8 posts shown.
copperharbor59 said:You laid it out pretty well, except I think Babic is a complete idiot. With an attack this sluggish, we just can't compete... there aren't even any fast breaks because, naturally, the goalkeeper just rolls the ball right to himself and wanders off... then you've got three defenders just wandering aimlessly around. We didn't manage to move the ball quickly from wing to wing once during the whole match (especially with two pivots and our goal left wide open). Basically, the defense looked okay here and there, but the offense was a disaster.
It’s all still standing. I didn't even mention the wings because they barely touched the ball. Just a few years ago, we had one of the fastest transitions—counterattacks and semi-counters that actually won us games—but that’s gone now. Okay, maybe I'm being a bit too soft on Babic, but I still wouldn't go as far as saying he's a total moron of a coach. Perhaps he's more just ill-suited for it, since he hasn't been able to adapt to the ultra-fast style of play that's becoming the standard. From that perspective, he's a failure. But, with his decades-old style of play, we did beat the Spanish women and took the Norwegians into overtime. I suppose that's some kind of silver lining, even if it's a weak one. So, personally, I won't say he's a complete bust of a coach.
Kenneth Clark18 said:That’s true, but next year we’re hosting the championship. They’ve been teasing it for four years now, and the pressure is going to be insane. Everyone will be expecting, demanding, and begging for home-turf gold—let's not kid ourselves. I honestly worry we might see a total mental breakdown next year.
Next year is going to be quite the show, I suppose.😁
Taking a page out of the French playbook, I expect the final to be played at Maksimir. Though, obviously, without us being part of it.
All joking aside, I see people bringing up the whole Gobac situation. That issue feels even bigger than the mess involving Mamic in soccer, mostly because we actually have plenty of young talent (I wouldn't agree with the sentiment above if there was a genuine shortage of good players, at least not entirely), and since we're a handball-strong nation, everything just looks like we're "somewhere in the mix," still searching, needing a little polish... and then it just fades away because 95% of people don't even follow handball. To be fair, I don't follow these championships like I used to either—maybe one game a year or a local club match, but nothing consistent.
But whether it’s because they have Gobac aiming for the stars, or because expectations are always unrealistically high, or because we're playing under leaders with questionable credibility, things still look decent enough. I don't think it's necessarily a good thing that it works this way, but it does show we have solid youth and a steady stream of potential. That should, at the very least, point to good work being done by the small clubs and coaches. That’s one silver lining in the whole mess.
Both right wings lost them, both of them. But looking at the big picture, this whole tournament has been an offensive disaster. It’s basically what happens when you combine Dusty’s exhaustion, a mix of inexperienced kids, a few mediocre players, and that typical American mentality. We had two amazing years with one incredible generation about 13 or 14 years ago, and ever since then, people have been obsessed with nothing but finals and gold medals. Realistically, we’ve never actually been at the absolute summit of handball, unlike the Americans over the last few years. Even with this tournament—where we showed up with a mountain of injuries and a roster of rookies when everyone expected us to just scrape a quarterfinal—we somehow fought through overtime all the way to the final. Yet, despite that miracle, the Americans are already talking about winning gold. That’s why we have such choker tendencies, why we miss those 7-meter shots in the dying seconds, and why our national sports scene is generally a mess. Every tiny bit of success gets blown out of proportion by the media and "experts" who try to claim we're the greatest ever. To truly reach the top, we've been missing a world-class goalkeeper for a long time—something every elite team has. We also lack those tough outside shooters with the guts and the brains to step up when it counts (kudos to Mamic, but you can't pull a kid out twice in a row to save him), and we need a top-tier coach. And honestly, Babic isn't nearly as bad as people make him out to be; he's just a quiet, traditional guy who doesn't know how to give a post-game analysis without making those statements that get him mocked. He's far from being a coach capable of leading a championship squad, but he's not a total amateur either.
It's a shame Jotic didn't get a shot. As for Cindric... man, even without him, the offense was uninspired, so having him probably wouldn't have changed much. I also feel bad that nobody else had the stones to take that blame penalty. But whatever, if he had made it, it would have been a different story, though I don't really think it was anyone's specific fault.
All in all, I’m honestly surprised by what we achieved given everything. Mamic proved he’s got a strong head on his shoulders and will eventually develop more players. If young Pavlovic can stay injury-free for a year, we’ll have plenty of young talent coming up. We just need to fix these two or three crisis positions and build on this; maybe we'll see another gold medal in the next five years.
As for the tournament itself, it was a bit of a nightmare to watch. Those fast goals straight from the center after a defensive stop, playing without a goalie, plus the usual "whatever the ref feels like" officiating made it hard to sit through. The game is basically devolving into fast breaks and semi-fast breaks; trying to run any kind of structured play is just stupid because you waste too much energy. I don't know, I found it pretty bad, even though I usually prefer a solid defense. But hell, how can you have a good defense if you don't have seven sprinters on the court?
Gregory Ramos3 said:Give me a break...
I posted this on another thread once: over the last decade, out of 39 possible medals, the quartet of Denmark, Spain, France, and America has snatched up 27... Tomorrow, that number hits 30 out of 42. And for America, this marks our ninth medal.
For a nation that basically has one decent handball club playing maybe six or seven high-stakes games a year, and virtually zero actual investment in the sport, calling this a huge success feels like an understatement. It’s borderline Science Fiction. ☕
Okay, so?
What does that have to do with the fact that every single time we have a fantastic tournament, we follow it up by playing completely aimless, panicked handball and ultimately choking? What, does having money mean we can just play well enough to hit the semifinals or finals and call it a day? 🤷
At this rate, people will start claiming we don't even know how to play handball and that we're only winning through sheer luck and some weird fluke. Is that you, Lino?
Jeremy Brown43 said:It’s interesting, I wonder what the Germans, Russians, Norwegians, or Poles would say to that. Why are they playing 🤷☕
And why are you acting offended when you know I'm right? I don't get it. Have you actually watched these last few tournaments or the games we keep dropping? It's just this total lack of identity, this lethargy... shaky hands the second things go south, rushing everything, and that constant "criss-crossing left, aimlessly poking at the middle" style of play. I guess for the last four years, we've basically been labeled the "young squad," always getting worn down regardless of how everyone else is maintaining the same tempo through the tournament.
One thing is losing a game while at least showing some fight. It's another thing entirely to fold like a cheap lawn chair every single damn time, which is exactly what we're doing. When was the last time we were knocked out after actually putting up a fantastic performance? Something where you could say, "Alright, respect." But yesterday? How many fast breaks did we mess up? How many loose balls did we fail to control on defense? How many easy goals did we score versus how many the Danes put up? We play these matches like cowards; there's no composure, and by the fifth minute, we're already panicking and forcing plays, forcing them, forcing them. And don't even get me started on the guys who have been playing for years and should be the core leaders—they either push too hard or they just straight-up choke.
Gregory Ramos3 said:Damn rhetoric. 🤦
So if we win three golds in a row, it won't mean anything to you because there hasn't been any progress? ☕
First, we actually need to win three golds in a row. ☕
There is progress, technically. A few tournaments ago, we actually started running decent fast breaks, and I guess this was probably Alilović's best tournament yet. But there's no progress in terms of mindset or how we approach these games.
Walter Palmer3 said:Unfortunately, we've heard this a thousand times before. It always stays just words.
Given the circumstances, Bronze's performance was a success, but I don't think the players should be heading home celebrating a massive triumph. For an American squad like this, what they did was basically the bare minimum. And okay, they hit that minimum; we didn't embarrass ourselves, especially considering half the roster was sidelined.
But honestly, ignoring the glaringly obvious issues and the repetitive hurdles standing in our way of winning gold—problems that seem to pop up every single time—is just plain crazy.
Exactly! You can be satisfied with how the tournament went, but you shouldn't be happy with the state of this team, especially when we see the exact same patterns repeating year after year.
Susan Miller79 said:Tournament summary: the hype and media atmosphere leading up to the World Cup were honestly a disaster. So, grabbing bronze is actually a fantastic result, and there’s really no reason to go after Gobac, Goluža, or especially the players themselves. Even without a major Balić, we stayed among the elite—top four in the world. We have continuity now, though the real question is whether we could beat the Spaniards tomorrow... they are the home team, so I suspect they might just crush Dance. Congrats on the bronze.
It seems like we start every single tournament without any real euphoria or much interest until we actually clear the group stage. Then, suddenly, everyone cares. This year, all that constant chatter about Balić made the vibe even worse. And let's be honest, Balić hasn't contributed much over the last few years in high-pressure situations, like when we played Mexico in Mexico, France in London, or Dance last night. Whatever Duvnjak was forcing through would have yielded the same results if Balić had been playing. The truth is, we aren't mentally tough enough when facing a strong, decisive opponent. France wasn't some insurmountable barrier; it's more like we just crumble until the opponent eventually wears us down. I can't even remember the last time things got tense enough for us to actually get knocked out. We just freeze up; we don't have solutions for anything, neither on defense nor offense.
This first medal? Honestly, I couldn't care less. We could have easily been knocked out back when we played France, so this doesn't change much. Props to the guys, sure—we've been near the top for years, but we aren't *the* top. We won't be either for many years to come unless everyone gets their heads straight together.
I’m really hoping we can turn this around and actually finish in 4th place. ☕
Because at the end of the day, it's all about mental toughness. Every top national team has players playing in the best leagues in the world; they’re all grinding through 6, 7, or 8 games in a two-week span, so the fatigue is pretty much universal. And every single time, we absolutely crush it—we have our most talented roster ever during the group stages, play great, and then when we hit that first serious opponent and beat them? That's the peak. We feel like we're world champions, only to get steamrolled by whoever comes next. Then we settle for some bronze medal, leave the tournament with one or maybe two losses, and everyone starts talking about how impressive we were. We try to comfort ourselves by saying it was just one bad game, but honestly, damn it, one bad game has been our pattern for eight years now.
Maybe getting slapped around by a non-top tier team would actually do us some good for once. Personally, I'm pretty fed up with these "glorious" bronze medals, "honorary" matches, or silver medals with a "golden glow."
Credit where credit is due, the guys have done well, and these are solid tournament results, but it’s a mental game. How can you dismantle Dan by 11 points and then immediately fall apart against the Frenchman, or completely exhaust the Frenchman only to crumble against the Dane... it's the same cycle we've seen since the last time we actually sat at the top. To be honest, I can't even remember the last time we actually staged a comeback—you know, where we started poorly but instead of just folding, we actually turned the tide. This whole routine of crossing left and just hammering Copeland right down the middle is getting old; I think I could probably stop at least 2 or 3 of those ten attacks myself.