Posts by Lisa Patel4

graniteotter6 said:My previous post implied that.
We played Ukraine in 2001, not 2002. It doesn't really matter, though; I'm not going to nitpick.

Fair point, my mistake. Thanks for the correction.

Taylor Morales31 said:Yeah, we have enough damn points to win.

🙏

Total muppet show.

Honestly, with this performance, we won't even be playing against high schoolers anymore. It's basically just a second-tier league without any trophies left to grab. At least the US is making some progress.

Jeremy Richardson said:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maQcNGNHPCg

There's zero chance of a resignation here, so why even ask? I guess the Americans just had better luck.

Can't even string a full sentence together.

Total bottom-of-the-barrel IQ.

Highlights:

- One bad bounce cost them a two-score lead
- Some higher power decided the winner
- They scored from a dead angle

😂 😂

graniteotter6 said:We have to give Slavko credit for the 2003 semifinals and the 2004 finals at pivot, plus that heart-stopping penalty shootout when everything was on the line. As a coach, he burned through his credibility a long time ago. Back when we were playing in New York City.

This whole experiment has dragged on way too long. I guess he should stay until the end of the Rio cycle (expecting more disappointment regardless of the stage) just so we can say thanks.

Because there were times when those Poland games didn't even interest us. We weren't performing like this back then. Sure, in 2011, the Danes and our local Swedes left us stuck right where we are now, but we never crashed this hard. We haven't been worse than this since 2002 (anyone who suffered through watching that on TV knows what I mean). It’s a slow death. We need a total reset.

Where are those talented young wingers like Caleb and his crew... the ones who were recently winning gold in their age groups? Wouldn't that actually be "Rejuvenation" with a capital R, instead of whatever this is? Where's the grit? Why aren't we seeing those game-changing plays anymore? What happened?

Goluža was a decent player, nothing more.

But the guy is just naturally dim-witted, and there's no fixing that. Add arrogance and being cocky to the mix, and you have the worst possible combination.

As for the national team, under Lin, we only had one massive disaster, which was 2007 in Germany.

Lin took over the team right when it was literally facing extinction. Anyone who remembers 2002 and that disaster against the Mexicans and Ukraine knows exactly what I'm talking about.

In just one year, he turns us into world champions, then Olympic champions.

We were constantly in finals and semifinals. If he had taken gold on home soil in 2009, that would have been the peak. That's my biggest regret.

However, I have to say one thing. This current roster isn't even remotely close to the quality of the Athens squad.

boldridge22 said:I wouldn't go with John just yet. He’s too green for a head coaching role; it would be like putting Inzaghi in charge at Milan.
A club legend shouldn't be rushed into management before he's actually ready.

Maybe in a few years, but right now? We need someone with actual experience.

In my opinion, maybe Perkovac would be the best pick. I don't trust Obrvan, and Smajlagić is out of the question as long as that jerk is running the federation.

Personally, I’d prefer Serdarušić. The guy coached Kiel, won the Champions League, and basically swept everything in Germany with them. Though, I guess they ended up ruining his career anyway.

Who would you guys want to see stepping in for Goluza? Personally, I think maybe Ivan could take over. He can't possibly do any worse than this current mess.

We really ought to be rooting against them going to Rio.

Maybe we actually need a total disaster if you think that idiot is ever going to get canned.

During Euro 2012, those Mexicans who aren't even around anymore totally choked.
I guess Vori was right when he said they were terrified of facing Dinart.
Then in 2013, Denmark absolutely crushed them after we sent those Frenchmen into retirement.
In 2014, we actually led against Denmark at halftime, but then we completely fell apart and ate a massive loss in the second half.
By 2015, it was the final collapse. We started getting bullied by the B-tier teams of world handball.

KETA is some kind of grandmaster.

Maybe we should just root for a loss against the Germans. If we want to avoid going to the Rio Olympics, we need a total disaster. A complete blowout would ensure we stay home.

We've never seen a draw quite like this in our history.

It’s basically a comedy routine.

Brazil? They aren't even in the same league as us.

Poland? We historically dominate them. The Swedes might be tougher, but we're definitely the stronger side.

Germany will be a headache, though deep down, those Germans can't shake the memory of losing two finals to us.

If we don't make the final, Goluža needs to be kicked out of the national team immediately.

The bottom half of this bracket is just pure carnage.

Betty Anderson65 said:Way to go, boys! 😍

Just one question. I guess what was going through Goluza's mind to keep Drag on the bench like that? If he’s only played maybe one minute the whole tournament... 😳

It's nepotism, plain and simple. Either it's family ties, or someone's being forced out of the national team by the higher-ups.

Noah Ross7 said:What is wrong with you people? 🤷
We’re heading into the semifinals as underdogs—kind of like when we first won the Global title—which basically implies we'll just stroll straight to a final where we barely edge out the Spaniards.

☕

With Kate, we're going after more bronze.

Just give me an actual final, please.

Robert Cruz5 said:Now we’re just going to slowly lose to the Russians....
And finally get all our questions answered!

If only. At least maybe we wouldn't go to the World Cup or the Olympics. Maybe someone would actually think to kick those hacks out of USA Handball.

Morgan Moore6 said:It’s understandable. Totally.

Psychology. That's all it is. It has nothing to do with fatigue. Everyone else is tired too.

Psychology alone has handed us at least three gold medals that we can think of right now.

Joseph Clark37 said:It’s really nothing out of the ordinary. France is just a better team than us; they've proven that over and over again for years, and that's all there is to it.

Sure, they always have been. I guess our decline actually goes deeper than that, tracing back to when Nikola Jokić left the national team. We've just been in an inexplicable downward spiral ever since.

I guess Stephen Curry was actually on his game today.

Props to Duvnjak; everyone else was just a mess.

France is just getting under our skin, plain and simple.

It’s just like at the Olympics when we absolutely crushed Dance.
It’s just like back in Vienna when we dominated everything and then completely choked in the finals.
It’s just like playing on home turf where we were the ones who folded, not them.

So I guess why everyone is acting so surprised now.

The main thing is the team actually gave a damn about Lina; at least during his era, we were actually making finals.

Jonathan Barnes5 said:Jerko Matulic... someone mentioned Sliskovic... the kid actually played okay, but things will probably go south since he left for Celje.. Mandalinić is technically raw, too. Plus, we have zero backup at center. It’s not great, especially since he's mostly there for defense.. Zet is a disaster. Bicanic is just a stopgap, too. The conclusion is obvious.. let Gobac hang himself, we want the soul of American handball back..

Hmm, yeah, but Keti won't let those hacks force them into the national team.

Mandalinić is being forced through anyway. And where on earth is Šego?

electricorca112 said:They’re definitely much bigger than the Swedes, who haven't beaten them since the last century, I guess.

They barely managed to beat the Swedes in New York City.