Thats interesting and had not thought of that. Would that be the fall of 2027 season if they do that?
Well said and I agree with a lot what you said. I agree that we better have Hallock. I have no idea how Cupido is playing but I think it would be nice to have him. He’s a great defender. Hooper has no business taking a roster spot. He’s never lived up to his college reputation on the national stage and other than a brief uneventful appearance in Europe, has not put in the effort overseas. Ryder Dodd is what we hoped Hooper would be.
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I agree re Dejan. From what I hear often is that the guys can’t understand him and just nod their heads. They are frustrated & don’t think he’s very good. Again, this is just what I hear from a lot of different sources. Whether it’s 100% true or not, I don’t know. What I do know, is when I’m watching the sidelines and the bench, all of the above seems and looks true.
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I think that makes a lot of sense. I never understand what he says when he is interviewed. And that isn’t his fault but it is something to consider
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We should be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. I agree with Polo4’s assessment, it’s not acceptable to dismiss results simply because it’s a non-Olympic tournament and label it only as “developmental for younger athletes” after a loss.
When DU was hired 13 years ago, he promoted himself as someone with strong relationships with European clubs and that once our athletes started playing there, we would automatically become more successful. That is partly true, but also partly untrue.
Success at the national team level requires more than just “access to European professional play.” It requires a coach who can integrate all elements, including both hard skills and soft skills.
A decade ago, USAWP appeared heavily focused on finding someone who could build those European relationships and place top U.S. talent abroad, what was believed to be the “missing piece.” At the time, that was a unique and valuable skill set.
However, that landscape has changed. Today, many college and club coaches have strong relationships with European clubs and are actively placing athletes overseas themselves. What was once a differentiating strength for him is no longer unique or sufficient on its own. Yet, some people still point to this as the primary reason we struggle in non-Olympic international tournaments.
The issue DU faces is that, whatever hard skills/tactics he understands about the game, there is a gap in his soft skills which are needed to fully integrate those strengths and lead a group of top collegiate and early-20s athletes through a four-year Olympic cycle and beyond. These skills are just as critical to performance and team development as demonstrated in our lackluster performances at these non-olympic tournaments.
Key Soft Skills for Elite Coaching
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Emotional intelligence: understanding and motivating athletes
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Adaptability: adjusting tactics and training
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Communication: clear, direct instruction under pressure
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Leadership: setting culture and consistent expectations
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Motivation: maintaining energy, focus, and accountability
After more than a decade, it’s clear this goes beyond a simple language barrier issue. There is a broader gap in leadership that is putting our hardworking and talented athletes at a disadvantage.
At a basic level, USAWP should be asking: why, for the first American Olympics on home soil since 1996, do we not have an American head coach?
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Leadership is a big one. I think that is the main thing Adam Krikorian has brought to the table. I don’t consider him to be a tactical genius in games but he sure has figured out how to implement his culture into the women’s system and he’s obviously had tremendous success.
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For the number geeks: I asked AI to analyze the history of World Cup and World Championship finishes since the 1970s to see how they predict Olympic success. Specifically, I looked at the 24-month window preceding each Olympic Games. As expected, the correlation is high, pre-Olympic results are a very good indicator of who will eventually stand on the podium.
Probability by Tier (Preceding 24-Month Rank)
Ranking Source: World Aquatics Ranking. Currently USA is ranked 7th as of 4/10/2026 . Link
Based on finishes in World Championship and World Cup
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You are frickin brutal, nobody is thrashing and 5 meters and exclusions matter. He was a force at U20 and NCAA’s and is a sophmore and will grow, he can guard and play 1-2 or 4-5 side, can you?.
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Responding to these comments: U20’s was a process and expecting a result last year to translate at the sneior level in this short amount of time is unrealistic and shows no undertanding of time to develop. Your point about college waterpolo being at a lower level than eurpean pro is obviously true, buta college degree from one fot hese schools is incredibly valuable for these US and International young men for thier entire life. Myopic to think it is a bad thing since it isnt as good as greek or italian pro (which does nothing for your braoder career and future). You have an axe to grind on these results fine, but pretty small minded to say some of the things you state here IMHO.
Suiting up against 24-32 year old men takes a minute for these or anyone to adjust too, we will never have the thier system, nor them ours, we can improve and will I believe. Ryder benefits from many of the younger players on this team for his 6-5 and 5 meters opps, and as well had his struggles adjusting in Greece it seems, his one breakout Serbian game being the exception. Your overtly negative ideas/thoughts are not helping.
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Maybe I am not following some of the points or logic of this particular thread, but I am confused why Ryder was invoked here. It seems that the argument is being made that any struggles he may have had are due to his youth and lack of experience internationally. If this is what is being argued, it is not accurate. To what ever extent he had any struggles, they are the exact same struggles that every US wing in this tournament faced, no matter the age.
All of them were forced to become volume shooters, with much lower shooting percentages than one would normally expect from them. Did they all suddenly forget how to score? No, what happened was that they were more pressed out than normal, and they were taking shots a further out than normal. The primary reason this occurred is that US sets were not able to command the kind of drops or double teams that would allow some one like say Irving to creep in to 5 meters and punish the goalie. This is not rocket science or controversial.
I would agree that it takes a minute to adjust and thrive against older , more experienced, and stronger players. This is especially true for centers. This tournament bore that out.
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100% agree with this statement “Did they all suddenly forget how to score? No, what happened was that they were more pressed out than normal”, Granados at times had similar pressure.
Yes, good point, I watched some of the Spain games and saw this at times with Granados. Spain did not bring their two Olympic level sets, Del Toro and Tahull. This is why he got more pressed. I expect Spain will bring Del Toro and Tahull to Australia.
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