aphilso1

It's Wednesday, July 10th and GB is no longer the coach of the USMNT. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10127148-gregg-berhalter-reportedly-out-as-usmnt-hc-after-group-stage-exit-at-copa-america

I expect to see the rest of the B1G lamenting our "mickey mouse defense" again. With all that length, I highly doubt we'll run a straight man-to-man other than in the final 5 seconds of the shot clock.

I have such mixed thoughts on last night's match. On one hand, we deserved to lose. Tim's red was objectively the correct call; there was a 0% chance it would stay yellow after VAR. CCV has looked terrible for us despite being excellent for Celtic, and if he is our #3 center back then Gregg should not have gone to a 5-man backline. And Pepi again failed to capitalize on his teammates' perfect service. But on the other hand, that really was miserable officiating. Turner getting speared WWE-style should have been a yellow, no question. The lack of card was almost assuredly what got Tim's blood boiling, resulting in his retaliation and red. And with both Panamian goals being savable (one where an injured Turner was slow to react, and one where a rusty backup in Horvath failed to save a shot directly at him), that wrestling move was even more impactful. Then there was the lack of yellows for persistent infringement on Flo and Pulisic. And throw in the cheap shot on Scally being called a yellow even though by definition it was a violent conduct red. We played poorly and the match was managed poorly, so from that perspective we shouldn't be surprised at the loss. But that really did feel like a match that if reffed correctly, our players don't lose their cool. And we could have easily been the team with a man advantage.

Does he have a twin with a nearly identical name? Because there was an Abdi Bashir from Omaha that played at Monmouth last year, and I’m having a hard time understanding how he could have been in two places at once. I assumed Abdi was a nickname for Abdul, but now I’m wondering if these are two different people. Edit: @hhcmatt indirectly answered my question with a post at the same time.

Starters: Worster Essegian Williams Gary Morgan / Meah (doesn't really matter who starts, they'll platoon and each play roughly 20 mpg) Regular Rotation: Griffiths Buyuktuncel I think the guys above will get the lion's share of the minutes and be in the game plan for every single game. Morgan & Meah share the 5. Gary and Berke share the 4, with Gary sliding up to the wing when they're both on the court. Griffiths is the backup for both Essegian and Brice. In addition to starting, Brice also functions as the backup PG and takes over primary ballhandling when Worster needs a breather. There's your 8-man rotation. 9th man, he'll play but not as much as the other 8: Hoiberg. Dude is a shooter, decent ballhandler, and great off-ball defender. He'll play when Coach needs a specific role executed by someone reliable. Situational, will play some games but not in others: Ulis (when we need an extra ballhandler on the court) Janowski (when we need an extra shooter on the court) Barring any long-term injuries, I don't see the need for a situational big man to log any minutes. Two centers, plus positional size throughout the rotation. We should be able to hide minutes at the 4/5 when our regular bigs get into foul trouble.

True, but compared to Turkish coffee he likely considers both options to be dirty bath water.

True. Although that doesn't rule out a holiday tournament on a Caribbean island.

We stink. I’m paying back all that extra joy that Nebrasketball gave me in the winter, with anguish during SKC’s season.

I was just wondering the same thing. And then my second thought was whether we are due for an international trip this season. I believe Kansas found that loophole last year, and had their NIL collective pay their international players during a trip to the Bahamas.

I’m envisioning adding Buyunktuncel to this list and getting downright giddy. Do y’all realize he was the #36 overall prospect in his class according to 24/7? For reference, Bryce McGowens was our top-rated recruit ever and he was #28. Let that sink in. We’re talking about adding a BMac level talent, at our position of greatest need, to a roster that already looked like it should Dance.

Are you implying that a commitment is imminent? Or does tic tock mean something else here?

It was indeed the word I was looking for. Why wouldn’t it be? And a quick google search shows that ND uses the same phrase to describe themselves, so I really don’t understand what your issue is with it. https://magazine.nd.edu/stories/faith-in-the-mission/

They do, but usually those foreign-born players are Mormon. BYU, the city of Provo, and even the surrounding Utah County are such a completely different culture than anywhere else in America. This isn’t like Creighton, where the religious-affiliation has little impact on a player’s life. Or even like Notre Dame, which is unapologetically Catholic but has a significant number of non-Catholic students and student-athletes. BYU is…different. Berke is either going to leave his BYU visit thinking it’s the last place on earth he wants to go to school, or he will love it. There is no in between.

Different week, same story. Saturday was my annual match to attend in person, with the Boys in Blue traveling west to visit me. Had a feeling it could get ugly given what illness and injuries did to our lineup (third-string winger starting in the midfield, backup attacking mid starting at #6, backup center back, backup keeper). Felt like the post was our MVP, and the main reason it wasn't 2-0 or 3-0. This team is a mess right now. And I don't know how many seasons in a row we can expect the oldest team in MLS to make a late season push. At some point we have to get younger.

Yikes. Well as the roster currently stands, it sounds like our lengthy guards and wings will need to buckle their chin straps on the defensive end and bang in the post. On the flip side, those same big uglies will have to chase our shooters when we have the ball. Rebounding may be an adventure again this year.