He has been definitely off today but then Cupido had several not very strong games against Italians in a row before COVID, if I remember correctly. It is tough sometimes to play against former compatriots.
I disagree. He is one of the least of our worries in my opinion. But I know this will get removed if I try discussing what is.
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Iāve liked him on the team these past 2 years because heās experienced, has been performing well in Italys A1 league and he seems to gel well with a lot of the veteran players.
There are several players on this team (I wonāt name drop) that I simply do not see the vision for..
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Does anyone know why Ryder Dodd hasnāt played in the two games against Montenegro?
According the press release when the roster was released, he has an āundisclosed injuryā. As does Luke Nelson. Irving is playing in Italy. That was as of June 25, and I think there was a note that rosters may change game to game. USA Men Set Roster For Three-Game Series With Montenegro; Get Your Tickets Now! - USA Water Polo
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Hopefully those injuries arenāt too serious. Some of these guys (especially Ryder) have been competing intensely with scant breaks since 2023!
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Watched the last two gamesā¦ had some thoughts:
This is the best Iāve ever seen Vavic play on the national team. Scoring, defending, countering, assistingā¦ love it
Liechty really showed out with his scoring this Montenegro series. Looks way more confident and aggressive than Iāve seen him in previous international competitions
Disappointed with Daube. I know Montenegro focused more on him defensively but still felt like he played nonchalantā¦ while his scoring was down he did create and pass well to set up his teammates
Saveljic also disappointed. He can obviously shoot but didnāt do much else that I saw
Brown was very productive from center. Was scoring from there and drawing exclusions, and was effective from the 3 post on 6 v 5. Looked much better than Iāve seen him in other international games
Happy Bowen scored a goal. Miss seeing him on team USA
Ryan Ohl was awesome. Scoring, countering hard, getting multiple shot blocks. I feel like I see him play more to his potential with team USA than with Stanford (prob cause of their team system)
Team USA defense past two games was awful. Almost 20 goals given up both games. I know this is a friendly(ish) series and strategic/tactical focus isnāt huge but geez it is tough to watch us line up at half to run an AG play so many timesā¦ and also funny how much each team goes way past half when lining up
With that said, very ready to see some of our veterans officially come back or announce they are hanging it up so we can focus on what the next potential team will be!
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Spot on from what I saw of last nights game. Also, a team with two Ohls and two Dodds would be scary fast. If there is way to bring the counter attack back into high level water polo, that would be the group to do it. Some chatter from Abdou and Mescall announcing last night that the higher scoring we are seeing is related to the changes in the 2 meter rules. I like how they have opened up the game to movement and passing, but I think maybe the goal box needs to be a little wider. Posting up on the goal line or at one meter at the edge of the box is an easy alleyāoop for players with legs and/or size.
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Agree on Vavic who was a real leader and played very well, and also and on ( poor) defense. Ben Liechty played very well during the first two quarters and reasonably well closer to the end of the game. He also played well in the earlier games. I hope very much he keeps good work. We need a talented lefty and he fits the bill. Cerna Goraās lefty Ukropina, fresh from the two- year doping suspension, tortured us the whole game
It is very sad to see Bowen retiring after watching him play for so many years. I think he was the first player in Udovicic era to go play overseas.
P.S. it is a bit odd seeing Savic behind Montenegroās bench. One would think that with the turmoil in Serbian MNT, their federation could come begging for Savic to return home.
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I am very excited about Vavic. Heās come a long way and I donāt think heās reached his peak yet. He will be getting amazing professional experience next season in Greece.
USA goalkeeping this series was pretty brutal. Lots and lots of outside shots being scored. While Herzer and Mills are excellent collegiate goalies, you can see they lack experience against elite shooters. Weinberg was different at that age.. he was consistently blocking the best Euro shooters while still in college. He is our clear starter for the time being.
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Goaltending takes years of experience after college to adjust to the international level. Weinberg had plenty of growing pains. He had the number 1 spot for a bit then I heard he Holland was likely going to be the starting goalie at the Olympics and Weinberg took it back. Itās a tough position with ups and downs. A goalie is only as good as the defense in front of him.
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Bowen is the best pure scorer from the 4/5 side on team USA in my lifetime. His lasers will be missed.
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If the stats shown on the USA water polo website are accurate, Weinberg played most of the first game against Montenegro. Herzer played near the end of the first game. It looks like Weinberg played the entire second game. Herzer played in the third game. Mills didnāt play in any of the games.
Mills played a little bit in the 3rd game but was subbed out quick.
And yes, I think that the field defense was the main issue. That Montenegrin lefty crushed us in all 3 games and even by game 3, USA was still letting him fake multiple times from 6 meters.
Mills played in the 4th quarter of the 2nd game at Woollett. Weinberg played the first 3.
Thanks for letting me know. I mistakenly concluded Mills didnāt play because the USA water polo website shows him with no saves in any of the games.
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Anyone witness the 5M lob ! Havent seen that in a minute.
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I think the shooter has watched film as Herzer comes out so far during penalties it would make sense to just put it over his head.
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