World U20 Championships

[Switch]

Congratulations to Team USA for closing out the tournament with a nice win over Greece, 12-11!

This win lands them in 7th place overall, the same finish as the 2019 Team in Kuwait, and slightly better than the 2017 Team in Belgrade who finished 8th. But as 2Ply correctly pointed out, the pattern seems pretty predictable with consistent repetition and representation among those countries finishing in the Top 8.

Overall, the tournament definitely had its ups and downs, but in general was very fun to watch. Full Team USA player stats for the tournament can be found in the link below (pulled from the Total Waterpolo website).

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cdzNuIRle5LJl_D2It5uLOQpMSTJAV5F/view?usp=sharing

Final results:

1) Serbia
2) Italy
3) Montenegro
4) Hungary
5) Croatia
6) Spain
7) USA
Greece
9) Germany
10) Brazil
11) Russia
12) South Africa
13) Argentina
14) Kazakhstan
15) Slovakia
16) Egypt
17) Czech Republic
18) Uzbekistan

[Rbpolo0414]

Congratulations to Team USA for closing out the tournament with a nice win over Greece, 12-11!

This win lands them in 7th place overall, the same finish as the 2019 Team in Kuwait, and slightly better than the 2017 Team in Belgrade who finished 8th. But as 2Ply correctly pointed out, the pattern seems pretty predictable with consistent repetition and representation among those countries finishing in the Top 8.

Overall, the tournament definitely had its ups and downs, but in general was very fun to watch. Full Team USA player stats for the tournament can be found in the link below (pulled from the Total Waterpolo website).

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cdzNuIRle5LJl_D2It5uLOQpMSTJAV5F/view?usp=sharing

Final results:

1) Serbia
2) Italy
3) Montenegro
4) Hungary
5) Croatia
6) Spain
7) USA
Greece
9) Germany
10) Brazil
11) Russia
12) South Africa
13) Argentina
14) Kazakhstan
15) Slovakia
16) Egypt
17) Czech Republic
18) Uzbekistan

Anyone have the stats on mystery dad on number of F bombs and God damn its?

[SwimCoach]

Anyone have the stats on mystery dad on number of F bombs and God damn its?

OK, who is the mystery dad?

[ole'gauchos]

Anyone have the stats on mystery dad on number of F bombs and God damn its?

YES! We all want to know (lol)

OK, who is the mystery dad?

[2plyBathingSuit]

Yea, 7th...at least that's better than 8th. It's where we belong.

[Nohorsepolo]

I hope all the kids had a good time vacationing in Prague. I’m sure their college teammates will enjoy seeing their 7 place medal, especially the Pepperdine team that for sure will slip down the season rankings with a loss that could eventually keep them from an at large bid into the NCAAs. The other teams didn’t seem to mind missing their star players but then again who did they play? I put it on Kocur he’s the one that sold it to USA water polo and his selected group. Funny thing is that Terry and Moses bought in maybe it was payback for the Pepperdine jobs.

[2plyBathingSuit]

I hope all the kids had a good time vacationing in Prague. I’m sure their college teammates will enjoy seeing their 7 place medal, especially the Pepperdine team that for sure will slip down the season rankings with a loss that could eventually keep them from an at large bid into the NCAAs. The other teams didn’t seem to mind missing their star players but then again who did they play? I put it on Kocur he’s the one that sold it to USA water polo and his selected group. Funny thing is that Terry and Moses bought in maybe it was payback for the Pepperdine jobs.

I concur,...Kocur is the "worlds worst" coach. I wouldn't send my kid to Oaks Christian...jus sayin'.

[UberPolo]

Those stats for Tierney with 24 goals, and Avakian with 6 goals and 35 drawn exclusions are pretty impressive.

[Switch]

Those stats for Tierney with 24 goals, and Avakian with 6 goals and 35 drawn exclusions are pretty impressive.

Indeed they were! Total Waterpolo just released the leading individual stats across the whole tournament.

Congrats to the following Team USA players that made the leaderboard!

George Avakian - #1 in the tournament with 35 penalty fouls drawn
Sam Untrecht - #1 in the tournament (tied) with 16 assists
Zach Frazier - #1 in the tournament (tied) with 7 blocks
Nicholas Tierney - #2 in the tournament with 24 goals
Christian Hosea - #5 in the tournament (5 way tie) with 5 blocks

Nice job guys!

[polo12345]

Wow; great stats, very nice....... then you look at that and say, a team with all that should be in the top 4 or better. the main stat is 7th......not to many defensive tactics being talked about in the team meetings or being held accountable. hmmmmmm, coaching maybe.
I agree good experience for the boys that went, I don't think that is the point of the critism on this thread. I for one am not disagreeing with the players that were there, it is what it is.
If USA water polo wants to change and improve then we need new blood going on these trips and "coaching" the Junior team and for that matter the senior team. I have seen the same coaches for to long now with the same results. How about rewarding different coaches and get some fresh blood in those shoes. just saying.............. 7th/8th again........stop the bleeding

[2plyBathingSuit]

Wow; great stats, very nice....... then you look at that and say, a team with all that should be in the top 4 or better. the main stat is 7th......not to many defensive tactics being talked about in the team meetings or being held accountable. hmmmmmm, coaching maybe.
I agree good experience for the boys that went, I don't think that is the point of the critism on this thread. I for one am not disagreeing with the players that were there, it is what it is.
If USA water polo wants to change and improve then we need new blood going on these trips and "coaching" the Junior team and for that matter the senior team. I have seen the same coaches for to long now with the same results. How about rewarding different coaches and get some fresh blood in those shoes. just saying.............. 7th/8th again........stop the bleeding

The "same" coaches with the "same" results....love cashing in their checks. The bleeding never stops...the very definition of USWP.

[bdysrfr]

What I find funny and interesting on this thread is NO ONE mentions the facts:
1) Our 20u team plays 99% of the time against kids their own age here in the U.S.
2) Our 20u team here is not accustomed to International play or reffing.
3) Our 20u team none are on a PRO TEAM.
4) Most of those 20U players from other countries play against MEN (25-35yrs old) that are older, smarter and more experienced than the competition our 20u team is accustom to playing. Heck there are Pro teams that have players as young as 15 or 16 yrs old that play on Pro teams. So by the time they reach their 20U national team they are 4-5 years seasoned against much tougher competition that our 20ut team sees all year long.

So although 7th place isn't IDEAL or GREAT. Considering the kids start off in a deficit on many levels, then 7th place is pretty darn decent.

[2plyBathingSuit]

What I find funny and interesting on this thread is NO ONE mentions the facts:
1) Our 20u team plays 99% of the time against kids their own age here in the U.S.
2) Our 20u team here is not accustomed to International play or reffing.
3) Our 20u team none are on a PRO TEAM.
4) Most of those 20U players from other countries play against MEN (25-35yrs old) that are older, smarter and more experienced than the competition our 20u team is accustom to playing. Heck there are Pro teams that have players as young as 15 or 16 yrs old that play on Pro teams. So by the time they reach their 20U national team they are 4-5 years seasoned against much tougher competition that our 20ut team sees all year long.

So although 7th place isn't IDEAL or GREAT. Considering the kids start off in a deficit on many levels, then 7th place is pretty darn decent.

There is nothing funny about it. You've said nothing new that virtually everyone here on WPP already knows. I'll summarize for you, 7th place is our ceiling. There, I just said it.

[UberPolo]

There is nothing funny about it. You've said nothing new that virtually everyone here on WPP already knows. I'll summarize for you, 7th place is our ceiling. There, I just said it.

Three was a lot of talk about how only 3 or 4 players on this U20 team were the first choice and that Stanford and UCLA did not allow their U20 selected kids to compete.
Do you think we would still have only achieved 7th if the original selection was allowed to go?
Keep in mind that these U20 kids would have been the same ones that beat Serbia and Croatia to win gold at the Darko Cucic tournament in 2016. Same kids on both sides are now U20.

[Nohorsepolo]

The facts are the USA did not send their best kids to play. Kocur picked who was available and did not fully realize and or know what he was doing. He wanted a little side money and sold USA polo
On the idea to send what ever he could scrounge together to get paid. Took money out of the development fund to have a 7th place vacation. Guys a piece of work. Experience or not it was a losing battle. College coaches that have scholarships out to players and I’m talking about money players not books scholarships don’t want to risk it. So until there is a legitimate U20 team put the money into training a group of players instead of a Kocur vacation trip. I’m sure Pepperdine is reeling from not having one of their best players for 2 1/2 weeks prior to the season. I’m also not sure the college coaches see a lot of value having Kocur coaching their kids for the Period. It’s definitely a set back. Like 2ply said ceiling 7th