to listen into the 00:56:17.800 --> 00:56:21.219 timeouts. Yeah, that's something I'm very curious 00:56:21.219 --> 00:56:23.460 to kind of see if the approach is the same, if 00:56:23.460 --> 00:56:25.199 it's a little bit different, you know, what they 00:56:25.199 --> 00:56:28.039 look like. We followed the NCAA men, you know, 00:56:28.039 --> 00:56:30.079 pretty closely to see, I'm curious to see if 00:56:30.079 --> 00:56:32.639 their style is the same. So I think that will 00:56:32.639 --> 00:56:35.860 be, it'll be interesting to watch them this week. 00:56:35.920 --> 00:56:38.079 So I'm looking forward to another great week 00:56:38.079 --> 00:56:40.119 of... Probably way too much volleyball and not 00:56:40.119 --> 00:56:42.840 enough productivity. That concludes this week's 00:56:42.840 --> 00:56:44.840 episode of Volley Talk. There's always something 00:56:44.840 --> 00:56:46.539 shaking in the volleyball world, and we hope 00:56:46.539 --> 00:56:48.980 you enjoyed this little fix. Be sure to follow 00:56:48.980 --> 00:56:51.239 the show so you don't miss any updates, and we'd 00:56:51.239 --> 00:56:53.500 be so grateful if you'd leave us a five -star 00:56:53.500 --> 00:56:56.460 review. You can also find us on Instagram at 00:56:56.460 --> 00:56:59.760 volleytalk underscore podcast. If you have a 00:56:59.760 --> 00:57:01.539 topic that you want us to discuss, be sure to 00:57:01.539 --> 00:57:03.519 let us know by reaching out to us on Instagram 00:57:03.519 --> 00:57:07.519 or at info at sarahpavin .com. Thanks so much 00:57:07.519 --> 00:57:09.920 for joining us and we'll be back next week.