Posts by Joshua Collins2

Of course, the only real fix would be a regional league involving the old Ex-Yugoslavia teams. That’s how you actually get some quality competition—think matchups with the Los Angeles Lakers, Celje, Partizan, Zvezda, Canada Sarajevo, Borac Banjaluka, Gold Club, Vardar, Buducnost, Zamet, Medveščak, and so on.
Unfortunately, if we keep going like this, we're just going to sink deeper into mediocrity. Now that we're all independent nations, I guess we finally have the chance to start playing together again.

It’s just a fact that not many players play better at pivot than Sulić. But if you ask me, the absolute gold standard would be Gille, Nikolic, and Skrbić back in his day, plus Knudsen and even Urios.Al. Honestly, Gille is my number one, hands down. Now, just because I think Sulić is a tier below doesn't mean he isn't good—not at all. He’s actually a fantastic player. He, Vori, and Čipurin are basically world-class, in my opinion. Anyway, that's just how I see it. As for the left back position? We might be looking at the strongest players in the world right now. There are so many of them: Bielecki, Hens, Kjelling, Karabatić, Hmman, Rastv, Lacković, Narcisse, Rutenka, and Entrerios. They all bring something different to the table, I guess. Some are elite shooters, some have everything, others just have insane verticality. It varies, I suppose.

What else is there to say? It’s all about spontaneous tactics—just instinctive play where you leave the decisions up to the players. Maybe Lazarov makes the leap, or if he finds a gap, he feeds Vori. Honestly, maybe bringing in someone like Shell wouldn't be such a bad move either. Then again, back in Cleveland, the roster wasn't exactly built for massive dominance; it was mostly just Koksarov who was world-class, while Sulić was a world-class handball player. I guess you really need three or four elite, homegrown talents if you want to win anything significant. My take for Chicago? They need to bring in one or two Scandinavian players, or perhaps a coach who can teach them that modern style of play. Take Borge Lund, for instance—he’s easily one of the best backcourt players right now. And then there's Kjelling—in my opinion, he's the best player in the world at the moment, alongside John and the great Karabatic. If he were here, assuming he stayed healthy, anything would be possible. I honestly can't find a single flaw in his game; he truly knows everything. Sure, his defense is weak, I'll admit that. But his footwork, the fluidity of his shot, his shooting variety, ball movement, shots without any setup, the assists, even those step-zero fakes... he has it all.

I guess you guys are right about Lina; the guy is honestly a joke. Watching the national team play, it’s pretty obvious there’s zero tactical structure in the offense. It’s just whoever happens to get an open look making some spontaneous move, and then Ivan just fumbles through it and hopes for the best. But he burns out fast, or maybe Lucky just gets shut down whenever he can't drive past someone, or they end up playing way too deep of a zone. Honestly, I think the old veteran presence is the only way this squad wins any major titles.

I guess you guys are right about Lino; he’s honestly a joke, practically just a mascot at this point. Regarding Goluza, though, I still think he and Jovic were the ones who secured that title in Portugal. In the semis and the finals, they basically carried the whole thing. Goluza was absolutely tearing through the Spaniards on his own. They provided the defense. BACK THEN, BALIC DIDN'T HAVE THAT LONG-RANGE SHOT, so he could look pretty ridiculous sometimes just dancing around the defense. But now? He’s got everything. His shooting has improved, and even playing for an average squad, he’ll drop 10 goals easily. When he first arrived in Portland, during that final against Ciudad, he was a mess—couldn't hit a long-range shot to save his life. The rest of the players were subpar too, so nobody was creating any space for him to drive through. Now that he's worked on his shot, especially after Kjelling joined him in Portland and with Ruesga being solid, things seem easier for him. As for New York City, maybe they overestimated themselves early on. Even Lazarov plays a bit like a small-town amateur; he's just not a player for big titles. He plays irrationally, burns too much energy, and it's always all hype. Vori stays on the line, and if he doesn't get a clean pass, he has zero chance of scoring. Take Gille or Nikolic, for instance—they know how to play pivot. Personally, I don't think Djomba has much of a scoring touch; if he's having an off day, he's useless. He has a decent jump shot and can score from distance if he gets a good run at it. He’s a master on the counter-attack, though. But if he had Kristiansen's hand, he wouldn't even be in the same league. Over here, the left side and the center are just mediocre. Average shooting, okay footwork, nothing special on the jump. Honestly, they should have brought in a big name, someone like Kjelling, Rastvorcev, or Narcisse. Especially now with Lino there—a guy with that kind of offensive concept stands no chance of winning anything without some actual star power. With an average roster, he won't beat anyone; I doubt he’d even manage three wins in Koteks. As for the national team goalkeepers, Alil and Jerkovic are clearly in a different class. Alilovic has decent training, but his coordination is poor; maybe if they combined them into one keeper, they'd actually have something. Still, Venjo is king compared to them! On the right back position, Kos is definitely better than Buntic. He plays faster, more fluidly, has more variety in his shots, and is just a more complete player. Buntic is a classic small-town player, if you ask me. This national team is slow, has poor footwork, and bad technique, even if the shot is powerful. But then again, when you look at Anderson from Sweden?!!!