Posts by boldhound8

Oh please, who gives a damn about some pathetic little hand-raising vote?🤮

Get it together, boys😁

frozentiger6 said:I've been calling it right so far, so I figured I'd chime in... 😁

We need to run a deeper defense against Poland. They’re a squad that absolutely falls apart when you shut down their backcourt. You saw it yesterday against France—they just have no clue how to function once their backline is cut off. It reminds me of our old days when everything revolved around the backcourt play; when we went up against teams like France, they played just like these Polish guys. We should be defending like the French do: just cut off those backs and half the job is done.

We’re playing some seriously garbage 3-2-1 defense in this tournament. My gut tells me Coach Červar has everyone set to a 6-0, and honestly, nobody has run a decent 3-2-1 in ages. At this point, 5-1 or 3-2-1 are just things he throws out to change the tempo when the 6-0 isn't working.

Look, 6-0 is fine if we actually execute it, but Poland is going to murder us from outside if we don't start stepping out to challenge their shots. There is zero point in sitting in a 6-0 defense, hunkered down at the 6-meter line like you're playing volleyball and the net is blocking you from moving forward.🙄 You have to step out on the shooter, especially against these 6'7" giants. Stepping out won't punish them with a drive like what Balić used to do—and let's face it, guys like him are one in a million.🙂
Yesterday, there were a few times where we stepped out perfectly, but then we spent way too much time letting them shoot uncontested from 7 or 8 meters. If that shot doesn't hit the block—and let's be real, a block might only touch 1 or 2 shots out of 10, especially against these tall guys with massive jump shots—that’s a 90% goal. Even with a goalie putting up 18 saves and a 45% stop rate, that's still a disaster...

It’s such a waste giving up cheap goals like that, especially since we don't have those heavy-hitting outside shooters we used to have. We have to fight tooth and nail for every single goal. It's a shame because all you really need to do is step up into their chest and hold them. Either you stop the goal, or you just piss them off with constant interceptions and fouls that wear them down and make them lose their cool. That’s exactly what France does to us every single year. Plus, the ref will blow the whistle way faster if you're aggressive, rather than letting them dance around the perimeter, crossing and combining while you're frantically jumping at some monkey trying to get a block.😁

If we actually play our game against Danse, we’re gonna absolutely wreck them. The only problem is we never actually play the way we're supposed to.😁

It’s gonna be a grind from the opening whistle to the end, but honestly, I think the odds are in our favor. We just can't let them tear through our keeper—basically, Mirko needs to stay glued to Szmal and everything will fall into place. Plus, the 4:30 PM kickoff is perfect; the later we play, the better. And even if we make it to the finals, we won't be playing anyway since we'll be getting a solid 22 or 24 hours of rest...

nimblesailor3 said:Anyway, did I just lose my damn voice for no reason tonight, or was the audio actually cutting out during the broadcast too? 😁

The audio was definitely glitching🙂 Even though the arena looks insane, the stands look totally trashed somehow😁

placidfalcon4 said:🤣

Ugh, this game is honestly so damn uninspired.🤣

I just gotta say, it sucks that we don't have any actual tactical flow. Like, the ball movement isn't fast enough, and we aren't utilizing wing entries at all—which is a massive waste because whenever we actually pull it off, maybe two or three times, we create an opening and score. We’re totally lacking those set plays for when we're up a man, too. Our power play is pathetic. We basically just rely on pure individual talent to scrape by, and while it works, as a fan, it drives me crazy. I wish we had some rehearsed combinations for when our style gets shut down (like those last few minutes today, or that final against the Frenchmen last year where we went 15 minutes without a single goal).

But hey, if nobody else sees this because they're too busy riding the high of the win and hyping up Červar, then whatever. If people don't care because "we won anyway," fine. But mark my words: when we finally lose a game, that's when everyone is going to start caring.
😁

placidfalcon4 said:I don't give a damn about the formations, the line-ups, or any of that tactical bullshit.🤷

Your old post was fine, but I wasn't quoting that one—I was hitting you on the one where you said the attack is totally hopeless.

Exactly.😁 Especially when we're playing with an extra man.😁
And as for the other team... I couldn't care less about them. I'm not sitting here analyzing how Austria plays.😁

+3 is actually kind of low considering those Danes didn't defend a single thing... plus, Hvidt has to hit his numbers, he’s probably dreaming that he'll finally pull off a few saves 😠 We gotta keep this momentum going, we've got them right where we want them 🙂

Today really shows just how much we're lacking in the offensive department without Duvnjak—3/3 shooting, drawing a penalty, and serving a 2-minute penalty 🙏

A total dream of a half😍
Seriously, if he hadn't completely lost his head, even a mediocre performance would have been better than this mess.🙂

Mirko is absolutely crushing it, and honestly, that’s the whole secret sauce right there.😁

Terry Rodriguez41 said:Ugh, the hype right now is just ridiculous. Typical. I’m not feeling this at all... everyone needs to chill. Stop acting like we already won the gold. Other teams play handball too, you know.🤣

Tell me about it.😁 Don't even get me started on how everyone is suddenly worshipping Charles.😁
Yesterday they were dragging him through the mud, and today he’s some kind of saint. The only difference between the last two games and today is that Alilovic shot 45% and Buntic dropped 7 or 8 goals, whatever.😁

Everything else is exactly the same. Our offense is still totally clueless, and our defense is basically a revolving door. That offensive part drives me absolutely insane—especially when we actually have a man advantage. Every single opponent knows exactly how to exploit us when we're down a player, but when we have the extra man? We can't capitalize for the life of us. Even when we do manage to find an opening, we mess it up so badly that Cupic ends up taking a shot from an 85-degree angle.🙄
I’d love to see the actual stats on how many goals we let in while shorthanded versus how many we actually score when we have the advantage....

Look, fine, it was okay. We actually had more than two players who looked like they belonged on the court, so we looked like a national team instead of some local high school squad. If we want to win, we need to pull off a game like this again, and the Americans better be heading home with a 4 or 5 point loss too.😉

The refs here just love handing out suspensions😁 We play the cleanest game of handball you'll ever see, yet we end up sitting in the penalty box just as much as those thugs who try to bully us every single game😁

frozentiger6 I can't even begin to process this. It's honestly ridiculous.
So, who’s actually pulling the weight here? Is it Mike or Dennis?

casualfox112 said:Mike🙂

Both were supposed to be a part of it, but then they go and pull the rug out from under us and cancel the dance at the last minute!☕

Anthony Roberts2 said:I’ve got a bad feeling about this. Honestly, I think the AK-47 squad is gonna cruise right past them.

But whatever. I just hope they get absolutely slaughtered in the semifinals. 😍

Look, with the way the refs call things in the finals—where they let the defense get so aggressive that half the players don't even have the guts to step up on a jump shot, and the other half are stuck on the bench in casts—it wouldn't be a shock if their new golden boy pulled it off. In any other scenario, the Frenchmen aren't even that scary. I watched them play a bit and yeah, they're tough, they're annoying, but that's about it. They play inconsistent, hot-and-cold ball just like we do...

But anyway, the next hurdle is the Pole. There's zero point even thinking about the championship right now.🙂

We absolutely crushed them🙏🙏🙏

We were supposed to just play a tournament game, but we went out there and dominated the whole damn thing🙏
Buntić is a killer, Duvnjak played his heart out, and Balić🙏 Alilović🙏 was on fire🙏

Wait, you're telling me Iceland actually made it to the finals?😍

placidfalcon4 said:Look, we just don't agree on playing without a damn clue, that's all. End of story. Or hey, fine, if you want to do it this way. If we’re going to kick off every major tournament with five brainless, directionless wins, then whatever. I'm cool with it.🤷

Not gonna waste my breath typing this all out again, so here’s my previous post.

Quote:

I can't even begin to process this nonsense. Seriously, what are we even doing here? It’s absolute chaos and nobody seems to have a clue what's actually going on. I'm sitting here staring at this mess, and honestly, my blood is starting to boil. It's just one ridiculous thing after another! kaže: Look, let's call it like it is. It was a total robbery that we ended up with our fifth loss in Germany, and it would be just as much of a joke if we somehow stumbled our way into the semifinals playing like absolute garbage. We aren't moving an inch unless we actually beat Denmark. Period. boldhound8 said:The points are stacking up, and everyone’s got their eyes glued to those medals... Just my two cents...Alright, look—it's simple. Good, bad, deserved, or undeserved. That’s the whole damn thing. People forget things way too fast, and honestly, none of it matters. You think anyone in European handball is sitting around crying because Americans got screwed over in Canada? Or that they give a damn that we ended up 5th in Germany after one loss? Give me a break. Forget all that crap.🙂 Look, I’m not saying I’m exaggerating here... it would be totally undeserved if we moved on. Meanwhile, everyone's busy trashing Iceland, even though they managed to scrape by against Mexico and Austria despite giving up three goals in literally forty seconds. And don't even get me started on Poland—they barely survived a tie against Canada and they're struggling just to stay afloat against the Czech Republic today. Then you look at France, who barely held off the Canadians before limping through a draw against the Spaniards. Every single one of these teams deserves their spot. It's just us that doesn't. You guys are seriously overreacting, for real.🙂

🙂

Look, what I was trying to say in that last post is that I am sick to death of everyone acting like Červar is some kind of god, just as much as I’m sick of people worshiping him like he did a few days ago. Honestly, I’m just over it. It pisses me off how every single thread on this board turns into a massive debate about Linolad, where we just sit here splitting ourselves into "Linoljupac" fans and everyone else, bickering day and night. Can we just stop the drama and actually talk about the game for once?🙂
I’m just over here talking about handball, and then you’ve got all these random losers trying to label me part of some "anti-Lino group" or calling me some outsider who just doesn't get what real success looks like. Give me a break.🤣🤣

Melissa Price6 said:Wait, you’re telling me Buntić isn't actually part of the offensive scheme? Are you kidding me right now? ☕ Isn't his entire job just to score? ☕

Come on, Kruška, pick someone who actually gives a damn!😁
You seriously just sat there and quoted my entire post twice just to hit me with two different questions? Give me a break.🤣

You’re sitting here obsessing over who’s from which hometown, who’s siding with Červar, and who isn't—blah, blah, blah. You care about every single bit of backstage drama except for the actual game. Honestly? I don't give a damn about that nonsense. I only care about handball. I couldn't care less about the political maneuvering behind the scenes. Seriously, do me a favor and focus on the players instead of jumping at every little bit of bait someone throws out. That side-show stuff is a total waste of my time.😁

Look, if we pull this off, awesome. If we don't, let’s be real—we haven't played well enough lately to even deserve to move on. A loss wouldn't even sting that much at this point because we've been playing so poorly...

But honestly, we can take them down no problem. We just need one of those legendary games where more than two guys actually show up and play their hearts out. We also need our keeper to step up, because while White will definitely hold his own, Alilovic needs to have his back, otherwise we are absolutely screwed.🙂

Charles Williams58 said:And here we go again with the complainers... We beat the European champions and people still claim our offense is aimless. Personally, I thought the attack was killer. Feeding the ball to Buntic when you can see he’s absolutely crushing it is a bad move? Aimless? My ass.

Attack was killer? The only difference between the "stellar" offense everyone is hyping up now and the garbage we've seen the last few games is that Buntic is actually scoring. Everything else is exactly the same.🙂

And please, spare me the labels about being "satisfied" or "dissatisfied" until you've actually read my last 15 posts. I'm not happy, I'm not miserable, I didn't have a stroke yesterday, and I'm not on cloud nine right now. I'm just being real...

placidfalcon4 said:😕

So basically... if we want to be anything more than a small-town squad, we need more than two guys actually showing up to play??? Who are we talking about?🤷 Which players?🤣

Exactly. Handball is a team sport. If it's just Balic and Alilovic carrying the load, you aren't beating anyone—which we clearly proved—let alone taking on Denmark or France or fighting for the top spot. This was the first game where we actually had more than two guys playing decently... damn, against Austria we didn't have a single player in the zone...

And I don't get why we're even arguing about this.🤷
Just leave me out of all that dream team bullshit and crap. I'm not buying into it.😁

Chris Lopez59 said:Back then, the Americans had a much more explosive offense, while the French were basically built on defense. And honestly, the French were the only ones with enough muscle up front to actually shut down Balić when he was at his peak.

But look at us now—we’ve actually got some width. We aren't just smashing everything through the middle anymore; we have wings that force the opposition to defend the whole floor. They can't just camp out on the perimeter like they used to. But our guys need to step up too. We have to use that space, create openings for the wings, instead of just blindly charging into traffic.

We can hold our own defensively, but it all comes down to what we show up with on offense. If we try to match them physically, it's going to be a toss-up. But if we actually tap into our offensive potential and play sixty minutes of disciplined, smart defense? We can take them. But if they outrun us? We're dead in the water.

Man... look, we have the talent to win gold, but we are so freaking inconsistent. It's weird because all doors are technically open. I don't know, this roster isn't any weaker on paper than the old squads. Maybe we're missing Pero, but Buntić stepped up. If the coach just trusted him more instead of treating him like Kopljar's permanent backup, we'd be in a better spot. Our wings are more experienced now, they've played more high-stakes games, and they could absolutely tear it up if we actually gave them a system. Right now, they're mostly just being wasted on fast breaks, semi-breaks, and penalties. Vori is carrying us, but that's been the story for a while. Balić is a constant, and honestly, he looks even fitter than he did during the last two or three championships. On the left wing, we've cycled through five different players; everyone contributes a little, but nobody stands out. Maybe even Vuković, but damn, it sucks he hasn't gotten a real shot since the Norway game... but overall, things are moving, even if this is my least favorite part of the squad. We haven't seen a true Lacković in ages, and our bench depth is non-existent.

Total bullshit. On paper, everything looks amazing, but in reality? Not so much. We've played a ton of games, we're technically undefeated, and statistically, our defense looks solid, but that's just numbers. We're struggling. We're playing around. We've scraped by a few games purely on grit, individual brilliance in the final ten minutes, and the crowd's energy. We barely squeaked past Ukraine, and we barely survived Austria too. That’s not how you win big. This isn't enough to go for gold, or even silver. Handball is a team sport; we can't claim to be the best if we don't have more than two guys having an "on" night every single game.

Sure, "impressions" don't mean squat if we actually grab the gold—nobody will care about how we looked tomorrow, and I'm with you on that—but man... I just don't see how we win with this kind of play. The real games are coming up, and right now, we aren't ready for them. We haven't played a single real game yet.