From: bucur@pollux.usc.edu (alexander bucur)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.swimming
Subject: Re: comments on USA showing in Polo
Date: 13 Aug 1992 06:54:28 -0700
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
NNTP-Posting-Host: pollux.usc.edu

In article <1992Aug12.183809.22803@tfs.com> tab@tfs.com (Theresa Breckon) writes:

>International men's waterpolo is hardly ever a driving game. Most of the
>European teams have great shooters and hole sets. 

However, the Italians and the Spanish team drove quite often, and they score
many goals of motion offense.  The US Team relied on hole man scores, or kick
outs in order to stop any counterattacks from the other team.  They did a great
job (I do not think I saw one counter scored on us), however our outside shots
were very poor.  As a result, we did not score against tough teams (4 goals 
against Spain, 4 and 5 against CIS).  Rarely you see a win in water polo with
less then 2 goals per quater.

>Evans couldn't have lasted playing hole man very much. Shroeder is in
>much better shape and look how tired he looked in there. It's an 
>extremely demanding position.  I agree that there should have been
>some switching around at hole set, Chris Hubbert did a great job at
>the World Championships in '91 setting hole.  The guy from Stanford
>you spoke of, Craig Klass, is also a decent hole set.

I do not know why they did not play Klass more in the hole.  Humbert was
quite out of it (used with being given faults by the NCAA refferees), and
they dropped on Schroeder.

>Fisher, Vargas, and Everist are all quick and good drivers.
>the ball stolen, you think twice about risking a drive, and getting
>burned on the counter-attack.

The problem is very often our drivers just sat there allowing their man to
drop in a zone defense.  Without motion the hole man cannot be open for a pass.
You have to drive and have one of the teamates cover your back for counters.
If you watched Spain they did a great job on cutting down the counters, and 
the same did Italy.

>school kids, but that's it. Craig Wilson (goalie) probably did more
>real coaching on that team than Barnett did. The guys on the team had
>to deal with a lot of crap from the coaching staff because of Barnett.
>Their were alot of good athletes on that team and some good ones were
>cut, questionably. A great coach could have taken that team to the medal
>round with no problem. 

Barnett has a very bad reputation with many water-polo players because
of the way he deals with his assistant coaches, and some of the players.
The coach from Stanford (Dante) has resigned as an assistant coach because
he could not get along with Barnett.  I do not believe that any team can win
without respecting, and giving all they've got to their coach.  Look at the
Italians.  Radko Rudic came from Yugoslavian national team to coach them,
and they won the Olympics, after not being in the top four for awhile.

I hope that they change Barnett since a new string of players will be coming
to the National team, and many of them do not give 5 cents on Barnett.  With
such an atmosphere there is no way they can get better.


Sasha Bucur


From: lkc@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Lee Casuto)
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1992 23:17:27 GMT
Subject: Re: freestyle breathing
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA