U.S. Women’s Water Polo Coach Has ‘Chris Webber Moment’

The U.S. Women's Water Polo Team was in a hard-fought battle against Australia today.

With time running out and a 9-8 lead, the United States was trying to hold on as Australia desperately tried to score in the semi-final match.

With just 1 second left, U.S. Coach Adam Krikorian called a timeout.  It was an illegal timeout.

The timeout was not allowed because no team had possession when it was taken...and Australia was awarded a chance to tie the game with a penalty shot.

Australia made the shot and the game went to overtime.

Coach Krikorian discusses the error at chicagotribune.com:

"Oh, I had the 'Oh, (expletive)' moments," Krikorian said afterward. "I had about two minutes of 'Oh, (expletive) moments."

"I thought Betsey had grabbed it with two hands and I tried to call (the timeout) in that moment," Krikorian said. "Everything is happening so quickly at that point. I knew I had a timeout left, and obviously that wasn't the case. And it was a big blunder on my part.

"But you know what -- this is a team game. And the coach makes mistakes as well. When the coach makes mistakes, you need your team to pick you up. And the team picked me up today."

Fortunately, the mistake did not cost the U.S. Women the game.  The United States won 11-9 in overtime and will play in the gold medal match vs. Spain on Thursday.

If only Chris Webber had been so lucky.