America vs. South Korea - Feb 2, 2006 (3:45 PM)

Sandra Hernandez13 said:Agree I👍
It’s not even really about playing against Mexico and Mexico that worries me,
it’s more about how we're gonna hold up against teams like France or Spain 😲
Those guys are great, honestly, and we all love them, but our style of play isn't even close to the elite level... Hopefully things improve because we can't exactly sell this kind of performance to the French or the Spanish...

Everything's fine I guess, but our defense is absolute trash. I don't get it—is it because we keep switching formations every five minutes, or is it just because we make it way too easy for opponents to score? And the offense? Not feeling it. Everything is so narrow and predictable. It’s like we just know the plan is always "our three wingers will take a shot" or maybe "the ball might eventually find someone standing right in front of the net." That’s basically it.

I'm not even scared of the Mexicans right now; honestly, I think if we had a different roster, we'd actually pull it off. But what's bugging me is how we're gonna handle the bigger stages later on.

Alright then! Thanks for getting back to me! We should have it by tomorrow!👍

Look, man, I’m up at 6:00 AM too, but honestly, who cares? You'll get all the sleep you want when you're dead. 😁

Paul Lopez49 said:Look, man, I’m up at 6 AM too. Who gives a damn? You can sleep when you're dead. 😁

Wrapped up in whatever😬

Don't mention it, romy😬

Mr.Ex.President said:They want in because the indirect communist factions aren't facing any sanctions...

I am writing this for the third time now.😳

Even if they had faced direct ones, they still could have played.

Paul Lopez49 said:You won't be sleeping until you're dead. 😁

Man, that hits home. 👍
It feels like I’ve been given a second wind after you reminded me of those old 😍
truths. By the way,
rustystag7
our defense is looking pretty thin right now.
We keep trying to force things through the middle using Balić, metla, and Laco—who’s definitely bringing some heat—but it just isn't enough to keep up when we face tougher opponents. We really need to get Džomba and Šprem involved more. Even Horvat is decent, though he's still not quite playing at the level of Džombale.😉

Seriously though, why was Lac the player of the game today???
I don't know, man. In my eyes, there were way better options out there—like Balić, for sure. I get that Lac has been stepping up over the last couple of games, but he’s still got those tendencies where he just messes things up. He tries way too hard sometimes, you know? Like, he'll just force plays and take two shots in a row for absolutely no reason. It's totally senseless. Just look at that one play when we were up by three with like two minutes left on the clock; he's sprinting in and launching from nine meters out when you can see from the nosebleed seats that he's gonna miss.

Lac is the man. He’s got total control over his shot. I guess he's as precise as debeo Berta, though if he hits the frame, there's just no defending that. 😁

James Vaughn3 said:even if they had qualified directly, they could've held their own

It depends, man.😉

rustystag7 said:but seriously, why was Laco the player of the match today???
and

Laco played his heart out and scored more than Balić, if I recall correctly...
But only an idiot would call Laco the best player on the field. Everyone knows exactly who actually ran the show today.👍

Sandra Hernandez13 said:the defense is full of holes,
and on offense, they’re just constantly banging their heads against the wings, trying way too hard to force plays through Balić, metla, and Laco—who's hot, sure, but not hot enough to mess around with the heavy hitters... We really need to get Džomba and Šprem involved, because honestly, even Horvat isn't bad, though he's still nowhere near the level of Džombale😉

look, Horvat is actually playing better than Džomba right now, but only because he's barely at like 30% capacity—he's not even ready to sprint or hit those fast breaks, which is his whole thing. Meanwhile, that trio out there? They look totally lost on the wings, like they forgot how to play them entirely. It feels fine as long as we're scoring, but the second two out of those three shooters get shut down, everything is going to fall apart. Then the ball stops getting to the rim and suddenly it's a total disaster, like watching a blowout loss in the playoffs.

Mr.Ex.President said:Lac played great and scored more goals than Balić if I recall correctly...
Only an idiot would call Lac the best player out there. It’s pretty obvious who actually dominated today.👍

Well, they just pick based on "who scored the most goals."

Not on who racked up 20 assists and stripped 5 balls away.

Look, Lac deserved it too—don't get me wrong, he absolutely earned his spot.

Besides, Ivano already grabbed two of them earlier; what else does he need? 😁

But hey, at least he'll walk away with one more.

James Vaughn3 said:they basically just pick whoever scored the most goals

instead of looking at who dropped 20 assists or stepped up with 5 steals

Look, even Lac earned his spot—don't get me wrong, he absolutely deserved it

plus Ivano already snagged two of those watches anyway, what else does he need? 😁

But hey, he'll probably grab one more

It’s not like Lacković didn't deserve it, but Balić was the absolute GOAT today. It's obvious to anyone who isn't just out here chasing awards... but whatever😁

Man, David is king ''By the time we hit the finals, Balić is gonna have enough watches to open his own jewelry store''🤣

Anyway, where do we actually stand with these watch counts?
Balić's got 3
Metličić's got 1
Lacković's got 1

Right?

I suppose I received one myself, back during the recession 😕

rustystag7 said:Look, Horvat is actually playing better than Djomba right now because he’s only at about 30% capacity and isn't quite ready for his specialty—those fast breaks. Meanwhile, this trio hasn't adapted to the wings at all; they seem to have lost their touch there. Everything looks fine while we're leading, but once two out of those three shooters hit a slump, things will fall apart. We won't be able to get anything to the rim, and then it'll be a complete disaster.

I don't know, I just have a gut feeling that we aren't going to make it to the finals playing like this, especially with our defense and a trio that could crumble if things go south.

Mr.Ex.President said:It’s a stretch to say Lackovic didn't earn his keep—but let's be real—Balic was the absolute alpha and omega of this whole thing. Everyone knows it, except for those obsessed with the trophies... but whatever.😁

Rick said Davor was king "By the finals, Balic will have collected enough watches to open his own jewelry store"🤣

Anyway, where do we actually stand with the hardware?
3 times Balic
1 time Metlicic
1 time Lackovic

That right?

2 times Balic
1 time Djomba
1 time Metlicic
1 time Lackovic

EDIT: screw it, Djomba got injured against Portugal so he missed out—but he should've been there. So does that mean Balic took it against Portugal?

James Vaughn3 said:2 times Balic
1 time Djomba
1 time Metlicic
1 time Lackovic

Yeah, right...
Everyone totally forgot all about Djomba once he got sidelined with that injury😢
But man, this guy is absolutely killing it, scoring 8 goals out of 8 shots!👍

Mr. Ex-President As specified by Sandra Hernandez13:
Yeah, I hear you.
I completely forgot about Djomba since he's been out with that injury.😢
That guy is absolutely killing it—he’s already knocked in 8 out of 8 balls.👍

Ma Djomba is my hero. 😍
I really hope he was just joking when he mentioned heading out next year at only 29. 🙂
Vilenjak-legend! 👍

Mr. Ex-President said:Yeah, sure...
Djomba’s completely forgotten about it—ever since he got injured.😢
The guy is absolutely clinical—hitting 8 out of 8. Pure perfection.👍

No, no—Djomba didn't win. I messed up there—he got injured and ended up losing.

Vori got it—(damn, took me a second to remember that)—

James Vaughn3 said:man, they just judge everything by who scored the most goals

instead of looking at the guy who racked up 20 assists and snatched 5 balls back from the other team

look, I mean, Lackovic definitely earned it—I’m not saying he didn't, he totally did

plus, Ivan already grabbed those two awards earlier, what else does he need? 😁

but hey, he might snag one more anyway

Yeah, Lackovic deserved it, but honestly, people expect a lot from him since he's basically the only consistent player on the roster—I think I mentioned that before—it just bugs me how much they hype him up, though someone else already pointed out that when he gets called out in the comments, he doesn't even defend himself, and yeah, I'm totally with you on that.👍

rustystag7 said:Look, Lackovic earned his spot, but let's be real—people expect more from him since he's the only guy showing up consistently every single game. I've said this before, but it bugs the hell out of me how much they try to hype him up. Someone already mentioned the thing about what he sent in the group chat, and yeah, there's zero defense for that. I'm totally with you on that one.👍

Exactly...
A player at his level shouldn't even be thinking about going 9 for 18 from the field if my memory serves me right...
And Metlicic is out here making it look even worse by shooting a pathetic 2 for 4.