I watched the first 4/5 racks of Orcullo's run and was not impressed.
Mellings was more controlled,he seemed to have problems not getting good on the break ball.
Compared to say Dallas West Runs A 100, these guys looked way out of control.
Your opinions?
Chris Melling has a beautiful, smooth, long stroke (reminding me of my own - coughing slightly - LOL!), and I'd give a [let me think…] for his shotmaking ability, but his pattern play is a mess.
Watched his 225 so far, a run that could easily have ended at 29 (he got lucky getting when he overran his position on the break ball, just off-straight on the wrong side, yet straight enough to be able to follow two rails into the stack). In fact, he gets almost straight-in on several break shots, invariably because he doesn't have position as in a stop-shot end pattern, but needs to
play position (huge difference - a matter of time until one ends up off-angle or straight-in, so it was to be expected that his run would end in this manner). He comes awfully close to scratching in the side once (admittedly, of all his blunders, the most difficult to foresee); unnecessarily puts himself into a spot where he needs to bank a ball which he only just barely makes; runs into a break shot from his key shot bumping it up-table, yet miraculously has the angle to pull another rabbit out of the hat; needs to shoot off the end-rail several times after break shots because he loses the cue ball upstream, manufactures (as in bump into place) break shots late in the rack running out of options (do or die); and plays at least one end pattern in which he needs to get perfectly straight on a key ball without lead ball, i.e. he's relying on cue ball speed rather than carefully chosen patterns.
(Having said all that, we've all had our rough runs, I'm sure. Maybe the run isn't representative of his pattern play, planning to watch his 143 next. Also, let's not forget he's just come back from a break, and already in glorious form.)
Just doing the math, however, the run could easily have ended earlier about a dozen times or more, making the net result of 225 a near-miracle. Needless to say, I admire how Melling allows his natural talent to carry him through - more power to him!
As to Dennis Orcollo, I need to watch more of his Straight Pool (so far only seen his U.S. Open Final against Shane Van Boening). It's true he's got his own style of trying to stay away from trouble, partly to do with the fact that he's short (I am, so maybe I'm noticing "typical" avoidance strategies that taller players might interpret as idiosyncrasies - we short players want to be able to reach shots where a good stroke is needed, but will stretch for anything whatsoever where a little poke will do). I was there to watch his World 8-Ball Final in Fujairah in 2011, and figured his short, poky, extremely straight delivery through the cue ball, and avoidance of side spin on any shot that's farther away than a couple of feet, might lend themselves to Straight Pool (he sure knows how to finesse the cue ball with minimum effort). One can tell he hasn't grown up playing the game (love his way of taking a step back and embracing his cue when he's pondering, refusing to shoot before he's made up his mind), but notice he's looking out for insurance ball scenarios and positional play that affords options versus trying to thread the needle where he doesn't need to - a smart player who's a fast learner on foreign territory, no use underestimating him!
Greetings from Switzerland, David.
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„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti