Just got home from the Mosconi (spent a few days in Phoenix before returning to New York, hence the delay in my report). I saw what you saw and I won’t beat around the bush.
The Big Picture
In what was another painful-to-watch performance by Team USA at the Mosconi, little changed from a year ago, and American failure went according to the same script as usual, with offensive execution a little below Europe, pattern play a little below Europe, and defense, kicking and jumping way below Europe. As was the case a year ago, Europe’s players showed great all-around games, and American players were, once again, outclassed. From this fan’s vantage point, nothing was done to correct the greatest weakness of American teams past, which were in defense, kicking and jumping, especially the decision making that goes with these skills. Last year’s team had just one player who shone tactically, and that was Bergman, but Justin wasn’t on this year’s team. Billy Thorpe was, perhaps the only American who played well in most areas of the game. There was, generally, no increase in the pedigree of the American players in their execution of shots.
Count me among those surprised at how poorly it went, for I thought Team Europe would be weaker than it was. I think where I miscalculated was that while I thought Filler would be ready, it turned out he was superhuman. I didn’t expect that much form Alcaide, either, and David was sensational, and his jumping and kicking were just plain awesome. Shaw didn’t dominate as I thought he might, but still contributed. In the final analysis, I’m not convinced that this Team Europe was any stronger than last year’s team. The massacre, as I see it, is fully attributable to the poor play of Team USA.
1. Same Old Same Old – USA Terrible at Singles
As usual, we were schooled at singles. SVB probably should have beaten Shaw twice but giftwrapped Match 14, blowing two easy runouts in the last two racks of the match. Billy Thorpe had a nice win in singles. Team USA went 2-5 in singles.
2. Just as Bad at Doubles
We were 2-5 in doubles, but only due to fluking Match 6, in which two huge errors by Hatch were rescued by a fluke five ball and a fluke snooker after a missed seven. Even with those two fluked racks, Team USA only eked out a double hill win in that one. The Team Match was lost, as well.
3. Individual Members of Team USA
Skyler Woodward
Skyler looked very uncomfortable this year and had an awful Mosconi Cup. He’ll have to regroup after this disheartening effort, but I think he can.
Shane Van Boening
A disappointment again, but by my reckoning Shane played a little better than he did last year. His singles record was marred by the meltdown in Match 14 against Shaw, but he delivered nothing in doubles.
Billy Thorpe
After looking very nervous on Day 1, I thought Billy found his form and played some solid pool for the remainder of the Mosconi Cup. Billy looks like a key member of Team USA for years to come. The Mosconi stage isn’t too big for this young star.
Dennis Hatch
Despite being part of two wins, I though Hatch played only passably in one of those wins. Two fluke racks explained his double hill win in Match 6 and he really made a lot of mistakes in this Mosconi. Still, he played very well in his loss to Josh Filler, but making a mistake with a chance to go up 4-3 in the race to 5 led to a loss. As far as I’m concerned, Hatch’s refusal to shake Filler’s hand at the end of their match was disgraceful and reflects very poorly on Team USA’s professionalism. On the more positive side, though, Hatch has great team spirit and does what he can to fire up his teammates.
Oscar Dominguez
It was a disappointing Mosconi Cup for Oscar, although he did scrape out one win. He had a shocking miss on an eight ball to get to double hill that compromised his only chance at a win in singles. To me, Oscar looked nervous out there.
What Team USA Did Well
Honestly, nothing. It’s hard to find an area in which I suspect Team USA was pleased with its play.
What USA did Just Passably
I’d rate Team USA pattern play as passable, but, just as a year ago, inferior to that of Team Europe. Ball pocketing was just passable, comparable to that of a year ago. Breaking was passable, too.
What Team USA Did Poorly
I thought Team USA’s angle management was disappointing, worse than last year. Several poorly played angles led to a failure to run out racks that would be considered routine by the world’s premier players.
For the fourth straight year, the defense and kicking were a great disappointment, possibly excepting Thorpe. Unlike Team Europe, the US rarely employed the two-way shot, although Shane played a couple of them. As I’ve noted in the past, it is impossible to win a Mosconi Cup playing this poorly in the moves game, and this is one of the big differences between Team USA and Team Europe. Poor defense and kicking by Team USA ensure Europe many extra good looks at the table.
The Coaching
The Johann experiment must be viewed as a total failure, and Team USA has now failed to win even a single day of play in the Mosconi for five years.
I saw no progress of any kind here. Both conceptualization and execution were just as poor on Team USA as they were a year ago. Nonetheless, Johann made a sincere effort and I’ll both thank and commend him for that. Johann is a class act in every respect. Given his many successes, his reputation is not tarnished, but I don’t think he gave American fans anything to grab onto for the future.
The Mosconi Cup Socially
I caught up with a lot of friends at the event itself, but catching up with Jean Balukas was a truly unexpected pleasure. Jean and I used to play golf and pool together back in the day and it was fun kicking around old times. Jean is soooooo much fun to be around and her smile lights up any room.
The Hall of Fame dinner was a hoot, and I had the honor of sitting at Darren Appleton’s table. I met some nice people at the dinner, but the real treat was catching up with about twenty Hall of Famers in attendance, every single one of which I know and all of whom I saw compete except Eddie Kelly. Darren Appleton and Tom Rossman are very worthy of the respective inductions, and they were rightly honored by a very large and impressive gathering of pool royalty and aficionados.
The European victory party was also good fun, and I popped in for about an hour and a half. I was especially pleased to catch up with two old friends whom I’d not seen for quite a while, Jeanette Lee and Emily Duddy. I got to chat with Luke Riches, too, whom I’d met briefly in 2013, and I have to say that I like him. Unfortunately, I knocked Luke’s drink right out of his hand, but he seemed to take it in stride and declined my offer to buy him another round.
Finally, I spent two nights playing pool and billiards with my friends Jim (Cuebuddy) and John and we had a blast. We went to Griff’s on Wednesday night and we all loved the place. When you’re in Vegas, make sure you pay Griff’s a visit. It’s a room every serious player needs to see and Mark Griffin, as usual, sets the standard.
The Mosconi Event From a Fan's Perspective
In a word, delightful. Matchroom puts on better events than anyone in pool. Neutral racker, no reracks, short races, shot clock, and very short breaks between matches ensure that the excitement is maintained for the length of every session. My only complaint is that the seating bleachers weren’t steep enough and seeing over the person sitting in front of you was difficult at times.
Thanks to all at Matchroom. You guys are a credit to our game and set the standard for producing events.
Sizing It Up for Next Year
I’m sure that what I’m going to say will be unpopular and some will disagree, but popularity is not what I’m seeking in this post. As I see it, American pool is not producing enough well-rounded players right now and Europe is mass producing them. Lest we forget, in October, Europe swept the medals at the US Open (Shaw, Kaci, Sanchez-Ruiz). In November, Alex Kazakis won over a tough field at the Joss Tour's Ocean State Championships. Maybe we shouldn’t be so surprised by the trouncing at the Mosconi. European pool is rock solid right now. As was the case a year ago, America has a lot of catching up to do, and in my opinion, American pool made no progress in 2017.
The Big Picture
In what was another painful-to-watch performance by Team USA at the Mosconi, little changed from a year ago, and American failure went according to the same script as usual, with offensive execution a little below Europe, pattern play a little below Europe, and defense, kicking and jumping way below Europe. As was the case a year ago, Europe’s players showed great all-around games, and American players were, once again, outclassed. From this fan’s vantage point, nothing was done to correct the greatest weakness of American teams past, which were in defense, kicking and jumping, especially the decision making that goes with these skills. Last year’s team had just one player who shone tactically, and that was Bergman, but Justin wasn’t on this year’s team. Billy Thorpe was, perhaps the only American who played well in most areas of the game. There was, generally, no increase in the pedigree of the American players in their execution of shots.
Count me among those surprised at how poorly it went, for I thought Team Europe would be weaker than it was. I think where I miscalculated was that while I thought Filler would be ready, it turned out he was superhuman. I didn’t expect that much form Alcaide, either, and David was sensational, and his jumping and kicking were just plain awesome. Shaw didn’t dominate as I thought he might, but still contributed. In the final analysis, I’m not convinced that this Team Europe was any stronger than last year’s team. The massacre, as I see it, is fully attributable to the poor play of Team USA.
1. Same Old Same Old – USA Terrible at Singles
As usual, we were schooled at singles. SVB probably should have beaten Shaw twice but giftwrapped Match 14, blowing two easy runouts in the last two racks of the match. Billy Thorpe had a nice win in singles. Team USA went 2-5 in singles.
2. Just as Bad at Doubles
We were 2-5 in doubles, but only due to fluking Match 6, in which two huge errors by Hatch were rescued by a fluke five ball and a fluke snooker after a missed seven. Even with those two fluked racks, Team USA only eked out a double hill win in that one. The Team Match was lost, as well.
3. Individual Members of Team USA
Skyler Woodward
Skyler looked very uncomfortable this year and had an awful Mosconi Cup. He’ll have to regroup after this disheartening effort, but I think he can.
Shane Van Boening
A disappointment again, but by my reckoning Shane played a little better than he did last year. His singles record was marred by the meltdown in Match 14 against Shaw, but he delivered nothing in doubles.
Billy Thorpe
After looking very nervous on Day 1, I thought Billy found his form and played some solid pool for the remainder of the Mosconi Cup. Billy looks like a key member of Team USA for years to come. The Mosconi stage isn’t too big for this young star.
Dennis Hatch
Despite being part of two wins, I though Hatch played only passably in one of those wins. Two fluke racks explained his double hill win in Match 6 and he really made a lot of mistakes in this Mosconi. Still, he played very well in his loss to Josh Filler, but making a mistake with a chance to go up 4-3 in the race to 5 led to a loss. As far as I’m concerned, Hatch’s refusal to shake Filler’s hand at the end of their match was disgraceful and reflects very poorly on Team USA’s professionalism. On the more positive side, though, Hatch has great team spirit and does what he can to fire up his teammates.
Oscar Dominguez
It was a disappointing Mosconi Cup for Oscar, although he did scrape out one win. He had a shocking miss on an eight ball to get to double hill that compromised his only chance at a win in singles. To me, Oscar looked nervous out there.
What Team USA Did Well
Honestly, nothing. It’s hard to find an area in which I suspect Team USA was pleased with its play.
What USA did Just Passably
I’d rate Team USA pattern play as passable, but, just as a year ago, inferior to that of Team Europe. Ball pocketing was just passable, comparable to that of a year ago. Breaking was passable, too.
What Team USA Did Poorly
I thought Team USA’s angle management was disappointing, worse than last year. Several poorly played angles led to a failure to run out racks that would be considered routine by the world’s premier players.
For the fourth straight year, the defense and kicking were a great disappointment, possibly excepting Thorpe. Unlike Team Europe, the US rarely employed the two-way shot, although Shane played a couple of them. As I’ve noted in the past, it is impossible to win a Mosconi Cup playing this poorly in the moves game, and this is one of the big differences between Team USA and Team Europe. Poor defense and kicking by Team USA ensure Europe many extra good looks at the table.
The Coaching
The Johann experiment must be viewed as a total failure, and Team USA has now failed to win even a single day of play in the Mosconi for five years.
I saw no progress of any kind here. Both conceptualization and execution were just as poor on Team USA as they were a year ago. Nonetheless, Johann made a sincere effort and I’ll both thank and commend him for that. Johann is a class act in every respect. Given his many successes, his reputation is not tarnished, but I don’t think he gave American fans anything to grab onto for the future.
The Mosconi Cup Socially
I caught up with a lot of friends at the event itself, but catching up with Jean Balukas was a truly unexpected pleasure. Jean and I used to play golf and pool together back in the day and it was fun kicking around old times. Jean is soooooo much fun to be around and her smile lights up any room.
The Hall of Fame dinner was a hoot, and I had the honor of sitting at Darren Appleton’s table. I met some nice people at the dinner, but the real treat was catching up with about twenty Hall of Famers in attendance, every single one of which I know and all of whom I saw compete except Eddie Kelly. Darren Appleton and Tom Rossman are very worthy of the respective inductions, and they were rightly honored by a very large and impressive gathering of pool royalty and aficionados.
The European victory party was also good fun, and I popped in for about an hour and a half. I was especially pleased to catch up with two old friends whom I’d not seen for quite a while, Jeanette Lee and Emily Duddy. I got to chat with Luke Riches, too, whom I’d met briefly in 2013, and I have to say that I like him. Unfortunately, I knocked Luke’s drink right out of his hand, but he seemed to take it in stride and declined my offer to buy him another round.
Finally, I spent two nights playing pool and billiards with my friends Jim (Cuebuddy) and John and we had a blast. We went to Griff’s on Wednesday night and we all loved the place. When you’re in Vegas, make sure you pay Griff’s a visit. It’s a room every serious player needs to see and Mark Griffin, as usual, sets the standard.
The Mosconi Event From a Fan's Perspective
In a word, delightful. Matchroom puts on better events than anyone in pool. Neutral racker, no reracks, short races, shot clock, and very short breaks between matches ensure that the excitement is maintained for the length of every session. My only complaint is that the seating bleachers weren’t steep enough and seeing over the person sitting in front of you was difficult at times.
Thanks to all at Matchroom. You guys are a credit to our game and set the standard for producing events.
Sizing It Up for Next Year
I’m sure that what I’m going to say will be unpopular and some will disagree, but popularity is not what I’m seeking in this post. As I see it, American pool is not producing enough well-rounded players right now and Europe is mass producing them. Lest we forget, in October, Europe swept the medals at the US Open (Shaw, Kaci, Sanchez-Ruiz). In November, Alex Kazakis won over a tough field at the Joss Tour's Ocean State Championships. Maybe we shouldn’t be so surprised by the trouncing at the Mosconi. European pool is rock solid right now. As was the case a year ago, America has a lot of catching up to do, and in my opinion, American pool made no progress in 2017.
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