WEBVTT

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Hi volleyball fans and welcome back to Volley

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Talk, the podcast created for volleyball lovers

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who want to dig deep into what is going on in

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NCAA and international volleyball. I'm your host

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Sarah Pavan. I'm an Olympian, beach volleyball

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world champion, former Nebraska Cornhusker, and

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longtime pro both indoor and on the beach. And

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I'm Adam Schultz, former indoor player, international

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volleyball coach, and the show's resident stat

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guy. So we just finished up with week three of

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the men's VNL competition and the final eight

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are set. Barely set, down to the wire. So last

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week, the final day was all about the battle

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for relegation. But this week, we saw the final

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day come down to who the heck is going to make

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the final eight, in particular, the final match

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that was played on Sunday. The parody on the

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men's side is just unbelievable. Teams winning

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matches, losing matches, they shouldn't, in the

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hunt, out of the hunt. It was a wild week. Day

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to day, it changed who could make it. It was

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so much fun, quite frankly. Wild is the word

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that comes to mind for me as well. There was

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so much movement, teams blowing their ranking,

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others making pushes. that you didn't expect.

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So it was absolutely incredible. We are very

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excited to dive in and discuss what happened

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as well as our predictions for the final eight

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happening in a couple weeks. So let's get started.

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We don't really have any weekly highlights this

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week. But just wanted to put it on your radar.

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I do know that the women's VNL final eight is

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happening. But if you feel like watching something

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in addition to that or different, the U19 boys

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world championship is happening this week in

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Uzbekistan. So matches for that start on Thursday.

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Just a heads up in case you want to mix it up

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a little bit. But those are also shown on VBTV.

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You want to see some testosterone on the court?

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You want to see some mental meltdowns and some

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bad decision making? Watch the U19 boys. It'll

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be a ride. All right, let's get into our VNL

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week three recap. So Brazil finished the preliminary

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round in first place with 11 wins. They were

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followed very closely by Italy with 10 wins.

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So literally the same situation as women in reverse

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with close to the same number of wins as well.

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We had France, Japan, and Poland all finish with

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eight wins. There was one point difference between

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the three teams. France has finished with 24

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points. Japan and Poland finished with 23. And

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it came down to a set ratio between Japan and

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Poland. Like, this is how close we're talking

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here. Yeah, it doesn't get any closer than this.

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It's crazy. Crazy. But the most excitement came

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with the bubble teams. We are going to be talking

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about some specifics. about the bubble teams

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later in the episode, but just to give you a

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little taster of kind of what went down. So heading

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into the last day of competition, Cuba was in

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sixth, Ukraine was in seventh, Bulgaria in eighth.

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And just a reminder, because we talked about

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this and you can forget about it looking at the

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standings, is that China gets in automatically.

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So only seven teams from the ranking get in.

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Those three teams are just vying for two spots.

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It's heading into the last day. Yeah. Okay. How

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it finished with those three teams was Cuba was

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7th, Ukraine 9th, Bulgaria 10th. So we saw Iran

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jump from 15 to 8 just by beating Bulgaria in

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three. And then we saw Slovenia. I think they

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were around like the 10 to 12 range heading into

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their match on Sunday. They went from that to

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sixth place, okay, by beating Serbia in five.

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And we'll talk about this, but their coach almost

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threw that match away. It was heartbreaking to

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watch. Oh my gosh. Literally, I would have, that

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loss would have been at the hands of, anyway,

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at the coach. But, so that was literally just

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happened in one day of competition. that's how

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wild it was okay so at the end we had six teams

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finish with six wins so a third of the competition

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had six wins and only one of them made it to

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the final eight so we're talking about did you

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win a match in four did you win in five what

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was your set ratio who did you win those matches

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against did you drop a set you shouldn't have

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dropped like just The margins for getting into

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the final for those bubble teams was so slim.

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Well, I think the point totals of those six teams

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ranged from 16 to 20. Yeah. We also saw Serbia,

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similar to the women's side, avoid relegation.

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They actually had a very good week three at the

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VNL from a results standpoint, but also just

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they played much better. And so they ended up

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getting two big wins over Canada and Ukraine.

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Tough one for Ukraine to avoid relegation. So

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this VNL sees Netherlands relegated. They only

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had one win. They didn't play very well. Not

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a lot of their matches were competitive. So they

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will be going down. Which is heartbreaking. You

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always just think Netherlands will be in the

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mix. Just from a sheer... heightened demographic

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standpoint you just think as a country they should

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be good and historically they have been good

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so well they were like world champions in the

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early 2000s like they were top of the world for

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a while there honestly the serbian men are almost

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completely mimicking the women yeah it was the

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country road trip for the vnl so serbia as a

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whole survives which And also going back to Netherlands,

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given their like sport culture there and how

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cutthroat that country is with their sport funding

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and stuff like that. Very, very high level like

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execution from a training and preparation standpoint.

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This is not good. Yeah, if you're not familiar

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with the Netherlands, the way they do things

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in terms of having sports centers and, you know,

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they do have their own pro league. And I think

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if you were looking at. The countries going into

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this, I'm not sure I would have had Netherlands

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at the bottom. So this is a surprise. And not

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only, it's kind of the way they did it too. Not

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a lot of their matches were competitive. It's

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really sad. I mean, I love this aspect of VNL

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now. Absolutely. Just to mix it up, but it's

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also so heartbreaking at the same time. So if

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we look at the final eight, we have the following.

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Brazil, Italy, France, Japan, Poland. slovenia

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cuba china and we'll get into those matchups

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and we'll talk about them later a little later

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on but man you look at that list and i'm not

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sure predictions who's gonna win it's it's tight

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it's real i feel like six out of eight of those

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teams could possibly win maybe five that was

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just the little rundown of how messy this week

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was just a couple teams were comfortable, let's

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put it that way, heading into this week. It was

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fun to watch, but I think this just shows how

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much parity, as Adam said, there is in the men's

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game. So congrats to these seven teams plus China

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for surviving the gauntlet, pretty much. Yeah,

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and you're managing. The crazy thing is you have

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to manage your players coming off pro contracts.

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How are they feeling? Who's going to play? It's

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not a crazy amount of volleyball. You get a week

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off, but you're playing four matches in five

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days. This is where you build your program, so

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you want young guys to get a chance. There's

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so many things to think about and manage in the

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VNL while still trying to make sure. your country

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qualifies. I mean, the margins were so small

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because we were coming into this week, we were

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looking at some of the bubble teams. You had

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Germany, you had the US, you had Ukraine, you

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had Cuba, you had, I think we thought Slovenia

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was kind of on the bubble, but they were generally

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pretty good. Bulgaria was there, like so many

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teams coming in that could have made it. a bunch

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of teams who quite frankly blew their chances

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in my opinion by having one bad match which we

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will get into in a little bit yeah but every

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day you're looking like oh man i can't believe

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they i can't believe they lost that match or

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oh that was a big upset it was so much fun like

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sport at its best in my opinion so what was your

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favorite match of the week honestly i'm not sure

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i can pick one match i think my favorite The

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storyline of the week was watching Cuba. So Cuba

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was in tough. They had the matches they had to

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play to get in. They had Bulgaria to start. And

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we were curious how that was going to go two

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weeks ago just because we didn't know if Nikolov

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was going to be back or not after potentially

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spraining his ankle. He was back, so they were

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at full strength. So Cuba played Bulgaria. They

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played Poland. They played France. And then they

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had China last, I believe. And so you're looking

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at that lineup going, well, Cuba can struggle

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passing. And all of those teams outside of China

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are great servers. They could legitimately go

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one and three in that stretch and not make it.

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But let me tell you, they brought their big guns

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to the event. I would say that we saw the big

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boys across the board from the majority of teams.

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When I say Cuba brought their big boys, they

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brought their big boys. Yant and Simone are massive

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human beings. And they were so fun to watch.

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So Cuba starts out winning a five -setter against

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Bulgaria at the beginning of the week. And Cuba's

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middles were unbelievable in that match. They

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led the scoring. for Cuba's team. So it was Simon

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and Concepcion. And they were unbelievable. Simon,

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I think, had the most kills. He had six blocks.

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I think he had a couple aces. He was patrolling

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the net, staring guys down. And the match was

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so much fun to watch. They were banging. They

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were blocking. It was high level. You could feel

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the stakes in that match. It almost felt like

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that was the match to get in. for both teams

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and at that point yeah it was if you have a chance

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to go back and watch one that one was so much

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fun I think Nikolov the outside hitter played

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unbelievable I thought all week I actually I

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thought Mone struggled setting this week there

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were a couple things that I noticed teams picking

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up because they they were also in the same pool

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obviously so it was they played some good teams

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his left side balls were trailing tight and Masso

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and Simon made life difficult for the outsides

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for Bulgaria, and he got a little predictable.

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And he actually got subbed out kind of as the

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week went on, and the other setter came in to

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run the offense for Bulgaria, which, you know,

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I think hurt them. But that was one of my favorite

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matches. I also had a Cuba match. Okay. Cuba

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versus Poland. Oof, that was my second. I also

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enjoyed watching Cuba play, and even though they

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went 2 -2 this week, lose to france in five which

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valuable point yeah because they were one of

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those six teams so that extra point was like

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very important and then their last match they

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lost to china which i thought was unexpected

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but at that point they were safe i didn't we

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didn't watch that one so i don't know if they

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just you know didn't care or it wasn't as engaged

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they knew they were in but yeah i expected them

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to beat china I just, like, I loved the Cuba

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-Poland match because, like, Poland, they were

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playing at home. So that is obviously a level

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up automatically. Poland, number one team in

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the world. They have that, you know, experience,

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that history. You know, Leon is a former Cuban

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national. So there's that interesting dynamic.

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And he didn't play that well. He played. Not

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great against Cuba. And, you know, just to see

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the Cubans play free and just go for it against

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a team. Okay, Poland didn't play their best volleyball.

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I'll give them that. But it was so entertaining

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because you have this team who has everything

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stacked against them. Poland was probably going

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to qualify. Cuba's fighting for their lives in

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Poland. they're so athletic the way that they

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were able to be fearless is they're passing the

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greatest no but they managed they managed to

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pass well they managed to turn points the final

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like set four or something or set three one of

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the sets it was like 24 20 for Poland And it

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was the most impressive sequence of points and

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so exciting. Cuba ended up winning the set. These

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guys just sacrifice their bodies on defense.

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They get hit by the ball, but they put themselves

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in a position to be able to either take it off

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the chest or make an athletic play. And that

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one for me was very exciting. Yeah, and again,

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their match against France. same like they're

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playing number one and two in the world and battling

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it out swinging high and hard and just leaning

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into their identity it was they were fun to watch

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and simone scores points when his team needs

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him to score points he he wins clutch player

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of the week to me but like not just like going

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up and ripping an ace or not like score like

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blocking cuba needs a point he will get a block

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which is even more impressive to me because that

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is something that the hitter has more control

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you know so it's just like the fact that he was

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able to impose his will so frequently this week

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in such clutch times i was just like bow down

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well in that game against poland yant who's an

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outside hitter hit 440 and maso who's the right

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side hit 380 Like, their outside. It was really

00:16:01.120 --> 00:16:03.659
interesting. Against Bulgaria, the middles were

00:16:03.659 --> 00:16:05.940
the star. And then against Poland, their outsides

00:16:05.940 --> 00:16:09.059
played better than. Which we haven't. He hadn't

00:16:09.059 --> 00:16:12.000
been traveling or playing much. And so having

00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:15.139
him on the court, too, helps. Like, dang. So

00:16:15.139 --> 00:16:22.200
good. Another game that was maybe not to the

00:16:22.200 --> 00:16:24.960
level of excitement of, like, the Cuba -Poland

00:16:24.960 --> 00:16:29.019
or Cuba -Bulgaria match, but. was exciting just

00:16:29.019 --> 00:16:33.200
for its implications was, for me, the Serbia

00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:37.899
-Slovenia match. Agreed. Serbia crushed a few

00:16:37.899 --> 00:16:42.259
dreams this week. Yeah. And it really looked

00:16:42.259 --> 00:16:44.580
like they were going to knock Slovenia out of

00:16:44.580 --> 00:16:47.480
the finals. So, like, going for context, going

00:16:47.480 --> 00:16:52.700
into that match, Slovenia needed to win to just

00:16:52.700 --> 00:16:56.460
make it. They just needed to win. If they...

00:16:56.779 --> 00:16:59.539
lost in five or whatever it wasn't going to be

00:16:59.539 --> 00:17:01.080
enough they weren't going to have enough points

00:17:01.080 --> 00:17:03.759
to catch Cuba so they needed to just straight

00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:08.259
up get the win to push them to seven so a lot

00:17:08.259 --> 00:17:10.680
was on the line as we talked about Serbia has

00:17:10.680 --> 00:17:14.859
been just out to lunch all VNL managed to get

00:17:14.859 --> 00:17:18.420
two wins to save themselves from relegation but

00:17:18.420 --> 00:17:21.720
like this match for them was just basically pride

00:17:21.720 --> 00:17:25.690
to to win Another match. Like, nothing was going

00:17:25.690 --> 00:17:28.150
to change for them. But everything rode on it

00:17:28.150 --> 00:17:31.230
for Slovenia. And they were in Slovenia. Which

00:17:31.230 --> 00:17:35.049
is also crazy. And the Slovenian fans were...

00:17:35.049 --> 00:17:36.589
I mean, there was so much around this match.

00:17:36.670 --> 00:17:39.849
So the Slovenian fans were off the hook. They

00:17:39.849 --> 00:17:43.809
had a player who is retiring. from their national

00:17:43.809 --> 00:17:46.789
team after playing 200 -plus matches for the

00:17:46.789 --> 00:17:48.910
national team. Everybody from the country was

00:17:48.910 --> 00:17:50.609
there. After the match, they were listing off

00:17:50.609 --> 00:17:52.430
all of the delegations were there. It took five

00:17:52.430 --> 00:17:54.630
minutes, and they panned to 20 different people

00:17:54.630 --> 00:17:58.309
in the stands. It was a moment, and you could

00:17:58.309 --> 00:18:01.109
feel the gravity of it while you were watching.

00:18:01.329 --> 00:18:03.269
And I think there was a lot of pressure on Slovenia.

00:18:03.289 --> 00:18:06.369
They could feel it. Well, they went down two

00:18:06.369 --> 00:18:09.869
sets to one, managed to squeak out the fourth.

00:18:11.559 --> 00:18:14.140
Barely. Yeah. Well, and not only that, they had

00:18:14.140 --> 00:18:16.619
to bring in their children. And when I say children,

00:18:16.759 --> 00:18:19.640
I mean children. Because they brought their big

00:18:19.640 --> 00:18:21.720
boys too this week. Yes, they did. And so the

00:18:21.720 --> 00:18:24.220
setter and right side, the 19 and 20 -year -olds

00:18:24.220 --> 00:18:26.920
that we've been seeing, were coming in as a double

00:18:26.920 --> 00:18:30.240
sub because the big boys were there. But these

00:18:30.240 --> 00:18:34.779
kids came in and turned things around for them.

00:18:35.220 --> 00:18:39.259
That right side, he's cold. He's 20 years old.

00:18:39.819 --> 00:18:43.359
Mujanovic, I believe, is his name. And he was

00:18:43.359 --> 00:18:47.339
serving. He was attacking. He was fearless. Man

00:18:47.339 --> 00:18:50.779
bun and all, just ripping it up. It was front

00:18:50.779 --> 00:18:53.980
row, back row. He was fun to watch down the stretch

00:18:53.980 --> 00:18:58.000
because it didn't feel like the moment got to

00:18:58.000 --> 00:18:59.700
him at all. Well, that's what happens when you're

00:18:59.700 --> 00:19:04.539
19 or 20. Fair. But he brought a jolt of energy

00:19:04.539 --> 00:19:07.779
on that floor when they put him in to stay. But

00:19:07.779 --> 00:19:11.250
here's the kicker. Set five. Oh my goodness.

00:19:11.349 --> 00:19:19.690
Slovenia is up 13 -9. Okay. It was 8 -8. Slovenia

00:19:19.690 --> 00:19:22.450
rules and takes five points in a row. It's like,

00:19:22.529 --> 00:19:26.549
oh my gosh, crazy stuff. Serbia finally sides

00:19:26.549 --> 00:19:30.250
out 13 -9. And Serbia has blown both their timeouts

00:19:30.250 --> 00:19:32.950
at this point. Because they were losing so many

00:19:32.950 --> 00:19:36.750
points in a row. So what does the Slovenian coach

00:19:36.750 --> 00:19:41.839
do? calls a timeout right when Serbia sides out.

00:19:42.380 --> 00:19:47.259
So it's now 13 -10. No, it was 13 -9, and he

00:19:47.259 --> 00:19:51.720
called a timeout. It went from 8 -8 to 13 -8.

00:19:52.700 --> 00:19:56.299
Serbia sides out to make it 13 -9, and Slovenia

00:19:56.299 --> 00:19:58.819
calls a timeout. Which is wild. Your team has

00:19:58.819 --> 00:20:01.359
been playing so well. They have all of the momentum.

00:20:01.839 --> 00:20:05.259
Let's just kill my team's momentum here. And

00:20:05.259 --> 00:20:07.539
not only to mention that, we listened to the

00:20:07.539 --> 00:20:10.000
timeout. There was no good information given.

00:20:10.119 --> 00:20:13.779
All he said was, if we don't score on the first

00:20:13.779 --> 00:20:17.000
ball side out, try to get a triple block up in

00:20:17.000 --> 00:20:20.599
transition. Obviously. No kidding. They've been

00:20:20.599 --> 00:20:23.500
doing that all game. Like we always do. It was

00:20:23.500 --> 00:20:27.200
the most bizarre decision I've ever seen. So

00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:32.309
then Serbia turns the point 13 -10 now. He called,

00:20:32.349 --> 00:20:34.869
Slovenia calls in their second time out. Right

00:20:34.869 --> 00:20:41.589
then and there. It was. I was shocked. And then

00:20:41.589 --> 00:20:43.930
after that, this is even, so he's got two challenges

00:20:43.930 --> 00:20:47.509
left. And after that, he then challenges two

00:20:47.509 --> 00:20:50.849
balls in a row that are about the ball being

00:20:50.849 --> 00:20:53.470
over the plane. Which was very obviously not

00:20:53.470 --> 00:20:55.470
one they were going to win. Yeah, one on their

00:20:55.470 --> 00:20:58.700
side and one on Serbia's side. So in a matter

00:20:58.700 --> 00:21:01.940
of these four points, he's blown both timeouts

00:21:01.940 --> 00:21:04.400
and both his challenges, all, in my opinion,

00:21:04.500 --> 00:21:08.500
terrible decision -making. And Serbia came back

00:21:08.500 --> 00:21:10.819
to 13 -13. Yeah, he's panicking on the bench.

00:21:11.619 --> 00:21:16.579
You're up 13 -9, and you're siding out. You give

00:21:16.579 --> 00:21:19.660
your team at least two chances to side out before

00:21:19.660 --> 00:21:22.319
you call a timeout because you have all of them.

00:21:22.420 --> 00:21:25.960
It was crazy to see. I was sitting on the couch.

00:21:26.430 --> 00:21:28.630
watching going if they lose this match this is

00:21:28.630 --> 00:21:32.250
on him told totally his fault he made you are

00:21:32.250 --> 00:21:34.750
taking your belief made the team nervous feel

00:21:34.750 --> 00:21:37.210
the gravity of the moment instead of just letting

00:21:37.210 --> 00:21:39.450
them play free like they'd been doing to get

00:21:39.450 --> 00:21:42.230
to that point and i was like dude not your time

00:21:42.230 --> 00:21:44.809
to step in and try to take control here let your

00:21:44.809 --> 00:21:48.890
boys play anyway what was it 17 15 or something

00:21:48.890 --> 00:21:52.329
yeah slovenia ends up winning 17 15 but it was

00:21:52.329 --> 00:21:56.190
i was like The fact that this guy single -handedly

00:21:56.190 --> 00:21:58.849
ruined his team's momentum when they were up

00:21:58.849 --> 00:22:03.089
four points. Like that almost cost them a trip

00:22:03.089 --> 00:22:06.849
to the final. I was losing my mind. That is grounds

00:22:06.849 --> 00:22:10.289
for dismissal right there. Like that's a fireable

00:22:10.289 --> 00:22:13.789
offense in my opinion. So anyway, for the fifth

00:22:13.789 --> 00:22:16.990
set alone, that one made the list for me. The

00:22:16.990 --> 00:22:21.109
drama was unbelievable. Okay. I don't think we

00:22:21.109 --> 00:22:23.509
can let this episode go by without talking about

00:22:23.509 --> 00:22:27.430
some bubble team mess ups. There were a few head

00:22:27.430 --> 00:22:31.049
scratchers. Oh, man. Okay. As you recall, we

00:22:31.049 --> 00:22:33.710
talked about what the standings were heading

00:22:33.710 --> 00:22:38.690
into Sunday, the final day of competition. So

00:22:38.690 --> 00:22:42.450
why don't we start with Bulgaria? Heading into

00:22:42.450 --> 00:22:45.390
the final day, they were in eighth. They were

00:22:45.390 --> 00:22:51.420
playing Iran, who was 15th. beat Poland in five

00:22:51.420 --> 00:22:55.640
the day before, which is huge. So I'm like, oh

00:22:55.640 --> 00:22:57.980
my gosh, they're feeling themselves. They're

00:22:57.980 --> 00:23:01.680
playing amazing. They beat Poland in Poland in

00:23:01.680 --> 00:23:04.539
five to give themselves a chance. The game against

00:23:04.539 --> 00:23:07.619
Iran, they like just keep it together. They did

00:23:07.619 --> 00:23:10.220
not keep it together. They were brutal though.

00:23:10.579 --> 00:23:14.420
The game wasn't even close. They had zero chance

00:23:14.420 --> 00:23:16.920
of winning that match. But they didn't even look

00:23:16.920 --> 00:23:19.940
like they wanted it. No. And it was, I mean,

00:23:19.940 --> 00:23:21.700
again, it was a roller coaster, right? You come

00:23:21.700 --> 00:23:24.160
in, you lose to Cuba and you think, man, our

00:23:24.160 --> 00:23:26.819
chances are down. And then you beat Poland in

00:23:26.819 --> 00:23:31.140
a massive upset in five to be alive again. And

00:23:31.140 --> 00:23:34.019
then, I mean, Iran's a good team. Well, every

00:23:34.019 --> 00:23:37.339
team is a good team. But that's, again, they're

00:23:37.339 --> 00:23:40.240
not playing for anything. You have the ability

00:23:40.240 --> 00:23:44.359
to come out and win that match if you're engaged

00:23:44.359 --> 00:23:46.799
and prepared and they could just, they just couldn't

00:23:46.799 --> 00:23:50.519
get it going. Because here's the thing. If they

00:23:50.519 --> 00:23:53.500
had won in three or four, they would have had

00:23:53.500 --> 00:23:57.619
seven wins, 20 points. Which would have put them

00:23:57.619 --> 00:24:01.599
even ahead of Slovenia. Yep. Who ended up sixth.

00:24:02.559 --> 00:24:05.519
Like, you literally... I don't want to say you

00:24:05.519 --> 00:24:08.630
had a gift for a final match, but like... You're

00:24:08.630 --> 00:24:10.930
not having to face Brazil in your final match.

00:24:11.089 --> 00:24:13.609
Do you know what I mean? Your destiny is in your

00:24:13.609 --> 00:24:15.869
hands. Exactly. And it's a winnable match. It's

00:24:15.869 --> 00:24:19.670
not like you're playing one of the juggernauts.

00:24:19.710 --> 00:24:23.369
Like teams that have not been losing at all.

00:24:23.670 --> 00:24:27.509
And honestly, I think they thought they were

00:24:27.509 --> 00:24:30.369
going to roll in that match. They exhaled. They

00:24:30.369 --> 00:24:33.730
beat Poland and they thought, we're going to

00:24:33.730 --> 00:24:36.309
make it. And they exhaled. And I don't, obviously.

00:24:37.049 --> 00:24:38.509
You know, you hope they prepared the same way.

00:24:38.549 --> 00:24:40.250
I'm sure they did. They're all professional clubs.

00:24:40.450 --> 00:24:46.470
But it was flat. I was like, you have a chance

00:24:46.470 --> 00:24:49.430
to make the final eight here, and you guys just

00:24:49.430 --> 00:24:54.670
are dead. No emotion. You just look so perplexed.

00:24:54.670 --> 00:24:57.130
Like, you're like, oh, man, here you go. Take

00:24:57.130 --> 00:25:00.069
it. Yeah, that's one that they're going to want

00:25:00.069 --> 00:25:02.890
back, and that was, honestly, that was a tough

00:25:02.890 --> 00:25:06.579
match to watch. Argentina. I feel like is another

00:25:06.579 --> 00:25:09.599
bubble team that had blew many opportunities

00:25:09.599 --> 00:25:14.160
this week. They were sitting pretty heading into

00:25:14.160 --> 00:25:16.539
the week. What were they like six, seven, something

00:25:16.539 --> 00:25:20.619
like that? Yeah. They lost to USA in four. They

00:25:20.619 --> 00:25:25.359
went five with Turkey. Lose to Japan, lose to

00:25:25.359 --> 00:25:28.200
Brazil. Okay. We didn't expect them to beat Brazil

00:25:28.200 --> 00:25:31.019
or Japan. We knew those would be tricky. I thought

00:25:31.019 --> 00:25:34.049
I figured the Japan game would be close. Those

00:25:34.049 --> 00:25:37.109
styles are, I mean, obviously Japan is fast,

00:25:37.230 --> 00:25:40.289
but Argentina's got those kind of greasy players

00:25:40.289 --> 00:25:43.869
too. And that match was close. It went five,

00:25:44.009 --> 00:25:48.009
but it was a reverse sweep. Argentina came out,

00:25:48.029 --> 00:25:51.029
won the first two, and then couldn't close the

00:25:51.029 --> 00:25:56.150
game. Again, they're playing in Japan. That's

00:25:56.150 --> 00:25:58.809
not an excuse. Don't get me wrong. But again,

00:25:59.170 --> 00:26:04.190
at that point, they had to win. Because they

00:26:04.190 --> 00:26:06.269
had lost to the U .S. And you're up to, like,

00:26:06.309 --> 00:26:08.910
you've got to find a way to win those matches.

00:26:09.569 --> 00:26:12.569
But again, you have two opportunities against

00:26:12.569 --> 00:26:17.769
bubble teams. And you go five with Turkey. So

00:26:17.769 --> 00:26:20.490
you left a point on the board. And then you lose

00:26:20.490 --> 00:26:24.569
to USA, who, yeah, it could have gone either

00:26:24.569 --> 00:26:28.829
way, sure. But again, we're talking about a situation

00:26:28.829 --> 00:26:31.430
similar to Bulgaria where you would have been

00:26:31.430 --> 00:26:33.170
ahead of Slovenia if you'd taken care of it.

00:26:33.329 --> 00:26:37.769
Yeah. Yeah. And then you look at the flip side.

00:26:38.470 --> 00:26:41.930
You had the U .S. come in who were, you know,

00:26:41.930 --> 00:26:44.890
a little bit of dark horse to get into the final

00:26:44.890 --> 00:26:47.529
just given where they were with their roster

00:26:47.529 --> 00:26:51.190
and the turnover. They win their first two matches.

00:26:51.549 --> 00:26:55.819
So the U .S. comes out strong. They beat Turkey.

00:26:55.839 --> 00:26:59.180
They beat Argentina. You're in really good shape.

00:26:59.559 --> 00:27:04.740
And then you have Germany and Japan left. Realistically,

00:27:04.940 --> 00:27:07.759
Japan's a tough matchup for them. The styles

00:27:07.759 --> 00:27:10.240
don't match up. They're not tight enough yet

00:27:10.240 --> 00:27:12.380
to beat Japan. So you're probably not going to

00:27:12.380 --> 00:27:15.839
win that one. But you've got to beat Germany.

00:27:16.019 --> 00:27:19.720
Again, all the teams are good, but that's a winnable...

00:27:20.170 --> 00:27:22.730
But what do you think about that match? Because

00:27:22.730 --> 00:27:25.890
we saw some players playing in that match for

00:27:25.890 --> 00:27:31.029
USA that had not played much at all. And you

00:27:31.029 --> 00:27:33.789
had some athletes on the US who were playing

00:27:33.789 --> 00:27:36.869
really well who didn't even play and then were

00:27:36.869 --> 00:27:40.509
thrown in in the fifth set. And I'm like, why?

00:27:42.170 --> 00:27:45.670
Yeah, there are very few times when I look at

00:27:45.670 --> 00:27:50.750
the decision that Karch makes and I don't. I

00:27:50.750 --> 00:27:53.750
get you want to watch your players and I get,

00:27:53.769 --> 00:27:58.210
you know, all of that. And we don't know injury.

00:27:58.410 --> 00:28:01.230
We don't know any of that stuff. But you've won

00:28:01.230 --> 00:28:04.730
two matches in a row. Your guys have to play.

00:28:04.809 --> 00:28:08.710
I think you put the same lineup in and you try

00:28:08.710 --> 00:28:10.990
and win that game. And then, you know, maybe

00:28:10.990 --> 00:28:13.589
you do that against Japan. But the tough thing

00:28:13.589 --> 00:28:17.029
about that is. You put these players in who haven't

00:28:17.029 --> 00:28:19.130
generally played. They're up 2 -1. So you're

00:28:19.130 --> 00:28:22.029
like, okay, we gave you a chance. You rose to

00:28:22.029 --> 00:28:25.529
the occasion. And then they got smacked in the

00:28:25.529 --> 00:28:28.269
fourth set. It wasn't even close. So at that

00:28:28.269 --> 00:28:31.630
point, you're putting in, you switch the right

00:28:31.630 --> 00:28:35.369
sides, trying to get Garcia going. They didn't

00:28:35.369 --> 00:28:37.289
put Cooper Robinson in, which I thought was...

00:28:37.289 --> 00:28:39.490
In the fifth set, they did. But again, they didn't

00:28:39.490 --> 00:28:41.589
put him in the fourth set. So Karch made wholesale

00:28:41.589 --> 00:28:43.849
changes in the fourth set to kind of warm up.

00:28:44.089 --> 00:28:47.029
some of his starters didn't do that for Cooper

00:28:47.029 --> 00:28:49.190
Robinson, but then started him in the fifth set,

00:28:49.250 --> 00:28:51.650
which is a super tough position to put him in.

00:28:52.029 --> 00:28:54.569
It's just, I mean, again, we don't know what

00:28:54.569 --> 00:28:56.890
value they're putting on qualifying for the finals,

00:28:56.930 --> 00:28:59.470
but you have to think that you're, that's gotta

00:28:59.470 --> 00:29:02.309
be a goal. And so I just, I didn't understand

00:29:02.309 --> 00:29:05.250
why they didn't keep playing their top lineup,

00:29:05.410 --> 00:29:09.490
which was winning. Well, and to be fair, I don't

00:29:09.490 --> 00:29:11.769
think winning that Germany match would have.

00:29:12.079 --> 00:29:15.259
qualified them anyway well no it would have it

00:29:15.259 --> 00:29:17.240
gives them seven wins yeah it gives them seven

00:29:17.240 --> 00:29:19.640
wins they would have come in last like in the

00:29:19.640 --> 00:29:22.079
seventh spot yeah had they pulled off that win

00:29:22.079 --> 00:29:26.359
and that's again germany is a good team but that's

00:29:26.359 --> 00:29:31.019
a winnable match so i mean germany also showed

00:29:31.019 --> 00:29:35.039
up with most of their big boys too yeah and the

00:29:35.039 --> 00:29:38.019
final one and this one's like probably the most

00:29:38.019 --> 00:29:43.920
heartbreaking to me is ukraine So they were doing

00:29:43.920 --> 00:29:48.940
great. They finished their last two matches of

00:29:48.940 --> 00:29:52.119
the preliminary round were against Serbia and

00:29:52.119 --> 00:29:55.819
Canada. Okay. Again, that's the softest schedule

00:29:55.819 --> 00:29:59.279
you can have. That is so soft to be able to qualify.

00:29:59.480 --> 00:30:04.880
You have six wins. Okay. You have a soft schedule

00:30:04.880 --> 00:30:10.019
to finish. And realistically. finish with eight

00:30:10.019 --> 00:30:13.400
wins, which would put you from, like, three to

00:30:13.400 --> 00:30:17.140
six, okay? You came into the VNL for the first

00:30:17.140 --> 00:30:22.660
time, and you have a chance to finish with Poland,

00:30:22.740 --> 00:30:26.900
Japan, and France, like, in that realm, and you

00:30:26.900 --> 00:30:29.859
can't get it done. And they didn't beat either

00:30:29.859 --> 00:30:32.839
team. Like, and the crazy thing is they didn't

00:30:32.839 --> 00:30:35.660
even get a point. yeah off of either team they

00:30:35.660 --> 00:30:38.279
lost to serbia what three straight and they lost

00:30:38.279 --> 00:30:45.059
to canada and four like that that breaks my heart

00:30:45.059 --> 00:30:46.960
probably more than all the other ones because

00:30:46.960 --> 00:30:50.660
it's like you were playing two of the weakest

00:30:50.660 --> 00:30:53.859
teams in the tournament and it all again they're

00:30:53.859 --> 00:30:55.579
playing a lot of volleyball you're coming in

00:30:55.579 --> 00:30:58.640
you have to prepare you know it's it's tough

00:30:58.640 --> 00:31:02.660
but And those losses in those fashion, to me,

00:31:02.680 --> 00:31:05.940
speak of an exhale. And you can't be on all the

00:31:05.940 --> 00:31:10.200
time. I get that. But you have to learn how to

00:31:10.200 --> 00:31:12.859
take care of the matches that are going to give

00:31:12.859 --> 00:31:16.839
you a shot. And again, coming in, not having

00:31:16.839 --> 00:31:18.980
this experience before, you know, maybe that

00:31:18.980 --> 00:31:21.019
plays a part. But you're going to look back on

00:31:21.019 --> 00:31:23.519
that and think, man, we left that on the table.

00:31:24.180 --> 00:31:29.140
I mean, obviously, politically. And things happening

00:31:29.140 --> 00:31:33.420
in both Iran and Ukraine. More important than

00:31:33.420 --> 00:31:35.980
sport. More important than sport. So who knows

00:31:35.980 --> 00:31:38.420
how those things affected them in those matches

00:31:38.420 --> 00:31:41.700
or whatever. I don't know what that is like.

00:31:41.920 --> 00:31:47.059
But I understand that that was happening. Yeah.

00:31:47.140 --> 00:31:51.000
And again, we're talking about this from a pure

00:31:51.000 --> 00:31:57.160
sports perspective. Those are situations. that

00:31:57.160 --> 00:32:00.359
you want back, that you want to take care of.

00:32:00.519 --> 00:32:04.099
You know, you need one of two against the two

00:32:04.099 --> 00:32:08.759
bottom teams. If Ukraine is coming into the VNL

00:32:08.759 --> 00:32:12.759
going, hey, you are going to be able to play

00:32:12.759 --> 00:32:17.000
two of the bottom five teams and you need one

00:32:17.000 --> 00:32:19.420
win to go to the finals, they're going to take

00:32:19.420 --> 00:32:24.069
that every day of the week. So that's... I mean,

00:32:24.089 --> 00:32:27.329
overall, great for Ukraine. They had a great

00:32:27.329 --> 00:32:30.589
VNL. But man, it just could have been so much

00:32:30.589 --> 00:32:35.750
better. So those were the, in our opinion, bubble

00:32:35.750 --> 00:32:39.309
mess -ups. Again, this is why sport is so great.

00:32:39.710 --> 00:32:42.529
Because this stuff happens all the time. It's

00:32:42.529 --> 00:32:46.170
so fun speculating, looking at match -ups, seeing

00:32:46.170 --> 00:32:50.650
what could have been. But again, it's why you

00:32:50.650 --> 00:32:54.799
play the game. But dang. Yeah, they're going

00:32:54.799 --> 00:32:56.480
to be thinking about those matches for sure.

00:32:57.460 --> 00:33:00.380
Let's just wrap this part up and just say Poland

00:33:00.380 --> 00:33:03.980
and France played for fun, for world domination.

00:33:04.380 --> 00:33:07.539
Yeah, winner takes number one ranking. And that

00:33:07.539 --> 00:33:12.960
match was a high caliber of play. Poland squeaks

00:33:12.960 --> 00:33:15.880
it out in five, holds on to their number one

00:33:15.880 --> 00:33:19.900
ranking. Olympic gold medal rematch. That's going

00:33:19.900 --> 00:33:22.259
to be a battle. That is going to keep playing

00:33:22.259 --> 00:33:25.420
out over the next little while. And Adam has

00:33:25.420 --> 00:33:30.839
a huge man crush on Nikola Gromitsch. I mean,

00:33:30.980 --> 00:33:37.319
okay, let's. I do too. The Poland coach is a

00:33:37.319 --> 00:33:40.740
quote machine. I am going to listen to every

00:33:40.740 --> 00:33:45.420
one of his. I just love these former like world

00:33:45.420 --> 00:33:48.160
-class athletes coaching because they deliver

00:33:48.160 --> 00:33:52.279
the real stuff. If you think we're mean on this

00:33:52.279 --> 00:33:57.140
podcast, I'm going to quote Gerbich. Poland loses

00:33:57.140 --> 00:33:59.680
to Bulgaria. You know, the announcers come up

00:33:59.680 --> 00:34:01.200
to them after the match and they interview the

00:34:01.200 --> 00:34:03.279
coaches. And he said two things that I thought

00:34:03.279 --> 00:34:06.779
were absolutely hilarious. The first one, and

00:34:06.779 --> 00:34:09.440
it's an accurate statement, but it's not something

00:34:09.440 --> 00:34:12.400
you generally say about an opponent. Well, it's

00:34:12.400 --> 00:34:15.000
what you say if you've played at a high level

00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:18.739
and you get it. He said, Bulgaria did a whole

00:34:18.739 --> 00:34:21.510
bunch of things. that we had never seen them

00:34:21.510 --> 00:34:25.130
do before, and they did them very well. What

00:34:25.130 --> 00:34:28.469
can you do when a team does that? And it was

00:34:28.469 --> 00:34:31.030
just, it was matter of fact, and it was just,

00:34:31.170 --> 00:34:34.769
he's basically saying, I'd like to see them do

00:34:34.769 --> 00:34:37.469
that again to us, you know, when we have a chance

00:34:37.469 --> 00:34:39.449
to prepare and see that. They did some things,

00:34:39.530 --> 00:34:41.210
they caught us off guard, they won the match.

00:34:42.230 --> 00:34:45.730
The next one was directed toward his own team,

00:34:45.769 --> 00:34:48.329
and I believe to Leon. I thought it was directed

00:34:48.329 --> 00:34:51.010
towards Leon as well. who didn't play very well.

00:34:51.789 --> 00:34:55.469
And so the announcer asked him, you know, what

00:34:55.469 --> 00:34:58.130
did you think of that match? And he said, tactically,

00:34:58.230 --> 00:35:01.210
technically, we were pretty good. I'm not sure

00:35:01.210 --> 00:35:05.610
I have anything to change. Mentally, well, I'm

00:35:05.610 --> 00:35:08.489
not an expert in that. And quite frankly, I don't

00:35:08.489 --> 00:35:10.550
have the time to deal with that. They need to

00:35:10.550 --> 00:35:12.369
find their own confidence. That's not my job.

00:35:12.889 --> 00:35:16.690
And that was the end of it. And I just, you know,

00:35:16.690 --> 00:35:21.579
in an age where... we've gotten sandwich feedback

00:35:21.579 --> 00:35:24.579
let's call it positive negative positive and

00:35:24.579 --> 00:35:26.539
i know we're talking about sports at the highest

00:35:26.539 --> 00:35:31.480
level it's just it's so refreshing to hear an

00:35:31.480 --> 00:35:33.659
analysis of something and say you know it just

00:35:33.659 --> 00:35:36.880
wasn't good enough and you see a lot of the top

00:35:36.880 --> 00:35:40.579
level coaches doing that you know you listen

00:35:40.579 --> 00:35:44.880
to karch you listen to bernard genio you listen

00:35:44.880 --> 00:35:47.820
to You know, those... Garbage. You listen to

00:35:47.820 --> 00:35:53.900
the Vignarski with the German team. Like, just

00:35:53.900 --> 00:35:56.760
the players who have played at the top level,

00:35:56.820 --> 00:35:59.199
they understand what it takes to get there. And

00:35:59.199 --> 00:36:02.760
it's not like trying to be mean. It's just like

00:36:02.760 --> 00:36:06.480
facts. This is our goal. This is what it takes.

00:36:06.619 --> 00:36:09.860
This is the expectation. And we can talk about

00:36:09.860 --> 00:36:11.940
it. And it doesn't mean I don't like you, and

00:36:11.940 --> 00:36:14.500
it doesn't mean this, that, and the other thing.

00:36:14.679 --> 00:36:17.119
It's just this is what's required to get to our

00:36:17.119 --> 00:36:21.219
goal. And I loved that. I thought it was fantastic.

00:36:21.760 --> 00:36:23.659
But we were also kind of talking about this too.

00:36:23.739 --> 00:36:27.340
We see former top -level players coaching a lot

00:36:27.340 --> 00:36:30.760
on the men's side, not so much on the women's

00:36:30.760 --> 00:36:34.059
side. You don't see top -level women's athletes

00:36:34.059 --> 00:36:38.519
coaching much. I mean, it has happened. I'm sure

00:36:38.519 --> 00:36:42.659
you'll be giving me a list. But you see the top

00:36:42.659 --> 00:36:45.300
-level men's players coaching the men, and then

00:36:45.300 --> 00:36:48.579
you see men who are interested in coaching and

00:36:48.579 --> 00:36:50.920
who have built a career coaching, but not necessarily

00:36:50.920 --> 00:36:54.980
on the playing side, coaching women. Typically.

00:36:55.260 --> 00:36:58.420
Obviously, there are exceptions. So I find it

00:36:58.420 --> 00:37:01.000
really refreshing to watch the men's game because

00:37:01.000 --> 00:37:05.250
to get that kind of feedback. Those players know

00:37:05.250 --> 00:37:08.090
how to see the game. They've been there. They

00:37:08.090 --> 00:37:10.769
understand what the adjustments are, what is

00:37:10.769 --> 00:37:13.730
happening on the court. And yeah, you miss that

00:37:13.730 --> 00:37:15.929
sometimes on the women's side. Yeah, the players,

00:37:16.070 --> 00:37:20.150
you can't lie to them. And the coaches are just

00:37:20.150 --> 00:37:22.869
direct and you listen because they know what

00:37:22.869 --> 00:37:25.909
they're talking about. And even the timeouts

00:37:25.909 --> 00:37:28.500
are fun to listen to in those situations. All

00:37:28.500 --> 00:37:31.960
right. So for the final eight, these are the

00:37:31.960 --> 00:37:35.099
matchups we've got. We've got Brazil versus China,

00:37:35.340 --> 00:37:40.179
Italy versus Cuba, France versus Slovenia, and

00:37:40.179 --> 00:37:44.099
Japan versus Poland. Brazil versus China, I'm

00:37:44.099 --> 00:37:47.780
taking Brazil. Yeah. And I don't, you know, China

00:37:47.780 --> 00:37:51.679
didn't earn its way in. It's hosting. The wheels

00:37:51.679 --> 00:37:54.539
have got to light themselves on fire for Brazil

00:37:54.539 --> 00:37:57.699
for this match. to not work. They're better in

00:37:57.699 --> 00:38:00.820
every position. You know, China's at home, I

00:38:00.820 --> 00:38:02.559
get that, but they just don't have the experience

00:38:02.559 --> 00:38:05.659
and they don't have the horses to compete with

00:38:05.659 --> 00:38:08.719
Brazil. I just, I think that one's going to be

00:38:08.719 --> 00:38:11.519
3 -0 and pretty lopsided. Italy versus Cuba.

00:38:11.920 --> 00:38:14.980
This one is interesting. I feel like any game

00:38:14.980 --> 00:38:17.480
that Cuba plays is potentially interesting. Cuba

00:38:17.480 --> 00:38:22.440
is always a dark horse just because if you get

00:38:22.440 --> 00:38:26.720
three guys from Cuba feeling themselves, they're

00:38:26.720 --> 00:38:31.239
very hard to stop. And they have difference makers

00:38:31.239 --> 00:38:35.159
in the middle. They can apply a ton of service

00:38:35.159 --> 00:38:41.039
pressure. Their Achilles heel is can they pass

00:38:41.039 --> 00:38:45.639
and the consistency piece of that. I mean, if

00:38:45.639 --> 00:38:49.239
you look at this, Italy, they're more technical.

00:38:49.500 --> 00:38:52.699
They're probably more tactical. They're more

00:38:52.699 --> 00:38:56.179
consistent. They're better volleyball players.

00:38:57.019 --> 00:39:01.880
Cuba are just, they're good volleyball players,

00:39:01.940 --> 00:39:05.159
but their athleticism just blows everybody out

00:39:05.159 --> 00:39:07.940
of the water. It'll be interesting. I mean, Simon

00:39:07.940 --> 00:39:10.139
was the top middle blocker in the Italian league.

00:39:10.280 --> 00:39:12.699
He's played against these guys. He understands

00:39:12.699 --> 00:39:16.340
that level, but the rest of them are a little

00:39:16.340 --> 00:39:20.300
under -seasoned internationally in that regard,

00:39:20.519 --> 00:39:25.280
like as a core. If Cuba passes well, and they

00:39:25.280 --> 00:39:28.400
get going, this is going to be like a five -setter

00:39:28.400 --> 00:39:31.539
and a flip a coin. But if I had to put odds on

00:39:31.539 --> 00:39:35.480
them, Italy's consistency is going to wear them

00:39:35.480 --> 00:39:39.719
down, and they will probably end up winning in

00:39:39.719 --> 00:39:43.820
four close games, making plays down the stretch

00:39:43.820 --> 00:39:47.280
would be my prediction. Well, I mean, out of

00:39:47.280 --> 00:39:50.340
system, I think Cuba wins the out -of -system

00:39:50.340 --> 00:39:54.900
battle. I think their hitters are able to find

00:39:54.900 --> 00:39:58.699
ways to score and do things that people don't

00:39:58.699 --> 00:40:03.139
expect in uncomfortable situations. So I think

00:40:03.139 --> 00:40:05.920
if it becomes an out -of -system battle, because

00:40:05.920 --> 00:40:09.380
Cuba is capable of just beating the crap out

00:40:09.380 --> 00:40:14.440
of people with their serves, I think Cuba has

00:40:14.440 --> 00:40:16.719
the edge if it comes down to an out -of -system

00:40:16.719 --> 00:40:20.000
battle. Simone in the middle, he can hold it

00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:24.610
down. He's a great blocker. Janelli, hands down

00:40:24.610 --> 00:40:28.489
a way better setter than Gomez. Yes. Not even

00:40:28.489 --> 00:40:32.309
close. But because Gomez sprays the ball around

00:40:32.309 --> 00:40:35.210
sometimes, his hitters are kind of used to it

00:40:35.210 --> 00:40:37.570
and they like find ways to make it work anyway,

00:40:37.670 --> 00:40:40.469
which is so hard to defend because you don't

00:40:40.469 --> 00:40:42.570
know what's happening. Italy is going to need

00:40:42.570 --> 00:40:45.690
to not get frustrated when Cuba scores weird

00:40:45.690 --> 00:40:48.309
points and they're going to need to stay disciplined

00:40:48.309 --> 00:40:51.760
and allow Cuba to make. errors also on those

00:40:51.760 --> 00:40:53.840
weird points but if they start trying to adjust

00:40:53.840 --> 00:40:58.119
to maso jumping backwards and swinging at a ball

00:40:58.119 --> 00:41:00.699
that happens to land you know inside the 10 foot

00:41:00.699 --> 00:41:03.800
line because he hit it off his thumb that is

00:41:03.800 --> 00:41:06.820
where they can't play that game with cuba they

00:41:06.820 --> 00:41:09.900
just need to be consistent, take care of the

00:41:09.900 --> 00:41:12.159
balls that they should take care of and just

00:41:12.159 --> 00:41:14.920
acknowledge that Cuba is going to do some Cuba

00:41:14.920 --> 00:41:17.139
things. But I feel like teams when they play

00:41:17.139 --> 00:41:20.099
Cuba, because Cuba serves so aggressively and

00:41:20.099 --> 00:41:22.400
they hit so hard, I feel like teams sometimes

00:41:22.400 --> 00:41:25.400
try to match that. That's kind of what I was

00:41:25.400 --> 00:41:27.719
trying to say. Oh, okay. Like Italy has to play

00:41:27.719 --> 00:41:30.320
their game and not get dragged into that. Like

00:41:30.320 --> 00:41:32.920
you don't have to hit the ball way harder on

00:41:32.920 --> 00:41:36.559
your serve. Just be smart with it. Yeah. So I

00:41:36.559 --> 00:41:39.599
feel like Cuba draws teams into that trap sometimes,

00:41:39.719 --> 00:41:43.099
which is exactly how they want to play. And other

00:41:43.099 --> 00:41:46.800
teams who are maybe more tactical or technical,

00:41:47.099 --> 00:41:50.780
it's not their style. Just stick with your style.

00:41:51.059 --> 00:41:56.420
That is the quarterfinal matchup I am most excited

00:41:56.420 --> 00:41:59.800
to watch. Really? Yeah. Okay, so France versus

00:41:59.800 --> 00:42:05.360
Slovenia. I feel like they're similar teams.

00:42:06.079 --> 00:42:09.619
Similar styles of play. France is just better

00:42:09.619 --> 00:42:14.340
at it. Agreed. Both teams are quite crafty. They've

00:42:14.340 --> 00:42:16.360
got outsides who like to volley the ball over.

00:42:16.579 --> 00:42:19.420
And they set really fast in there. They move

00:42:19.420 --> 00:42:21.739
the ball around. They look for the block. They're

00:42:21.739 --> 00:42:26.579
kind of slimy. But France is just a little bigger

00:42:26.579 --> 00:42:30.980
and a little more consistent. And I just think

00:42:30.980 --> 00:42:34.440
they're going to play a similar game. But France

00:42:34.440 --> 00:42:37.559
is just going to be better. We're agreeing a

00:42:37.559 --> 00:42:41.460
lot today. Okay, Japan versus Poland. This one.

00:42:42.280 --> 00:42:46.099
These styles are very different. I think this

00:42:46.099 --> 00:42:51.260
is a flip of the coin in terms of where it could

00:42:51.260 --> 00:42:55.880
go. And again, I think similarly, how is Poland

00:42:55.880 --> 00:42:59.820
going to handle Japan's speed? How are they going

00:42:59.820 --> 00:43:08.179
to handle the offense? too differently to connect

00:43:08.179 --> 00:43:12.679
with or to counter what Japan is doing. And we'll

00:43:12.679 --> 00:43:16.300
see. Japan's going to need to get them in service

00:43:16.300 --> 00:43:20.039
trouble. I think if Poland's in the system and

00:43:20.039 --> 00:43:23.900
can run their middles early and often, it's not

00:43:23.900 --> 00:43:27.400
going to be close. Because then I don't think

00:43:27.400 --> 00:43:31.579
Japan really matches up well with Leon at all.

00:43:31.840 --> 00:43:36.869
So I think... If Poland needs to control Japan's

00:43:36.869 --> 00:43:40.210
service pressure, and if they're able to run

00:43:40.210 --> 00:43:42.289
the middle's being system, I think they will

00:43:42.289 --> 00:43:46.809
win. That's my thought. Yeah, Poland's biggest

00:43:46.809 --> 00:43:49.670
advantage is in the middle of the court, and

00:43:49.670 --> 00:43:52.889
they need to be able to use it. I think Fornald

00:43:52.889 --> 00:43:55.610
is going to struggle against Japan. Fornald did

00:43:55.610 --> 00:43:58.409
not have a great week this week, in my opinion.

00:43:58.590 --> 00:44:01.889
I like him a lot, but he wasn't. Even with the

00:44:01.889 --> 00:44:05.320
frosted tips? The frosted tips. I try to look

00:44:05.320 --> 00:44:12.599
past those. But, yeah, he was not great for me

00:44:12.599 --> 00:44:15.300
this past week. So he is actually a player I

00:44:15.300 --> 00:44:16.900
was thinking of that could potentially struggle

00:44:16.900 --> 00:44:21.219
in that match. Yeah, I agree. But my picks for

00:44:21.219 --> 00:44:25.360
all the quarters are Brazil, Italy, France, Poland.

00:44:26.559 --> 00:44:29.579
Only one baby upset in the 4 -5 matchup for me.

00:44:30.190 --> 00:44:32.369
I'm going to agree with you, but I'm going to

00:44:32.369 --> 00:44:37.110
take Japan just because I think with Leon and

00:44:37.110 --> 00:44:40.110
Fornell passing in there, I think that there

00:44:40.110 --> 00:44:45.590
is a chance. I think Leon might struggle to pass

00:44:45.590 --> 00:44:48.090
against Japan if they can execute a serving strategy.

00:44:48.690 --> 00:44:52.829
I mean, I'm thinking it's 51 -49 in that match,

00:44:52.949 --> 00:44:58.170
but I'm going to pick Japan just so that we're

00:44:58.170 --> 00:45:00.079
a little different. Who do you have in the final

00:45:00.079 --> 00:45:05.579
and who do you have winning? Oh, man. I was relatively

00:45:05.579 --> 00:45:10.539
confident with my female selections. I'm feeling

00:45:10.539 --> 00:45:16.199
the same way. I'm going to pick Brazil and France

00:45:16.199 --> 00:45:19.880
in the final. I'm going to pick Brazil to win.

00:45:20.539 --> 00:45:22.960
Are you kidding me? That's who I was going to

00:45:22.960 --> 00:45:24.500
pick for the final. No, you got to pick someone

00:45:24.500 --> 00:45:27.400
else. I have to pick someone else? Yeah. Well,

00:45:27.480 --> 00:45:30.260
in that case, I'll say France. brazil italy then

00:45:30.260 --> 00:45:34.059
because i was like i thought it would be brazil

00:45:34.059 --> 00:45:37.199
france in the sim in the final okay fine you

00:45:37.199 --> 00:45:39.639
take brazil france i'll say brazil italy and

00:45:39.639 --> 00:45:43.119
then just to be contrarian i'll say italy wins

00:45:43.119 --> 00:45:45.900
okay you guys are gonna be shocked to hear this

00:45:45.900 --> 00:45:52.260
but we have a hot take section that does not

00:45:52.260 --> 00:45:55.599
involve me at all it is we are going to talk

00:45:55.599 --> 00:45:59.510
about adam's hot takes Pick your jaws up off

00:45:59.510 --> 00:46:03.789
the floor. I know you're surprised. I've watched

00:46:03.789 --> 00:46:06.489
six weeks now of men and women's, and there's

00:46:06.489 --> 00:46:09.130
a couple things that I think need to change to

00:46:09.130 --> 00:46:12.110
make the game better. So here they are. One,

00:46:12.369 --> 00:46:15.590
if the players want to trash talk, if they want

00:46:15.590 --> 00:46:18.530
to stare somebody down when they get a big block,

00:46:18.750 --> 00:46:21.809
you need to let them. Okay? It's ridiculous.

00:46:21.929 --> 00:46:25.800
We had massive plays that happened. specifically

00:46:25.800 --> 00:46:27.960
this week on the men's side, tensions were high,

00:46:28.059 --> 00:46:31.500
people were playing, big plays happening, and

00:46:31.500 --> 00:46:33.860
all of a sudden something happens and then the

00:46:33.860 --> 00:46:35.579
ref is blowing their whistle and telling them

00:46:35.579 --> 00:46:38.239
to calm down. They're looking at each other through

00:46:38.239 --> 00:46:42.280
the net. I will say it happened more frequently

00:46:42.280 --> 00:46:46.139
with female refs than male refs. I mean, fair,

00:46:47.039 --> 00:46:52.059
but I don't care. No, I agree. Unless these guys

00:46:52.059 --> 00:46:54.099
are going to punch each other through the net.

00:46:54.960 --> 00:46:58.619
Let us watch them have some personality and care

00:46:58.619 --> 00:47:01.880
about what they're doing on the court. We're

00:47:01.880 --> 00:47:03.780
not going to get out of hand. Let's be honest.

00:47:03.980 --> 00:47:08.000
We're volleyball players. We're not super confrontational.

00:47:08.539 --> 00:47:12.019
It's just absolutely ridiculous, and it kills

00:47:12.019 --> 00:47:14.460
the flow of the match, and it's no fun as a spectator

00:47:14.460 --> 00:47:16.260
when the ref is constantly putting their hand

00:47:16.260 --> 00:47:19.619
around. Guys, turn around. Let them revel in

00:47:19.619 --> 00:47:23.159
it. If you go up and you absolutely shut somebody

00:47:23.159 --> 00:47:27.289
down, what is the harm in looking at them like

00:47:27.289 --> 00:47:30.449
you feel good about it like you want it's not

00:47:30.449 --> 00:47:32.610
like you're telling him he's a terrible player

00:47:32.610 --> 00:47:35.469
or saying anything you're literally looking at

00:47:35.469 --> 00:47:38.130
him like i think that is so cold and i love it

00:47:38.130 --> 00:47:41.449
let him go it will be better for the sport you'll

00:47:41.449 --> 00:47:45.210
get some great memes out of it and it will make

00:47:45.210 --> 00:47:48.090
people have more fun you'll see more personality

00:47:48.090 --> 00:47:52.150
from certain players you gotta let it go that's

00:47:52.150 --> 00:47:55.380
just my opinion Adam has hot takes and then he's

00:47:55.380 --> 00:47:57.599
like, but that's just my opinion. Feel free to

00:47:57.599 --> 00:47:58.699
disagree. Well, I think it's the right opinion.

00:47:58.980 --> 00:48:03.260
Number two, the challenges are getting a little

00:48:03.260 --> 00:48:07.000
out of hand. It's ruining the flow of the game

00:48:07.000 --> 00:48:10.199
and they're using them in situations where they're

00:48:10.199 --> 00:48:12.960
not intended to be used. They're pulling out

00:48:12.960 --> 00:48:17.559
extra timeouts. You're seeing random plays at

00:48:17.559 --> 00:48:20.260
the end of sets being challenged just in case

00:48:20.260 --> 00:48:24.300
something might happen. It's ruining the viewer

00:48:24.300 --> 00:48:27.579
experience and it's ruining the feeling of the

00:48:27.579 --> 00:48:31.019
points as they happen. I think for next year

00:48:31.019 --> 00:48:32.920
they should do the following. If you get both

00:48:32.920 --> 00:48:35.880
of your challenges wrong in one set, it should

00:48:35.880 --> 00:48:39.860
cost you a point. And if you call a challenge

00:48:39.860 --> 00:48:44.260
for the set point and you're wrong, you should

00:48:44.260 --> 00:48:48.559
start the next set down 2 -0. And that way there's

00:48:48.559 --> 00:48:51.960
some consequence. around blowing your challenges.

00:48:52.179 --> 00:48:53.500
Or maybe if you lose, if you get both of your

00:48:53.500 --> 00:48:56.019
challenges wrong in a set, you can only have

00:48:56.019 --> 00:48:58.880
won the next set. Something. There has to be

00:48:58.880 --> 00:49:02.300
consequences here. And I actually, I'm also a

00:49:02.300 --> 00:49:05.340
hockey fan, and I love the way the NHL does it.

00:49:05.420 --> 00:49:08.500
If you challenge goalie interference or offside

00:49:08.500 --> 00:49:10.719
on a goal and you're wrong, you get a two -minute

00:49:10.719 --> 00:49:14.900
penalty. And so those challenges are precious.

00:49:15.000 --> 00:49:17.480
And I actually like the challenge because I want

00:49:17.480 --> 00:49:21.420
the calls to be correct. But it's being abused,

00:49:21.559 --> 00:49:24.920
and it ruins the flow of the game. It is, like,

00:49:25.000 --> 00:49:27.980
it's pretty awful, like, when a team wins a set

00:49:27.980 --> 00:49:30.239
and they're so excited, and then it's like, no,

00:49:30.360 --> 00:49:35.940
no, no, challenge. Like, just let them celebrate

00:49:35.940 --> 00:49:38.159
the point and celebrate the fact that they won

00:49:38.159 --> 00:49:41.659
the set. Like, come on. Yeah. And the last one

00:49:41.659 --> 00:49:44.699
is I hate the jump volley attack. It's just the

00:49:44.699 --> 00:49:47.559
ball sits in your hands too long. It's too similar

00:49:47.559 --> 00:49:51.340
to adjust. You're throwing it down. You see a

00:49:51.340 --> 00:49:53.260
lot of players do that because you're out of

00:49:53.260 --> 00:49:55.800
rhythm with the setter. The set is too fast and

00:49:55.800 --> 00:50:00.579
too flat. And I would like to see you kind of

00:50:00.579 --> 00:50:02.400
have a consequence. If you want to run your offense

00:50:02.400 --> 00:50:06.059
that fast, be in system. Figure it out. Holding

00:50:06.059 --> 00:50:09.000
the ball to get out of that situation, I don't

00:50:09.000 --> 00:50:11.880
agree with. If you want to jump over and it's

00:50:11.880 --> 00:50:15.380
clean, It's more about the garbage that happens

00:50:15.380 --> 00:50:17.960
that gets you out of tough situations because

00:50:17.960 --> 00:50:20.340
you're trying to do something difficult. And

00:50:20.340 --> 00:50:22.420
I don't know exactly how you police that, but

00:50:22.420 --> 00:50:25.639
there's too many times that you kind of see that

00:50:25.639 --> 00:50:29.599
and it works in the offensive player's favor.

00:50:29.739 --> 00:50:31.940
And I think those situations should generate

00:50:31.940 --> 00:50:33.980
a few more rallies if you're going to try something

00:50:33.980 --> 00:50:35.719
like that. I think they need to be a little more

00:50:35.719 --> 00:50:39.670
strict on how they call those. Yeah, I think

00:50:39.670 --> 00:50:41.929
they look messy. I don't like them. I also don't

00:50:41.929 --> 00:50:44.809
like the attack tip, where they kind of grab

00:50:44.809 --> 00:50:47.730
it and throw it down. I'm not a fan. I've seen

00:50:47.730 --> 00:50:50.030
some calls about that. I think they're tightening

00:50:50.030 --> 00:50:52.570
up on that a little bit, which I agree. But those

00:50:52.570 --> 00:50:54.670
are my three hot takes about how to make the

00:50:54.670 --> 00:50:58.670
game a little more enjoyable from a fan perspective,

00:50:58.869 --> 00:51:01.590
given the sheer amount of games that I've watched

00:51:01.590 --> 00:51:05.489
over the last six weeks. FIVB, take some notes,

00:51:05.530 --> 00:51:09.300
okay? Just kidding. I'm here. If you feel like

00:51:09.300 --> 00:51:12.119
reaching out, we can be your consultants. Don't

00:51:12.119 --> 00:51:16.539
worry about it. Just hit us up. Okay, it is time

00:51:16.539 --> 00:51:19.380
for listener questions. We've got a few this

00:51:19.380 --> 00:51:22.059
week. The first one is, what are your thoughts

00:51:22.059 --> 00:51:25.159
on DeFalco, Avril, and Anderson playing in Japan

00:51:25.159 --> 00:51:29.059
this season? I mean, I don't have any problem

00:51:29.059 --> 00:51:31.980
with it. I think it's money. Yeah, I mean, Japan

00:51:31.980 --> 00:51:36.840
pays well. But they play a ton of matches. And

00:51:36.840 --> 00:51:39.510
they get set. A ton of balls. The foreigners

00:51:39.510 --> 00:51:43.829
get sent a lot of balls. It is definitely a move

00:51:43.829 --> 00:51:48.110
to do it. Trust me, as somebody who chose to

00:51:48.110 --> 00:51:50.650
play in South Korea a couple times, it is a decision.

00:51:51.730 --> 00:51:58.409
And, yeah, I'm curious. Because DeFalco said

00:51:58.409 --> 00:52:05.510
on a couple podcasts that he needed a break after

00:52:05.510 --> 00:52:08.840
the Japanese season. And that was a big reason

00:52:08.840 --> 00:52:12.000
why he chose not to play VNL this year. Anderson's

00:52:12.000 --> 00:52:18.199
like 39. I mean, this to me is a, hey, I'm going

00:52:18.199 --> 00:52:21.059
to cash out in the last couple of years of my

00:52:21.059 --> 00:52:22.960
career and make as much money as I can. I mean,

00:52:22.980 --> 00:52:25.579
you can't fault them for that. Oh, I did the

00:52:25.579 --> 00:52:28.840
same thing. I mean, again, it's a lot of wear

00:52:28.840 --> 00:52:30.500
and tear. They're going to be hitting 100 balls

00:52:30.500 --> 00:52:33.880
a match. And they're going to be training a lot.

00:52:34.719 --> 00:52:38.559
And again, let's be honest, it's the first year

00:52:38.559 --> 00:52:44.139
of a cycle. If all three of those players have

00:52:44.139 --> 00:52:47.039
aspirations of playing in the LA Olympics, they

00:52:47.039 --> 00:52:49.219
can play in Japan one or two more years and then

00:52:49.219 --> 00:52:51.320
take a lighter contract the next year and be

00:52:51.320 --> 00:52:54.960
ready to go. You're not going to get hurt any

00:52:54.960 --> 00:52:57.500
more in Japan than you are in another league.

00:52:57.579 --> 00:53:00.159
It's more wear and tear, so you've got to manage

00:53:00.159 --> 00:53:02.119
that. You're not going to get hurt, but it's

00:53:02.119 --> 00:53:05.300
more wear and tear. I mean, the chances of an

00:53:05.300 --> 00:53:07.579
acute injury. It's exhausting. I will just say

00:53:07.579 --> 00:53:12.480
it is exhausting playing in Korea and Japan.

00:53:13.440 --> 00:53:16.840
Yes, I totally agree. The sheer training volume

00:53:16.840 --> 00:53:20.000
and then the load put on the foreign players

00:53:20.000 --> 00:53:25.960
is huge. So for me, I'm like, good for you. Make

00:53:25.960 --> 00:53:29.900
that money. But I think that it is a money decision.

00:53:30.920 --> 00:53:33.119
I bet you see them play in different leagues

00:53:33.119 --> 00:53:36.260
in years three and four of the quad. Question

00:53:36.260 --> 00:53:40.960
number two is, who were your top five most surprising

00:53:40.960 --> 00:53:46.059
players in the women's VNL? So this was actually

00:53:46.059 --> 00:53:49.480
a great question. I spent probably too much time

00:53:49.480 --> 00:53:51.380
thinking about it. He spent a lot of time thinking

00:53:51.380 --> 00:53:54.420
about it. I thought about it on a walk and I

00:53:54.420 --> 00:53:59.280
came up with four. Okay, do you want to go back

00:53:59.280 --> 00:54:03.150
and forth? And I think the key thing here is

00:54:03.150 --> 00:54:07.809
surprise, right? So we're not talking about people

00:54:07.809 --> 00:54:10.369
you know, people you expect. That's a little

00:54:10.369 --> 00:54:12.070
bit different for both of us, I would say, because

00:54:12.070 --> 00:54:14.650
I'm a little less familiar with all of the international

00:54:14.650 --> 00:54:16.949
women's players. So I'm probably going to have

00:54:16.949 --> 00:54:18.889
a few people on my list who you're like, well,

00:54:18.989 --> 00:54:20.789
how many did you put on your list? It was supposed

00:54:20.789 --> 00:54:23.750
to be top five. Yeah, I had I had 17. I had six.

00:54:24.710 --> 00:54:28.030
OK, so he took six. I picked four. You can start.

00:54:28.590 --> 00:54:34.800
OK, so. I think my first one, the Chinese setter,

00:54:34.820 --> 00:54:39.780
Zhang, who is 16. Zhang. Zhang. Dang, she was

00:54:39.780 --> 00:54:44.920
on my list. She, setting is a position that generally

00:54:44.920 --> 00:54:47.679
takes a little bit of time to marinate in terms

00:54:47.679 --> 00:54:49.380
of connecting with your hitters, understanding

00:54:49.380 --> 00:54:52.239
offenses, being able to operate in those situations.

00:54:53.079 --> 00:54:57.500
And she was a killer. Her decision -making was

00:54:57.500 --> 00:55:01.059
good. Her execution was good. She does not set...

00:55:01.059 --> 00:55:03.619
Like, I'm thinking about watching 16U volleyball

00:55:03.619 --> 00:55:10.139
here in North America. And it's wild. Like, crazy.

00:55:10.320 --> 00:55:13.980
So she's number one on my list. Yeah, I was very

00:55:13.980 --> 00:55:17.159
impressed with her. And in a position of such

00:55:17.159 --> 00:55:21.840
importance at that age. Yeah. So we both had

00:55:21.840 --> 00:55:24.480
the same one. I had another Chinese player on

00:55:24.480 --> 00:55:28.429
my list. Wu Minjie, the outside hitter. Yeah.

00:55:28.510 --> 00:55:30.829
Number one. Michael Jordan, that's how I remembered

00:55:30.829 --> 00:55:35.130
the initials. She has a little more experience.

00:55:35.210 --> 00:55:38.909
She's 22, but she was also a standout. What did

00:55:38.909 --> 00:55:42.650
you like about her? I liked how terminal she

00:55:42.650 --> 00:55:47.190
was. I liked how she is the type of player where

00:55:47.190 --> 00:55:49.349
you know she's getting the ball and she finds

00:55:49.349 --> 00:55:53.110
ways to score anyway. She hits great angles.

00:55:54.030 --> 00:55:58.469
And I just really liked her all -around game.

00:55:58.730 --> 00:56:05.030
And, yeah, I appreciate players where, A, the

00:56:05.030 --> 00:56:07.469
all -around game for sure, but when everyone

00:56:07.469 --> 00:56:09.409
in the gym knows that it's up to you to score

00:56:09.409 --> 00:56:12.469
this point, you do it. You also love hitters

00:56:12.469 --> 00:56:15.050
who can hit good angles. Well, because the offense

00:56:15.050 --> 00:56:17.110
is so fast and the balls are so low, you don't

00:56:17.110 --> 00:56:20.710
see players hit a sharp angle super consistently.

00:56:20.710 --> 00:56:24.519
You're seeing more. off the hands, you know,

00:56:24.539 --> 00:56:26.519
stuff like that. And the way that she goes for

00:56:26.519 --> 00:56:29.519
that sharp angle, that was my personally favorite

00:56:29.519 --> 00:56:32.840
shot when I played, so. The next person I had.

00:56:32.840 --> 00:56:34.179
Was that on your list? Was she on your list or

00:56:34.179 --> 00:56:38.159
not? Yeah, she was. Okay. The next person I had,

00:56:38.219 --> 00:56:40.480
and this is in no particular order, I kind of

00:56:40.480 --> 00:56:42.019
just kind of went through the teams and picked

00:56:42.019 --> 00:56:43.920
players, but was Paulina Martin, who was the

00:56:43.920 --> 00:56:49.420
opposite for Belgium. She's 22. She has also

00:56:49.420 --> 00:56:51.519
some club experience, like obviously playing

00:56:51.519 --> 00:56:53.559
in Europe, she's been around a little bit, but

00:56:53.559 --> 00:56:55.980
she's still pretty young. She played most of

00:56:55.980 --> 00:56:58.400
the games for Belgium. She had 135 points on

00:56:58.400 --> 00:57:01.300
the tournament, 13 blocks, nine aces, like kind

00:57:01.300 --> 00:57:05.199
of coming into her own. And I thought for Belgium,

00:57:05.300 --> 00:57:08.239
she was very good, noticeable when I watched

00:57:08.239 --> 00:57:12.079
them play. She was not on my list. I had the

00:57:12.079 --> 00:57:17.300
Czech right side on my list. Did you? I did not

00:57:17.300 --> 00:57:21.440
have her. She's 20, I think. She was probably

00:57:21.440 --> 00:57:25.820
better than Paulina. So, yeah, that's probably

00:57:25.820 --> 00:57:30.159
a better choice than mine. She's 20, so, again,

00:57:30.280 --> 00:57:34.400
pretty young, but she was the go -to player on

00:57:34.400 --> 00:57:37.880
her team. She carried a huge load, found weights

00:57:37.880 --> 00:57:41.500
to score, even, again, when people knew that

00:57:41.500 --> 00:57:44.699
she was getting the ball, was just, like, aggressive.

00:57:45.480 --> 00:57:48.079
Even in tough situations, just went for it. I

00:57:48.079 --> 00:57:52.619
loved her mindset, her attitude. Yes. I actually

00:57:52.619 --> 00:57:57.579
had a Canadian kid on mine, Guzin, who was an

00:57:57.579 --> 00:58:02.280
outside hitter. She's 19. She hasn't played any

00:58:02.280 --> 00:58:05.619
club. She just played university in Canada, which

00:58:05.619 --> 00:58:09.599
is a pretty far cry from international volleyball,

00:58:09.800 --> 00:58:13.960
so very little experience. Canada didn't do particularly

00:58:13.960 --> 00:58:17.639
well, but when she came in, I liked how aggressive

00:58:17.639 --> 00:58:20.119
she was, which is something I thought Canada

00:58:20.119 --> 00:58:23.380
needed. I thought she passed pretty well, all

00:58:23.380 --> 00:58:26.820
things considered. You're coming from that level

00:58:26.820 --> 00:58:30.019
to international. Now, did she make some poor

00:58:30.019 --> 00:58:32.519
decisions and were there some gaffes? Absolutely,

00:58:32.679 --> 00:58:35.239
but for a 19 -year -old to come in with no club

00:58:35.239 --> 00:58:37.599
experience and very little international experience,

00:58:37.880 --> 00:58:42.000
I thought she was very good. I contemplated putting

00:58:42.000 --> 00:58:44.840
her on my list, but compared to other people

00:58:44.840 --> 00:58:47.380
who were like similar age, I was like, I did

00:58:47.380 --> 00:58:51.400
like her attitude, her fearlessness, but I left

00:58:51.400 --> 00:58:53.400
her off the list in favor of another Canadian

00:58:53.400 --> 00:58:56.800
that I thought surprised me more, which was Thakboom,

00:58:56.800 --> 00:59:01.420
the middle. This girl played at a small college

00:59:01.420 --> 00:59:06.860
in Canada, same thing, like played pro in Belgium,

00:59:06.880 --> 00:59:09.909
which Correct me if I'm wrong, it's like a semi

00:59:09.909 --> 00:59:13.889
-pro situation. So doesn't have much experience

00:59:13.889 --> 00:59:16.730
at all, but I thought she was one of Canada's

00:59:16.730 --> 00:59:19.210
best servers, aside from Kira Van Ryk, obviously.

00:59:20.090 --> 00:59:23.150
Best servers. When they got her the ball, she

00:59:23.150 --> 00:59:27.130
was very effective. I liked how she moved. She

00:59:27.130 --> 00:59:30.010
was athletic in the back row on defense. Just

00:59:30.010 --> 00:59:33.750
as a Canadian, I had never heard of this girl

00:59:33.750 --> 00:59:36.329
before. And watching her play, I was like, oh,

00:59:36.349 --> 00:59:39.119
wow, well done. Yeah, that's a legitimate choice

00:59:39.119 --> 00:59:42.800
as well. Is that it? Yeah. I had two honorable

00:59:42.800 --> 00:59:44.820
mentions who ended up being a little bit older,

00:59:45.000 --> 00:59:47.300
but I wasn't sure. I really enjoyed watching

00:59:47.300 --> 00:59:51.019
Alsmeier play from Germany. She's 25 years old.

00:59:51.119 --> 00:59:52.940
She's played in a bunch of VNLs. She's played

00:59:52.940 --> 00:59:55.519
some decent club, but I hadn't really seen her

00:59:55.519 --> 00:59:57.960
on any of the top international teams, and I

00:59:57.960 --> 00:59:59.559
thought she was very consistently noticeable

00:59:59.559 --> 01:00:04.139
every time I watched Germany play. I don't think

01:00:04.139 --> 01:00:06.119
she necessarily fits in the surprise category

01:00:06.119 --> 01:00:08.019
because I think a lot of people know who she

01:00:08.019 --> 01:00:12.039
is. So yeah, I think those are some of the young,

01:00:12.119 --> 01:00:16.300
unexpected successes in VNL, which is why VNL

01:00:16.300 --> 01:00:18.019
is so great, right? You have young athletes coming

01:00:18.019 --> 01:00:19.840
in who get their chance and what are they going

01:00:19.840 --> 01:00:22.400
to do and who's going to step up. So I thought

01:00:22.400 --> 01:00:24.159
that was a great question. I love thinking about

01:00:24.159 --> 01:00:27.599
it and we'll probably see those players for years

01:00:27.599 --> 01:00:34.019
to come. So question three. had two questions

01:00:34.019 --> 01:00:38.179
that were similar, but one was more specific

01:00:38.179 --> 01:00:39.619
than the other. So I'm just going to kind of

01:00:39.619 --> 01:00:42.260
put them together. The first question was, why

01:00:42.260 --> 01:00:44.420
do U .S. coaches have the tradition of having

01:00:44.420 --> 01:00:46.460
their assistant coaches talk during timeouts?

01:00:47.159 --> 01:00:49.159
See, this is really interesting because I never

01:00:49.159 --> 01:00:53.719
actually thought about that until this person

01:00:53.719 --> 01:00:56.940
brought it up. But it's so true. Yeah, internationally.

01:00:58.159 --> 01:01:00.900
Can you imagine Guidetti going, hey, Canadian

01:01:00.900 --> 01:01:02.860
assistant, like, take the time out. He actually

01:01:02.860 --> 01:01:04.960
did it in their last match. I think he was so

01:01:04.960 --> 01:01:06.519
flabbergasted. He was so mad. He was just like,

01:01:06.599 --> 01:01:09.460
I need a breather. That wasn't about, that was

01:01:09.460 --> 01:01:11.079
about controlling his emotion. Yeah, he's like,

01:01:11.119 --> 01:01:14.960
I'm going to kill somebody. So, I think this

01:01:14.960 --> 01:01:18.579
comes down to the college system. Because you

01:01:18.579 --> 01:01:20.780
don't see. They don't say anything. Yeah, you

01:01:20.780 --> 01:01:22.360
don't see Karch doing this. Like, Karch runs

01:01:22.360 --> 01:01:26.469
his own timeouts. But when you watch. college

01:01:26.469 --> 01:01:29.230
volleyball and a lot of these coaches come up

01:01:29.230 --> 01:01:33.429
from those systems you have so much responsibility

01:01:33.429 --> 01:01:36.309
kind of outside of volleyball whether it be recruiting

01:01:36.309 --> 01:01:41.570
or different things media and you have assistant

01:01:41.570 --> 01:01:44.949
coaches who run the offense who run the defense

01:01:44.949 --> 01:01:47.670
and you kind of work with them you're not a figurehead

01:01:47.670 --> 01:01:49.909
like you're still involved in day -to -day operations

01:01:49.909 --> 01:01:54.320
but you have probably very specific volleyball

01:01:54.320 --> 01:01:58.360
people underneath you who are working with those

01:01:58.360 --> 01:02:00.420
position players a lot. So the other piece of

01:02:00.420 --> 01:02:03.059
that too is the way they train in college. You

01:02:03.059 --> 01:02:06.019
can only have so many hours on the court. And

01:02:06.019 --> 01:02:08.340
so you'll see a lot of staffs break up who they

01:02:08.340 --> 01:02:10.119
work with. One coach to work with the middles,

01:02:10.119 --> 01:02:12.699
one coach to work with serve -receive, an offensive

01:02:12.699 --> 01:02:15.849
coach, a defensive coach. So those... relationships

01:02:15.849 --> 01:02:19.510
are already in place. So the language is the

01:02:19.510 --> 01:02:21.489
same and all of that. And your head coach in

01:02:21.489 --> 01:02:23.449
those situations are kind of making sure that

01:02:23.449 --> 01:02:25.989
everything is operating smoothly. So I think

01:02:25.989 --> 01:02:30.610
that dynamic comes from the experience in the

01:02:30.610 --> 01:02:34.269
college world. So the question that kind of related

01:02:34.269 --> 01:02:37.889
to this was, Eric Sullivan has served as an assistant

01:02:37.889 --> 01:02:40.989
coach before at big tournaments. Correct. He

01:02:40.989 --> 01:02:42.769
was the assistant for the U .S. men's national

01:02:42.769 --> 01:02:45.940
team for a long time. And also at Texas, where

01:02:45.940 --> 01:02:49.599
he always seemed so vocal. Why now, as the head

01:02:49.599 --> 01:02:51.639
coach of the national team, is his energy so

01:02:51.639 --> 01:02:54.719
flat? Do you think he's got good buy -in from

01:02:54.719 --> 01:02:56.719
the players, or do you think there may be a new

01:02:56.719 --> 01:03:00.159
head coach before LA 2028? This question requires

01:03:00.159 --> 01:03:03.500
a ton of speculation. He does seem flat, though.

01:03:03.519 --> 01:03:06.760
Like, he doesn't say anything. Yeah, it's a good

01:03:06.760 --> 01:03:10.539
observation. But nobody says anything. People

01:03:10.539 --> 01:03:14.780
talk, but they don't say anything. The jump from

01:03:14.780 --> 01:03:18.099
college volleyball to international volleyball

01:03:18.099 --> 01:03:24.519
is very high. And even though he was with the

01:03:24.519 --> 01:03:26.300
men's national team, the women's game is different.

01:03:28.239 --> 01:03:32.460
Volleyball is volleyball, but the strategy, what

01:03:32.460 --> 01:03:34.980
teams are capable of, what they're doing, that

01:03:34.980 --> 01:03:37.920
is different as well. There is going to be an

01:03:37.920 --> 01:03:40.260
adjustment period for him as a head coach of

01:03:40.260 --> 01:03:43.829
understanding who his players are. who the opponents

01:03:43.829 --> 01:03:46.050
are. I can guarantee you he hasn't paid a lot

01:03:46.050 --> 01:03:48.230
of attention to international teams working at

01:03:48.230 --> 01:03:50.829
Texas. There's just no reason. So he doesn't

01:03:50.829 --> 01:03:53.710
know any of these teams as well as any of the

01:03:53.710 --> 01:03:57.550
other coaches. There's just so much for him to

01:03:57.550 --> 01:04:02.409
do and absorb and to learn. I'm sure it's overwhelming.

01:04:02.869 --> 01:04:07.210
Well, and also in college, the level of adjustments

01:04:07.210 --> 01:04:10.389
you're required to make are very minimal compared

01:04:10.389 --> 01:04:14.219
to the international game. Game plans in college

01:04:14.219 --> 01:04:20.159
are very straightforward, very basic. Players

01:04:20.159 --> 01:04:23.420
do what they do. It's very easy to counteract

01:04:23.420 --> 01:04:28.260
certain things that are happening. Maybe he doesn't

01:04:28.260 --> 01:04:33.400
know how, or maybe he's one of those coaches

01:04:33.400 --> 01:04:36.619
that has to watch video before understanding

01:04:36.619 --> 01:04:38.980
something happening. Because I've had coaches

01:04:38.980 --> 01:04:41.489
that are really good at... seeing what's happening

01:04:41.489 --> 01:04:44.710
on the court and understanding what to do and

01:04:44.710 --> 01:04:46.429
how to make adjustments in the moment. And then

01:04:46.429 --> 01:04:50.110
I've had some that have no clue how to do that

01:04:50.110 --> 01:04:53.070
and have to watch video to try to figure it out

01:04:53.070 --> 01:04:56.570
after the fact. That doesn't really, it's not

01:04:56.570 --> 01:04:59.409
conducive to success on the international level,

01:04:59.510 --> 01:05:02.929
but I wonder if maybe that's part of it. Yeah.

01:05:02.989 --> 01:05:05.550
Again, however he adjusts to it or figures it

01:05:05.550 --> 01:05:09.230
out or what his strengths are. They have to learn

01:05:09.230 --> 01:05:11.130
how to work together as a staff as well. And

01:05:11.130 --> 01:05:13.110
he doesn't need to talk. If he has two really

01:05:13.110 --> 01:05:14.849
good assistant coaches who can make the right

01:05:14.849 --> 01:05:16.530
adjustments and connect with the players, fine.

01:05:17.550 --> 01:05:20.070
You surround yourself with good people so you

01:05:20.070 --> 01:05:24.250
have a good staff. And whether or not he's going

01:05:24.250 --> 01:05:27.670
to be replaced for 2028, I think will depend.

01:05:28.389 --> 01:05:30.769
You'll know in the next two years. They'll have

01:05:30.769 --> 01:05:33.130
Worlds and they'll have VNL next year. And if

01:05:33.130 --> 01:05:37.289
there is not, if the U .S. is not, playing for

01:05:37.289 --> 01:05:41.110
a medal in the vnl next year and worlds doesn't

01:05:41.110 --> 01:05:44.510
go well this year usa volleyball will probably

01:05:44.510 --> 01:05:47.849
take a long look at what they have in place but

01:05:47.849 --> 01:05:51.489
they knew this was going to be a transition period

01:05:51.489 --> 01:05:53.769
they know he doesn't have any international experience

01:05:53.769 --> 01:05:55.809
on the women's side they know they're bringing

01:05:55.809 --> 01:05:59.150
in a ton of new players they will have planned

01:05:59.150 --> 01:06:01.929
for a four -year cycle and what that's going

01:06:01.929 --> 01:06:05.190
to look like It will be about how quickly he

01:06:05.190 --> 01:06:08.269
brings the team together and what they look like,

01:06:08.349 --> 01:06:11.130
whether they hit their benchmarks year to year

01:06:11.130 --> 01:06:15.630
to year. So it's too early to say. I will say

01:06:15.630 --> 01:06:17.889
he probably didn't make a great impression in

01:06:17.889 --> 01:06:23.110
this VNL. I think there were some gaps. I think

01:06:23.110 --> 01:06:25.630
there were some poor decisions that were made.

01:06:25.730 --> 01:06:29.469
I don't think the adjustments went well. I personally

01:06:29.469 --> 01:06:33.679
believe that Worlds will be... Very telling.

01:06:34.139 --> 01:06:37.280
We're heading into the final eight on the women's

01:06:37.280 --> 01:06:40.699
side of the V &L. Quarterfinals are on Wednesday

01:06:40.699 --> 01:06:42.920
and Thursday, and we've outlined those matchups.

01:06:43.639 --> 01:06:47.500
Semis are on Saturday. Finals and bronze are

01:06:47.500 --> 01:06:51.579
on Sunday. We have a reduced number of matches,

01:06:51.599 --> 01:06:53.440
so you can watch them all. Very doable. Easy

01:06:53.440 --> 01:06:57.699
peasy. Very doable. So the week should be great.

01:06:58.039 --> 01:07:02.840
Two matches a day. Friday off. Go party. It's

01:07:02.840 --> 01:07:05.880
going to be a great week of volleyball, I think.

01:07:06.139 --> 01:07:09.219
Manageable. Grab your popcorn. A couple hours

01:07:09.219 --> 01:07:12.900
a day. We'll see what unfolds. And don't forget,

01:07:13.019 --> 01:07:15.880
we predicted Italy -Brazil in the final, Italy

01:07:15.880 --> 01:07:19.219
winning. There's been a lot of controversy and

01:07:19.219 --> 01:07:22.420
a lot of... comments flying on the youtube channel

01:07:22.420 --> 01:07:25.159
which i have there have been italians being like

01:07:25.159 --> 01:07:28.219
no italy's not gonna win i'm like dang that's

01:07:28.219 --> 01:07:31.199
cold okay i like it though yeah it's it's been

01:07:31.199 --> 01:07:33.719
the back and forth has been a lot of fun so i

01:07:33.719 --> 01:07:35.539
appreciate everybody putting your comments in

01:07:35.539 --> 01:07:38.380
there we definitely read them uh it's great to

01:07:38.380 --> 01:07:42.219
see home fans commenting on their teams and what

01:07:42.219 --> 01:07:45.039
they say because you guys know your players just

01:07:45.039 --> 01:07:47.500
that much so i've i've thoroughly enjoyed that

01:07:48.190 --> 01:07:50.849
That concludes this week's episode of Volley

01:07:50.849 --> 01:07:52.610
Talk. There's always something shaking in the

01:07:52.610 --> 01:07:54.449
volleyball world and we hope you enjoyed this

01:07:54.449 --> 01:07:56.809
little fix. Be sure to follow the show so you

01:07:56.809 --> 01:07:58.789
don't miss any updates and we'd be so grateful

01:07:58.789 --> 01:08:01.710
if you'd leave us a five -star review. You can

01:08:01.710 --> 01:08:04.269
also find us on Instagram at volleytalk underscore

01:08:04.269 --> 01:08:07.449
podcast. If you have a topic you want us to discuss,

01:08:07.570 --> 01:08:09.710
be sure to reach out to us on Instagram or at

01:08:09.710 --> 01:08:13.469
info at sarahpavin .com. Thanks so much for joining

01:08:13.469 --> 01:08:15.429
us and we'll be back next week.