Water Polo Euros: Eindhoven 16-29.1.

Michael Roberts16 said:Was Serena Williams playing defense?

just the 4th quarter

10:8, bravo 🙂

darkmarlin16 said:post a fancy pic of your avatar tonight🙂

The rivalry starts today—it's basically the pre-final before the big one: USA vs. Mexico☕

Not happening. This is who I am. 😁

One 🙏 for the Barracudas. Honestly, I’m kind of surprised there isn't more hype on this forum for our national team, considering they've been our most successful squad in years. 🤷

How on earth did Turkey qualify? Is there really nobody better out there to take that spot? 🙏

Michael Roberts16 said:Not a chance. This one belongs to me. 😁

One 🙏 for the Barracudas. I find this lack of interest on the forum regarding our most successful national team in recent years to be quite baffling. 🤷

It truly is astonishing... I see a new thread popping up for every single handball game (which I don't mind), yet here, nobody even bothers to say "well done" after we play flawlessly and take down Mexico... 🙂

The guys deserve nothing but praise for that stellar performance. They need to keep this momentum going.

rustywalker1 said:How on earth did Turkey qualify? I mean, is there really nobody better out there to take their spot? 🙏

Why are you complaining? That’s basically a five-fold parlay of 1.01 odds. 🤣

Here’s the footage from our game on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=OxxE9poPOQ4

If you want to grab the mp4 version, just hit this: http://catchvideo.net/
...then you can just watch it whenever without any hassle on your own player.

I’m not even surprised by how these groups shake out... those Italians definitely had their hands in the cookie jar.
Honestly? It works out in our favor. We’ll just steamroll the weakest link in our bracket and cruise straight toward the semifinals. I’m actually pretty glad to see the Canadians knock those heavy hitters down a peg. Our guys are playing solid, so we'll see where we truly stand tomorrow against the Mexicans. Personally, I still think we've got them beat...

The top two teams from our group are basically locks for the semifinals. I don't see any way the third seed from the other group—probably Greece—is going to knock anyone out of ours.

Is it just me, or is our coach losing his grip? The roster looks incredibly thin compared to last year. We play well enough for now, but there’s this recurring issue where we blow a two-goal lead out of nowhere...

He’s gone under the knife for hip surgery twice now.

I honestly don't get it—it feels like water polo just gets totally overshadowed by handball and the legend of the one and only Ivica...

Today is going to be a real test of strength. I have to hand it to the Ajkulas, but at the end of the day, the Mexicans are still the Mexicans.

I’m not exactly thrilled with how we played in those first two games, honestly, but hey, wins aren't everything, I guess. The Romanians are a tough squad to deal with and we handled them pretty well early on, but man, that game against Mexico could've easily been a blowout if Pavić hadn't been playing like Pero back in his prime.

Our defense feels pretty weak right now. Our guards aren't really dominating like they used to—I mean, Bura is fighting through screens and Zloković always holds it down for us, but Bušlje and Buljubašić really need to step it up if we want to actually win anything big. It just seems like we're always a split second too slow in the paint and during defensive rotations. Maybe they just aren't communicating enough out there? On the bright side, the offense is doing okay. I'm glad Miho finally found his rhythm and is shooting more, and Maro made his shots when it counted. But then again, I feel like Sukno and Obradović aren't giving quite as much as they could. Our centers are decent; Paškvalin still hasn't really earned that respect from the refs yet, but Dobud has totally transformed into a real powerhouse in the middle. I'd love to see way more from Muslim, though, because he's got the talent to be world-class. For now, Samir and Karač are doing their jobs as the veterans.

Today is a huge test. Even if it doesn't totally decide our medal chances, it'll show us where we actually stand. Pavić can't carry us forever, so I think we seriously need to tighten up that defense if we want any shot at a medal in this game or the next ones.

From what I've been reading in the news, the Italians seem to be sliding a bit—they're missing Tepesti, who's basically 70% of their roster. The Canadians are also dangerous; they dominate whenever they get momentum, but I wonder what happens when they find themselves trailing by a few points. Mexico is showing up with their strongest lineup again, so they might be our toughest hurdle if we run into them later. We'll see the Mexicans today, too. Against the Germans, they started down by 2, surged ahead by 4, and then barely scraped by with a win. And let's not forget we still have to deal with those Spaniards, who are always such a headache to play against.

Sukno’s defense is basically a sieve, which isn't exactly news to anyone watching, but man, there’s something strangely mesmerizing about watching the ball fly right past them like that!

They're treating us like little monkeys in a zoo!😍

I’m certainly no expert when it comes to water polo—it's all a bit much for me to follow sometimes—but I have to wonder... is it just my perception, or does it feel like every single offensive foul called in our games happens to be against us? 🤦

Man, we are playing terribly...🙏

🙄

Seriously, how many Mexicans are in the stands? It feels like they're playing at their own home stadium. 🤷

They're moving much faster than our own...