aphilso1

Favorite moment for me was was Pepi's first goal, and to celebrate he kisses the crest on his jersey. I'm probably reading too much into that simple gesture, but originally I had assumed that he decided to play for the US instead of Mexico because we are thin at the #9 and they aren't. Simply a better opportunity. But that moment made me think that maybe it really was a love for this country that made him choose his nation over his heritage. And maybe we will see the tides turn and be able to start keeping more of the elite Mexican-American soccer players representing the USA in the future. Oh, and how cool was it to finally have home field advantage in the state of Texas?!? Austin's crowd was FANTASTIC. Looking at the bigger picture, we are now top of the table thanks to Canada getting a draw in Estadio Azteca. Panama losing helps too. And Costa Rica must be in a complete panic as they are sitting on 3 points through 4 matches. It's still early, but 29% of the way through WCQ and things are going about as perfectly for us as we could have realistically hoped. We will be in a commanding qualifying position if we can snag a point at Panama and a win at home against a frazzled Costa Rica team.

Probably similar to this: https://www.nbascoutinglive.com/alonzo-verge-jr-scouting-report/

I'm glad I'm not a Raptors fan, because there's no way I could listen to 82 games of that gravely play-by-play voice. He makes Matt Davison sound angelic by comparison.

If Fred wants a kid enough to give him a committable offer in the early signing period, then the kid is good enough to play for us. Not saying Dawson's tape or offer list jumps out as elite, but HCFH doesn't throw those early offers out like candy. I think anytime we land a kid in the early signing period that means he's a Plan A or Plan B kind of dude.

I'm assuming Verge and Bryce

Wait. He's trying to reclassify to 2022? Is that confirmed or is this just conjecture?

"Two and through" has a nice rhyme going for it. Let's make that a thing.

And another left-footed goal for Salloi today. The kid is becoming ambidextrous before our eyes.

This is a good take. Although given the league we play in, I could see Eduardo still getting decent minutes on a lot of nights even if he doesn't crack the 8 or 9 man rotation. You gotta have a platoon of big bodies to throw at teams like Illinois and Purdue and Ohio State. It's not a matter of "if" your bigs get in foul trouble, but "when."

What a game by Daniel Salloi. Scores a brace on two absolute rockets. The commentators didn’t notice, but that second one was with his left (weaker) foot. Super impressive.

Honestly I don't think the B1G is as deep this year. Top heavy with a bunch of Sweet 16 (or better) contenders, but the bottom half of the league appears to *gasp* actually resemble the bottom half of a league. Lots of rebuilding projects starting this season in other programs. Middle of the pack for DONU isn't all that optimistic of a take.

13-17.

That's a fair point. I guess I just see the swap of CJ for Lat as an exchange of offense in lieu of defense and rebounding. That then made me look at the newly projected starting 5 as a whole and wonder how we're going to get stops and defensive boards. That being said, Lat wasn't exactly an elite rebounder and defender. Perhaps a CJ-for-Lat swap isn't as punitive on D as I initially thought. And as I've said before, I think Trey is set for a big boost in rebounding numbers as he will likely now be the extra guard tasked with rebounding rather than getting back in transition (a la Teddy/Banton last year). And while I'm drinking the Kool-Aid, perhaps Verge will take his NBA scouting report to heart and commit himself to being an improved defender. OK, I can get behind this lineup.

If so, then this is basically Hoiberg saying we're going to try to win games in shootouts. My concern is how we plan to defend with a lineup of: -An undersized center. -An elite, lanky freshman. -A laterally quickness challenged guard. -An undersized transfer guard whose defense is one of the main reasons he's not in the NBA this year. -And one lockdown defender. Obviously the flip side of that is that each of those players is a net positive on offense. Will we be able to get enough stops? I don't know, but I know that looks like a lineup that will play with tempo, shoot lights out, and be fun to watch.

Actually, it was the Nebrasketball thing that made his shooting tank. If I told you that a certain D1 team would get a transfer from a proven elite 3pt shooter, and that that player would develop a debilitating injury to his shooting shoulder upon transfer...what are the odds that team is not named Nebraska?

Oleg is tall. Like, really tall. I can see why we used a roster spot on him. Give him a couple years of cheeseburgers and lifting weights, and we may have something here.

I like the calendar considerations, both putting it in the summer and having the domestic leagues pause. I've said this before; yes, Liga MX is still ahead of MLS, but not by as much as head-to-head matchups would indicate. MLS has always been at a disadvantage in playing these types of matchups early in the season (or even pre-season) for CONCACAF Champions League when fitness is poor and many stars don't even start. It really hasn't been a fair matchup against Liga MX teams that are in midseason form. Then when this newest iteration of Leagues Cup started back up in 2019 we sent RSL, Chicago, and Houston as 3/4 of the MLS representatives. That's waving the white flag before the matches even start. But putting the 2023 Cup in the summer, sending all teams from both leagues, and making both leagues pause? No excuses anymore. We finally have a fair format. Time to prove our league can go toe-to-toe with Liga MX.

What in the name of Fran McCaffery's blood pressure meds is going on here?!?!?

This makes me question all the other listed changes in height/weight.

4-0 ain't too shabby of a scoreline! Absolutely dominated Minny United. Anybody know what's up with Felipe Hernandez still being out for "personal reasons"? Long-hauler COVID case perhaps? Seems like he's been away from the club for 6-7 weeks at this point, but maybe I'm remembering wrong.

Just finished a rewatch of Community. Definitely my favorite comedy, although it did lose its mojo after Donald Glover left.

What rumors?

Also interesting that Keita gets the opening day visit. Is Blaise getting cold feet? Should we be worried? I understand needing to continuously recruit your verbal commits...but first day of one of the most important recruiting periods is giving me some strong vibes that maybe his recruitment isn't over.

I am so glad we beat out Mexico to land Pepi. I don't think he becomes a dominant striker at the international level, but he plays a position we clearly need a lot more depth at. I honestly can't remember the last time we had an elite, true #9. Have we ever? It must have been before my time as a fan. I know a lot of people would consider Dempsey, but he floated around the pitch more than you want in a center forward. More of a False 9 (and a great one), in my opinion. Altidore, when at his best, was a world-class #9...but he was often not at his best. Since I didn't follow soccer as a young kid, The Donovan/Dempsey Era is as far as my memory goes back.

It's shocking that SKC still manages to be near the top of the table with how much tomscrewery we are getting from refs this year. I mean seriously, LAFC was even surprised that Roger got sent off. When have you ever seen the team benefiting from a red card standing around in shock when it happens? Never. They're typically whining and moaning and begging for the card. Even the LAFC players knew that one wasn't a red. Ridiculous.