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@ BB, I think you're being coy with the "I didn't TIE every game". So you didn't TIE every game leading up to the semi's?

The argument was never "Poland cheated" or anything of that nature. It was that HCA needs to be done away with or given to teams outside of the top 10 in the world. It was not directed towads Poland either. YOU and others took offense to it and got defensive. Usually people do that when they feel attacked, or in this case assume people are taking their accomplishment away from them when they are not. If you were in Chile's shoes I would like to see your take on this thread.

as i said before: remove the HCA for Semi finales and Finales, but keep all the rest as it is. That way, the strongest nations in the semi-finals and finales will win it, and nobody will be able to argue about it.

Why would this solve ANYTHING? It's not about the HCA in the semi's and finals as much as it IS about the enthusiasm advantage built up because of the ability to TIE more games and still get to the semi's. 14 enth. is much different than 7 if without HCA carrying into the semis. What you suggest solves absolutely nothing.

You don't have to solve nothing, when there isn't a problem.

Poland deserved the title even if they played with HCA. Just take a look on their matchs;

Apart from Al Maghrib, the only team that put more effort against him was Chile. Result? Chile won them.

In the groups;

USA lost just by 9(against Poland)

Against Spain they won just by 7.


If USA had a big lose on the SF, it's because they dind't manage their own enthusiasm to arrive to the SF in good conditions.

(And look that Poland did a mistake, they had to play normal against USA on SF's, to keep their enthusiasm high).


HCA doesn't give you the win, and if not take a look on Itally or China they both lost their final having HCA(season 15,11)

It would be a bad decision to remove the HCA for the SF and for the final, this teams make the difference during the previous stages.



Last edited by Marot at 7/31/2011 3:16:13 PM

If USA had a big lose on the SF, it's because they dind't manage their own enthusiasm to arrive to the SF in good conditions.

This proves my point. We barely made the semifinals because we had to use enthusiasm to get there. In fact it took a win by someone else on the last day for us to make it. Poland reached the semifinals with tons of enthusiasm because they DIDN'T have to use enthusiasm to get there.

Again, this is not a US vs. Poland argument. Why is everyone taking it there? This is not a "Poland doesn't deserve the title" argument. EVERY US poster has made sure to say that Poland is a world class team with a world class program.

The problem is that when a top 10 team has HCA it skews everything because the roster differences are not that great...but HCA gives a HUGE advantage. Poland navigated PERFECTLY and made no mistakes along the way. First class tournament. However when HCA creates two blowouts in the SF and Final then there is a fault in it.

@ BB, I think you're being coy with the "I didn't TIE every game". So you didn't TIE every game leading up to the semi's?

Negative, I didn't TIEd every game before semifinals.

It was that HCA needs to be done away with or given to teams outside of the top 10 in the world.

When cadency started Poland was 32th in world ranking...

This proves my point. We barely made the semifinals because we had to use enthusiasm to get there. In fact it took a win by someone else on the last day for us to make it. Poland reached the semifinals with tons of enthusiasm because they DIDN'T have to use enthusiasm to get there.

Sometimes You must use more enthusiasm and sometimes not. In European Championships Poland had very very very bad schedule. We were CTed 5 times. Afaik we went to semifinal with enthusiasm by 7-8 levels less than Italy ;-) And Italy had HCA of course. So we had the same situation in EC as USA in WC.
But I never depreciated Italy's victory, I sent congratulations and I was happy Poland won first medal.

In Championships HCA for Poland didn't change final standing of USA ;-) Without Poland with HCA in this tournament USA would finish 3rd anyway. You would lose with Chile and I think You wouldn't able to beat all other european teams (Italy and Spain in row). So HCA for Poland wasn't problem for You.
I can say more, You reached semis thanks Poland ;-) Because Spain decided to gain enthusiasm in last round to increase chance to fight with Poland in semi ;-)
It was better for USA that Poland had HCA. Please try to imagine what would happen if Marocco had HCA... Last quarter would be boring because of garbage time...

If we talk about advantages please note Grubbs was drafted in 2nd season when Poland didn't exist in BB ;-) So therefore he could have better skills and experience. Is it fair advantage? ;-)
He is trained in club which isn't normal club - history of this club is gray. Hmmm... when I'm looking for new home for polish player I must find normal club. When this club goes to bankrupt I must find new one. Is it fair advantage? ;-)
Our staff must make hard work to recognize how to train players to be as good as possible. Owner of Grubbs knows it... Is it fair advantage? ;-)

Because grubbs did so much this season.

Again you try to make it a US vs. Poland thing. I do not understand why? I NEVER thought we win the tournament regardless of where it is. That has NEVER been the argument of anyone, but I guess your ignorance keeps making you bring this up to hide the real issue. You are so prideful you can not admit it.

I'm done. I came into this thread with respect for you, I leave with very little thanks to your comments.

When cadency started Poland was 32th in world ranking...

Well, you were 14th when the world's host was announced, and 9th when world's began. If this is the argument, I fully support not giving HCA to any team in the top 50, just to be safe.

But I never depreciated Italy's victory, I sent congratulations and I was happy Poland won first medal.

Sigh... I started this by congratulating you. Please don't take it personally. Poland is a VERY good team, perhaps the best in the world. That is *precisely* why this is a problem. You *could* have won without HCA. But you didn't, and that's a shame. It's also a shame for Chile, who might also have been the best team in the world this season. We'll never know.

In Championships HCA for Poland didn't change final standing of USA

How can this be mis-interpreted in more ways. This is NOT about the USA. We were, frankly, lucky to make it to the semi-finals. No matter who had HCA, we weren't going to win. I know it's hard for people to accept, but I didn't post this out of any selfish hopes of improving things for the USA. I just want the world championships to be interesting and exciting every season. Giving HCA to a team as good as Poland was means there's very little chance of that.

I think that the BBs just have to decide to give HCA to middling teams and not to powerhouses, this would solve the problem.

If you go to http://www.buzzerbeaterblog.com My opinion on this topic is the last paragraph of my article! And also somewhere in the middle :)

Last edited by Bballin at 9/10/2011 12:24:30 AM

I hate to bump an old thread, but I want to point out how exciting this year's U21 championship is.

With one game left in round two:
- 6 teams are still in the mix for the final 4.
- 3 teams still have a chance at the top seed for the semi-finals.
- There are a ton of crazy scenarios for how the final week will play out as all 6 top teams have a realistic chance at the title, and therefore have to weigh the effort options carefully.
- No one has been able to completely run away with this while TIE'ing every match.

Had any of the top 6 teams (or probably even France/Brazil) had HCA, I don't think we'd be getting such an interesting, exciting u21 WC.

Btw - how about not only showing "last matches" but also "next matches" in the overview? Would help increasing the informational aspect and it´s quite key to know who´s gonna play which opponent on the last day anyways.