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Post by heavenkit on Aug 5, 2021 8:54:50 GMT -5
Russia suffered their only lost in the pool play to France 3-1.
France also beat Russia 3-1 in VNL.
France is definitely the favorite going to the match.
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Post by volleyballbro (guru) on Aug 5, 2021 13:50:23 GMT -5
no they are not
russia is currently -170 france +124
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Post by archiepelago on Aug 6, 2021 6:39:01 GMT -5
I think Russia has the edge in this and France is the underdogs.
France used their olympic roster in that games against Russia in the VNL. While Russia was missing Mikaylov, Iakovlev and Kobzar.
In their preliminary game, France was on the down hill trend and people are actually counting them out. That could have been a psychological factor against Russia. They were over confident. Going to this Gold medal match, Russia will be prepared.
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Post by Disc808 on Aug 6, 2021 9:03:55 GMT -5
I would give the slight edge to Russia as well, but I think France could certainly take this. I'm very glad Tillie decided to roll with Clevenot, as he's such a crafty attacker with great reception as well. I would say he's even underrated in the attacking category and he's making up a little for Ngapeth. Don't get me wrong Ngapeth has been solid still. Also, I really like how Patry can work around the block and find ways to score efficiently. This match might be won at the net, but serve/pass will still be key for either team.
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Post by midnightblue on Aug 6, 2021 9:06:29 GMT -5
Go France!
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Post by kurtndiego on Aug 6, 2021 11:19:07 GMT -5
For the record I think Ngapeth is over-rated.
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Post by Disc808 on Aug 6, 2021 11:27:29 GMT -5
For the record I think Ngapeth is over-rated. Do you mean in general, or him in his current form? I think most people who have been paying attention know that Ngapeth hasn’t been as electric or productive offensively this year. But he’s been solid enough for France in the Olympics. I mean I personally haven’t seen anyone hyping him up or overrating his play this year lol.
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Post by Spike Town on Aug 6, 2021 11:42:22 GMT -5
For the record I think Ngapeth is over-rated. Do you mean in general, or him in his current form? I think most people who have been paying attention know that Ngapeth hasn’t been as electric or productive offensively this year. But he’s been solid enough for France in the Olympics. I mean I personally haven’t seen anyone hyping him up or overrating his play this year lol. I agree. I like his game a lot though. IMO he would literally start on every other team at the Olympics. That’s pretty good My only knock would be a consistency issue in recent years and the odd emotional meltdown.
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Post by vbcoltrane on Aug 6, 2021 12:20:53 GMT -5
Looking forward to this. I want France to win -- they're a good NT, but have never really achieved on the biggest of big stages. I guess making the final is already way better than they've ever done -- they're guaranteed at least a silver. But, I want them to win gold. Also, coach Tillie seems like a real decent guy who has been around forever.
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Post by vbcoltrane on Aug 6, 2021 12:21:59 GMT -5
For the record I think Ngapeth is over-rated. Do you mean in general, or him in his current form? I think most people who have been paying attention know that Ngapeth hasn’t been as electric or productive offensively this year. But he’s been solid enough for France in the Olympics. I mean I personally haven’t seen anyone hyping him up or overrating his play this year lol. Yeah, he's just a piece of the puzzle in this Olympics, not the focus.
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Post by Disc808 on Aug 6, 2021 12:40:03 GMT -5
Also, a couple of us have noticed that Kliuka isn’t looking quite as terminal as we would expect. For reference, he’s hitting .285 on the tournament so far which is actually only slightly below Volkov. So not the worst numbers but I expected a little more from Kliuka. At VNL he hit .330 btw.
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Post by volleyballbro (guru) on Aug 6, 2021 14:04:23 GMT -5
I would give the slight edge to Russia as well, but I think France could certainly take this. I'm very glad Tillie decided to roll with Clevenot, as he's such a crafty attacker with great reception as well. I would say he's even underrated in the attacking category and he's making up a little for Ngapeth. Don't get me wrong Ngapeth has been solid still. Also, I really like how Patry can work around the block and find ways to score efficiently. This match might be won at the net, but serve/pass will still be key for either team. clevenot hit some ridiculous cross court bombs against the triple against poland the man is on fire right now
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Post by Disc808 on Aug 6, 2021 14:09:21 GMT -5
I would give the slight edge to Russia as well, but I think France could certainly take this. I'm very glad Tillie decided to roll with Clevenot, as he's such a crafty attacker with great reception as well. I would say he's even underrated in the attacking category and he's making up a little for Ngapeth. Don't get me wrong Ngapeth has been solid still. Also, I really like how Patry can work around the block and find ways to score efficiently. This match might be won at the net, but serve/pass will still be key for either team. clevenot hit some ridiculous cross court bombs against the triple against poland the man is on fire right now Yessss and I’m living for it. I feel like because of his craftiness, it really does keep the defenders guessing. And he’s got some really nice angles that he can hit. Overall, I’m excited to see him but also how Russia can counter because Clevenot has been a big component of the French attack.
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Post by vinnielopes on Aug 6, 2021 22:17:35 GMT -5
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Post by basil on Aug 6, 2021 22:30:16 GMT -5
I’ll be interested to see the blocking matchups and whether the Russian coach changes anything from the first time around. If Mikhaylov keeps playing like a machine and one of the Russian OHs can get something going, that will be key.
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