Handball EP - Norway 2008

wearyeagle2 said:Moving away from the main topic for a second—what do you mean by "strike"? Handball players throw the ball; they don't strike it. You can call it a shot or a throw (honestly, calling it a "shot" sounds pretty clunky too). 🙂

A shot is the exact same thing as a strike. You're talking nonsense.

"A strike instead of a shot," only the legendary Dragan Nikitović would say.

Anonymous said:Look, just don't come at me about Vjence. 😠 Have you even bothered to watch a single local game this season? Clearly not, because if you had, you’d see what a complete lunatic he actually is.

As for Buntić, I’m really not feeling him at all; the guy’s got a decent strike, sure, but that's about it. Honestly, everything feels like a mess right now, and I have no clue why they didn't call up that backup right back again. Poor metla. I kept telling everyone we're going to end up having to play someone in the right wing position as a right back too.

I mean, yeah, he's alright, but we've got plenty of solid keepers in the league, and honestly, Kelentric is the better option. I mean, the guy was absolutely insane last year, pulling off like twenty saves a game during one stretch. 😲

Kelentric was tossed aside by Cervar a long time ago, and honestly, I wouldn't even call them "personal reasons." It’s simpler than that: anyone who refuses to bow down to Lin Cervar’s autocracy gets kicked off the squad.

Take Kelentric, Smajlagic, Basic, and the rest of them.

It’s kind of like how we have Bozic over at Asobal—he's easily one of the best keepers out there. But still...

I guess we're all just keyboard experts here, or at least that's what the Queen of the Ultras says, so I'll leave it at that.

Chris Lopez59 said:Kelentric is actually an outstanding keeper, but they just don't call him up; instead, they'd rather go with Somić, who doesn't seem particularly motivated.

If you add Jerković and Alilović to that mix, you basically end up with four average European-level goalies.
From what I've seen of Somić playing for the local club here in the States, he doesn't look any worse than those other three, right? Honestly, we haven't really had elite, world-class keepers on the level of someone like Howard or Meyer, so does it truly matter which one is guarding our net?

It’s always such a toss-up to predict how things will play out during this tournament, and can we really say if Lin Cervar made the right call by selecting this specific group? We could easily walk away with the gold, or we might find ourselves failing to even make it out of the group stage.

I can't say I totally agree with you, especially since we've actually had some world-class keepers in our time

As for the national team... I work at a sportsbook, and when it was announced yesterday that Lin Cervar wouldn't be coaching the guys for the first round, things shifted fast. As soon as our odds collapsed, everyone started dumping their money on the Polish squad instead.🤣

Anonymous said:A shot is the same thing as a strike. You're talking nonsense.

Did I mention that calling it a "shot" sounds just as silly? Though, technically, it works because we use "shoot" in basketball too. "Shoot" implies firing, whether you're firing a gun, kicking a ball, or throwing it with your hands—that's where the nuance lies. But "strike"? That doesn't fit here at all. In handball, the only real strikes are the ones Diminikovic hands out to people's faces right in front of the goal line.

frozentiger6 said:Kelentric was phased out by Lin Cervar ages ago—and honestly, it’s probably for personal reasons. It seems anyone who won't bend the knee to Lin Cervar’s autocratic style gets shown the door.

I’m sorry, but since when do Kelentric or Sprem matter enough for Lino to tone down his power trips? 😂

There's a massive difference between how he treats an assistant coach and how he handles his bench players and subs.

wearyeagle2 said:Look, I’m sorry, but who do Kelentric or Sprem think they are? Why should Lino dial back his absolute dictatorship just to accommodate them? 😂

There is a massive difference between how you handle an assistant coach versus how you manage your two subs and the bench players.

Did your mom hire Mamić to run things for you?

Aaron Gonzalez6 said:did Mamić possess you?

Come on, don't start with the trash talk now. If we were talking about Balic, I might actually get where frozentiger6 is coming from, but we're talking about some guy like Kelentric and that wood block Sprem. If there's any reason they didn't get called up, it’s definitely on them.

Hey, the game is only two days away! Who’s going to be our official thread starter? It’s quite a heavy responsibility 😳 and a huge risk 🥳

What’s even the point of this thread? We’re playing against some random guys from Poland...

Roger Allen3 said:Alright, the game is only two days away. Who’s stepping up to be the official thread starter? It’s a massive responsibility, don't take it lightly. 😳 It’s all about risk. 🥳

I don't follow what you're trying to get at here. If you've got something to say, just say it. Otherwise, don't waste my time. 😁

I’m actually thinking we should put Cervar forward for this one—what do you think, wearyeagle2?

He’s definitely the most optimistic one in the group.

frozentiger6 said:kemik 😁

I’m actually thinking we should suggest Cervar—you know, wearyeagle2

He seems like the most optimistic guy in the bunch to me.

So, what do we need to settle? Date, roster, time, location?

frozentiger6 said:Kemik😁

I’m actually going to suggest Cervar here, along with wearyeagle2

He just seems like the most optimistic guy to me!

There is absolutely no way this works after that "why even have a thread" comment🙂

Anyway, where did Kemik go?🙂

I wouldn't be shocked at all if we saw Kemik out on the right wing this Thursday.

Cervar loves playing those tactical games.

I'm not exactly up to speed here.
Against Poland this Thursday at 8:15 PM—what time are the other two games scheduled for?

I’ve heard a lot of people are dumping their hard-earned cash into Poland. Honestly? You’re making a massive mistake. You’re going to end up with nothing but empty pockets left over from your paycheck.

Well, honestly, considering where we're coming from and the reputation we've built up lately... I suspect the odds on us might be set just a little too low given how things actually stand 🙂

Samuel Baker3 said:if you throw Jerković and Alilović into the mix, you just end up with four mediocre European goalies
from what I saw of Somic playing a few games in Chicago, he doesn't look any worse than those three, and honestly, we've never actually had elite keepers on the level of Hvidt or Meyer, so frankly, I don't care who's standing in the net for us

it's hard to predict how this tournament is going to play out or if the coach was actually right to call these guys up; we might walk away with gold, or we could realistically fail to even make it out of the group stage

look, Jerković and Alilović actually had some of the highest save percentages during the last US Open. Shola was absolutely driving opponents insane back in Portugal. Basic and Matosevic were pure class...

as far as predictions go, I read somewhere that if Jicha doesn't play for the Czechs, they're just an average national team that we'll easily handle. Poland is solid, but we're playing them first, so we know they're good—we'll see. The Canadians don't seem to be in any kind of shape. Personally, I think we'll walk away with at least two wins after the first round, but then it's anyone's guess; I'm mostly worried about injuries and fatigue, though from what I gathered at the last tournament, Vukovic knows how to manage the rotation. If we can play wide and our wingers can actually deliver—playing smart, hitting a couple of counterattacks, and most importantly, if our defense holds together—even a squad like this can go a long way. Playing without Balic might actually work in our favor for once, because when Balic starts hogging the ball instead of facilitating the team, it helps the scoreline in the short term, but it's terrible for the team's long-term chemistry