Not ready for prime time
6/27/11
My coach's intuition proved to be right in that we just did not have it against Croatia. We played a decent first half. In fact, we went 4 for 4 on our first four extra man opportunities. This was a great positive step. The problem is that every time we scored we would give up a goal immediately at the other end. So at half we were down 6-4.
Croatia just pulled away in the second half as we began to wear down. We were 0 for 6 on our extra man in the second half and only managed to score one goal as Croatia went on to win 11 - 5. Once again, I was disappointed in our defense which gave up too many easy goals.
In the gold medal game, Serbia was just too much. They defeated Italy 7-6 in a great battle. This means that Serbia is the first team to qualify for the Olympic Games next year.
Our goal in the tournament was to finish in the top four. We knew coming in that we were not where we needed to be. Few of our guys have been finishing up school or work commitments and now should be free to dedicate their time to training and getting ready to begin our climb to the top of the mountain.
We sit right now ranked 4th in the World. We come home today and have a few days off before we begin training for the World Championships that are in Shanghai, China July 16th - 30th. The top three teams in this tournament qualify for the Olympic Games in London. Our bracket is not easy. We will open up with Italy on July 16th and then play Germany and South Africa. The top three teams in each bracket advance to top 16, play with the winner getting a bye into the top 8.
We have a lot to work on when we get back. All parts of our game are a bit off. We have to step up our conditioning and at the same time work in tactics so we are prepared for all situations. The task is great.
I do feel as though the reality check we had this week was good for us. The guys know fully that we need to work hard to catch up to these other teams. They also know and feel that all the pieces are there for us. They are not all connected yet. They are certainly not synchronized as they need to be to become the team we all know we can be. This takes time and I am confident that we will get there. Will we be ready and fully prepared for the Worlds? I can tell you that we are going to do our best to prepare this team and get them ready to compete at the highest level. I believe that we can do it.
Time will tell... as any mountain climber will tell you - the journey to the top is one step at a time. This is our plan. To stay the course and stay in the moment. One day at a time. Each of us giving our best to challenge one another to become better individually and as a team.
The journey goes on and even though we are not where we want to be - we are on the road and prime time is just around the corner. Good things are going to happen...
See you at the pool.
Coach
My coach's intuition proved to be right in that we just did not have it against Croatia. We played a decent first half. In fact, we went 4 for 4 on our first four extra man opportunities. This was a great positive step. The problem is that every time we scored we would give up a goal immediately at the other end. So at half we were down 6-4.
Croatia just pulled away in the second half as we began to wear down. We were 0 for 6 on our extra man in the second half and only managed to score one goal as Croatia went on to win 11 - 5. Once again, I was disappointed in our defense which gave up too many easy goals.
In the gold medal game, Serbia was just too much. They defeated Italy 7-6 in a great battle. This means that Serbia is the first team to qualify for the Olympic Games next year.
Our goal in the tournament was to finish in the top four. We knew coming in that we were not where we needed to be. Few of our guys have been finishing up school or work commitments and now should be free to dedicate their time to training and getting ready to begin our climb to the top of the mountain.
We sit right now ranked 4th in the World. We come home today and have a few days off before we begin training for the World Championships that are in Shanghai, China July 16th - 30th. The top three teams in this tournament qualify for the Olympic Games in London. Our bracket is not easy. We will open up with Italy on July 16th and then play Germany and South Africa. The top three teams in each bracket advance to top 16, play with the winner getting a bye into the top 8.
We have a lot to work on when we get back. All parts of our game are a bit off. We have to step up our conditioning and at the same time work in tactics so we are prepared for all situations. The task is great.
I do feel as though the reality check we had this week was good for us. The guys know fully that we need to work hard to catch up to these other teams. They also know and feel that all the pieces are there for us. They are not all connected yet. They are certainly not synchronized as they need to be to become the team we all know we can be. This takes time and I am confident that we will get there. Will we be ready and fully prepared for the Worlds? I can tell you that we are going to do our best to prepare this team and get them ready to compete at the highest level. I believe that we can do it.
Time will tell... as any mountain climber will tell you - the journey to the top is one step at a time. This is our plan. To stay the course and stay in the moment. One day at a time. Each of us giving our best to challenge one another to become better individually and as a team.
The journey goes on and even though we are not where we want to be - we are on the road and prime time is just around the corner. Good things are going to happen...
See you at the pool.
Coach
posted by Dr. Terry Schroeder at
6:55 PM
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