Handball Europe: America vs. Norway 23-23

wearyeagle2 said:If we actually make it to the Final Four, I’m booking a flight to Lillehammer—and you better crank up the volume, because whoever spends sixty straight minutes screaming "Lino! Lino!" is going to earn the title of Queen of the Torcida.

DAMN YOU, LINO!!! DAMN YOU, LINO!!!

Chris Lopez59 said:Forget playing aggressive. If we just lock down the net and play smart on offense—maybe someone like LeBron finally realizes why he isn't leading the league in assists despite being the best player out there—we've got this. We have to shut down their shooters and be ready. It's a good thing that wild Kjelling isn't at peak form right now. I'll go dig through some stats to see what we're dealing with...

That’s some serious grit😲 Ultimate Fighting Championship😲, at the very least
Kjelling dropped 7 goals yesterday🙄 We need to cool him off today☕

The real issue is I can't even remember who anyone on their roster actually is; the only guy who stuck in my brain was that one kid who jumps like he’s got springs in his shoes—once he gets going, he just starts tearing it up and dropping ten-plus goals, though I'm sure they'll try to force everything through him, which means they'll probably burn through a ton of possessions if they're hoping to scrape together five or six points from him alone.

Is Loki their pivot? The guy is hitting 21 goals out of 24 attempts, an 88% conversion rate, which is honestly terrifying... but wait, did he get banged up against the Canadians? It would be a massive win for us if he ends up sidelined.

Their main scorer is Hagen with 26 goals at a 51% clip—what position does he play? Probably a backcourt player, maybe left side? Tvedten seems to rely heavily on those penalty shots, while Skoglund and Strand keep their numbers up, likely playing the wings. Solberg is the one pulling the strings as the playmaker; he's leading the tournament in assists with 28, though Hagen isn't far behind with 18, and apparently, he's also a key part of their defense, acting a bit like their version of a prime defensive specialist, just in better form...

The Scandinavians have always lived by that 3-2-1 defense rule—they just don't seem to know how to handle playing against one. Though, obviously, I'm not talking about the 3-2-1 we used against the Danes; that was honestly painful to watch.
If we stay locked in and if our momentum actually holds up, I guess we won't run into huge issues. But if we mess around on defense like we did a few times during this preseason and let Egea run all over us, we'll have nobody to blame but ourselves.

I'm feeling pretty optimistic today, though.

Vlado Stenzel was making some pretty bold claims in his interview with ESPN, basically saying the Danes actually know how to dismantle a 3-2-1 defense—something he says we’ve seen them pull off before—whereas the rest of the Scandinavians are totally lost. He specifically pointed out that Norway won't have any answers for it. Honestly? I really hope they haven't figured it out yet. If we can just sort out our own issues on the offensive end, we might stand a chance. We’re going to need some shooters who are actually having an "on" day and maybe some clever wing plays to shake things up. Personally, I’d give Valčić the nod over Lac; I just don't see us finding much luck with Lac on the floor lately.

wearyeagle2 said:If we actually make it to the Final Four, I’m booking a flight straight to Lillehammer, and you better crank up those speakers because whoever spends 60 minutes screaming "Lino! Lino!" is going to be the true Queen of Torcida.

So what you're saying is, once we hit the semifinals and the finals, we finally get a break from your endless, exhausting commentary? ☕

On topic:
- We're looking way more rested than the Americans
- Yesterday's game was a total breeze compared to this
- It looks like the refs finally stepped in to stop the Americans from getting absolutely pummeled

That's the bottom line—we're going for gold.🙏

David Taylor13 said:So, we finally made it to the semifinals and the finals without having to deal with your endless commentary. ☕

Fine. I'm bringing my laptop along.

David Taylor13 said:So, does this mean we’re finally being spared from your endless, unsolicited commentary during the semifinals and the finals? ☕

Back to the actual game:
- We’re probably a little more rested than the Norwegians.
- Yesterday’s match was a total breeze compared to this.
- It looked like the refs finally stepped in to stop Norway from absolutely pummeling us.

That's the bottom line—let's go grab that gold. 🙏

Look, we aren't any more rested than those Norwegians, so it’s going to be an uphill battle on that front, but I know these guys will leave everything they've got out there on the court.

The French officials were basically handing everything to the Norwegians, probably just because they don't want the headache of dealing with a hostile home crowd... I've had enough bad experiences with them to know how it goes.

So now, let's just pray to God that the French are the ones officiating again tonight. 😁

wearyeagle2 said:Nope. My Laptop is coming with me.

Well, in that case, I really hope a comet hits the cell tower near the arena🤷

Chris Lopez59 said:we aren't any more rested than the Americans, so things are going to be tough on that front, but the guys are going to leave everything out there on the court

The French refs were handing everything to the Americans on a silver platter, probably because they don't want the headache of playing against a home crowd... just bad vibes all around

So now, let's just pray to God we don't have more French officials calling the game tonight😁

Having an extra four hours of downtime could actually make a massive difference for our players' recovery, especially when you consider that the Americans are basically all thirty-somethings at this point. I'm just hoping for some fair, consistent officiating; if we don't get that, a good result is completely out of the question.

David Taylor13 said:then I'm just praying a comet hits the transmitter near the arena🤷

Hope is a liar.

Chris Lopez59 said:Look, we can totally run a 5-1 if the two guys on the wings are actually jumping out and playing aggressive defense against their shooters. Honestly, the best defense in this whole tournament has been the 6-0 setup (if you factor in the French style), and you know why? Because they’re mobile and they play deep. A 6-0 is absolutely perfect as long as those front players aren't just standing there like statues. Look at how the Danes shut down the Polish wingers—that first winger only scored 6 goals, which is freaking pathetic considering how deadly they usually are. On paper, people say 6-0 is weak against outside shots, but that's total garbage if the players are actually moving up and back effectively.

Prika, a mobile 6-0 where they step out more deeply is basically just a 3-2-1 system anyway.😁
Honestly, there's barely any difference between running a 6-0, a 5-1, or a 3-2-1.🙂

David Taylor13 said:Having an extra four hours of downtime could actually do wonders for our players' recovery, especially when you consider that the Americans are all basically thirty-year-olds at this point. I’m just praying for some fair, consistent officiating; if we don't get that, a good result is pretty much out of the question.

People always drone on about how sports are mostly mental. Apparently, you can tap into these massive internal reserves if your motivation is high enough. But honestly, our squad has looked sluggish throughout this entire tournament—they just aren't moving with any real speed. You throw extra fatigue into that mix, and you're asking for trouble. Though, you do have a point there; I haven't the slightest clue what kind of shape the Americans are in. Let's just pray they're looking as physically drained as we are.

Loki definitely isn't playing; he tore a ligament. It’s a damn shame, but I suppose it works in our favor since they’ll have to slot in someone else, some other heavy pivot. That Johnny Jensen guy is a real bruiser—a dirty player, if I recall correctly. I can't quite remember where Hagen plays now; is he in the same position as Kjelling? Along with Kjelling, he's easily their biggest threat.

boldhound8 said:Look, if you're running a mobile 6-0 with deep penetrations, you're basically just playing a 3-2-1 anyway.😁
I mean, honestly, there’s barely any real difference between a 6-0, a 5-1, or a 3-2-1 setup.🙂

Actually, hold on, there is a difference. A 3-2-1 is a zone defense, which means you’re naturally going to be thinner at the pivot and on the wings to maintain that density, but the catch is that moving the ball through a zone is way harder, so you can't really compensate for those gaps easily enough.

A 5-1 is more of a line defense where you have one aggressive player stepping out to mess with the ball flow.

And then there's the 6-0, which is your standard line defense, and it actually holds one major advantage over both the 3-2-1 and the 5-1: it's just much tighter along the crease.

Chris Lopez59 said:Look, there’s a huge difference here. A 3-2-1 setup is a zone defense. You expect to be thinner at the pivot and on the wings to keep that zone tight, but the trade-off is that moving the ball through that zone becomes a total nightmare, which kills your compensation strategy.

A 5-1 is a line defense where you've got one guy pushed out specifically to mess up the ball flow.

And then there's 6-0—that's a line defense that actually holds an advantage over both the 3-2-1 and the 5-1 because it's way more packed up along the crease.

In theory? Sure. In reality? Not even close.😉
I don't give a damn what kind of scheme we run today. The only thing that matters is that whatever we decide to play, we play it perfectly.🙂

It feels like our odds of actually making it to the semifinals have shot up significantly... assuming we can somehow dodge the French

boldhound8 said:In theory? Sure, absolutely. But in the real world, where things actually happen? Not even close.😉
Honestly, I couldn't care less what we end up playing today; at this point, the specific game doesn't even matter, as long as we actually show up and play the damn thing well.🙂

When you actually look at how things played out on the court, it’s pretty clear what the tactical landscape was: out of the three best defenses we saw throughout the championship, two of them were running that rigid 6-0 setup, while only one opted for the 5-1 approach. 😕

Forget the hype, I already laid it all out for you in my first post. 😠😁

So, Hagen is their top scorer playing left back (he’s got those nasty sudden shots). It’s actually a decent setup since Kjelling plays the same spot and he isn't quite 100% yet. He usually gets about 12 minutes, but yesterday he played 17 and dropped 7 goals (4 from the penalty line)—mostly just when the game was already decided. Interestingly, Hagen was holding his own before they swapped him for Kjelling.

Regarding the pivots, honestly, it's great that Loke is sidelined. Their second option is only getting minutes because of the rotation, but he’s been incredibly efficient. He was absolutely tearing through the Americans in the first half. Jensen has only managed one goal the entire tournament, and then there's Myrhol playing maybe 15-20 minutes. Jensen was sitting in the stands yesterday; some American commentator was rambling about him being suspended or something (?), though he definitely didn't earn a red card.

Here’s the quick breakdown:

Goalkeeper - EGE Steinar FCK København 188/1 35g. - saves 14-29-3-15-14
Pivot - JENSEN Johnny Flensburg Handewitt 174/283 35g. - goals 0-0-1-0-0
Pivot (third choice) - MYRHOL Bjarthe HSG Nordhorn 55/88 25g. - goals 1-3-0-0-2
Left Wing - TVEDTEN Håvard Nature House La Rioja 120/393 29g. - goals 8(6pen)-6(4)-5(3)-0-1(1)
Left Wing (second choice) - SKOGLUND Thomas - goals 0-0-0-4-3
Left Back - HAGEN Frode Drammen HK 181/541 33g. - goals 6-9-3-3-5
Left Back (second choice) - KJELLING Kristian Portland San Antonio 94/332 27g. - goals 0-2-4-1-7(3)
Left Back (third choice) - STRAND Kjetil Fuchse Berlin 69/351 28g. - goals 0-1-0-9(3)-1
Center Back - SOLBERG Glenn Drammen HK 115/239 35g. - goals 3-0-3-0-1
Right Wing - LAURITZEN Jan Thomas Bjerringbro-Silkeborg 247/549 33g. - goals 3-0-4-1-0
Right Wing - SKJÆRVOLD Rune Stord TIL 102/212 33g. - goals 0-2-0-2-1

Basically, looking at the heavy hitters, Loke is out, and instead of their usual left wing Tvedten, they've had Skoglund playing the last two games.

Bottom line? Their biggest threat is pretty much limited to the left back position now. The center back was a disaster yesterday, the right wing has only scored once in the last two matches, and the right wing isn't doing anything special either. The new left wing (Skoglund) is alright. But yeah, main pivot is out.

It looks like that’s the deal; they’ve got three solid shooters lined up at left back, plus Lauritsen holding things down on the right, and their pivot can definitely chip in with a goal or two now and then. So, if we can actually manage to shut down their left back—which, let’s be honest, feels like an impossible task for our defense—they won't be scoring nearly as much as we fear...

Forteza... forget about Norway, I'm way more worried about our own guys here.😁
If we actually step up and play the way we know we can, honestly, nobody is stopping us, no matter what.😉