Posted by A while ago I posted a story about the 1992 Brazilian Olympic Gold Medal winning sideout offence. I made the observation that there were many similarities. Below you can see the comparison. But before that, some notes.
For those who don’t know, the starting line up was setter Ricardo (#17), opposite Andre (#9), outsides Giba (#7) and Dante (#18) and middles Gustavo (#13) and Andre Heller (#4).
Compared with 1992 it is a simplified, as are all offences compared with that time, but while simplified it is also supercharged; faster, more dynamic, more precise. It is hard to say what it can be compared to in current volleyball. What it can be called is fun to watch.
The matches watched and clipped were the semi final and final of the 2004 Olympics. They dominated both matches, the only set they lost being the result of intervention by the referees. The first standout point is the setter, Ricardo who is playing about as well as a human being can play volleyball. The second is the reception. They are still facing some standing float serves but the net tape rule is already in place, so the serving is pretty good, their reception is very, very good. They are in system nearly all the time, and when they are not, they mostly are (see point 1). A few notes… the sideout percentages are the modified version, ie excluding service errors.
P1 – Mod SO% – 56%: They had a lot of trouble in this rotation in the final, siding at at barely over 50% including service errors. If they had sided out better, they would would have won even more easily so perhaps it is for the best. To watch is how much of the court Sergio takes, and how few pipes they set, which is surprising considering the pipe hitter in this rotation is the greatest of all time.
P6 – Mod SO% – 65%: The standard set up is first tempo behind. The ball to Andre over the first tempo must have driven blockers insane. And when they ran the pipe out of that was time to give up and go home.
P5 – Mod SO% – 64%: Simple stuff, mostly to position 4 with the long quick to set up the ball behind.
P4 – Mod SO% – 80%: A rest for Dante before he had to go back to serve.
P3 – Mod SO% – 75%: More first tempo behind, this time with Gustavo, but this time to open up the pipe and position 4.
P2 – Mod SO% – 80%: More work for Giba with most balls going to him. He is up to the task.
My suggestion is to watch Ricardo in slomo. It is a thing of beauty.
Tagged Volleyball History, 2004 Olympic Volleyball, Matches From History
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