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. NCAA preseason is in full swing and men's

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world championships have kicked off. So for all

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you volleyball junkies out there, you have got

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an endless supply of volleyball to watch these

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days, depending on your preferences. It's fantastic.

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And you should be watching both, I might add.

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There's been some great volleyball around the

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horn. 100%. So even though things are a little

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slow on the world side, as they are as pool play

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kind of. get started and stuff. The NCAA preseason

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has been very exciting and there were several

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great matchups again this past week. We've got

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some world championship prediction action coming

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at you this week. We're going to be revisiting

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some fun segments from episodes past that we

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haven't touched on in a while and we're pretty

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excited about all of it. So let's get started.

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So on the NCAA side, there wasn't a ton of movement,

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but we had some big movement outside the top

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10, I would say. So the biggest movers in the

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top 25 were Penn State dropped to 12 from 5.

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Izzy Stark going MIA, really. Tough stuff. Really

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put a damper on that. They've had a rough go.

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TCU jumped up to 15 from 24. Well earned. I watched

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them play a bunch this week. Yes. They look good.

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They've been doing a really good job. USC is

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up to 16 from 22. I tried to watch their game

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at LMU, and it was nowhere to be found. LMU hosted

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a tournament, and I was trying to watch them,

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and I couldn't find it anywhere. So I guess they

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didn't show that one. LMU's got their feeds on

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lockdown, apparently. Creighton went down to

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number 18. They were at 13 the week before. Missouri

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went down to 23 from 16. That is harsh. That's

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tough. And UCLA somehow is still in the top 25.

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I feel like that is done. By the time this episode

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comes out, we might be proven right that that

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is done. So they went down to 24 from 19. Those

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were the big movers. I would say the only positives

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in that were on the USC and the TCU side. The

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rest, a little shaky. Things are evening out.

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Teams are ending up where they are, let's say,

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quote -unquote, supposed to be based on their

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performance from the preseason kind of look and

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place. I mean, how are you, like, preseason rankings,

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how are you even supposed to know? theoretically,

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this is what we're going to say. And then weird

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stuff happens. We actually get the teams on the

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court. We see the lineups and then it's like,

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woo, way better than we thought or yikes, overestimated

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that team. Things are kind of settling. The top

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10, we had like micro movements here and there.

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The only one that really disappeared was Penn

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States. That's where we're standing on the NCAA

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side. I put the call out last week for anybody.

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who had some Izzy Stark news for us because the

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people want to know. And by the people, I meant

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me. We the people, Sarah Patton. And one of you

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answered my call. Okay. Obviously, people talk.

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People talk to their former coaches who then

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pass on information to other people they know

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because, like, Izzy Stark is a big deal in the

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NCAA world. People have been talking. The news

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that reached my eyeballs. Do we ever know for

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certain if things like this are true? No, we

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don't. But from the grapevine of like information

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being passed. So I'm not going to get into details.

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I will say thank you to this person for providing

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the details. The gist of the situation seems

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to be that there ended up being some tension

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between Izzy and her friends slash teammates

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regarding a part of her personal life. It seems

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like Izzy felt the decision. It was either the

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team or stick with this situation. She's no longer

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with the team. So she decided to stick with her.

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her personal situation. I mean, you see these

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kind of things with young people. It's a tough

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part in life where you're doing things for the

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first time, you're having new experiences, you're

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trying to mesh personal, school, basically a

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professional athlete. And it's always tricky

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too when like your friends, they have your back

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or their intention is to have your back and maybe

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you don't feel... supported supported so it seems

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like a kind of a messy situation that kind of

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blurred the lines between personal life and friendship

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and team dynamics i know that was very vague

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i don't want it to be vague but i'm keeping it

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vague because Well, we don't have any substantiated

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facts. It's all hearsay. The thing is, it's not

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necessarily a personal tragedy. It is a situation

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that she has control over and we were concerned

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for her well -being. It seems that she is in

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a position to make her own decisions and this

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is the one she made. Again, I hope everything

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works out for her. I hope Penn State can kind

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of rally from this. big hit that they took because

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I guarantee you none of the coaching staff, the

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athletic department, the girls on the team, like

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nobody saw this coming or intended for the season

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to kind of take a turn this way, which is super

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unfortunate given how short your eligibility

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window is in college. And the expectation for

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the program this season. Yeah, it's so tough.

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Again, thank you to the person who reached out.

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Obviously, I want to share more, but we will

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keep that private. Speaking of Miscommunication

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or misunderstanding. There were a plethora of

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comments back and forth this week based off our

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last episode, which I will say was thoroughly

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engaging. I love a good discourse. I love a good

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conversation. I don't love a good comment so

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he can respond. I was responding to people who

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were posting things. And then I saw some recurring

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themes based off of our last podcast. And I want

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to address them just so that there's no misunderstanding.

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and that our opinions are clear. So first thing,

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we got a lot of flack for talking about Italy's

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poor performance in the semis and finals. Now,

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let me say one thing, and then you can talk.

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You can be a great player, and you can be a great

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team, and you can have bad matches. Talking about

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a poor performance... in comparison to what Italy

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can generally do, does not mean we hate Italy.

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It does not mean we think Seraphar is a bad player.

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It does not mean any of those things. In fact,

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it's quite the opposite. I think Italy's a great

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team, the best in the world. I love their streak.

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We have said on the record many times, Italy's

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middles are the best in the world. I'm sorry,

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Brazilian fans, but that's just the way it is.

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And the other thing I will say, if you are injured,

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and you choose to step on the court, nobody cares.

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Your performance is your performance. You have

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chosen to play, and being injured is not an excuse.

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It's a reality, but if you're critiquing performance,

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you have to critique it against your best play.

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It was not up to par. Honestly, I don't understand

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what the big deal is. You were telling me about

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these comments. I do not understand what the

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big deal is. The fact that, and we said it also,

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like the fact that Italy was able to win while

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not playing their best as a team speaks to how

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good they are. Yes. People have come at us all

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summer for loving Italy too much. Okay. And now

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we say one thing and you guys are like, how dare

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you? We are Italy fans. Absolutely. The fact

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that they were able to win while they weren't

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at their best makes them even more unbelievable.

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100%. Okay. And let me tell you, I had knee surgery

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last year. And I came back. Was I playing at

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the same level I was pre -surgery because your

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girl rushed back and was playing in a month after

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the operation? No. And nobody cared that you

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were injured. It's your performance on the court.

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Anybody who watched me play last season would

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be like, wow, she's not playing her best. No

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kidding. Okay. The wounds on my knee were still

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bleeding. Okay. And kudos to Oro and Farr for

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playing injured. That's not what I'm saying,

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but you still have to like. It is what it is.

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You're playing. Are you playing your best? No,

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you're injured. Who cares? That is the product

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you're putting on the court. It's not your best.

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It's a fact. Anyway. And when you can win and

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not at your best, kudos to you, your team, and

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your staff. 100%. One other thing I will say

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is, add a little flack for the Anna Christina

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comment. Oh, good grief. Now, let me clarify

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what I meant for those of you who only listened

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to one part of that comment. I'm pretty sure

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I said it. You may have said it. Shocker. What

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we said was, Gabi was... for all intents and

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purposes, the only person scoring in that semifinal

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against Italy. What we said was, if Brazil would

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have had another player who was scoring alongside

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of her, given the way that Italy was playing

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in that current match, it could have tipped the

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scales. That's all we said. We didn't say that

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Ana Cristina playing, they would beat Italy all

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the time. No, we never said that. a situational

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statement based on observing that Gabi was the

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only one who was scoring points consistently.

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You guys, we were talking about the semifinal

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match. Only. The match. That's what we were covering.

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And I stand by it. If Ana Cristina had been on

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the Brazilian side for that match, given how

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both teams were playing, given how close the

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match was, and Gabi was the only one scoring

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at a super high level for Brazil, Brazil would

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have won that semifinal. Period. So anyway. I

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had fun with those comments this week, but I

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thought I would address it for the wider public

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because I saw the same comment over and over

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and over a lot of times. I feel like we are sometimes

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misunderstood. Maybe. And again. Or maybe not.

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And you just wanted to come at us, which we also

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love a great argument. So keep it coming. And

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again, there's two things, right? If you're a

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fan of a country and a team, you have a biased

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opinion of. your team's ability. You don't want

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to hear anybody talk negative about your team,

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which is totally fine. That's a great way to

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consume sports. But you're not looking at it

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objectively. You know, it is what it is. Because

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Women's World Championships ended last week,

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we didn't get a chance to do our Men's World

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Champs predictions like we did on the women's

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side. So we're going to do it now, even though

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a couple days of the tournament have already

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elapsed. I'm not sure it changes all that much.

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But Adam went through, similar to the women,

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and pulled some predictions. But before that,

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we have gotten a ton of questions. And so I wanted

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to address a couple of them in this section.

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The first one being, after looking at the rosters

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for Worlds compared to the VNL rosters, which

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country do you think is taking the biggest step

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forward in terms of personnel? This person threw

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out their opinion as Slovenia. I mean, the one

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that comes to mind first is France. They brought

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the big boys back. Some of the big boys were

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back for V &L, but we're seeing the crew. Well,

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and I think that they will play more. A couple

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of the guys were there, they were in, they were

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out. France's roster is their winning roster.

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They showed up to play to win for this tournament.

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I think they got better. I don't know all of

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the rosters. Super familiar. So I'm probably

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going to miss a few players here. But I also

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think that Micah Christensen coming back for

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the USA makes a big difference for them. I think

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that's the biggest step. And Avril came back

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for USA. But do I think that they tip the scales

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the same way that the full squad for France does?

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Not so sure. We also saw Germany brought back

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their entire squad. Like Roers was back. We didn't

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see him. We didn't see Brehm, I don't think,

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in the VNL. Correct me if I'm wrong. We saw some

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of them, like Grozer came back in week three,

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etc. Crick. But we're seeing the full squad for

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Germany. Canada made some substitutions. I don't

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know how much better they are. They brought Jerome

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the right side. Sharon Vernon. Yes, I believe

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so. He's back. And Hoag. Hoag. I'm not thinking,

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no, Canada's not the biggest upgrade. No, but

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there are differences there. I don't know how

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much better they are with Hoag. I'm not going

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to lie. I'm not super familiar with Slovenia,

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but looking at their roster, they are different.

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So I'm going to take this listener's word for

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that. I'm going to go France, Slovenia, and probably

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USA. Made the biggest upgrades. I'll say France,

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Slovenia, Germany. But Germany, we know, got

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swept by Bulgaria. Yeah, not the best. Another

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question we got that I'll address here is, what

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is your opinion on naturalized players? So there

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was a lot of back and forth about players in

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France and players in Turkey who are not Turkish

00:14:02.720 --> 00:14:06.879
or not Italian, typically. And I spent some time

00:14:06.879 --> 00:14:10.879
thinking about this because it's a valid... And

00:14:10.879 --> 00:14:14.820
I landed, if you don't change federations and

00:14:14.820 --> 00:14:18.080
you have played for one country your whole career,

00:14:18.279 --> 00:14:20.759
I have no problem with it. People grow up in

00:14:20.759 --> 00:14:22.480
different places. There are different situations.

00:14:22.700 --> 00:14:26.360
You move. You are born in one place. People travel

00:14:26.360 --> 00:14:30.539
so much. I think my biggest issue with naturalized

00:14:30.539 --> 00:14:34.019
players is if you actively try and change federations

00:14:34.019 --> 00:14:36.120
so you can be successful. I would agree with

00:14:36.120 --> 00:14:39.490
that. And I have no problem. with most of the

00:14:39.490 --> 00:14:41.970
players that were kind of brought to attention

00:14:41.970 --> 00:14:44.389
with that. You're in one federation the whole

00:14:44.389 --> 00:14:46.049
time. You're developed there. You spent your

00:14:46.049 --> 00:14:48.409
time there. You were a pretty globalized world

00:14:48.409 --> 00:14:51.210
at this point. What are you supposed to do? I

00:14:51.210 --> 00:14:53.750
know a lot of athletes, their parents played

00:14:53.750 --> 00:14:57.909
pro in a country. They were born in said country.

00:14:58.070 --> 00:14:59.769
So technically they're a citizen of the country.

00:15:00.090 --> 00:15:01.929
You and I are currently in this situation. Yeah,

00:15:01.929 --> 00:15:03.470
like our daughter, we are Canadian citizens.

00:15:03.590 --> 00:15:05.970
Our daughter was born in the US. She is technically

00:15:05.970 --> 00:15:09.080
American. So she can play for whichever country

00:15:09.080 --> 00:15:10.720
she wants if she chooses to play volleyball.

00:15:11.220 --> 00:15:13.419
I'm not sure of the details, but I feel like

00:15:13.419 --> 00:15:16.600
Entropova fits into this. I think her dad played

00:15:16.600 --> 00:15:19.700
pro in Italy and she was born in Italy. Maybe

00:15:19.700 --> 00:15:22.080
that is not correct. But I think in a situation

00:15:22.080 --> 00:15:25.120
like that, that we even saw with Zaitsev, whose

00:15:25.120 --> 00:15:27.679
dad played in Italy professionally. If you're

00:15:27.679 --> 00:15:30.340
born there, you are a citizen of that country.

00:15:30.539 --> 00:15:33.139
So I agree with you. I think if you have played

00:15:33.139 --> 00:15:36.870
for a federation and then... You take your two

00:15:36.870 --> 00:15:39.110
years off, pay the fine, whatever, and switch

00:15:39.110 --> 00:15:42.269
to be in a better situation. That is different.

00:15:42.389 --> 00:15:44.610
And I think that countries that actively seek

00:15:44.610 --> 00:15:48.129
out opportunities to do that. Shady. A little

00:15:48.129 --> 00:15:50.610
bit shady. A little bit shady. All right. So

00:15:50.610 --> 00:15:53.669
let's look at the world's pools. And I'm going

00:15:53.669 --> 00:15:57.059
to start this by saying, yes. It's nonsense that

00:15:57.059 --> 00:15:59.419
the Philippines is ranked number one. It throws

00:15:59.419 --> 00:16:02.139
everything off. You've got some crazy brackets.

00:16:02.519 --> 00:16:04.200
It's not the way it should be. Not even that

00:16:04.200 --> 00:16:05.960
Philippines is number one, but going back to

00:16:05.960 --> 00:16:08.960
this discussion from the women's, they do it

00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:12.139
so far in advance that it's not even indicative

00:16:12.139 --> 00:16:15.159
of the present time. Anyway, you know how I feel

00:16:15.159 --> 00:16:17.340
about that. Not great, but here we go. I'm going

00:16:17.340 --> 00:16:18.440
to go through each of the pools and I'm going

00:16:18.440 --> 00:16:20.620
to rank them, the two teams that I think will

00:16:20.620 --> 00:16:22.980
come out of those pools. One and two. Okay. And

00:16:22.980 --> 00:16:24.059
then we'll go over the brackets. Are you doing

00:16:24.059 --> 00:16:26.919
this based on the games that we know have happened

00:16:26.919 --> 00:16:30.460
yet? So I'm going to put it based on the games

00:16:30.460 --> 00:16:32.320
that have already happened, but I'm going to

00:16:32.320 --> 00:16:36.080
highlight how those changed my picks. Okay. So

00:16:36.080 --> 00:16:38.379
coming out of pool A, even though I ran lost,

00:16:38.519 --> 00:16:40.620
I still think Iran is going to come out one in

00:16:40.620 --> 00:16:42.220
that pool, and I think Egypt is going to come

00:16:42.220 --> 00:16:45.759
out two. So Iran lost to Egypt, right? Yeah,

00:16:45.779 --> 00:16:50.230
so Iran lost to Egypt, but I think... I think

00:16:50.230 --> 00:16:51.710
that's going to end up being a tie. I think Egypt

00:16:51.710 --> 00:16:54.690
will lose at least one other game, and I think

00:16:54.690 --> 00:16:56.809
Iran is going to run through the other opponents.

00:16:57.370 --> 00:17:00.070
I'm not sure Egypt will lose another game. I

00:17:00.070 --> 00:17:01.769
think Iran will come out second, personally.

00:17:02.289 --> 00:17:04.849
It's a possibility. Regardless, we're going to

00:17:04.849 --> 00:17:07.589
end up in the same quarterfinal, but that's what

00:17:07.589 --> 00:17:10.069
I think is going to happen. Pool B, I have Poland

00:17:10.069 --> 00:17:12.150
coming out first, Netherlands coming out second.

00:17:12.970 --> 00:17:15.650
Pool C, I have France coming out first, Argentina

00:17:15.650 --> 00:17:18.309
coming out second, Argentina with reverse sweep,

00:17:18.450 --> 00:17:21.450
squeaking it out. Against Finland? Yeah. Yeah,

00:17:21.529 --> 00:17:25.029
that's wild. I'm going to say Cuba first in Pool

00:17:25.029 --> 00:17:29.349
D and USA second in Pool D. Now, hear me out.

00:17:29.529 --> 00:17:33.369
USA is upgraded, but my personal opinion is that

00:17:33.369 --> 00:17:36.369
Cuba took Portugal lightly. They're a swagger

00:17:36.369 --> 00:17:39.259
team. They play off emotion. They probably shouldn't

00:17:39.259 --> 00:17:41.539
have lost that game, but I think they are going

00:17:41.539 --> 00:17:44.440
to come to play against the USA. So I think that's

00:17:44.440 --> 00:17:46.640
going to be a tie situation. So you think there's

00:17:46.640 --> 00:17:48.079
going to be a three -way tie for first? I think

00:17:48.079 --> 00:17:49.559
there's going to be a three -way tie for first

00:17:49.559 --> 00:17:51.440
in that pool, and I think Cuba will end up coming

00:17:51.440 --> 00:17:56.140
out ahead. That's my prediction. Pool E, I have

00:17:56.140 --> 00:18:00.039
Bulgaria and Slovenia. Because Bulgaria swept

00:18:00.039 --> 00:18:02.200
Germany already. Bulgaria swept Germany. I'm

00:18:02.200 --> 00:18:03.980
not sure I would have had Germany beating either

00:18:03.980 --> 00:18:05.980
of those two teams anyway. I thought the Bulgaria

00:18:05.980 --> 00:18:07.440
-Germany game was going to be better than it

00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:12.380
was. But that 40 -38 set won. Yikes. But Bulgaria

00:18:12.380 --> 00:18:15.680
has been playing very well. They're feeling it

00:18:15.680 --> 00:18:18.619
right now. I have Italy and Belgium coming out

00:18:18.619 --> 00:18:21.319
of Pool F. That is based off Belgium upgrading

00:18:21.319 --> 00:18:28.000
Ukraine or upsetting Ukraine. I would have had

00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:31.359
Italy and Ukraine coming out of that pool. Ukraine,

00:18:31.500 --> 00:18:34.039
I thought, played pretty well in VNL. There's

00:18:34.039 --> 00:18:36.819
a fourth team in that pool. I think Algeria is

00:18:36.819 --> 00:18:38.180
the other team in that pool, so that's going

00:18:38.180 --> 00:18:43.279
to be a non -factor. Pool G. Now, this pool is

00:18:43.279 --> 00:18:45.579
interesting, and this could go either way. I

00:18:45.579 --> 00:18:48.740
have Turkey coming out first. Because they swept

00:18:48.740 --> 00:18:52.940
Japan. What is happening? I mean, they caught

00:18:52.940 --> 00:18:54.980
lightning in a bottle. I watched that match.

00:18:55.240 --> 00:18:58.740
They couldn't do anything wrong. Everything went

00:18:58.740 --> 00:19:01.160
their way, and nothing went Japan's way. You

00:19:01.160 --> 00:19:04.990
had balls out by a fraction of an inch. Japan

00:19:04.990 --> 00:19:07.410
hit, and all of Turkey A's went in. They had

00:19:07.410 --> 00:19:10.569
amazing serving runs. They could do no wrong.

00:19:10.589 --> 00:19:12.670
They passed so well. So I think they're going

00:19:12.670 --> 00:19:15.509
to end up beating Canada, and I think Japan will

00:19:15.509 --> 00:19:17.190
end up beating Canada. So I think Turkey A's

00:19:17.190 --> 00:19:19.750
going to go undefeated in that pool, and Japan

00:19:19.750 --> 00:19:22.009
will come out second. Dang. That will come down.

00:19:22.089 --> 00:19:23.809
The Turkey A -Canada match will be very interesting,

00:19:23.890 --> 00:19:25.089
so I'm looking forward to watching that. I'm

00:19:25.089 --> 00:19:26.930
curious about Turkey A's consistency. It seems

00:19:26.930 --> 00:19:29.829
to be a countrywide issue that we talk about

00:19:29.829 --> 00:19:33.230
here. Yeah, we'll see. But Canada has the same

00:19:33.230 --> 00:19:35.289
consistency issues. So I'm going to go with the

00:19:35.289 --> 00:19:38.230
hot team here. Canada dropped a set already and

00:19:38.230 --> 00:19:40.470
wasn't super crisp in their last match. Against

00:19:40.470 --> 00:19:43.650
Libya. Yeah, I'm giving Turkey the edge there.

00:19:43.789 --> 00:19:46.210
And then Brazil and Czechia coming out in Pool

00:19:46.210 --> 00:19:50.029
H. So you think Czech is coming out ahead of

00:19:50.029 --> 00:19:53.130
China and Serbia in that pool? I do. Holy, that's

00:19:53.130 --> 00:19:55.710
a hot take. Well, they already beat Serbia, so

00:19:55.710 --> 00:19:58.109
that's like a notch in my favor. Okay, fine.

00:19:58.329 --> 00:20:00.450
I'm not sure it'll change the final result, though.

00:20:00.759 --> 00:20:05.140
Given those pool predictions, here's how the

00:20:05.140 --> 00:20:07.599
brackets play out. So on one half of the bracket

00:20:07.599 --> 00:20:13.180
in the round of 16, I would see Iran versus Czech,

00:20:13.420 --> 00:20:18.299
Brazil versus Egypt, Cuba versus Slovenia, and

00:20:18.299 --> 00:20:25.200
Bulgaria versus USA. What? Okay. The quarterfinals,

00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:27.960
that side of the bracket, would then be Iran

00:20:27.960 --> 00:20:31.200
and Brazil. This is your prediction. This is

00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:34.500
my prediction. So I think Iran will beat Czech.

00:20:34.579 --> 00:20:37.359
I think Brazil will beat Egypt. I think Slovenia

00:20:37.359 --> 00:20:39.859
will beat Cuba. I think Bulgaria will beat the

00:20:39.859 --> 00:20:44.839
USA. Interesting. Then I have Brazil beating

00:20:44.839 --> 00:20:48.440
Iran, and I have Slovenia beating Bulgaria. So

00:20:48.440 --> 00:20:50.019
I think Bulgaria is going to beat Slovenia in

00:20:50.019 --> 00:20:52.299
pool play, and then I think Slovenia will beat

00:20:52.299 --> 00:20:53.660
them in the playoffs. They're in the same pool?

00:20:53.799 --> 00:20:55.960
They're in the same pool. Oh, dear. And then

00:20:55.960 --> 00:20:58.980
I think Brazil beats Slovenia to go to the final.

00:20:59.230 --> 00:21:00.609
So that's one half of the bracket. Well, I mean,

00:21:00.670 --> 00:21:03.710
Brazil and Slovenia, that is a pretty wide -open

00:21:03.710 --> 00:21:05.890
half. I think Brazil and Slovenia are for sure

00:21:05.890 --> 00:21:08.329
the top two teams in that. For me, the Slovenia

00:21:08.329 --> 00:21:11.509
-Bulgaria game is a pick -em. Bulgaria, given

00:21:11.509 --> 00:21:13.109
how they looked against Germany, they looked

00:21:13.109 --> 00:21:16.670
real good. Alex Nikolov was on one, and they

00:21:16.670 --> 00:21:19.369
just kept feeding him, and they could not stop

00:21:19.369 --> 00:21:21.890
him. I think, ultimately, Slovenia will come

00:21:21.890 --> 00:21:25.359
out on top, but... Okay, pretty wide open half

00:21:25.359 --> 00:21:27.220
of the bracket, in my opinion. Yeah, agreed.

00:21:27.400 --> 00:21:30.559
Now, to the second bracket. This is the same

00:21:30.559 --> 00:21:33.079
as the women's situation, it seems like. I have

00:21:33.079 --> 00:21:36.460
Poland versus Japan in the round of 16. In the

00:21:36.460 --> 00:21:38.920
round of 16? Oh, yeah, because Japan screwed

00:21:38.920 --> 00:21:40.680
up against Turkey. Screwed their pool up, so

00:21:40.680 --> 00:21:44.220
that's wild. Then you have Turkey versus Netherlands.

00:21:44.740 --> 00:21:47.619
Oh, my gosh. In the other one. The teams that

00:21:47.619 --> 00:21:51.259
were literally scraping by in B &L, and one of

00:21:51.259 --> 00:21:53.880
them did not scrape by. Correct. So then you

00:21:53.880 --> 00:21:57.619
have France and Belgium and Argentina and Italy.

00:21:57.940 --> 00:22:01.000
So for the quarters on that side, I have Poland,

00:22:01.160 --> 00:22:02.099
Netherlands. I think Netherlands will end up

00:22:02.099 --> 00:22:03.240
being... You think Netherlands is going to be

00:22:03.240 --> 00:22:07.000
Turkey? I do. What? I think that Turkey is going

00:22:07.000 --> 00:22:09.420
to... They're going to blow everything they have

00:22:09.420 --> 00:22:10.940
in pool play and then call it quits. I think

00:22:10.940 --> 00:22:13.539
they're going to pucker. Oh my gosh. I mean,

00:22:14.180 --> 00:22:16.420
the men's side, anything can happen. Are you

00:22:16.420 --> 00:22:18.779
just saying this stuff because on the men's side

00:22:18.779 --> 00:22:21.339
anything can happen? Are you legit? Because Turkey

00:22:21.339 --> 00:22:23.660
looked quite good. You think they're just going

00:22:23.660 --> 00:22:26.160
to, they're peaking early in this tournament.

00:22:26.380 --> 00:22:28.599
I do. I think that in the playoffs, it's not

00:22:28.599 --> 00:22:31.220
going to go as well. Poland -Netherland, I think

00:22:31.220 --> 00:22:33.000
Poland's going to end up winning that. I think

00:22:33.000 --> 00:22:35.740
France beats Belgium. I think Italy beats Argentina.

00:22:35.759 --> 00:22:38.019
I think for France -Italy, I'm giving the nod

00:22:38.019 --> 00:22:41.700
to France. Well, if Italy doesn't mess up their

00:22:41.700 --> 00:22:43.559
lineup like they did in the VNL final, maybe

00:22:43.559 --> 00:22:46.380
they've got a better chance. Yeah, fair. I mean,

00:22:46.400 --> 00:22:48.099
again, I think that game is going to be fantastic.

00:22:48.500 --> 00:22:51.920
I think France edges them. And then you have

00:22:51.920 --> 00:22:56.380
Poland -France on that side. Again, I think it's

00:22:56.380 --> 00:22:59.460
going to be incredibly close. I think Poland

00:22:59.460 --> 00:23:02.339
is playing so well right now. I understand that

00:23:02.339 --> 00:23:04.220
France is going to be better with some of the

00:23:04.220 --> 00:23:06.599
players they have, but Poland is playing so well

00:23:06.599 --> 00:23:09.180
as a team. They're just... They're just clicking.

00:23:09.259 --> 00:23:12.119
They look really good as a unit here in France.

00:23:12.200 --> 00:23:14.059
Their whole team hasn't played together and hasn't

00:23:14.059 --> 00:23:17.039
competed. In that regard, Poland's going to have

00:23:17.039 --> 00:23:19.059
the edge here. I don't know who I would pick

00:23:19.059 --> 00:23:23.720
between France and Italy. It's tough. These games

00:23:23.720 --> 00:23:26.259
are going to be epic. I think that half of the

00:23:26.259 --> 00:23:28.859
bracket is literally roll the dice. That's a

00:23:28.859 --> 00:23:30.960
gauntlet. You've got three of the top four teams

00:23:30.960 --> 00:23:33.680
in the world in that half. Ridiculous. For me,

00:23:33.720 --> 00:23:36.160
I have a hard time figuring out who's going to

00:23:36.160 --> 00:23:39.059
win between Italy and France. Fair. I think that,

00:23:39.180 --> 00:23:42.900
if it does actually happen, is the match that

00:23:42.900 --> 00:23:44.839
you need to tune into because I'm pretty sure

00:23:44.839 --> 00:23:48.279
that Poland is going to advance on that side.

00:23:48.559 --> 00:23:50.720
Yeah, I think that's, based on everything we've

00:23:50.720 --> 00:23:52.880
seen from the summer, I think that that's a fair

00:23:52.880 --> 00:23:54.579
assumption. I think the France -Italy game is

00:23:54.579 --> 00:23:58.019
going to be epic. And then I think Poland will

00:23:58.019 --> 00:24:00.359
probably beat Brazil in the final. I mean, which

00:24:00.359 --> 00:24:03.700
lay -on is going to show up? That is a question.

00:24:04.640 --> 00:24:07.099
I think their middles were looking good. Is their

00:24:07.099 --> 00:24:09.539
right side going to show up? For Nall is usually

00:24:09.539 --> 00:24:12.839
pretty consistent. But which? Leon is going to

00:24:12.839 --> 00:24:17.339
show up. V &L, they were outstanding. That side

00:24:17.339 --> 00:24:19.480
of the bracket is... the one I'm going to be

00:24:19.480 --> 00:24:22.400
dialed into. Yeah. I don't know. It's so, things

00:24:22.400 --> 00:24:24.559
are so straightforward, like not so straightforward,

00:24:24.660 --> 00:24:27.039
but like easier to predict on the women's side.

00:24:27.099 --> 00:24:30.079
It is so hard to predict on the men's side because

00:24:30.079 --> 00:24:32.059
like we've talked about countless times, any

00:24:32.059 --> 00:24:34.599
athlete can really go off. I'm choosing Poland

00:24:34.599 --> 00:24:36.059
coming out of that side of the bracket. Would

00:24:36.059 --> 00:24:38.680
I be surprised if Poland, France or Italy won

00:24:38.680 --> 00:24:40.740
the tournament? No, of course not. If you're

00:24:40.740 --> 00:24:42.960
looking at me right now and saying, pick a team.

00:24:43.240 --> 00:24:46.480
I just, I liked the way Poland played. I liked.

00:24:47.119 --> 00:24:49.539
The attitude of their coach. I like what they

00:24:49.539 --> 00:24:52.339
have going on right now. Those factors for me

00:24:52.339 --> 00:24:56.039
gives me the edge for Poland. Gerbic is the star

00:24:56.039 --> 00:24:59.599
for me. He's outstanding. Hold a gun to my head

00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:02.380
for sure. Okay, I'll pick Poland. But I'm obsessed

00:25:02.380 --> 00:25:05.319
with their coach more than anything. I'm curious

00:25:05.319 --> 00:25:09.119
to see France come back with their full roster.

00:25:09.279 --> 00:25:11.680
Are they gelling? Are they in sync? Is everything

00:25:11.680 --> 00:25:13.339
happening the way it should be? I mean, they're

00:25:13.339 --> 00:25:16.390
the Olympic. champions like clearly capable of

00:25:16.390 --> 00:25:19.250
winning we just haven't seen that roster together

00:25:19.250 --> 00:25:22.509
yet gelling and clicking on all cylinders and

00:25:22.509 --> 00:25:25.470
I think for me that's why I'm giving Poland the

00:25:25.470 --> 00:25:27.990
slight edge. Okay did you take a look at what

00:25:27.990 --> 00:25:30.990
things could have looked like had they done the

00:25:30.990 --> 00:25:34.150
rankings closer to the tournament or if Philippines

00:25:34.150 --> 00:25:36.890
had taken the eight seed instead of the one seed?

00:25:37.130 --> 00:25:41.099
I did look at that and honestly it's not that

00:25:41.099 --> 00:25:43.619
much different. Really? If you did the rankings

00:25:43.619 --> 00:25:46.660
as of today and you just put, or you put Philippines

00:25:46.660 --> 00:25:51.660
at eight, you'd have Poland, France, USA, Philippines

00:25:51.660 --> 00:25:54.440
in one bracket. And you'd have Italy, Brazil,

00:25:54.700 --> 00:25:56.980
Slovenia, Japan. You think Philippines would

00:25:56.980 --> 00:25:58.279
have made it out of the pool? No, I'm not saying

00:25:58.279 --> 00:26:00.039
that, but I'm saying that the top of that pool.

00:26:00.059 --> 00:26:03.500
I didn't go through and do like one to 24 with

00:26:03.500 --> 00:26:06.059
all of the different brackets, but the top teams,

00:26:06.140 --> 00:26:10.329
Poland, France. USA, Philippines would be kind

00:26:10.329 --> 00:26:12.970
of in that. Yeah, but I still feel like you need

00:26:12.970 --> 00:26:15.450
to have two top teams in each side. I think that

00:26:15.450 --> 00:26:18.410
that is way more fair. Well, 100%. Or indicative

00:26:18.410 --> 00:26:21.470
of how the summer has gone than what it currently

00:26:21.470 --> 00:26:23.410
is. Well, definitely. You have Italy and Brazil

00:26:23.410 --> 00:26:25.309
on one side. You have Poland and France on the

00:26:25.309 --> 00:26:29.160
other. Which, fair. Fine. And in fairness. Japan

00:26:29.160 --> 00:26:30.740
should have been in the other bracket. They're

00:26:30.740 --> 00:26:33.160
another top team, but they blew a match, you

00:26:33.160 --> 00:26:35.440
know, for this one. So again, you're essentially,

00:26:35.579 --> 00:26:37.640
for all intents and purposes, moving Italy from

00:26:37.640 --> 00:26:39.599
one side of the bracket to the other, which makes

00:26:39.599 --> 00:26:41.819
it more fair. I mean, we're just getting underway

00:26:41.819 --> 00:26:44.380
with Worlds here. And like we said, I mean, there

00:26:44.380 --> 00:26:46.900
have been a few upsets here, but the good matches

00:26:46.900 --> 00:26:49.470
are going to come. this week as we see some more

00:26:49.470 --> 00:26:51.789
high -level pool play, as we move into playoffs.

00:26:52.369 --> 00:26:54.970
That's kind of the preview. I think next week

00:26:54.970 --> 00:26:56.769
we'll have way more to talk about. There are

00:26:56.769 --> 00:26:59.190
going to be some gnarly five -setters. There's

00:26:59.190 --> 00:27:00.869
going to be some upsets. There's going to be

00:27:00.869 --> 00:27:02.509
some things that we weren't expecting. So we'll

00:27:02.509 --> 00:27:04.549
dive into that more. But here, these are the

00:27:04.549 --> 00:27:07.809
early predictions and my bracket choices, and

00:27:07.809 --> 00:27:10.109
we'll see what the week brings on the men's side.

00:27:10.710 --> 00:27:14.390
Let's move to the NCAA. I got a couple things

00:27:14.390 --> 00:27:18.430
I want to do here. We had four pretty big matches

00:27:18.430 --> 00:27:20.970
this week that came up. I want your thoughts,

00:27:21.069 --> 00:27:24.170
not necessarily on how the matches played out,

00:27:24.210 --> 00:27:26.789
but were you surprised by the results, what it

00:27:26.789 --> 00:27:29.269
does for the rankings? Then we've got a little

00:27:29.269 --> 00:27:31.569
game. I want to play Pavin's percentages. I think

00:27:31.569 --> 00:27:34.089
I got some bangers for this week. And we can

00:27:34.089 --> 00:27:36.390
talk about a few surprises and a positive light

00:27:36.390 --> 00:27:39.069
for NCAA. We had four, I thought, really good

00:27:39.069 --> 00:27:42.029
matches this week with ranked teams. So we had...

00:27:42.200 --> 00:27:45.940
Texas -Louisville, that's a 2 -4 with Texas winning

00:27:45.940 --> 00:27:49.839
3 -2. Give me your overall thoughts of that.

00:27:50.420 --> 00:27:53.859
Okay, well we saw that Texas beat Stanford in

00:27:53.859 --> 00:27:56.880
a reverse sweep last Sunday. Then they turned

00:27:56.880 --> 00:28:00.259
around and beat Louisville in a reverse sweep

00:28:00.259 --> 00:28:03.200
two to three days later, whatever it was. Do

00:28:03.200 --> 00:28:05.880
I love that they are having to come back from

00:28:05.880 --> 00:28:09.430
0 -2 down? No, but I think the fact that they're

00:28:09.430 --> 00:28:12.430
able to turn the tables on these highly ranked

00:28:12.430 --> 00:28:16.349
teams and find a way to win this early in the

00:28:16.349 --> 00:28:20.319
season bodes well for them long term. It's not

00:28:20.319 --> 00:28:22.720
great to get down, but the fact that they're

00:28:22.720 --> 00:28:26.240
finding ways to win and they're rallying. Troy

00:28:26.240 --> 00:28:28.920
Stafford is stepping up in those moments we saw.

00:28:29.200 --> 00:28:32.160
Kari Spears is getting great experience. She's

00:28:32.160 --> 00:28:34.680
putting up some really good numbers. I think

00:28:34.680 --> 00:28:39.640
you need to be tested early to really capitalize

00:28:39.640 --> 00:28:41.960
on those moments later in the season. And so

00:28:41.960 --> 00:28:45.279
I think this is looking good for Texas. Honestly,

00:28:45.599 --> 00:28:48.430
Louisville. I thought that I would like them

00:28:48.430 --> 00:28:50.809
more than I am. I saw them play a couple times

00:28:50.809 --> 00:28:53.349
this week. I'm not loving their point scores.

00:28:53.569 --> 00:28:56.710
They don't have anybody who's scoring at a high

00:28:56.710 --> 00:28:58.970
level consistently. They're trying to force the

00:28:58.970 --> 00:29:01.210
ball to Cressy whenever they can. Which is a

00:29:01.210 --> 00:29:03.990
good strategy. And they came out and said, we

00:29:03.990 --> 00:29:07.549
want to get her the most attempts ever. Okay,

00:29:07.569 --> 00:29:10.369
great, but why don't we go for a super high hitting

00:29:10.369 --> 00:29:14.309
percentage or something? I mean, it's great to

00:29:14.309 --> 00:29:17.160
run the middle that much. As you all know, we

00:29:17.160 --> 00:29:19.900
are huge advocates of that. But you still need

00:29:19.900 --> 00:29:23.039
somebody to put the ball away outside of that.

00:29:23.200 --> 00:29:24.660
You're never going to be able to set your middle

00:29:24.660 --> 00:29:27.059
more than everybody else. So, you know, whether

00:29:27.059 --> 00:29:29.859
that's Chacoin, and, you know, I don't think

00:29:29.859 --> 00:29:32.200
that she's a go -to hitter. I think she's good.

00:29:32.339 --> 00:29:34.859
I think she can score you some points. But that

00:29:34.859 --> 00:29:38.339
one player, that person that you can set to score,

00:29:38.559 --> 00:29:40.759
I just haven't seen that from them yet. And I'm

00:29:40.759 --> 00:29:42.859
not sure where that's going to come from. I mean,

00:29:42.900 --> 00:29:45.799
their right side is a true freshman. They have

00:29:45.799 --> 00:29:48.619
Chacoin who isn't doing... Skilled but undersized.

00:29:48.819 --> 00:29:53.000
She's not scoring at a super high level. Peyton

00:29:53.000 --> 00:29:55.859
Peterson, I'm sorry, is not it. Chacoin and Peterson

00:29:55.859 --> 00:29:58.559
on the outside, that's just not... The combo

00:29:58.559 --> 00:30:01.119
with a freshman right side. There's a lot of

00:30:01.119 --> 00:30:03.500
question marks on the outsides for Louisville.

00:30:03.660 --> 00:30:05.839
They're scrappy still. They're playing good defense.

00:30:06.160 --> 00:30:08.700
They still have those Louisville hallmarks that

00:30:08.700 --> 00:30:11.599
we expect to see from them. Honestly, I think

00:30:11.599 --> 00:30:13.240
they're ranked too high. I don't think their

00:30:13.240 --> 00:30:15.279
schedule has been super hard yet. Coming into

00:30:15.279 --> 00:30:17.019
the season, though, I was like, yeah, they totally

00:30:17.019 --> 00:30:19.119
deserve that ranking for sure. But then seeing

00:30:19.119 --> 00:30:20.720
them play, I'm like, yeah, I think they're going

00:30:20.720 --> 00:30:23.309
to drop. I agree with you. Those were signature

00:30:23.309 --> 00:30:25.730
wins for Texas. I was really impressed. They

00:30:25.730 --> 00:30:29.049
have a young roster, and you saw some errors

00:30:29.049 --> 00:30:31.609
down the stretch, but they found a way. to level

00:30:31.609 --> 00:30:34.609
out. I liked Spears on the right. I thought Stafford

00:30:34.609 --> 00:30:37.250
did an excellent job over these last three matches

00:30:37.250 --> 00:30:40.150
because they just beat Arizona State 3 -0. And

00:30:40.150 --> 00:30:42.490
I just want to throw out, for all of you who

00:30:42.490 --> 00:30:45.630
said that we were hating on Texas, we have got

00:30:45.630 --> 00:30:48.170
Torrey Stafford, Kari Spears, and Aiden Ames

00:30:48.170 --> 00:30:50.529
on our fantasy team, so tell me that's hating

00:30:50.529 --> 00:30:53.609
on Texas, okay? Fair. Again, I think for me,

00:30:53.670 --> 00:30:56.369
a few of the questions that we said we had...

00:30:56.670 --> 00:30:59.569
For Texas, I think they've answered. Their first

00:30:59.569 --> 00:31:02.049
year stepped up. We literally saw them play their

00:31:02.049 --> 00:31:05.490
first two matches. I'm still not a swindle fan.

00:31:05.730 --> 00:31:09.809
I think that that's their area of weakness. I

00:31:09.809 --> 00:31:13.190
get that she's a good blocker. She's big. I just

00:31:13.190 --> 00:31:16.170
don't love the offense that she runs. I don't

00:31:16.170 --> 00:31:17.950
think she connects with the middle super well.

00:31:18.049 --> 00:31:20.390
And I think her sets outside are a little inconsistent.

00:31:20.769 --> 00:31:24.190
But really good week for Texas. Pitt going 3

00:31:24.190 --> 00:31:28.109
-0 against Kentucky. Not going to lie, that shocked

00:31:28.109 --> 00:31:31.269
me. I expected Kentucky to win that one. Honestly,

00:31:31.490 --> 00:31:35.509
I expected way more from Kentucky, given I was

00:31:35.509 --> 00:31:38.549
all about them, you know, heading into this week.

00:31:38.609 --> 00:31:41.509
I thought they looked really good. Pitt, I thought,

00:31:41.509 --> 00:31:44.609
was struggling a little bit heading into this.

00:31:44.930 --> 00:31:48.890
I'm sorry. Kentucky's block defense, I was like,

00:31:48.930 --> 00:31:53.109
what is your game plan here? Olivia Babcock,

00:31:53.210 --> 00:31:56.890
I think, swung like a thousand other than hitting

00:31:56.890 --> 00:32:01.250
a couple balls out. What is your blocking scheme

00:32:01.250 --> 00:32:03.369
here? What's your defensive game plan? I turned

00:32:03.369 --> 00:32:05.269
to Adam partway through the match and I was like,

00:32:05.369 --> 00:32:08.910
has Kentucky dug any balls this match? They looked

00:32:08.910 --> 00:32:12.569
unprepared to play. Pitt has become a little

00:32:12.569 --> 00:32:14.769
one -dimensional. It's very clear what their

00:32:14.769 --> 00:32:18.789
plan is. You know who you have to stop. Serve

00:32:18.789 --> 00:32:20.769
tough, get the middle out of it. The ball's going

00:32:20.769 --> 00:32:23.910
to Babcock. Okay. And Babcock is good, but you're

00:32:23.910 --> 00:32:27.349
big. Brooklyn delay is big. You need to be able

00:32:27.349 --> 00:32:30.450
to get, you're not going to stop Olivia Babcock,

00:32:30.589 --> 00:32:32.809
but you can't let her score as many points as

00:32:32.809 --> 00:32:35.289
she did. That was, I was shocked at the outcome

00:32:35.289 --> 00:32:38.230
of that one. Hey, with your thoughts on TCU beating

00:32:38.230 --> 00:32:41.849
Texas A &M 3 -2, TCU being ranked 15th, Texas

00:32:41.849 --> 00:32:46.029
A &M being ranked 8th. Honestly, I'm liking TCU.

00:32:46.529 --> 00:32:50.819
Me too. More than I thought I would. Yes. Coming

00:32:50.819 --> 00:32:52.859
into the season, I was like, oh, my gosh, they

00:32:52.859 --> 00:32:55.779
lost Melanie Parra. Where are they going from

00:32:55.779 --> 00:32:59.039
here? They have had some players who were on

00:32:59.039 --> 00:33:01.059
the bench coming off the bench last year step

00:33:01.059 --> 00:33:03.819
into key roles, and they're doing a really good

00:33:03.819 --> 00:33:07.319
job. I have been pleasantly surprised with TCU.

00:33:07.599 --> 00:33:13.660
A &M, but Nicky, okay. she's doing her thing

00:33:13.660 --> 00:33:15.799
but like their left sides are lacking for me

00:33:15.799 --> 00:33:19.619
I see it was bad I see the direction that Texas

00:33:19.619 --> 00:33:23.079
A &M wants to go you can watch them play and

00:33:23.079 --> 00:33:25.359
see there's a style they want there's a system

00:33:25.359 --> 00:33:27.839
they're trying to implement it's not consistent

00:33:27.839 --> 00:33:31.319
yet but I can see the vision that Jamie has for

00:33:31.319 --> 00:33:33.640
the team I think he's a very good coach I think

00:33:33.640 --> 00:33:35.759
they're going to come around I think they will

00:33:35.759 --> 00:33:39.140
be Good once they figure it out, but I did expect

00:33:39.140 --> 00:33:41.740
them to beat TCU. They're big. But honestly,

00:33:41.900 --> 00:33:45.339
I didn't love A &M's left sides last year either.

00:33:45.920 --> 00:33:47.839
Yeah, I would say that's where they're lacking.

00:33:48.079 --> 00:33:50.839
I don't think it's as bad as it showed in that

00:33:50.839 --> 00:33:52.940
match. I think they will be better than that.

00:33:53.099 --> 00:33:56.000
I can talk a lot about TCU and the intangible

00:33:56.000 --> 00:33:57.859
things that I'm really liking about them, but

00:33:57.859 --> 00:34:00.900
they are the biggest shock for me right now.

00:34:01.210 --> 00:34:03.809
In a good way. So that leads us into the next

00:34:03.809 --> 00:34:05.009
thing I wanted to talk about. I was going to

00:34:05.009 --> 00:34:07.730
ask you, you know, we're three weeks in. What

00:34:07.730 --> 00:34:11.670
have been your biggest surprises? And you can

00:34:11.670 --> 00:34:14.510
go either positive or negative. I've got three

00:34:14.510 --> 00:34:18.250
positive ones. Things that caught you off guard

00:34:18.250 --> 00:34:20.389
or you were unexpected about at this point in

00:34:20.389 --> 00:34:23.750
the season. Okay. Number one, TCU. Just talked

00:34:23.750 --> 00:34:26.869
about it. That's probably my biggest surprise

00:34:26.869 --> 00:34:31.380
right now in a good way. A negative surprise

00:34:31.380 --> 00:34:36.920
for me is Virginia Adriano for Nebraska. I expected

00:34:36.920 --> 00:34:39.480
way more from her. I mean, I haven't checked

00:34:39.480 --> 00:34:42.059
the stats, but like last week I checked her stats

00:34:42.059 --> 00:34:46.400
and she was hitting 094 on the season. I did

00:34:46.400 --> 00:34:49.300
not see that coming. You're coming from an Italian

00:34:49.300 --> 00:34:53.139
A2 environment where the level is pretty good

00:34:53.139 --> 00:34:57.659
and you're telling me you can't get it together?

00:34:58.190 --> 00:35:00.389
We had her on our fantasy team. She's on the

00:35:00.389 --> 00:35:04.130
bench now. Yeah. Okay. She is a negative surprise

00:35:04.130 --> 00:35:07.369
for me. Kari Spears. Ah, she was on my list.

00:35:07.369 --> 00:35:09.909
I would say is a big surprise in a good way.

00:35:10.289 --> 00:35:13.170
Obviously, she came in very highly touted. Lots

00:35:13.170 --> 00:35:16.230
of hype around her. I wasn't sure. Like, as a

00:35:16.230 --> 00:35:19.070
freshman, you're never sure the leap from the

00:35:19.070 --> 00:35:23.730
high school U19 level to college. But I think

00:35:23.730 --> 00:35:27.739
she has stepped into her role seamlessly. So

00:35:27.739 --> 00:35:31.280
that has been a positive surprise for me. Okay,

00:35:31.340 --> 00:35:33.239
those are my top three, the ones that jumped

00:35:33.239 --> 00:35:35.800
out at me right away. So the ones I had, mine

00:35:35.800 --> 00:35:38.199
were all player -specific, not team -specific.

00:35:38.420 --> 00:35:41.260
I agree, Spears, pleasantly surprised. She's

00:35:41.260 --> 00:35:44.420
got 60 kills already on the season on 137 attempts

00:35:44.420 --> 00:35:48.519
and is hitting 270 with 10 blocks and 31 digs.

00:35:48.519 --> 00:35:50.440
So those stats, especially for a freshman coming

00:35:50.440 --> 00:35:53.449
in. Pressure -packed situation on a top -five

00:35:53.449 --> 00:35:54.989
team. I mean, obviously they're ranked second.

00:35:55.389 --> 00:35:57.349
Really impressive. I like watching her play.

00:35:57.389 --> 00:35:59.550
She's a great athlete. The other one for me,

00:35:59.610 --> 00:36:01.650
and this is both a positive, I think, and a negative,

00:36:01.829 --> 00:36:05.469
Noemi Glover. for Arizona State I watched her

00:36:05.469 --> 00:36:08.090
play in the first couple of weeks and I thought

00:36:08.090 --> 00:36:10.869
man this is an athlete I really liked the way

00:36:10.869 --> 00:36:13.130
she was playing the way she was swinging her

00:36:13.130 --> 00:36:15.170
attitude on the court technically I thought she

00:36:15.170 --> 00:36:17.909
was very good unfortunately she got hurt I saw

00:36:17.909 --> 00:36:19.489
her on the bench with crutches so I don't know

00:36:19.489 --> 00:36:21.829
how long she's going to be out but I don't think

00:36:21.829 --> 00:36:24.110
she played against Texas did she no she was out

00:36:24.110 --> 00:36:26.130
at that point I think she's going to be very

00:36:26.130 --> 00:36:30.230
good long term for them She had 55 kills on 112

00:36:30.230 --> 00:36:33.969
sets and was hitting .339 on the season up until

00:36:33.969 --> 00:36:36.690
that point. So I think that's a bright spot for

00:36:36.690 --> 00:36:39.409
Arizona State, and she surprised me. I didn't

00:36:39.409 --> 00:36:41.250
know who she was coming in, but I really like

00:36:41.250 --> 00:36:44.349
the way she plays. And the last one I had is

00:36:44.349 --> 00:36:46.750
freshman setter Cassie O 'Brien for Kentucky.

00:36:47.889 --> 00:36:51.550
There's a team that has high expectations. They

00:36:51.550 --> 00:36:54.199
had a very good setter last year. You have a

00:36:54.199 --> 00:36:56.880
freshman coming in. Well, and she earned that

00:36:56.880 --> 00:36:58.679
spot too. They had a different setter playing.

00:36:58.980 --> 00:37:02.739
You've got big hitters in Brooke DeLay and Eva

00:37:02.739 --> 00:37:06.559
Hudson. You've got good middles. Expectations,

00:37:06.559 --> 00:37:08.619
like I said, are very high for that program.

00:37:08.960 --> 00:37:11.219
Okay, I want to play a game here. We haven't

00:37:11.219 --> 00:37:13.039
done that in a while. We've been all business

00:37:13.039 --> 00:37:16.559
with World Championships and International Volleyball,

00:37:16.699 --> 00:37:19.179
but it's time to lighten things up. I got a few

00:37:19.179 --> 00:37:23.739
spicy ones for you. What are we playing? Patterns

00:37:23.739 --> 00:37:25.760
percentages. So I'm going to make a statement.

00:37:25.880 --> 00:37:28.579
Ooh, it's been a while, everybody. I'm going

00:37:28.579 --> 00:37:30.739
to make a statement, and I want you to give me

00:37:30.739 --> 00:37:33.699
the percent chance that you think it will happen.

00:37:34.219 --> 00:37:37.280
Okay. So the first one, and we've talked about

00:37:37.280 --> 00:37:39.659
this already, but I'm going to add a little flair

00:37:39.659 --> 00:37:43.960
to it. What is the percent chance that Izzy Stark

00:37:43.960 --> 00:37:49.679
ends up in Texas next year? I'm going to go,

00:37:49.719 --> 00:37:52.800
because nothing is certain, I'm going to go 90%.

00:37:52.800 --> 00:37:58.880
That's a high number. Yes. So, A, I think those

00:37:58.880 --> 00:38:03.019
Penn State bridges are burned. I agree. Floating

00:38:03.019 --> 00:38:06.460
down that river current. Okay. They are gone.

00:38:06.639 --> 00:38:08.920
If you listen to the coach, Katie Schumacher's

00:38:08.920 --> 00:38:12.440
interview, when asked about Izzy, her response

00:38:12.440 --> 00:38:15.239
was a little cold, and it was just, we wish her

00:38:15.239 --> 00:38:19.420
the best. So that seems like it's finished. Yeah.

00:38:19.800 --> 00:38:22.539
So don't think she's going back to Penn State.

00:38:22.900 --> 00:38:27.260
If this also fits Texas's MO of just, like, scooping

00:38:27.260 --> 00:38:29.820
up whoever they can, I think Izzy Stark makes

00:38:29.820 --> 00:38:32.800
them way better. And I think you told me Izzy

00:38:32.800 --> 00:38:34.780
Stark's mom played for Texas. Izzy Stark's mom

00:38:34.780 --> 00:38:36.800
played for Texas, so there's that connection.

00:38:37.079 --> 00:38:39.639
I don't think Ella Swindle's the answer, honestly.

00:38:39.760 --> 00:38:42.739
I just don't think she's it. But I think Izzy

00:38:42.739 --> 00:38:46.130
Stark in the mix. Dang. I think Jared Elliott

00:38:46.130 --> 00:38:49.530
has mailed a check to Izzy Stark's house with

00:38:49.530 --> 00:38:53.550
the Texas logo on the envelope. And it's just

00:38:53.550 --> 00:38:55.150
kind of sitting there saying, hey, whenever you're

00:38:55.150 --> 00:38:56.889
ready. Okay, we're going to stay on the Texas

00:38:56.889 --> 00:38:59.429
theme. What do you think the percent chance is

00:38:59.429 --> 00:39:02.769
that Texas goes undefeated this season leading

00:39:02.769 --> 00:39:06.389
into the tournament? 25%. Ooh, I think I would

00:39:06.389 --> 00:39:08.150
be a little higher than that. I just think it's

00:39:08.150 --> 00:39:15.000
so hard this day and age to... win out there

00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:19.880
are so many good programs the SEC is a really

00:39:19.880 --> 00:39:22.400
good conference we're talking they've got Kentucky

00:39:22.400 --> 00:39:25.500
they've got Florida they've got A &M they've

00:39:25.500 --> 00:39:28.480
got like a lot of good programs in that conference

00:39:28.480 --> 00:39:32.159
and to the the depth of the field is just so

00:39:32.159 --> 00:39:35.659
much bigger now I think it would be incredibly

00:39:35.659 --> 00:39:39.300
impressive if they did pull it off but I I think

00:39:39.300 --> 00:39:42.340
it's unlikely I was going to say 30%. I think

00:39:42.340 --> 00:39:44.960
those two. Oh, my gosh. You were like, oh, 25.

00:39:45.059 --> 00:39:49.039
That's crazy. Mine's so much higher. 30. I really

00:39:49.039 --> 00:39:51.360
liked. I thought you were going to be like 50.

00:39:51.519 --> 00:39:54.480
No, no. Your points are well made. But I really

00:39:54.480 --> 00:39:56.880
like the grit that they showed. They're refusing

00:39:56.880 --> 00:39:59.239
to lose. And I think when you build that culture,

00:39:59.360 --> 00:40:02.059
especially with freshmen starting, you don't

00:40:02.059 --> 00:40:05.489
know any different. You've come in and you expect

00:40:05.489 --> 00:40:07.929
to win. It doesn't matter. And they beat ranked

00:40:07.929 --> 00:40:12.010
teams like that. So I think, like you said, it's

00:40:12.010 --> 00:40:13.909
tough to go undefeated. It's tough to be that

00:40:13.909 --> 00:40:15.730
consistent, especially when you're young and

00:40:15.730 --> 00:40:17.869
inexperienced. But I think they have a shot to

00:40:17.869 --> 00:40:20.969
do it because I've liked the grit and the intangibles

00:40:20.969 --> 00:40:23.889
I saw on the court in this past week. All right,

00:40:23.989 --> 00:40:26.650
we're going to keep talking about the portal.

00:40:27.090 --> 00:40:29.409
What percentage do you think that Kennedy Martin

00:40:29.409 --> 00:40:31.590
ends up in the portal at the end of this season?

00:40:32.110 --> 00:40:35.380
Oh, dear. I would be so mad if I was Kennedy

00:40:35.380 --> 00:40:39.320
Martin, honestly. She has to be. I would be so

00:40:39.320 --> 00:40:44.300
mad. I think it's low. I think she'll stay. I

00:40:44.300 --> 00:40:46.699
heard that Penn State picked up a really good

00:40:46.699 --> 00:40:50.599
setter to replace Izzy Stark, though. So I think

00:40:50.599 --> 00:40:52.559
she's going to stay. Percent chance she'll enter

00:40:52.559 --> 00:40:57.059
the portal. I'm going to say 51. What? I think

00:40:57.059 --> 00:40:59.480
she came to Penn State to win a national championship.

00:40:59.480 --> 00:41:01.420
I heard that they picked up a really good setter,

00:41:01.460 --> 00:41:04.210
though. But even still... I mean, it's not Izzy

00:41:04.210 --> 00:41:06.449
Stark, but... They're not that good right now.

00:41:06.550 --> 00:41:08.989
And I'm not sure that just replacing... Izzy

00:41:08.989 --> 00:41:12.309
Stark was more than just a setter for them. She

00:41:12.309 --> 00:41:15.730
was their leader. She was a whole lot of things

00:41:15.730 --> 00:41:18.210
for that program. And I'm not sure that you can

00:41:18.210 --> 00:41:20.530
just replace that with a good setter. I don't

00:41:20.530 --> 00:41:22.230
think they're going to have a particularly great

00:41:22.230 --> 00:41:25.369
season. And I think Kennedy Martin picked a school

00:41:25.369 --> 00:41:27.469
where she thought she could win. And if that

00:41:27.469 --> 00:41:30.510
realization is off the table at the end of the

00:41:30.510 --> 00:41:32.809
season... I can see her leaving one more time.

00:41:33.030 --> 00:41:35.630
Dang. All right, we're going to stick in the

00:41:35.630 --> 00:41:39.909
NCAA. What is the percent chance that UCLA finishes

00:41:39.909 --> 00:41:44.690
in the bottom third of the Big Ten? Well, they

00:41:44.690 --> 00:41:47.190
went in preseason ranked number four in the Big

00:41:47.190 --> 00:41:50.670
Ten. I think that was generous. I don't think

00:41:50.670 --> 00:41:52.170
they're going to finish in the bottom third.

00:41:52.869 --> 00:41:55.929
I think they'll finish in the top half, but definitely

00:41:55.929 --> 00:41:58.769
not. I don't think they'll finish top five in

00:41:58.769 --> 00:42:01.309
the Big Ten. But there's 18 teams, top nine.

00:42:01.750 --> 00:42:03.750
Percent chance that they'll finish in the bottom

00:42:03.750 --> 00:42:08.869
third, 30%. Okay. There's still a chance. And

00:42:08.869 --> 00:42:11.230
my last one, we're going to move to international

00:42:11.230 --> 00:42:13.929
volleyball because I had a couple questions come

00:42:13.929 --> 00:42:16.889
across the feed, which I thought were interesting.

00:42:17.210 --> 00:42:20.309
What is the percent chance that Catherine Plummer

00:42:20.309 --> 00:42:24.010
starts on the right side for the U .S. next summer?

00:42:24.789 --> 00:42:28.090
I don't hate the idea. I don't hate the idea,

00:42:28.230 --> 00:42:31.599
but... She's kind of a lumberer, you know what

00:42:31.599 --> 00:42:34.579
I mean? You look at the world's top right sides

00:42:34.579 --> 00:42:36.719
and like, yeah, they're big, but they're not

00:42:36.719 --> 00:42:40.619
like lumbering athletes. I don't think she's

00:42:40.619 --> 00:42:44.920
built for out -of -system play as a right side.

00:42:45.199 --> 00:42:47.039
They don't have anybody who can do that right

00:42:47.039 --> 00:42:49.559
now. For me, when I actually start thinking about

00:42:49.559 --> 00:42:54.239
this, I'm like, okay, I want Avery Skinner, Sarah

00:42:54.239 --> 00:42:56.639
Franklin. and Catherine Plummer on the floor.

00:42:56.780 --> 00:42:59.420
I think those are your best outsides, depending

00:42:59.420 --> 00:43:02.260
on who else comes back. I think at this point,

00:43:02.300 --> 00:43:04.360
because they don't have somebody playing on the

00:43:04.360 --> 00:43:07.079
right side, I would try it and see how it looks.

00:43:07.260 --> 00:43:09.800
Yeah, I think I would try it. Is the percent

00:43:09.800 --> 00:43:11.659
chance that she'll play there at some point?

00:43:11.780 --> 00:43:13.739
Yeah, what is the percent chance you see her

00:43:13.739 --> 00:43:16.059
on the right side at some point for the U .S.

00:43:16.059 --> 00:43:18.159
next summer? Well, I've heard it thrown out that

00:43:18.159 --> 00:43:19.860
Logan Eggleston should play on the right side.

00:43:20.280 --> 00:43:23.360
I think it's low. I mean, I don't hate the idea.

00:43:24.169 --> 00:43:26.570
I'm not sure they're going to do it. I'm bullish

00:43:26.570 --> 00:43:28.789
on this. I think that they need to find an answer.

00:43:29.010 --> 00:43:31.210
And I don't think their experiments on the right

00:43:31.210 --> 00:43:34.469
side went well this year. I think you're going

00:43:34.469 --> 00:43:36.429
to see a whole... I think priority number one

00:43:36.429 --> 00:43:38.929
for them is to find a right side in this next

00:43:38.929 --> 00:43:40.570
thing. And you're going to see a whole bunch

00:43:40.570 --> 00:43:43.489
of athletes there. So I'm 60 % that she gets

00:43:43.489 --> 00:43:46.639
a start on the right side. All right, that's

00:43:46.639 --> 00:43:48.719
the Pavens percentages. I like these. We haven't

00:43:48.719 --> 00:43:51.079
done a game in a while. Yeah, I got to keep bringing

00:43:51.079 --> 00:43:53.400
them back. NCAA season brings out the games.

00:43:53.440 --> 00:43:56.619
Yeah, there's so much to talk about in NCAA that

00:43:56.619 --> 00:43:59.619
it's easier to kind of do it in this regard and

00:43:59.619 --> 00:44:01.940
have some fun with it. No more games next week.

00:44:02.079 --> 00:44:03.940
Maybe we'll bring your dad in next week and we'll

00:44:03.940 --> 00:44:06.719
play a game with him. All right, it is time for

00:44:06.719 --> 00:44:10.539
listener questions. Okay, so question one. Catherine

00:44:10.539 --> 00:44:13.400
Plummer, do you think she's overrated or underrated?

00:44:13.949 --> 00:44:18.570
I think it's been too long for me having seen

00:44:18.570 --> 00:44:21.449
her play to answer that question. I mean, she

00:44:21.449 --> 00:44:25.590
was super hyped in college. She was a very good

00:44:25.590 --> 00:44:29.090
college athlete. I'm not sure how her pro season

00:44:29.090 --> 00:44:32.699
went in Turkey. She didn't look great at Champions

00:44:32.699 --> 00:44:35.079
League, but I don't know how she was during the

00:44:35.079 --> 00:44:36.880
rest of the season. And I also, I'm not sure

00:44:36.880 --> 00:44:39.960
what the expectations of her are. Is public perception

00:44:39.960 --> 00:44:43.019
that she's the savior of USA Volleyball, what

00:44:43.019 --> 00:44:46.139
the expectations are? So it's a good question,

00:44:46.360 --> 00:44:52.260
but I need to see her play in this team. My feeling

00:44:52.260 --> 00:44:55.559
is overrated. And I think that's also why, if

00:44:55.559 --> 00:44:57.440
we go back to her being on the right side, I

00:44:57.440 --> 00:45:00.039
think that's why I was so hesitant about it.

00:45:00.119 --> 00:45:03.739
I don't think I love her as much as a lot of

00:45:03.739 --> 00:45:06.739
people do. Question two. Who would you guys say

00:45:06.739 --> 00:45:08.699
is the best active setter in men's volleyball

00:45:08.699 --> 00:45:13.639
and why? Also in women's volleyball. I think

00:45:13.639 --> 00:45:15.480
I'm going to go with the Italian setters for

00:45:15.480 --> 00:45:18.179
both men and women. I mean, I know that we hate

00:45:18.179 --> 00:45:21.300
Oro because she... play two bad matches with

00:45:21.300 --> 00:45:23.099
a sprained ankle. So that obviously means that

00:45:23.099 --> 00:45:25.380
we think she's terrible. She's fantastic. She

00:45:25.380 --> 00:45:28.039
leads that team. I like her decisions. She's

00:45:28.039 --> 00:45:30.880
good defensively. She's well -rounded in all

00:45:30.880 --> 00:45:33.380
parts of her game and her delivery. She knows

00:45:33.380 --> 00:45:37.360
who to feed. I feel that she understands her

00:45:37.360 --> 00:45:41.360
teammates really well in terms of who's on, who

00:45:41.360 --> 00:45:44.099
do I need to get going? Do I need to set Scylla

00:45:44.099 --> 00:45:46.820
here? Do I need to run the middles? Does Iganu

00:45:46.820 --> 00:45:50.239
need a few more sets? It's... Just her whole

00:45:50.239 --> 00:45:54.380
feel and approach, along with her delivery, I

00:45:54.380 --> 00:45:56.199
think sets her apart on the women's side. I'm

00:45:56.199 --> 00:45:58.099
not sure it's even close, to be honest, on the

00:45:58.099 --> 00:46:01.159
women's side. I mean, for men, I think the discussion

00:46:01.159 --> 00:46:03.860
usually comes down to Broussard versus Gianelli.

00:46:04.139 --> 00:46:07.699
I think Broussard, the speed of his offense is

00:46:07.699 --> 00:46:11.820
impressive. I think he makes spectacular plays.

00:46:12.420 --> 00:46:17.260
But I would argue that Gianelli... is more consistent

00:46:17.260 --> 00:46:23.679
and Janelli's size allows him to do some things

00:46:23.679 --> 00:46:26.940
offensively that are quite interesting. So I

00:46:26.940 --> 00:46:29.940
think I'm going to agree with you. Janelli and

00:46:29.940 --> 00:46:34.940
Oro. Do you think that... Nikolov has a chance

00:46:34.940 --> 00:46:37.800
to take that title at some point. I think an

00:46:37.800 --> 00:46:40.199
argument could be made for that for sure. I think

00:46:40.199 --> 00:46:43.380
some of his decision -making as to when to take

00:46:43.380 --> 00:46:47.559
certain offensive risks or set selection, he's

00:46:47.559 --> 00:46:51.980
young and he has a tendency to want to make the

00:46:51.980 --> 00:46:56.070
most spectacular set. all the time instead of

00:46:56.070 --> 00:46:59.070
maybe the smarter set. So I think as he matures

00:46:59.070 --> 00:47:03.510
and understands when to take certain risks versus

00:47:03.510 --> 00:47:06.610
play it safe, I think he can definitely, there's

00:47:06.610 --> 00:47:08.670
an argument there for him for sure. Question

00:47:08.670 --> 00:47:12.030
three, international men's game. Are the middles

00:47:12.030 --> 00:47:14.989
getting smaller? It seems like the top middles

00:47:14.989 --> 00:47:18.469
right now, like Flavio, Koschanowski, Lozer,

00:47:18.510 --> 00:47:21.130
are smaller than the ones a few years ago where

00:47:21.130 --> 00:47:23.230
it seemed like there were 6 '11 giants at the

00:47:23.230 --> 00:47:26.269
highest level. Is this a trend or am I just cherry

00:47:26.269 --> 00:47:29.929
picking? Without it being about size, I think

00:47:29.929 --> 00:47:32.750
it's more about mobility. The speed of the game

00:47:32.750 --> 00:47:36.550
is becoming faster. So if you have a 6 '11 guy

00:47:36.550 --> 00:47:41.230
or a 7 '1, who can't close the block, he's a

00:47:41.230 --> 00:47:45.389
liability. So I'd rather have a 6 '9 middle or

00:47:45.389 --> 00:47:47.789
a 6 '8 middle who's a little more springy who

00:47:47.789 --> 00:47:51.289
can get there and close the block. So now if

00:47:51.289 --> 00:47:53.369
you have a 7 '1 guy who moves that well, you're

00:47:53.369 --> 00:47:56.269
going to take him. You want that. But I think

00:47:56.269 --> 00:47:59.809
the focus is a little bit more on ability to

00:47:59.809 --> 00:48:02.250
move laterally so you can make those decisions

00:48:02.250 --> 00:48:05.150
and be a little quicker than just having sheer

00:48:05.150 --> 00:48:07.840
size in the middle. To answer your question,

00:48:07.940 --> 00:48:12.380
I think maybe you're cherry picking because just

00:48:12.380 --> 00:48:16.719
off the top of my head, I'm thinking of Crick

00:48:16.719 --> 00:48:19.260
from Germany. Pretty sure he's seven feet tall.

00:48:19.539 --> 00:48:24.039
You've got Simon from Cuba, who's 6 '10", I believe,

00:48:24.260 --> 00:48:27.579
6 '11", close to that. You've got the Slovenian

00:48:27.579 --> 00:48:30.420
middle, seven feet. Like that's just like off

00:48:30.420 --> 00:48:32.179
the top of my head. I think the Polish middles

00:48:32.179 --> 00:48:34.420
are quite big. Those three right there. And then

00:48:34.420 --> 00:48:37.809
the Russian middles. I mean, we haven't seen

00:48:37.809 --> 00:48:40.289
Russia for a while, but their middles were also

00:48:40.289 --> 00:48:44.210
close to seven feet as well. So there's a mix,

00:48:44.289 --> 00:48:46.650
I would say, for sure. And all of those middles

00:48:46.650 --> 00:48:49.130
you mentioned are very good laterally. They move

00:48:49.130 --> 00:48:52.090
well. They don't move like a traditional quote

00:48:52.090 --> 00:48:54.369
-unquote, and I hate saying this, but seven -foot

00:48:54.369 --> 00:48:57.369
middle. Yeah. All right. Question four. As a

00:48:57.369 --> 00:48:59.590
non -volleyball player and just relatively clueless,

00:48:59.590 --> 00:49:01.750
I'm a passionate fan of the sport. It's hard

00:49:01.750 --> 00:49:04.949
for me to identify good setters as opposed to

00:49:04.949 --> 00:49:07.949
identifying good hitters. A lot of people talk

00:49:07.949 --> 00:49:10.789
about Alessia Oro as a very good setter. So how

00:49:10.789 --> 00:49:13.989
do you identify that? Like, what should I as

00:49:13.989 --> 00:49:17.550
a viewer look out for to identify her skills?

00:49:18.150 --> 00:49:21.170
What sets her apart from other setters? And is

00:49:21.170 --> 00:49:23.429
there even a bad setter at the top level? This

00:49:23.429 --> 00:49:25.780
is a great question. I have kind of a flippant

00:49:25.780 --> 00:49:29.280
answer, and then I have maybe a little more technical

00:49:29.280 --> 00:49:31.980
answer. Okay. So my flippant answer is it's just

00:49:31.980 --> 00:49:34.579
pretty to watch. Which is not the answer you're

00:49:34.579 --> 00:49:38.659
looking for. No, but you watch some setters come

00:49:38.659 --> 00:49:40.699
out, and just the way the ball comes out of their

00:49:40.699 --> 00:49:43.000
hand, the way it moves, the way they flick their

00:49:43.000 --> 00:49:45.559
wrist, the way they come into the ball, it's

00:49:45.559 --> 00:49:51.659
smooth, it's controlled, it's poetry. It's not

00:49:51.659 --> 00:49:54.199
a great answer. But for somebody who doesn't

00:49:54.199 --> 00:49:57.659
understand the sport, that smoothness and I think

00:49:57.659 --> 00:49:59.780
watching the delivery of the hands is one way

00:49:59.780 --> 00:50:02.400
to kind of pick it out. I think because volleyball

00:50:02.400 --> 00:50:05.159
is typically shown on TV from the side view,

00:50:05.260 --> 00:50:09.159
you can often see when the ball leaves the setter's

00:50:09.159 --> 00:50:12.400
hand, you can see if it takes a path towards

00:50:12.400 --> 00:50:15.079
the net, if it stays straight, you can see if

00:50:15.079 --> 00:50:18.559
it flares backwards off the net. A good indicator

00:50:18.559 --> 00:50:21.559
on a setter's consistency is also to watch the

00:50:21.559 --> 00:50:24.579
hitter and watch their rhythm. If you see a hitter

00:50:24.579 --> 00:50:27.119
kind of have to jump backwards or they're floating

00:50:27.119 --> 00:50:29.219
towards the net and having to try to fix the

00:50:29.219 --> 00:50:32.199
ball by tipping or jousting at the net, that

00:50:32.199 --> 00:50:35.199
is a sign of inconsistency. If a hitter looks

00:50:35.199 --> 00:50:37.800
in rhythm, their approach is smooth, and they're

00:50:37.800 --> 00:50:40.840
able to make whatever choices they want, the

00:50:40.840 --> 00:50:43.960
ball is where they expect it. You can also look

00:50:43.960 --> 00:50:48.000
at other side of the net and see how many blockers

00:50:48.000 --> 00:50:51.960
are in front of a hitter. So blockers are often

00:50:51.960 --> 00:50:54.699
watching the setter and reading their body and

00:50:54.699 --> 00:50:56.800
stuff to make decisions of where to go. So if

00:50:56.800 --> 00:50:59.420
you're seeing a hitter hit against one blocker

00:50:59.420 --> 00:51:03.079
or one and a half blocks, the setter is doing

00:51:03.079 --> 00:51:06.070
a really good job of being deceptive. And if

00:51:06.070 --> 00:51:08.389
you're seeing a hitter constantly hitting in

00:51:08.389 --> 00:51:11.010
front of a solid double or even a triple block,

00:51:11.230 --> 00:51:13.550
maybe a little more obvious. Obviously, passing

00:51:13.550 --> 00:51:15.150
has something to do with that. But those are

00:51:15.150 --> 00:51:16.929
some things that you can kind of look at the

00:51:16.929 --> 00:51:20.550
hitter's body and the flow into the ball to hit

00:51:20.550 --> 00:51:22.929
it and how many blocks they're hitting in front

00:51:22.929 --> 00:51:25.550
of. I mean, when you ask about bad setters, if

00:51:25.550 --> 00:51:28.429
you're setting for a national team that is competitive,

00:51:28.889 --> 00:51:32.829
you don't have bad. setters, necessarily. But

00:51:32.829 --> 00:51:35.090
you, I mean, again, there's degrees of how good

00:51:35.090 --> 00:51:37.849
you are. You can look at decision making, you

00:51:37.849 --> 00:51:40.349
can look at consistency of out -of -system setting,

00:51:40.429 --> 00:51:43.010
or how do you deliver balls off the net. Things

00:51:43.010 --> 00:51:45.570
like that will separate, you know, good from

00:51:45.570 --> 00:51:47.929
great at that level. Our last question of the

00:51:47.929 --> 00:51:50.590
day. What are your thoughts on Brazil using Gabi

00:51:50.590 --> 00:51:53.570
on a 3 -2 combo? Do you think more women's teams

00:51:53.570 --> 00:51:56.750
should try to run it? I love when they do it,

00:51:56.789 --> 00:51:59.230
but I think the reason it's so effective is the

00:51:59.230 --> 00:52:03.409
timing. Yes. Teams are aware that Brazil has

00:52:03.409 --> 00:52:07.630
this play in their arsenal, but they don't use

00:52:07.630 --> 00:52:11.230
it. They use it maybe once a set. And it's usually

00:52:11.230 --> 00:52:15.150
like towards the late middle, around like 18,

00:52:15.269 --> 00:52:18.889
19 points that they bring it out. So like, even

00:52:18.889 --> 00:52:20.650
though a team is prepared, you're going through

00:52:20.650 --> 00:52:23.840
this whole set. And they're not using it. So

00:52:23.840 --> 00:52:26.380
it kind of, they like lull you to sleep. You

00:52:26.380 --> 00:52:28.460
know what I mean? And then just when you've kind

00:52:28.460 --> 00:52:30.739
of forgotten about it, that's when they run it.

00:52:30.920 --> 00:52:33.500
I also think you need the athlete to do it. Gabi's

00:52:33.500 --> 00:52:36.539
step closes really well and she's super dynamic.

00:52:36.960 --> 00:52:40.059
So she can kind of float out like she's going

00:52:40.059 --> 00:52:43.019
to go outside and then close to that ball pretty

00:52:43.019 --> 00:52:47.780
quickly. And it's not. so obvious and she's very

00:52:47.780 --> 00:52:50.900
athletic and very dynamic so she's able to hide

00:52:50.900 --> 00:52:53.860
that better i think japan could use those plays

00:52:53.860 --> 00:52:56.119
way more than they do with the athletes and the

00:52:56.119 --> 00:52:58.699
personnel that they have i think a team like

00:52:58.699 --> 00:53:01.099
turkey for example it would not be effective

00:53:01.099 --> 00:53:03.639
not so much their athletes are bigger the way

00:53:03.639 --> 00:53:08.059
they move is not the same certain teams could

00:53:08.059 --> 00:53:10.500
make use of it and japan is the one that kind

00:53:10.500 --> 00:53:13.119
of comes to mind for me we move through those

00:53:13.119 --> 00:53:16.340
questions fast today you guys Okay, we made sure

00:53:16.340 --> 00:53:18.840
to hit a couple in the World Champs discussion.

00:53:19.059 --> 00:53:21.179
These are good. Love the questions. These are

00:53:21.179 --> 00:53:23.539
great. Keep them coming. I know I say it every

00:53:23.539 --> 00:53:26.730
week, but, you know, I mean it. All right. Here

00:53:26.730 --> 00:53:29.110
are the highlights for the week. Can I just step

00:53:29.110 --> 00:53:31.650
in and be like, I think I was out to lunch last

00:53:31.650 --> 00:53:33.329
week because all the games that I said that you

00:53:33.329 --> 00:53:35.489
should watch last week were actually the ones

00:53:35.489 --> 00:53:38.809
for this week. So sorry about that. Sleep deprived

00:53:38.809 --> 00:53:41.650
baby brain. Don't know what I, yeah, I was out

00:53:41.650 --> 00:53:43.829
to lunch. Anyway, continue. So looking forward

00:53:43.829 --> 00:53:45.929
to this week, here's what we think you guys should

00:53:45.929 --> 00:53:48.110
be watching. So if we look at the men's world

00:53:48.110 --> 00:53:51.329
championships, Wednesday at 2 a .m. Eastern,

00:53:51.489 --> 00:53:54.539
you can watch it. on FIVB TV at a later date

00:53:54.539 --> 00:53:57.480
of your choosing but Canada versus Turkey that's

00:53:57.480 --> 00:53:59.699
going to be for who comes out of that pool yeah

00:53:59.699 --> 00:54:02.019
potentially so I think that game has a lot of

00:54:02.019 --> 00:54:04.440
ramifications and I think the skill could be

00:54:04.440 --> 00:54:07.280
pretty close and consistency will be a question

00:54:07.280 --> 00:54:09.820
there so that'll be a good one to watch Wednesday

00:54:09.820 --> 00:54:12.840
at 5 30 a .m eastern so a little later you might

00:54:12.840 --> 00:54:16.780
be awake but USA versus Cuba yeah USA versus

00:54:16.780 --> 00:54:18.780
Cuba. Again, that's going to be probably for

00:54:18.780 --> 00:54:21.900
first in the pool. And as I've predicted, I think

00:54:21.900 --> 00:54:23.460
Cuba is going to come out with a little swagger.

00:54:23.539 --> 00:54:26.059
So I'm looking forward to seeing that one personally.

00:54:26.219 --> 00:54:29.539
And then another great one Thursday at 6 a .m.

00:54:29.539 --> 00:54:31.420
Eastern is going to be France and Argentina.

00:54:31.500 --> 00:54:34.679
That will be for first in the pool, most likely.

00:54:35.139 --> 00:54:38.179
Our NCAA schedule, and this is the one that Sid

00:54:38.179 --> 00:54:41.079
mentioned last week. But we got Wednesday at

00:54:41.079 --> 00:54:44.960
7 p .m. Eastern, Pitt and Penn State. Both programs

00:54:44.960 --> 00:54:48.300
who are Penn State more than Pitt, but trying

00:54:48.300 --> 00:54:51.119
to right the ship. So that'll be a good game.

00:54:51.679 --> 00:54:55.480
Wednesday at 9 p .m. Eastern, Texas versus TCU.

00:54:56.159 --> 00:54:58.639
TCU's playing well right now. You know, as you

00:54:58.639 --> 00:55:01.360
said, Texas has a few young athletes, so we'll

00:55:01.360 --> 00:55:03.400
see if they can keep that consistency going.

00:55:04.599 --> 00:55:07.699
Thursday, 6 p .m. Eastern, Kentucky and Louisville.

00:55:07.920 --> 00:55:10.340
That might be my pick of the week overall. I

00:55:10.340 --> 00:55:12.739
think that's going to be a great match. Sunday

00:55:12.739 --> 00:55:15.360
at 1 p .m. Eastern, we've got Florida and Wisconsin.

00:55:15.840 --> 00:55:18.360
And then Sunday at 6 p .m., we've got Kansas

00:55:18.360 --> 00:55:21.400
versus Creighton. Bottom line is there's a ton

00:55:21.400 --> 00:55:23.320
of great volleyball to watch. You cannot go wrong.

00:55:23.480 --> 00:55:27.599
So those are just our top 10, almost, picks.

00:55:28.500 --> 00:55:30.920
That concludes this week's episode of Volley

00:55:30.920 --> 00:55:32.760
Talk. There's always something shaking in the

00:55:32.760 --> 00:55:34.719
volleyball world, and we hope you enjoyed this

00:55:34.719 --> 00:55:36.960
little fix. Be sure to follow the show so you

00:55:36.960 --> 00:55:38.960
don't miss any updates, and we'd be so grateful

00:55:38.960 --> 00:55:41.780
if you'd leave us a five -star review. You can

00:55:41.780 --> 00:55:44.360
also find us on Instagram at volleytalk underscore

00:55:44.360 --> 00:55:47.340
podcast. If you have a topic you'd like us to

00:55:47.340 --> 00:55:50.199
discuss, be sure to reach out to us on Instagram

00:55:50.199 --> 00:55:54.019
or at info at sarahpavin .com. Thanks so much

00:55:54.019 --> 00:55:55.659
for joining us and we'll be back.