sjm said:

Important to take note of the completely unrecognizable AJ Manas at the Florida Open. In this case, unrecognizable is a good thing.

We all understood that Manas came in as one of the most instinctive runners of the table we have seen in a long time. Like a Jayson Shaw or a Chezka Centeno, he seems to see the patterns almost instantaneously. Unfortunately, until this week, we saw very little tactical development in his game. Somehow, without giving it much thought, his pattern play is not far below legendary pattern players like Souquet and Appleton.

... and yet everything changed this week. He has clearly addressed some of his tactical limitations and showed some very impressive tactical conceptualization, especially against Lechner and Shaw at the Florida Open. Yes, he was completely unrecognizable, in a good way!

If Manas continues to commit himself to mastering the complementary skills needed to beat elite opponents to the shot, especially defense, he will be a force in pool with a good chance to become a top ten player in the world one day.

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Manas is an incredible talent and will be a contender for a long, long time if he wants to be...

The 2/9 combo was one of the worst shot decisions I've ever seen. This is the shot a 400 fargo takes when he's playing the 650 fargo guy in a Tuesday night $10 entry fee handicap tournament at your local pool room

sjm said:

Now that he is paying more attention to defense and general tactical conceptualization, AJ has set the stage to join the top tier one day. It will be fun to watch his continued development.

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I have to believe playing in the Reyes last year was an eye opener for Manas. He got to be around great pros and Bustamante for a whole week and see how diligent they practiced and played. Carlo is one of the better tactical minds in pool and keeps in great shape. Duong is very precise. Chua is intense. And Yapp is meticulous in all facets of the game.

The third Florida Open will be back next year in early August, by the way. Frazer announced on Sunday.

jbart65 said:

This is true of all the top players, as you know. Filler made a pair of really big mistakes vs Shane that cost him the match. Not the first time I have seen that from Filler.

Shane played consistently well in Florida after a rusty opener against Payne McBride that he won 9-7. And the field he beat was impressive.

I'd offer a few caveats, though.

-Souquet is way past his prime.
-Albin is no longer a top 20 player. He's been on a downward arc since fall 2024.
-FSR has lost half a gear in the past few years.
-Kaci has been inconsistent since his injury a few years ago. He has yet to rediscover his form (maybe he never will).
-Kazakis played superb in the semis but he's a grinder who's leveled off the past few years.

SVB should have beaten all of these players, and he did. Only Josh was the real challenge, and Josh had SVB down for the count.

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I agree Albin isn't in the same class he was a couple years ago, but I don't think it'd have been a shocker if he'd have beat Shane. He won a world championship, albeit in a different discipline, less than a year ago

FSR is still in the elite mix of guys behind Filler & Yapp for me. He's not the guy he was in 2022/2023 but that was also one of the best runs we've ever seen.

Nobody has ever played 9 ball better than Filler, IMO.

Kaci is a polarizing figure, but when he's mentally there he's absolutely still a top player. He'll never be the most consistent player, but even post-accident he went hill-hill with Gorst when Gorst was playing better than anyone in the world. That was just 2 yrs ago

Kazakis is a similar level to Albin for me, Shane should beat him but he doesn't have to.

When the guy you meet in the championship of a major tournament is probably the 2nd worst player you played in single elimination, you had a real tough draw. Yapp's US Open run still the most impressive for me, but lots of credit to Shane

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billiardshot said:

A Few Beers.. But Here a Question? I'm asking Thru AZBilliards ...What is Require to do a Vendor at an USBA Tournament?????????????
And Yes this a serious question for USBA/ or other 3C Org Tournament// Like Carom Cafe Tournament... Since I'm a non - member and cannot get on/in their forum

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I'd ask Mr 3 Cushion.... he knows everything.

Well, I don't usually follow this stuff, but I have noticed some things at the pool hall. The other kids have gizmos and whiz banger attachments.

I see butt extensions, joint extensions, and joint weights. So I looked on the web and sure enough, they are all for sale "mainstream".

What surprised me was that the OP said " it's almost impossible to play without one". I found that statement striking. What changed?

I don't keep up with the organized sport anymore, when I watch videos they are from the last century. So I looked at what is going on. I saw one article where a promoter uses fake smoke machines so the tournament looks smoky on camera, to create the expected atmosphere.

They have shirts available that look like they came off a pro bicycle rider. Some kind of "high performance" spandex-like material. I went and looked at Jayson Shaw's high run and he was wearing one. He beat Mosconi, and Schmidt, by a lot. Jason had the shirt, but didn't use an extension. Was it the shirt? Of course, Mosconi's run still stands as an actual competition run.

While Shaw famously popularized playing with a permanent 7-to-10-inch rear extension for years to gain added stability, weight, and reach, he actually removed it before his major straight pool milestones. Was this a stunt? A daredevil maneuver? Like- "Don't try this at home kids."

So, further investigation reveals there is special underwear for pool now as well. And shoes.

Mosconi set his record in actual competition with a Rambo cue. No extension. No spandex. I have no idea what kind of underwear he was wearing. He was wearing black leather dress shoes.



So, these are coming back? Well, except this is made of wood.



On a side note, a few years ago a dude came up to me at the pool hall. He said another dude said to ask me because I knew a lot about cues. He said he wanted to buy a mid extension for his cue but he didn't know how to make sure it matched the taper of his cue. Not kidding.



I have no extension. I might be a daredevil.

billiardshot said:

.What is Require to do a Vendor at an USBA Tournament??

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Have you tried flowers and chocolate, or maybe wine?

Use a closed bridge

I have never owned an extension, only because it would cost more money than I'm willing to spend at the moment.

The upside is that I've developed a higher than average bridge proficiency for someone of my skill level. A lot of people are oddly scared of them.

middleofnowhere said:

watching bad players play can hurt

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OH! HELL NO!!!
Efren would watch the bad players to find strange and unusual and unexpected results. He then went to his practice table and perfected the shot.

Speedwagon13 said:

this case

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