sjm said:

My best guess is that Johan won't see it differently.

When the opposition consists of five players that are all formidable, it makes no difference.

Looking back, 2025 Team Europe consisted of:

Filler, the best 9ball player in the world
Shaw, the best player at the Mosconi Cup of this generation of players
Labutis, who had won the Hanoi Open weeks before the Mosconi and was in great form
Neuhausen, who came in on fire with second in Hanoi and first at the Peri
Alcaide, who always plays well at the Mosconi and who had won the Philippines Open weeks before the Cup

All of them were in great form, so the team did not have even one weak link. I don't think changes in the matchups would have made even the slightest bit of difference.

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I get your argument, but Neuhausen was a debutant who really should have been beaten by Styer if Styer's bottle hadn't crashed, presuming the rest of the match goes the same way there is no way Gorst or SVB wouldn't have let him off the hook.

Opening day had doubles matches between FSR & Alcaide v SVB and Gorst and 2 debutants Neuhausen and Labutis v Thorpe and Styler. U.S lost both matches, swap the ties about and I think there is more chance SVB and Gorst beat the 2 debutants. Much was made of team Europe having 2 debutants being a disadvantage and the U.S kind of let them ease into it instead of putting pressure on them with their team selections. Can't remember for certain, but think that match might have been the start of Tyler Styer missing shots he shouldn't have after playing well to get in a potentially winning situation.

Not saying my approach guarantees a U.S win, but I think it increases the odds for it slightly.

Admittedly you could say putting Sky out in the first singles against Shaw was following my strategy of weaker players out first and the 2nd singles match Filler beats Gorst which does back up your argument about strength and depth. Can't remember now if both captains made the choice to play the first singles or was that mandated?

crocdoc said:

Any idea on a retail price?

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STL 17 "type" Schon built a couple versions of this cue over the years
new retail is approx $$ 1800.00

uk_9_ball_convert said:

I feel like the U.S always puts up Gorst and SVB up early against Europe's best players where it's 50/50 who wins and if they lose it starts to look terrible for America.

Most pool captains seem to have the convention to put out their best players first. When I played in a team if we knew our opponents were better we'd always put out our weaker players first, it's basically a free hit, let the opposition waste their best players playing guys that weren't likely to win anyhow. Then have our best players playing players they could actually beat. If your poor players cause an upset you can win, and even if they don't you have a good chance of getting a draw. Best way to play it when your outgunned IMHO and I'm always amazed the U.S never takes that approach at the Mosconi. Wonder if Johan will see the strategy differently.

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I like the strategy, but Europe has no weak players.

HawaiianEye said:

They are hitting it "hard" relative to the speed of the table conditions.

That is no comparison to hitting it "hard" on a table that plays three times slower.

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If you think suddenly players have less power because they play on faster cloth, i can't help you.
You throw them on old cloth and table conditions and even Filler with his featherweight cue would be able to sling the cueball around the table without issue. The mechanics make it much easier to be accurate and control the speed at the same time.

New week, new $....

I just went to the U.S. Open and believe I saw a pro player doing this. U can definitely shoot well doing this.

uk_9_ball_convert said:

I feel like the U.S always puts up Gorst and SVB up early against Europe's best players where it's 50/50 who wins and if they lose it starts to look terrible for America.

Most pool captains seem to have the convention to put out their best players first. When I played in a team if we knew our opponents were better we'd always put out our weaker players first, it's basically a free hit, let the opposition waste their best players playing guys that weren't likely to win anyhow. Then have our best players playing players they could actually beat. If your poor players cause an upset you can win, and even if they don't you have a good chance of getting a draw. Best way to play it when your outgunned IMHO and I'm always amazed the U.S never takes that approach at the Mosconi. Wonder if Johan will see the strategy differently.

Click to expand...

My best guess is that Johan won't see it differently.

When the opposition consists of five players that are all formidable, it makes no difference.

Looking back, 2025 Team Europe consisted of:

Filler, the best 9ball player in the world
Shaw, the best player at the Mosconi Cup of this generation of players
Labutis, who had won the Hanoi Open weeks before the Mosconi and was in great form
Neuhausen, who came in on fire with second in Hanoi and first at the Peri
Alcaide, who always plays well at the Mosconi and who had won the Philippines Open weeks before the Cup

All of them were in great form, so the team did not have even one weak link. I don't think changes in the matchups would have made even the slightest bit of difference.

DrCue'sProtege said:

Don't like dark cloth.

And since it seems as if most big tournaments are going to Grey I want to get the lightest version of Grey.

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Why does it matter? Are you training for a WNT Tour event? FWIW, Matchroom no longer uses Simonis. You should get CBPA Royal Apex if you are wanting to pretend you are a tour player.

well, that last post was in april and i havent played straight pool since.

been playing 20 minutes of 9 ball, then 20 minutes of banks, and then horsing around playing 1p against myself until i’m ready to leave.

made some improvements! ran my first ever 9ball two pack, and have run two 5s and a 6 playing banks.

i think i’m about ready to start incorporating straight pool back into my practice. the sting of failure isnt quite as fresh.

heres the 2pack:

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wish me luck folks i am going to need it

edit: Played for a half hour this morning. it felt like i had to start from scratch and it was not fun at all lmao. towards the end, however, i started to remember some stuff. never got out of the first rack.

Although I use the Championship 30/30 Tour cloth (Steel Gray) I think gray is the easiest color on my eyes because none of the ball colors clash with the cloth. I have had both blue and green and always use gray now.

-dj