Shanghai - Poor start
7/19/11
For whatever reason, we came out last night very lethargic and played through the first quarter like we were asleep. Germany on the other hand came out like they had something to prove and before we knew it we were down 5 - 0. Not the start that I had imagined. At that point, we became fired up and tried to make a run at them. We fought hard and actually played two quarters of water polo that were as good as I have seen from this team in the past few summers. Early in the fourth quarter we earned a penalty throw and had a chance to tie the game at 7. Unfortunately, Tony Azevedo’s shot was blocked and although we continued to fight could not ever come all the way back. Germany scored to go up by two and then we scored to make it 8 - 7. We had another great chance to tie it up but missed on a 6 on 5. Germany scored once more from the perimeter to win 9 - 7.
Definitely not the way we had envisioned the tournament beginning. This is a team we can beat and we played poorly for two quarters and handed them the game. Disappointing to say the least. We had a long meeting last night after the game. I asked the guys to think hard about how we played and try to figure out what is going on with starting the game out so poorly. If you remember, in Florence most of our games we were down 3 or 4 to 0 before we started to play. There are definitely some mental focus issues going on. My biggest concern is that we don’t seem hungry. We are not playing with urgency like there is something to prove. We played with very little intensity the first quarter. We as a team need to find that and get back to playing this game with passion. Having some fun together and of course, winning some games.
We have a light weight workout this morning and then a swim down. This afternoon we will go to an outside pool for training and begin our preparation for Italy. We need to get back to playing with some pride and intensity on defense. Lots to work on and obviously much room for improvement. We need to find ourselves again.
A new day today... Time to get to work.
See you at the pool.
Terry
For whatever reason, we came out last night very lethargic and played through the first quarter like we were asleep. Germany on the other hand came out like they had something to prove and before we knew it we were down 5 - 0. Not the start that I had imagined. At that point, we became fired up and tried to make a run at them. We fought hard and actually played two quarters of water polo that were as good as I have seen from this team in the past few summers. Early in the fourth quarter we earned a penalty throw and had a chance to tie the game at 7. Unfortunately, Tony Azevedo’s shot was blocked and although we continued to fight could not ever come all the way back. Germany scored to go up by two and then we scored to make it 8 - 7. We had another great chance to tie it up but missed on a 6 on 5. Germany scored once more from the perimeter to win 9 - 7.
Definitely not the way we had envisioned the tournament beginning. This is a team we can beat and we played poorly for two quarters and handed them the game. Disappointing to say the least. We had a long meeting last night after the game. I asked the guys to think hard about how we played and try to figure out what is going on with starting the game out so poorly. If you remember, in Florence most of our games we were down 3 or 4 to 0 before we started to play. There are definitely some mental focus issues going on. My biggest concern is that we don’t seem hungry. We are not playing with urgency like there is something to prove. We played with very little intensity the first quarter. We as a team need to find that and get back to playing this game with passion. Having some fun together and of course, winning some games.
We have a light weight workout this morning and then a swim down. This afternoon we will go to an outside pool for training and begin our preparation for Italy. We need to get back to playing with some pride and intensity on defense. Lots to work on and obviously much room for improvement. We need to find ourselves again.
A new day today... Time to get to work.
See you at the pool.
Terry
posted by Dr. Terry Schroeder at
3:20 PM
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