Asunto: US Senior National Team

What is this years goal

Goal is to qualify to playoffs. Anything less is failure. And I hope to win at least one playoff match.

I will also be trimming the roster (already did most if not all the job) and carrying "only" players that will be called up.

I am also planning to have the 4 players called but not in the match to be the best quality players that are not ready yet to start but should in the future. Those few players with 80+ effective quality or so.

This is the year to have the core set and in charge for going forward. We have a good bulk of 17 year olds and a few 16 year olds coming in. I doubt were going to see any new 15 year old wonder kids.

I pretty much agree with this statement. Most teams had anywhere from 1-3 SA improvements last season. This year (because of cost increases on all facility growth, and many teams beginning to put money into the arenas), I doubt we'll see the SA facilities grow, on average, much more than 1 level (if that).

So we'll be having, mostly, the same "level" of pulls as we were having the last month or so.

All the while, current players are continually trained at a high level to be specialized in their positions. It's gonna be hard for many 15 year olds to come out ready/worthy of a senior national team spot.

I feel as though they should start the U18 national team next season or the season after because of this fact.

Agreed. As the assistant this season, I want to win as many games as we can. That doesn't mean we'd do stupid things like playing friendlies higher than VL energy or anything, but I think there's something to be said for winning even friendly matchups. I really want to make a name for U.S. handball this season.

But I agree with Bulls. A playoff berth is the goal.

I will say though... it'll be tough again this year. Our division still isn't conducive to an easy playoff berth. But we are solidly the 3rd best team by team rating at this point. Whereas last year, everyone in the division (pretty much) was fairly evenly matched (leading to a lot of "toss up" type games).

Our schedule this season includes Turkey, Iran, Portugal, and Czech Republic. Respective team ratings (which are admittedly stale at this point, and could be drastically different depending on everyone's roster selections) are 39, 40, 49, 50. Our team rating is 45.

A hi-light though (at least in my eyes) is that our last two qualifying games played are versus Portugal and C.R. So if things are close, a win there can really shake up the (presumed) top 3 in the rankings. We'll also have a bunch of games to scout before meeting them.

Speaking of which. I'm sure Bulls would second this notion... but lets start scouting national team opponents NOW.

I want to have know who the players on those teams are. I want their history, their childrens names, where they went to elementary school. I want to know what their favorite foods are, and what nightmares they had at kids.

Knowledge is power, and we'll need it.

Anyone who has the ability/desire to scout a few extra foreign team players, message bulls (or myself), and we'll give you a list to work on. Please let us know though, so we don't end up with double scouting on one guy.

At the very least, the teams that have lagged behind will begin to catch up with the last cheap sports academy upgrades, leading to more chances at the highest current feasible level. In addition, there is still a lot of room for growth for sports managers. Finally, there will probably be at least a handful of elite pulls that will be at least as good as the above average 16 year olds right away.

With all of that said, 400+ OR pulls in hockey and soccer are still relatively rare (though I'm not sure that a 400+ OR pulls are necessarily comparably common across the different sports).

I agree that is it becoming less likely that newer players will play a large part on the senior team soon, but I think it still might be relatively possible this season.

a new pull may not make the biggest impact but a player losing a CL next season could...

The base wont be much different than what we have already, as starters ... the list i am preparing will show the players that could make the team in case of injury or whatever.

So you are saying that Dukarski wont be in the NT? He is one of the best trained wings in this country, just becuase you dont like me, doesnt mean you have to dislike my players

huh? last i remember you have a player in the roster ...

And second I have not released the list, so why you are assuming something? Not to mentioned I have not finished the winger list yet.

and third, i dont dislike you. I think it is the other way around as I never understood your cheap shots.

And lastly, lets talk about NT

There will be Bulls players on the NT and his friends. Obviously. Don't expect to see the best players.

Well, to be honest, I am kind of dissapointed that we lost. I wouldnt be so upset if I knew that it was only by one vote. Bulls, please pick the players by their actual qualities, and not how Mike said. Secondly I dont really understand why you ran again. You know that you could have won easily becuase your reputation is high from other sports. But before the National teams had even started you said that if you did not suceed, than you would let someone else take your position. If you wanted to, you could probably PM your 15 friends every season and they would vote for you. Do you see where I am kind of going with this?

P.S. I dont think it would be smart to pull Thomas, since he is one of the best defensive players this country has.

Nerd . Are you saying Dukarski is better than Schneider and Mallory? I do not see it. Same age , but behind in OR , key quality areas and behind in facilities. Mallory is going to be hard to replace.

Mitch Hilton and Dominic Fugate definitely worthy to be on a national team.