Honestly, let's call a spade a spade: Renault is largely to blame here. It’s just a fact. STR is even slower on the straights than Red Bull, actually 6.2 miles/h slower than Williams, Ferrari, Lotus, and Sauber.
While Red Bull was still faster than Toro Rosso, I really don't think their updates have landed yet. Once they do, I wouldn't be surprised if they pull more than half a second on STR. Also, word from the STR camp is that they've never built a car this good, so I'm thinking that usual gap between the two sister teams might not be quite as massive this year.
In my opinion, Renault has totally botched this one—it's not going to be an easy comeback from this mess. They only burned through two fewer tokens than Ferrari did, but they look miles behind, whereas Ferrari has closed the gap to Mercedes significantly regarding the engine, which both Lauda and Wolff mentioned during the races.
Oh, listen to this guy... What does it matter if the "best driver on the planet is behind the wheel"? It’s not like Fernando Alonso is going to magically make up four seconds. We all saw him struggle to claw back even half a second during his time at Ferrari, so thinking he can bridge a four-second gap is just wishful thinking.
As for McLaren Honda, there really isn't much to be surprised about. Both sides—and especially Honda—have been in a complete tailspin over the last seven or eight years. Honda's V8 was easily the worst engine on the grid, so I honestly don't see how they could ever hope to catch up to Mercedes.
And when it comes to Ferrari and the bunch of amateurs running things over in Maranello, the facts speak for themselves. They are the oldest, most decorated, and most prestigious team in Formula 1, so please, let's be real here 🙂
What a way to end things... and here we were, getting all excited about it 🙂
Looking back at those last few plays, I feel like Vori is constantly being targeted. You just don't see this kind of officiating at charity matches, let alone at the World Cup. And seriously, how can you fail to score when you're playing with a two-man advantage? Come on! We’re heading into matchups against France and Denmark while we're banged up and dealing with injuries. If we actually manage to pull off a run to the finals, I'll personally bow down to the gods, but honestly? I'm pretty sure we won't be around after we face Belarus.
Mark Foster said:Well, I believe healing can still take place even after His passing. You really ought to spend some time reading through the Bible... specifically the Epistles and things of that nature. It’s often said that the amount of healing you receive is directly tied to the depth of your faith... what else can one truly say about such a thing? 🙂 After all, why would God choose to perform a healing specifically for you?
And if healing is so easy through faith, why aren't there millions of hungry children being fed in Africa?🙂
I honestly feel like we should have shown up looking sharp in ties and everything, especially since those guys from the next state over decided to play it all polite with how they handled the handouts😁
The Spanish aren't even that good; we were just terrible in the second half. I honestly haven't seen that much technical incompetence in my life. We actually had a couple of decent chances to catch them on a fast break, but we kept slowing things down because it was obvious we had zero solutions on the floor. It was just bad, plain and simple. And man, Bailey was a disaster today—though honestly, his attitude was even worse than his actual performance.
Leaving Struck and Lacy out of the second half was a total nightmare of a decision. You've got to stop rotating players like an idiot...
Balić definitely needs to be on the floor, and honestly, he should be the focal point of the offense. But I’ve noticed he plays way better when the game is winding down and things get intense. Lately, whenever he comes off the bench to close out a lead, he just makes too many unforced errors. He’s got this nonchalant attitude, like he couldn't care less about the stakes. If he had blown those first couple of shots early on, the coach should have pulled him to catch his breath and brought him back around the 45 or 50-minute mark. Instead, they leave Štreleka and Laco in there. How is Čupić supposed to grind through an entire game without a breather while the coach pulls Štreleka to sub in what is objectively the worst American player in the league right now?
We really missed those lightning-fast transition plays from Duvnjak; that’s exactly how we used to tear them apart. And who was always the first one sprinting down the court to finish the break? Štrlek! Who was our go-to scorer whenever the fast break wasn't working? Lac! So where are those two right now? Sitting on the damn bench. 🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂
Thomas Harris97 said:Honestly, I'd rather we lose now than get absolutely crushed by five points later on. It’s actually pretty fascinating to me how people are reacting. Someone already pointed the finger at Balić being the main reason for this, while acting like Kopljar, Duvnjak, Goluza, and Gobac didn't even step onto the court. Americans, man... it's wild.
In my book, Goluza and Gobac are automatically taking the blame here—that part isn't up for debate. As for Kopljar, he basically wasn't even playing for us today, so I don't even count him in the equation. Duvnjak actually looked decent during the first half; he was finding those nice lanes on the fast breaks, but he definitely lost his rhythm in the second. All things considered, we had them right where we wanted them, but once you pull a few of your key starters from that first half and swap in different guys, you really can't expect much more than this.
Honestly, the refs aren't even our biggest issue here; we’re just making way too many unforced technical errors. I mean, that was painful to watch. The game was right there for the taking—instead of us running up with a 3 or 4 point lead, Kopljar hands the ball straight to the Spaniards, letting them claw back to within one, and then Shane Valdes loses the ball immediately after. Later on, when it's tied at 21:21, Kopljar comes in and throws a terrible pass to Čupić, and just like that, they snatch the win from us.
You just can't play like this. And frankly, I am completely fed up with Balica. He’s acting so arrogant and nonchalant, like he doesn't give a damn. He’s clearly frustrated and agitated, and it feels like he's dragging the whole squad down with him. It doesn't help that Duvnjak had an off night either, leaving us without any decent rotation at that position, but the fact that Lac and Štrlek aren't seeing any floor time is 🤦
It’s wild how many technical timeouts we went through; I can't even recall the exact number from that one 🤮
The guy lost some massive points because of that "I don't give a damn" attitude of his. One player was basically just a walking distraction on the court, and another was playing terribly—and don't even get me started on the other guy, where the hell was he supposed to be out there?! Honestly, what a complete mess🙂
Like the person above mentioned, you really need to bring fish into your diet and make sure you're getting those healthy fats. If you're eating white bread, try swapping it out for whole grain or something more substantial. On top of all that, get yourself down to the gym—especially if you're dealing with high stress levels or if you happen to be a smoker. Focus on hitting your protein goals with things like eggs, cottage cheese, or lean meats, and just make sure you balance everything out with plenty of veggies. Oh, and don't skip breakfast! Go for some muscle-building fuel, or better yet, a nice bowl of oatmeal. Grab some bananas and nuts too. Just don't go overboard right at the start and end up gaining weight unintentionally; if you stick to this, the results are guaranteed! 🙂
