Betty Sanders said:They’ve got their moments and they fight hard. Let 'em go at it until the end.
I'm not gonna dig for reasons why they lost in the playoffs, but they did a pretty damn good job showing us what would happen if they actually ended up in the Elite Eight.
I gotta say, I wasn't exactly blown away by the Frenchmen. They try to muscle their way through everything; sure, they're beasts one-on-one and they caught us on a couple of fast breaks, but as far as cohesive play against a set defense goes? Nothing. Their perimeter shooting is also pretty shaky right now, which is basically the only reason we didn't let them run away with it.
Solid result considering how much of a mess things were. Especially since they ripped through our defense three times while we were playing shorthanded with just two guys out 🤦 But whatever, we just had some jitters, finally found our rhythm, and managed to keep it to a one-possession game.
It actually played out exactly how I feared it would. They’re just letting them shoot from deep while we can't get anything going inside. They aren't allowing any assists to the wings or any entries to the big men. If our perimeter shooting doesn't heat up—which would force them to adjust their defense—they're walking away with an 8-point win.
Honestly, I'm just glad the whole system hasn't completely fallen apart yet. 🙂
Right now, I’m mostly terrified of France’s suffocating 6-0 zone defense. They'll basically force us to settle for nothing but outside shots. Since our shooters are just two inexperienced kids like Henigman and Grebenc, Omeyer is going to tear us apart. It all really comes down to whether Mackovsek is actually dialed in from deep. So, I'm crossing my fingers for some massive saves from our keeper, then hopefully we can punish them on the break.
I haven't watched anyone else because nothing was on TV and I don't have the patience to deal with crappy internet streams. Honestly, I’d give the Americans a 60% shot at winning. It mostly comes down to their experience winning medals, regardless of how good the Norwegians look right now. There's just a massive difference between stepping onto the field after years of winning championships versus someone whose only recent "training" has been scrolling through adult sites.
As for our guys, I’ll give them a 20% chance. It’s not even about talent—we actually have depth and two solid starting lineups for the first time ever, which lets us keep the pace high. Our odds are low because of the refs, the home crowd pressure, and mainly our own mental block when facing the giants who, much like the Norwegians, have a history of grabbing hardware. When it comes to the bronze medal fight, there are three main wildcards, but I’m giving our team a 50% chance regardless of who they face. Having a rest day on our side while the opponent has to grind through will definitely work in our favor.
Alright folks, we’re up by 4! We came out swinging in the first 12 minutes, running up a 10-5 lead. Then we hit a bit of a lull, they caught up, and it was just anyone's game within a couple of points. Man, we absolutely tore them apart—we were on fire out there. The biggest thing, though? Saric couldn't stop a single shot to save his life, so they pulled him five minutes before the buzzer.
I’m trying to stay positive here, especially since Qatar is burning through their starters way faster than we are. But hey, this could swing either way at any second.
Anyone got a solid link for live scores (not a stream) that won't murder my RAM with all those ads? Just want to check in on your game every once in a while.
The Swedes are playing out of their minds right now, they’re even up by one at the half.
But you know they’re gonna try every dirty trick in the book to pull away before the buzzer, depends on whether the refs can actually keep them in check.
And just like that, the Norwegians are in the top 4... I’ve got mixed feelings about them, honestly, especially since they actually lost to us in the qualifiers. If the roles were reversed, we would've been handed a wild card on a silver platter. The fact that they even made the semifinals just goes to show how absolutely broken the qualification systems are in this sport.
Casey White13 said:Handball is king; they’re always building something for the future. 🙏
and those scheduling issues come from having too many tournaments...
That could just be empty rhetoric, honestly. Not with Vujin, though—and I'm not out here playing lawyer for him. You can literally see how many young guys he's bringing up and how much playing time he's actually giving them. I'm telling you, no coach in Canada would ever dream of doing that.