I continue my look back at Nikiola Karabatic’s career and try to illustrate why he’s one of the greatest, if not the greatest 2 way defender of all time. (Read Part 1 Part 2)

Why Handball Defense Gets No Respect

As a former defensive specialist perhaps nothing annoys me more about typical Handball GOAT debates than the often total lack of any discussion whatsoever regarding defensive capabilities.  It’s annoying, but understandable.  Understandable, because unless it’s a GK save you’ll rarely, if ever see any any defensive highlights. This is in sharp contrast to another indoor sport, basketball.  No finger wagging Mutombo blocks or career defining Lebron chase downs to win a title. 

No. A great defensive play in handball… often is a defensive foul that stops play and results in a 9 meter free throw or restart. Yawn…  Of course, if you know a little bit about the sport you know that a good yawner can be pretty important.  On a tactical level it stops play and requires the offense to start over.  Seemingly a no big deal, do over, but the offense is now that much closer to a passive play call and may well end up having to settle for a less than ideal shot. 

On a strategic level a good hard foul resulting in a restart plays an important role in the attrition nature of a pretty physical sport.  Athletes like to think that they just brush off such contact and move on to the next play… and they do, but sub-consciously it plays a role in subsequent attacks.  If an offensive player tries a tactic that the defense stops they will then try another tactic the next time.  And, that other tactic… well, it often tends to be a tactic that next time results in less contact.  Maybe, it’s just the smart move.  After all, avoiding contact when trying to throw a ball into a goal is generally a good thing.  But, maybe they just don’t want to get hit again.

That psychology plays a role especially in a 60 minute game.  And, if you are the focal point of the offense, make no mistake, you’ve got a bit of a target on your chest.  That contact adds up and takes a toll. It’s why you often see offensive stars subbing out on defense or playing the wing defender position.  It’s a chance to lick your wounds and rest up so you can be more ready for the next offensive attack.

But, not the Handball GOAT, Nikola Karabatic. No, he has either played as a middle defender (often referred to as a “3” defender), and more often lately as a “2” defender in between the 3 and the “1” or wing defender.  No subbing out or hiding out on the wing. No, he’s typically been making stops and looking for contact.  In fact, I wonder what would have ever happened if one of his coaches suggested that he should play wing defender. Not that any coach would be so foolish as to put one of his best defenders there.

Match ~#400: 2020 Olympics Final, France 25, Denmark 23: Karabatic Slows Down the Young Gun and Stops him in Crunch Time

To take a closer look at Karabatic’s defense, I’ll use what I estimate is about the 400th match that I saw him play. The gold medal final between France and Denmark in August 2021 at the COVID delayed 2020 Olympics.

The 2020-21 season was a challenging one for Karabatic as he tore an ACL in October of 2020. ACLs aren’t as devastating as they used to be, but they are still a major injury. And, at age 37 one might think that even one of the greatest players of all time might not recover in time to make another Olympics… But, Karabatic was back on the court in May after seven months of rehab. And, recovered enough to make the Olympic Team. Check out this video which is queued up to the injury and subsequent rehab.

So more than a few people felt that Karabatic, coming off an injury and in the twilight of his career was making the French Olympic team as sort of a lifetime achievement award. But, while Tokyo Olympics Karabatic was certainly not Peak Karabatic he still found ways to contribute, particularly on the defensive end in a gold medal showdown vs Denmark.

As has often been the case for the past several years, Denmark and France finished on top in their respective groups and then marched through the knockout phase to meet in the final. The only thing somewhat different, was the continued emergence of Denmark’s, Mattias Gidsel, who at just 23 years old was starting to change the game with his slashing, 1v1 breakthrough first offensive focus.

Matched up against him much of the game was Karabatic. I recently rewatched the match and it was a real battle between the Old Man and the Kid. And, while this is a commentary on the GOAT’s defensive prowess, Gidsel more than held his own, scoring 6 goals, the most goals from the field and only trailing Mikkel Hansen who scored 9, but with some of those being penalties.

That said, here’s a sequence that resulted in one of those “yawner” 9 meter restarts that Karabatic has been a part of God knows how many times.

Anyone who’s watch Gidsel play the last three years knows that more often than not this sequence ends in a goal, sometimes with the defense hardly touching him. Plays like this don’t show up in the stat sheet, but plays like that make a difference and is an example of the defense France played collectively that day when they held the high powered Danish offense to just 23 goals.

Here’s the video of that sequence queued up:

And, in the crunch time of all crunch times: 15 seconds left in the Gold Meda Olympic Final they were matched up against each other for one final time.

And, here’s the video of that final 15 seconds queued up:

A yawner of a turnover and I’m not even sure exactly what happened. But, the stage for that turnover was setup by the previous 59 minutes of play. And, on that day during crunch time the end result went the GOAT’s way. Did we think that it would somehow end differently?

Too much love for the Handball GOAT? Perhaps, but I’m next going to provide a little balance. Yes, I’ll address a match I’ve never seen and most of the Handball World pretends was never played: 12 May 2012, Cesson-Rennes – Montpellier.

(Karabatic and Narcisse*, Jordan and Pippen, Ruth and Gehrig. *I could probably have used a picture with Jerome Fernandez and some other players)

I continue my look back at Nikiola Karabatic’s career and try to answer the age old GOAT question: Does the GOAT owe his greatness to his sidekicks? Or does the GOAT make the sidekicks look better? The ~200th match I saw him play provides some clues. (Read Part 1)

The GOAT Sidekick Debate

Whenever GOAT debates come up in the world of sports one of the big questions that has to be asked is whether the “would be GOAT” is only the GOAT because of the athletes playing alongside him.  As in Jordan had Pippen and Ruth had Gehrig.  Generally no one is arguing that that the #2 was on the same level, but folks will argue that without that #2 taking some of the load, the GOAT would have been less “great.” 

Some ornery folks will even make the case that the great player was just pretty good thanks to that #2 carrying the weight.  That aspect of GOAT debates creates a more complicated argument especially when a player is often surrounded by many great players.  And, with Karabatic playing for a top national team like France and some of the premier clubs like Kiel, Barca and Paris St-Germain that was particularly the case.

Karabatic played alongside some pretty good backcourts and two, Daniel Narcisse and Jerome Fernandez, come to mind. Narcisse is the 5th all time leading scorer for France and had one of the best (if not the best) 9-10 meter jump shots of all time. Fernandez is France’s all time leading scorer and is arguably the best right handed, right back of all time. (fyi: Karabatic is the 2nd all time scorer for France) Having those guys on either side to pass to is a pretty good deal… and, conversely, having Nikola Karabatic drawing a lot of attention probably makes your shooting easier, too.

The 2008 – 2011 Four Tourney Sweep

It’s too simple to say that Fernandez/Narcisse made Karabatic great…or that Karabatic made Fernandez/Narcisse. But, make no mistake those 3 great players along with Omeyer in goal and Dinart, the GOAT defender made France really tough to beat. And, those players were all part of a very dominant French side for many years.

The peak of France’s domination was arguably their sweep of four straight major international tournaments from 2008-2011 when the 2008 Olympic Games, 2009 World Championship, 2010 European Championships and the 2011 World Championships. And, I think the last of those four championships provides a pretty good answer for how this sidekick debate should be answered.

Match ~#200: 2011 World Championship Final, France 37, Denmark 35: Peak Karabatic

For those that weren’t following the sport 13 years ago, France was starting to become the team everyone else was getting real tired of losing to. And, even though they had won 3 major tournaments in a row they seemed a little vulnerable heading into 2011 World Championships. Daniel Narcisse was injured and out for the tournament, Fernandez was starting to slow down a little and France would need to rely more on backcourt players like William Accambray and Xavier Barachet. Not bad players by any stretch, but clearly a rung or two… or maybe three below Narcisse and a younger Fernandez in his prime.

But, if Nikola Karabatic is orchestrating the attack would it matter? And, I should mention here that Karabatic’s move from big shooter left back to center back was at the time a bit unorthodox as generally teams kept their big right handed scorer in the left back position. But, Karabatic’s game had evolved to the point that he could play both center and left back interchangeably. He was a center back that could both pass and score.

It turns out that it didn’t matter. I didn’t find a lot of footage from the tournament, but I did find some highlights from the Final vs Denmark which France won 37-35 in Extra Time. In the highlights you’ll see some goals from Xavier Barachet and maybe you’re like me, kind of wondering whatever happened to him. Barachet and Accambray were at the time the younger backcourts that were presumably the future.

But, as it turns out what we were really seeing was peak Barrachet and peak Accambray. Solid players, but limited players… that were playing next to the 26 year old GOAT… who was playing at his peak. At least if one looks at the arc of their careers this would seem to be accurate. Both players would move to the fringes of the French National team eventually seeing less playing time and then no longer being called up. Hard to say entirely as Barrachet also had some injuries which one could argue also contributed to his decline.

All, I know is that my recollection is that Karabatic’s performance was masterful as he had 51 goals in the tournament to go along with 34 assists. 10 of those goals coming in the gold medal final. He carried and willed that team to a title. And, yes, I remember wondering out loud… If he can make Xavier Barrachet and William Accambray look that good… could I even have looked like a halfway competent backcourt next to him? Most definitely not, but the fact that I could even contemplate such a question says quite a bit about what Peak Karabatic was like.

(An 18 year old Nikola Karabatic with Montpellier head coach, Patrice Canayer, back in 2003)

Later this August, probably after the Gold Medal match at the 2024 Olympics, Nikola Karabatic will hang up his shoes and retire from handball. It’s been a long journey for him… and a long journey for me and the rest of the handball world. Like most careers one fillled with ups and down, but way more ups than most. I’m going to take a long look at those ups… but, I’ll also touch upon some of the down moments. In doing so I hope to capture his legacy and give the GOAT a proper sendoff.

Handball’s Greatest of all Time (GOAT): Don’t Even Try to Argue for anyone Else. Just Don’t…

When a professional career spans over two decades of excellence it can be a bit hard to wrap ones arms around its entire arc. Memories fade some as the great player becomes only really good and then just good with periodic reminders of that all time greatness. Younger fans of the sport who have never even seen Karabatic play when he was at his peak are may even be a little puzzled when he’s referred to as the GOAT.

Understandable… but, they need to be educated. For sure, the numbers are just ridiculous. No one has won more titles as a national team athlete or a club athlete. Just take a look at these major international tournament stats from his Wikipedia page.

I had to shrink the page several times just to get a screenshot and its pretty clear there are a lot more highs and lows. And, yes handball is a team sport and France has had a lot of good players over the years. But, make no mistake: He’s been the key cog in the French machine for the past 2 decades. 2 decades… 25 major tournaments with 11 Gold and France made the semifinals in all but 6 of them. He’s going to be a 6 time Olympian. Take a look at this list of most Olympic appearances in all sports. A lot of equestrians and shooters… He’s doing it in a rough and tumble, professonal team sport. It’s truly remarkable.

On a club level he won the national league title for the club he was playing for (in France, Germany and Spain) every year except the 2012-13 season. I guess just 3 Champions League titles is a bit of a disappointment, but it’s still pretty good. And, it’s certainly true that he’s almost always played for a really good club, but it’s not a coincidence that he has usually been the centerpiece of those really good teams.

Nobody has numbers like this. I guess Mikkel Hansen is sort of in the ballpark, but Hansen never played defense anywhere near the level of Karabatic has. And, if there are any Croats lurking that want to argue about Ivano Balic. Please… Just don’t…

Seriously, I think the only thing Balic did better than Karabatic was the “flashy” pass. And, mind you Balic wasn’t a better overall passer. No. He was just a better flashy passer. The kind of passes that make for great highlights. Whereas Karabatic generally just made effective passes that got the job done.

And, really that pretty much defines Karabatic’s entire game. Effective… doing what’s needed to get the job done… over and over and over. One could even call him the “quiet” GOAT. Quiet in that a video of career highlights the highlights aren’t that remarkable. If you know handball you certainly can appreciate them, but they aren’t the jaw dropping “spectacular move” of a Michael Jordan. Just mind numbing excellence year after year after year.

My Parallel Journey

This series is mostly about the GOAT, but it’s also about me and really any other fans out there. For me personally, Karabatic’s career parallels my journey from a casual handball fan to an uber handball fan. And, over the past 22 years I’ll estimate that I’ve seen him play around 10-30 matches/season which I’ll round off to about 450 matches in total. That’s a pretty good sample size for anyone. For an American? That’s a crazy number. I was there when he burst on the scene and I’m still here two decades later as he hangs up his shoes.

So herewith is my look back at his legacy by my estimated chronological viewing match #.

Match #1 (9 March, 2003, Montpellier, 34 vs Zagreb, 25 EHF Champions League QF): OMG, He’s Only 18

It’s important to set the scene for the 1st time I remember ever seeing Nikola Karabatic play. I had been living in France for about 6 months, but I hadn’t quite figured out French television or club handball competitions for that matter. Many of the matches were on a different tier of cable service which I hadn’t paid for initially and I didn’t really understand the concept of the Champions League and that I could watch such matches.

But, I eventually figured it out and I’ll never forget sitting down on the couch to watch handball that fateful day a little over 21 years ago. 21 years… In my mind’s eye I can see my not quite 1 year old daughter crawling around as I watch. The same daughter who just recently graduated from College.

And, I can remember watching the match on a non HD set and seeing this guy named Nikola Karabatic playing and clearly being the best athlete on the court. And, I remember asking myself, “Who is this guy with the Yugoslavian name and why have I never heard of him before? I distinctly remember grabbing my laptop and googling his name, pulling up his French Wikipedia article, cutting and pasting it into some translation website and reading the entry…

And, saying to myself:

“Oh My God, He’s only 18 years old! Is that really true? Is somebody messing with Wikipedia. Is the translation not working?”

My Greatest Sports Prediction

We always remember the predictions we got right… and forget the ones we got wrong. I’ve hit a few home runs in my day. In 1988, while he was still a cadet I predicted that Troy Calhoun would some day be the Air Force Academy Head Football Coach… He’s now in his 17th season in that position. In 2013, I correctly predicted the four handball clubs that would make the 2014 Champions League Final Four and that Flensburg would win it. This preseason prediction is even documented on video.

And, on that day back in 2003, I said to myself that someone that crazy good at age 18 could very well become the greatest handball player of all time. It’s a shame I’ve got no video evidence. Just my self serving recolllection, but it’s true.

And, it would be fun to go back and watch the match again to see what exactly impressed me so much. I suspect it was a combination of his outside jumpshot and 1v1 skills. A combination that made him so very hard to guard. Don’t come out on him aggressively enough… and he’ll shoot over you into the top corner of the net. Come out on him…and he’s going to go by you for a breakthrough shot. Standard stuff, of course, he just did it really well then and eventually better than anyone else who’s ever played the game.

That 2003 Champions League season was epic as the kid led Montpellier to their first ever title. There’s a lot to be said for the Final Four in Cologne, but the two game aggregate playoff final between Montpellier and Pamplona (Portland San Antonio) was a real gem with Montpellier losing the first match in Spain by 8 only to turn the tables with a 12 goal win in the return leg.

Here’s a video highight and a post regarding that epic playoff: Link

That run through the Champions League was my (and the world’s) introduction to Karabatic. But, there was more to come… a lot more.

(Klaebu IL and the Norseman pose together after their “national” championship match)

Norway’s Domination of American Club Handball Continues

This past weekend in what may be the most eclectic USA Handball “National” Championship ever staged two Norwegian teams (Klaebu IL and the Norseman) faced off against each other for the elite title at the U.S. Handball Union National Championships. And, to think that I complained recently about two Norwegian professionals helping the California Eagles take the USA Team Handball National Championships title. This is taking the Norwegian connection to new heights.

A Nice Tournament

Setting aside that somewhat bizarre final, it looks like the tournament held last weekend was a success. I wasn’t there, but based on social media posts and the YouTube broadcasts it looks like people were having fun and enjoed the competition. Here are some links regarding the tournament:

• YouTube Channels: Link 1, Link 2 and Link 3
• Results: Link
• Rosters: Link
• KTNV TV Video Feature: Link

The TV feature provided a little nostaglia for me as it referenced the Las Vegas Scorpions club team I helped start prior to the 2010 National Championships that were also in Las Vegas. Here’s an article on the 2010 Tournament and some promotion we did during the 2012 Olympics. Currently, the team is inactive, but maybe they’ll get going again if the tournament returns to Vegas next year.

US Handball Union and USA Team Handball “National” Championships: A Comparison

In the space of a month the U.S. held two separate national championships. USA Team Handball held a National Championship in Spokane, Washington from 3-5 May and the upstart US Handball Union held their tournament in Vegas from 6-9 June. I didn’t attend either event, but based on the match video from the Vegas tournament and the logical conclusion that USA Team Handball hasn’t changed what it’s been doing for years… they appear to have been very similar. Here’s a comparison:

• Size: Union: 17 teams; USATH: 20 teams (Both had 2 men’s divisions and 1 women’s division
• Foreign Teams: Union: 4 teams; USATH: 6 teams
• Demographics (American/Expat): Most of the U.S. clubs participating in both tournaments had quite a few expats. Perhaps there were a few more Americans percentage wise at the Union tournament, but I can’t fully assess
• Demographics (playing for a club where you live): And, both tournaments featured clubs with quite a few athletes that lived nowhere near the city identified with the club
• Level of play: I suspect that the California Eagles and NYC would have been able to beat the Norwegian teams that won the Union Championship. I also think NYC and Quebec were better than the women’s teams. I didn’t see as many of the D2 matches, but I think the Miami Storms team could have won the USATH D2 title. But, overall, if one were to look at all the the teams… probably pretty similar.
• Video Coverage: I didn’t pay the $5 fee for the USATH tournament, so the free Union tourney was clearly better from my perspective. They also had some dedicated people working it. That said, the camera angles were too low and there were frequent streaming glitches.
• Location: I didn’t attend either event, but Las Vegas vs Spokane for the 2nd year in a row? That’s a no brainer in my opinion. Even if June is pretty hot in Vegas. It’s a wonder any club that wasn’t looking to qualify for the Super Globe even went to Spokane.

Pointless Duplication?

In the cult classic movie, Highlander the famous quote is: There can be only one. Apparently, that only applies to immortals. Not sports organizations. Most comically, boxing has 5 (count em, 5) organizations that honor boxers with the moniker “World Champion.” And, much like boxing, there is nothing to prevent any U.S. handball organization from running a tournament and calling it their national championship. Heck, they could even call it a world championship like some of our American pro leagues like to.

Duplicate championships, however, from a big picture perspective are problematic. One of the reasons boxing is taken less seriously and has loss ground on the world stage are the competing organizations fighting for attention. Imagine if there were 5 FIFAs running soccer and staging dueling championships. Or, if one nation with very limited resources was staging two handball championships. Wait… that’s what we have.

I won’t go into all of the politics surrounding our current situation. But, make no mistake it’s mostly about politics. We don’t need two national championships. Heck, we don’t even really have enough bandwidth to do one national championship properly. But, logically, if you were to combine the manpower and resources used to conduct two separate events you would have more bandwidth to stage a better event. At least one would hope so.

The problem with that, however, is the politics and who gets to do it. Because if you are going to combine resources ultimately there can be only one entity in charge. Somebody loses out.

Not Really “National” Championships

But, setting aside the politics, there’s a larger issue that should be addressed. And, that’s the reality that neither championship was very “national.” It’s semantical, but it still matters. When you have athletes, whether it be pros living in another nation or an entire team from another nation… does it make sense to call them national champions for the nation where they don’t even live?

Champions of “a Tournament.” Sure, that makes sense. I’m down with that. Just don’t call them National Champs. Semantically, what we actually have been staging are “Open” Championships. Much like the French Open or the U.S. Open these tournament are open to all comers from anywhere in the world.

From a team concept the most comparable competition I can think of is “The Basketball Tournament (TBT)” which is staged in the summer and features teams with rosters that are put together to play in just that one tournment. And, as anyone who’s been around handball in the U.S. for awhile knows this is exactly what often happens as athletes and teams boths search for each other in the weeks prior to tournaments.

From the standpoint of giving athletes the opportunity to compete and have fun there is nothing wrong with having an annual 1 off tournament that does this. But, when you combine such a tournament with the concept of determining a “national champion”… well, that’s where the disconnect is. Because you can’t do both at the same time.

A Possible Solution

And, maybe recognizing this disconnect is the path to resolution. I think we need to start thinking about having two tournaments.

One tournament would be a smaller National Championship that is focused on determining a National Champion. Only open to U.S. clubs that meet stricter residency and qualification requirements with tighter roster contols. Maybe even requirements to sponsor a youth program and practice 20 times/year. We could even talk about a citizenship % requirement. One that might require only 25% U.S. citizenship initially, and is adjusted annually. Yes… these requirements would result in weaker teams for Super Globe qualification, but it could pave the way for the kind of growth I think we want. Perhaps this tournament could even be a final four with proper staging and promotion.

The other tournament would be what we’re already doing. An all comers open tournament. A celebration of handball in the the U.S. where the intent is some good competition, having fun and meeting old friends.

Our Already Existing National Championship

As I alluded to with the title of this commentary, we already have an existing national championship… And, that would be our Collegiate National Championships. And, you know what this championship has already. Teams mostly composed of Americans, all living in the same city and practicing regularly.

No one’s even going to begin to argue that the West Point men and women’s team aren’t the National Collegiate Champions. It wouldn’t even cross anyone’s mind.

And, we should be striving for a structure where the same could be said about our adult clubs. Where no one even doubts the validity of our club national champion.