HCLT TOP 1000

@Kjeldhor: I avoid this “best player” thing, sounds like a kid’s temptation (“best player”, “best fans”, “best block I've ever seen”… lol), but I agree with you that Podrascanin is an impressive MB, same way Stankovic is. Serbia has been bringing their fans some fantastic middle players. Remember Geric? Once Marco Podrascanin hasn’t a showman style like Simon, as he keeps a low profile, you don’t see too many people talking about him.

@pearl: Yup, that’s the annoying narrator. I hope they schedule only the old ones from now on because that guy is ridiculous, he knows nothing about volleyball. I guess Marcelo Negrão gave him some tips in between sets, since the narrator reduced the amount of nonsense as the game went on. Marcelo loves doing these matches, he shares inside information and is very straightforward.

Nice selection, Rayray. I liked the actions you chose to make this clip. It’s very simple, but fun to watch. Please, observe the third play, starting at 0:21. Skrimov made a passing mistake, but he was able to recover and score, that’s really important when you’re the main receiver and the opponent is targeting you on serve, trying to keep you out of the attack. He had too many ups and downs in 2013 World League, but I’ve been following him in Serie A and he’s playing much better now. Hopefully he’ll show his talent at the 2014 worlds.

@dessitea: That’s why Kjeld got confused, as he knows both players, and Kaliberda and Le Roux are roommates. Soon Kjeld will upload a movie about the French calling him “Denys Le Roux”. lol Thanks for this clip, Kjeld.

@raylight: Which tournaments are going to be held in Brazil? Please, let me know, I’d love to see them live. We all know the Japanese host tournaments every single year. BTW, I know some other country that begs to host tournaments, and you know it as well, but you’d never say it as you want to please the audience for some unknown reason. ;-) How do you know I haven’t seen Todorov? What I can see is that you don’t know how to use stats, and it’s shocking. Come on… How many times Bulgaria played Russia in 2011 WL? FOUR times, right? How many the others played against the Russians? True fact, Russia didn’t care losing that irrelevant match against Bulgaria. If you’re desperately trying to say Bulgaria was the only team to beat Russia in 2011, I should remind you they lost 2-3 to Serbia at Eurovolley and 0-3 to Brazil at the World Cup. Bulgaria just won some “friendly” game. I’ll make you happy: Todorov is a genius and Team Bulgaria is the best – Russia, Brazil and Italy are nothing compared to the Gods & Lions. Keep the funny side up!

@raylight: “He is a player that can win matches the same way Muserskiy and Simon do.” Rayray, please... Don’t make me laugh... Simon, Mumu, Mousavi, Lucas, Podrascanin and Bira, among many others, say “hello” to Todorov. lol “Remember when Bulgaria defeated Russia in World League and Russia lost only from us - in 2011?” You’re talking about a match that meant nothing to the Russian team. Sorry, you have no solid arguments, just bias. It’s funny, though. Still waiting for some explanation on the “selling medals” case…

@Kjeldhor: Hahahaha… Kurkofans!

@Kjeldhor: Where did you take that quote from? Who’s discussing Barto Cureque’s efficiency just because you innocently uploaded a video with some hilarious mistake? Some people definitely don’t have a sense of humour.

@TidO: I guess he skipped vball school, otherwise he’d know bumping the ball was the right thing to do.

@raylight: Global, Rayray. I said global level. Playing CSKA, Tours and a Spanish team isn’t what we were discussing. Serbia during Olympic qualifier? A team that struggled to get a berth and once in London couldn’t advance pool play? Nothing against powerhouses? Sorry, it’s been a long time since you started to say whenever you could that Todorov is a beast. No, he’s not. Todorov is a very good blocker, not so good hitter, not one of those MBs to be remembered as you suggested here before, he’s neither Gustavo Endres nor Stephan Hübner. “…in sport not always the better team wins”. It’s already been said in this thread, Rayray. You’re walking in circles. I’m still curious about that “selling medals” affair. No matter how much I like Placi, and also Sokonator and Skrimov. I have huge respect for Aleksiev, who became a solid left side after years as an ordinary player. FYI, players such as Bruno, De Cecco and Priddy, among others, have a lot of respect for him. I appreciate Bratoev humbleness to accept he’s limited and try to follow Placi’s plans, though he oscillates too much. Anyway, his attitude helps the team – just think about Zygadlo, another limited setter, but the kind that screws things up for insisting in some plays he can’t execute. Salparov’s leadership skills are important for the team, despite the fact he’s not a top level libero. See, there is a lot of good stuff about Team Bulgaria, but they’re still behind Italy.

@raylight: Which matches at global level were solved by Todorov? So, Bernardinho said that during one of those FIVB post-match interviews? As I said, one of those made-to-please, but smart people read between the lines. We know how strong Bulgaria was… They won… Nothing. I said “even if it’s small”… I see a more consistent team when I watch Italy comparing to Bulgaria. Anyway, if it’s small but they keep the level in crucial moments, then they also have the necessary mental toughness. Lanza, Beretta, Baranowicz, among others, how many young and inexperienced Italians do you want me to mention? You say Bulgarian players fear the opponents. Dunno about that, but if it’s true, so what? Is this an excuse to be added to a long list? Any time some player feels a headache or start to shake the tournament should stop? About the drawing of lots, I think you complain too much. Brazil has been playing on the toughest side in most competitions and I never heard anybody here bitching on that. Bulgaria had a tough pool in London 2012? 2013 WL? Beijing 2008? I don’t think so. Selling medals to whom? Be more specific. Team Italy is better than Bulgaria. Period. Please, learn to be a good loser. There are few things worse than someone who loses and try to diminish the winners’ accomplishments.

@pearl: "I wanted to edit my post and I deleted it instead". Hahahaha… I bet Barto Cureque would have done the same. :-p

@raylight: One aspect alone won’t define the whole thing. Anyway, Bulgarian MBs aren’t better than the Italian ones. Remember Bira and Beretta? They’re very good players, especially the first. None of the Bulgarian middles has Bira’s qualities. The Bulgarian 2006 squad was good, but lacked a few things. When Bernardinho said that? To whom? Bulgarian press? Now you reminded me of our colleague @Michal, who mocked the kids for believing those made-to-please interviews. “…one of the best if not the best team”... Well, we all know which team was the best back then by far. ;-) It seems every argument you’re trying isn’t working. You don’t see big difference between Bulgaria and Italy? Even if it’s small, there’s some in favour of Italians.

@raylight: Please, check how these stats are collected. I remember some girl explaining to you how it’s done, and she gave a lot of details. For example, suppose you’re a libero and then you dig a powerful hit with no block to help with a rebound, it counts as a dig. Later you receive a free ball, sent to your court with a bump, guess what? It counts as a dig as well. Stats were never in your favour, you just ignore obvious facts. Maybe you need some help to understand them, and I’m sure some people here could help you, me included. Who said Bulgaria and Italy have “approximately equal stature”? If by stature you mean the quality of their game, I’m sorry, but the Italian style is more sophisticated and so far they’ve started as favourites against Bulgaria, and confirmed that condition. The Italy that lost to Bulgaria before this winning streak over Placi’s guys was a different squad. Teams change and we’ll always see absences – Murilo has been absent of the Brazilian team and no one here is using that as an excuse, Vissotto was absent in the last two gold medal matches Brazil played and nobody made a reference to that, and it doesn’t matter as those would be nothing but excuses. Bulgarians started playing late against Poland, but once they got into the game, Polacos knew their fate. The Polaco team faced some trouble to beat Slovakia and Turkey, and was clearly weaker than France, another team that defeated the Polacos before they were kicked out by Sokolov and his teammates. If Bulgaria made complicated a game supposed to be easy, it’s nobody’s fault but their own. In previous competitions the Polacos had shown how limited they are, so you’re just trying to please the kids, something you abruptly put aside when one of them mocked Bulgaria for being the owner of fourth place. Camillo Placi is doing a great job, it’s easy to notice the Bulgarians are improving. This is certainly the best Bulgarian team this century, but still not good enough for the top three, although sometimes the underdog can make a surprise (Belgium defeated Italy, remember?), and Bulgaria could definitely beat Italy, despite the Italians are more solid as a squad.

In the last three tournaments Bulgaria participated, the team finished behind Italy. However, our colleague Rayray constantly tries to sustain that Bulgaria is better or at least plays at the same level of the Italians. Sorry, Team Italy is just better. So, Bulgaria played Russia, Germany and Poland? Except for Russia that is the best team in the world, and Bulgaria knew they had no chance against them anyway, I can’t see why facing Germans or Polacos is so tough. Germany has a good team indeed, but they’re not better than Belgium, a squad Italy played against. I wonder when Rayray will stop trying to please the audience by saying Poland is a strong team. Funny thing, when Bulgaria finished fourth at Eurovolley and some Polaco kid mocked them for that, Rayray suddenly forgot how “strong” the Polaco team supposedly is, and started to bash them. Talk about coherence! Just a little teasing by a kid and our Bulgarian friend changed his mind… Rayray, please, even the Polaco kids know their team isn’t anything special, they learned the hard way, but apparently they finally did. Team Bulgaria relies on Sokolov? Tell me something new. He got exhausted exactly against Italy? Interesting... I think everybody knows that Italians know well the Bulgarian opposite weaknesses, don’t need to tell you the reason. “Almost always the team from the easier pool defeats the team from the harder pool”. Really? Says who? There are lots of examples showing the opposite, and this isn’t a rule. BTW, someone could simply say a team that faced tougher opponents is better prepared for the finals. It’s quite obvious which teams are the top 3 in the world, and Bulgaria isn’t one of them, while Italy is there. Be a good sport and deal with that. It’s just volleyball, after all. “Vettori is no Miljkovic, sure, but he’s just having his breakout season. Please give him at least a few more years to develop his game. And it’s no shame not to reach Ivan’s level, nobody did until now” Well said, Herr Pesazi.

@pearl: “I don’t know what kind of problems these German setters have in Serie A, but they are not impressing at all”. They’ve never been very solid anywhere else, right? They’re just being themselves. I remember when Lozano gave Steuerwald the chance to be a starter on NT, but it didn’t take too long for him to screw things up. As you said, he alternates excellent matches with some terrible ones, like the one last Saturday. “this time YOU didn't get Kjeld's joke”. I did, bella. Didn’t you see me telling him to ask the bambini polacchi? ;-)

@Kjeldhor: Maybe he couldn’t stand the coach, or vice versa. Who knows? My point is none of the Italian liberos we saw playing in major tournaments were special. Considering how many titles and medals Italy has, it’s quite weird. TBH, I can barely remember Farina, except that he could pass as Vissotto’s older brother. Don’t you like Paparoni? He was never given a proper space on NT, and he was a world-class libero IMO.

@Kjeldhor: Please, I never wrote "Berutto" (sic), did I? :-p You gotta ask this question to the bambini polacchi. hahaha Great Italian libero? Are you talking about Alessandro Paparoni? If so, I agree with you.

@Kjeldhor: It sucks! Don't know which phone you use, but S4 works pretty well.