The Final Four

We beat Australia today 10 – 6. It was not our best game but it was good enough. The real story was our defense, led by Merrill Moses with 15 saves in the cage. We also recorded 7 field blocks and had a fair number of steals. The play was still a bit sloppy but part of that was the officiating which was very erratic. There was really no flow to the game. The officials called 3 double kick outs in one quarter alone. Our 6 on 5 was adequate and we totally shut down the Australians on their extra man. I believe that they were 1 for 10 on their extra man. We did have some casualties - Ryan Bailey woke up from his nap this afternoon with a severe tendonitis in his right arm. He was unable to play and John Mann has a bit of a whiplash. Overall, we seem a little out of condition. We definitely wore down pretty quickly. Anyways, we are working hard to get everyone rested and healthy by tomorrow.




Attached is the picture of the stadium here in Podgorica. There will be 4,000 screaming crazy Montenegrin fans filling this place tomorrow. I am sure that they will have drums beating while they chant their fight songs and have a good time. We might be lucky to have 5 cheering for us. It will be a great experience for our guys. In fact, I am sure when we play Italy a month from now in Rome at the World Championships; the situation will not be much different. At this point we are two games away from a championship here. It will certainly not be easy.

Montenegro is playing with a great deal of confidence and they will be very difficult to beat at home. However, I think that we match up pretty well with them. We have always played well against them and I don’t expect it to be any different tomorrow. The keys for tomorrow are as follows:

1. Defense first. Hold Montenegro to 6 goals. This is s huge task. They have many weapons and we will have to play our best defensive game of the tournament.
2. Play under control - keep the turnovers down to a minimum – we can’t get in a run and gun type game with these guys. Control the tempo
3. Score our 6 on 5 opportunities. I have no doubt that we will get our chances on the extra man (probably 10 – 12). We need to score 7 – 8 of our extra man to win.

Can we beat them? YES. I believe we can. The guys have all told me that they now believe that they can win every game they play. This is a giant step for us. I am looking forward to the challenge and I know the team is too.

For now it is time for a good night’s sleep. See you tomorrow at the pool.

Coach