2011/2012 Americans in Overseas Leagues

There are French words in there, albeit with a Chinese accent.



Here's the replay of RC Cannes-Vakifbank. If you've got 2-3 hours to burn ;D

www.laola1.tv/en/int/volleyball/cev/rc-cannes-fra-vakifbankttelekom-istanbul-tur/video/336-1973-77654.html

Completely forgot that. My picks are still the same

Villa Cortese vs RC Cannes

Before the QF, I picked Cannes as my darkhorse to make the finals. I still think they're a team that can do some damage and I wouldn't be surprised if they beat Villa Cortese in the semis.

I've been watching Cortese and there's something missing in that team on the court (I felt the same way about Vakifbank).

I've also been keeping tabs on the off-court stuff about Cortese and I think they're a team that's had some highs and lows in the locker room whereas RC Cannes looks like a team that flat out likes playing with each other.

My head says Cortese is the favorite on paper, but my gut says to go with RC Cannes



Kazan vs Fenerbahce

This is the tougher semifinal in my opinion and I think if they were playing the other two teams, then Kazan and Fener would be the finalists.

I have to go with Fenerbahce. Yes, they're loaded like last year and they came up short last year, but everyone agrees they look much stronger this season.

While the three other quarterfinal matches went to golden sets, Fener swept Rabita and made Rabita look like a terrible team (and Rabita are the World Club Champs!). There wasn't much that Mammadova, Osmokrovic, Zhukova, etc. could do about it.

Kazan has Gamova who can go on automatic kill mode, but Fenerbahce has players who can take over matches, too. And they have more of them!

More importantly, Fenerbahce looks like the better team. I'm probably not going out on a limb picking them.

Sounds like both Sonja and Becky had some serious issues with that team in Turkey. Glad to see they have landed on their feet with teams in PR. Caguas has to be the favorite with the addition of Newcombe.

She had been the leading scorer in the Turkish league this season. Too bad things didnt seem to work out there with her team.

Newcombe really cooled off (both in attempts and efficiency) once Perry joined the team, so hopefully she gets back to top form. The team is now out of contention for the play-offs and going to be relegated, so I'm not sure there's too much to read into them missing the last 2 matches.

Edit: I thought they had been paid in the end. If not, that really blows.

I remember Newcombe saying that when they went on weeks of losing, their salaries were delayed. But she also said that she got paid once the team won the next match. I'm sure she didn't go home totally empty handed, at least.

I know that Pursaklar was only a stepping stone. I hope she finds a better team in Europe next season.