iusedtoberich said:

Wilson did about the same things for his 3 years. Got the players together several times throughout the year. Training, fundamentals, etc. He probably did more “coach” stuff than any other USA had.

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Very good point. But I think there is a level of sports psychology that Johan brings to the table that Mark does not. I've had discussions with both of them (even a clinic with Mark way back) so thats my anecdotal take

Like 8intheside mentioned, the team was put together super quick so it feels more like a exhibition than a serious event.

Will filler and Shane be off the Mosconi teams also? I believe they are qualified by money won. Who knows though what MR will decide.

It’s available. Let me know.

What really annoyed me today.

ROW down 5-0 and Fedor has just potted the 9 and gone level with AJ Manas at 4-4.

Skyler comes over and they start joking around and watching a video on the phone.

Fedor should be focused, not joking around before the break on hill-hill.

ROW are treating this like a holiday camp, and that stems from JJ (coach).

sjm said:

Have to disagree here. Johan brought all of Team USA to train in his academy in Russia to prep for the Mosconi Cup. He also had them all compete in a solid-field pro event in Russia called the Kremlin Cup, as he watched and offered feedback. There is no question that the two biggest beneficiaries of Johan's tutelage in Russia were Woodward and Styer, and each performed well at the Mosconi under Johan.

Johan was big on preparation, but once the event began, his biggest focus was on ensuring good sportsmanship, which his teams always displayed.

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Wilson did about the same things for his 3 years. Got the players together several times throughout the year. Training, fundamentals, etc. He probably did more “coach” stuff than any other USA had.

markjames said:

too many opaque concepts to all fit into one event of race to five alternate break

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I don’t think coaching would make that much of a difference, especially how quickly the ROW team was put together. Team Asia has the better team. No need to over complicate it.

sjm said:

Have to disagree here. Johan brought all of Team USA to train in his academy in Russia to prep for the Mosconi Cup. He also had them all compete in a solid-field pro event in Russia called the Kremlin Cup, as he watched and offered feedback. There is no question that the two biggest beneficiaries of Johan's tutelage in Russia were Woodward and Styer, and each performed well at the Mosconi under Johan.

Johan was big on preparation, but once the event began, his biggest focus was on ensuring good sportsmanship, which his teams always displayed.

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This 100%. I will take a Johan coached team over anybody.

iusedtoberich said:

Johan's 2 wins with USA I think were complete flukes.

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Have to disagree here. Johan brought all of Team USA to train in his academy in Russia to prep for the Mosconi Cup. He also had them all compete in a solid-field pro event in Russia called the Kremlin Cup, as he watched and offered feedback. There is no question that the two biggest beneficiaries of Johan's tutelage in Russia were Woodward and Styer, and each performed well at the Mosconi under Johan.

Johan was big on preparation, but once the event began, his biggest focus was on ensuring good sportsmanship, which his teams always displayed.

iusedtoberich said:

By the time Europe started dominating, they already had the best players. Johan's 2 wins with USA I think were complete flukes.

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I gotta disagree. I think when Johan lead the squad they finally began training correctly. From a great Billiards Digest article I come back to all the time...

Link to article

"When Johan Ruysink was captain of the European Mosconi Cup squad a decade ago he would occasionally walk past the practice room of his American opponents, usually as a means to scout the competition. On occasion, the Dutchman would overhear conversations during team meetings that shocked him and sometimes gave him some sympathy for his fellow competitors.

"I was just sometimes flabbergasted about the way they prepared, about their knowledge, about their practice methods," Ruysink said. "Sometimes you walked by their practice room and you heard them discussing the break or the breaking format and I was just kind of surprised they didn't know what to do with it. Everybody had different solutions on the team. There was no real leader." "

Vahmurka said:

Alex Lely and Johan Ruysink would disagree

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Exactly.
Johan’s coaching was exactly what Team USA needed to win, after 9 years of losing.
Jeremy was privy to all aspects of Johan’s coaching during those 2 winning years.

Mensabum said:

Cuemakers... How hard is it to secure the best wood for custom cues??
Old growth is bye bye.
Unless you've hoarded some.lol.
What's your opinion on the wood companies like Predator, Schon, etc, use today??

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I talked with someone today that has a small stock of Asian shafts. He claims that they are possibly better than US made ( actually Canadian shafts)
I am looking for someone that can produce 10 or more shafts per day (hard rock maple)
Because of the unique design of this shaft it can be built (complete) in one day from a tapered blank.
Please don’t contact me unless you are interested in building, or know someone who can cut several pieces per day.
Thank you
Roger

Vahmurka said:

I don't agree with the idea a coach is helpless once the play begins. A true coach can turn the tide at halftime (if we turn to team sports experience). At MR team invitationals captains have enough time to set the players' minds right.

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It's OK. We can agree to disagree.

This isn't football, where you sometimes throw out the original game plan offensively and /or defensively because it isn't working against the opponent in front of you.

In my opinion, these players all play high percentage pool and all have strong mental games. They don't need in-match or in-tournament coaching.

I'll back JJ to the end of the world here. He was given a team that left out the only two "rest of the world" winners of a 2025 WNT major (Filler, Labutis) and had to go to bat against a Team Asia that has combined to win a world 9ball championship and a total of four 2025 WNT majors.