Post by StanfordFan on Aug 21, 2008 21:01:54 GMT -5
Ok, so I went to the China v. Brazil match last night as well. Face value of ticket--200 RMB (about $30). Prices for scalped tickets--2,500 RMB and up. Should I have sold my ticket, yes.
The game was lame. The crowd was extremely fired up for China (as expected) in the first game, but died down after a while.
China held fast and was mostly ahead in game 1, but let down big time at the end. Same in game 2. Game 3 was an absolute disaster.
So here's my take: China was suffering badly. Not sure what happened to Feng Kun, but she set horribly for the first part of game 1, and then got substituted out for the rest of the game. At one point, she set the libero! Everybody just sort of looked around. Someone has mentioned that she is injured. I suspect her condition is worse than we think.
China's backup setter is terrible. Can't move. Can't set. Don't know how many times she set a ball that China had to dink over.
China's libero should pack it up and go home. Terrible terrible.
I'm actually remarkably surprised China was close in games 1 and 2, as they seemed totally in disarray on the court.
Now Brazil--I was really looking forward to seeing Brazil live for the first time. Generally speaking, those girls sky extremely high (higher than anyone else I've seen at these games) and pound hard. Mari was awesome, as was Sheilla. I was not as impressed with Fofao.
Overall, however, I was expecting some machine, given how they steamrolled everyone so far. BUT, Brazil actually makes a lot of mistakes. There's a lot of attititude on the court amongst the players. I didn't feel like they functioned as a real team. I was surprised that the team wasn't more emotional. Just sort of cold and calculated--taking care of business.
I think US will have too much to handle with Brazil. However, if the US is on its game and Brazil is slipping (as it did in Game 1 against China), there's a possibility of an upset.
Also, last night on television, CCTV did a semi-tribute to Lang Ping and said that everyone hopes she can take the US to gold.
That's it for now. Headed to men's semis today. Will report later.
The game was lame. The crowd was extremely fired up for China (as expected) in the first game, but died down after a while.
China held fast and was mostly ahead in game 1, but let down big time at the end. Same in game 2. Game 3 was an absolute disaster.
So here's my take: China was suffering badly. Not sure what happened to Feng Kun, but she set horribly for the first part of game 1, and then got substituted out for the rest of the game. At one point, she set the libero! Everybody just sort of looked around. Someone has mentioned that she is injured. I suspect her condition is worse than we think.
China's backup setter is terrible. Can't move. Can't set. Don't know how many times she set a ball that China had to dink over.
China's libero should pack it up and go home. Terrible terrible.
I'm actually remarkably surprised China was close in games 1 and 2, as they seemed totally in disarray on the court.
Now Brazil--I was really looking forward to seeing Brazil live for the first time. Generally speaking, those girls sky extremely high (higher than anyone else I've seen at these games) and pound hard. Mari was awesome, as was Sheilla. I was not as impressed with Fofao.
Overall, however, I was expecting some machine, given how they steamrolled everyone so far. BUT, Brazil actually makes a lot of mistakes. There's a lot of attititude on the court amongst the players. I didn't feel like they functioned as a real team. I was surprised that the team wasn't more emotional. Just sort of cold and calculated--taking care of business.
I think US will have too much to handle with Brazil. However, if the US is on its game and Brazil is slipping (as it did in Game 1 against China), there's a possibility of an upset.
Also, last night on television, CCTV did a semi-tribute to Lang Ping and said that everyone hopes she can take the US to gold.
That's it for now. Headed to men's semis today. Will report later.