Mosconi Cup Team - USA

[Scrunge19]

Styer is a perfectionist. To give you an idea of how meticulous he is, I’ve heard him talk about shooting pressure balls in between heartbeats.

How do you hear that and keep your eyes from immediately rolling out of your head? I mean come on. That seems like a whole load of bs intended to impress people about his game or process. If you spout that stuff, you better make sure you back it up with results. Something Tyler hasn’t done so far in his career.

 

[Poolplaya9]

How do you hear that and keep your eyes from immediately rolling out of your head? I mean come on. That seems like a whole load of bs intended to impress people about his game or process. If you spout that stuff, you better make sure you back it up with results. Something Tyler hasn’t done so far in his career.

I was formerly world class in a shooting sport, was recruited to try out for the Olympic team and live and train at the Olympic training center etc, and can assure you that shooting between heart beats is absolutely a thing in the shooting sports, and an incredibly important one at that. Under the right conditions you feel and hear your heartbeat but what was actually important was that you could always "see" your heartbeat in your weapon which would very minutely move with every heartbeat because your whole body essentially moves very minutely with every heartbeat. At that level of competition the very minute movements your heartbeat causes make all the difference in the world and it would be impossible to be even remotely competitive without shooting between them.

Off hand I don't recall trying to shoot between heart beats while playing pool though, at least not on a conscious level anyway. It doesn't seem to me like it would be a terribly big factor in pool, but while I was a pretty decent player I wasn't near Tyler's speed so I can't rule it out completely and maybe I just wasn't at the level to be in tune with it. Just doesn't seem likely to be a big factor for pool though.

 

[sjm]

Styer should be a slam dunk pick. Who, other than Shane and Sky, has had much success against the likely members of Team Europe?

Tyler beat Filler at the 2021 Mosconi Cup in singles. He lost 11-10 to Filler at the 2022 World Games. He beat Gorst at the US Open 9-ball. He lost 9-7 to Filler at the US Open 9-ball. If Tyler isn't picked, Team USA's chances, already fairly slight, drop down yet another notch. Finding a fifth member of Team USA to go with SVB, Woodward, Styer and Dominguez won't be easy, as it can be argued that nobody has really earned it.

 

[realtor1618]

Styer should be a slam dunk pick. Who, other than Shane and Sky, have had much success against the most elite Europeans?

Tyler beat Filler at the 2021 Mosconi Cup in singles. He lost 11-10 to Filler at the 2022 World Games. He beat Gorst at the US Open 9-ball. He lost 9-7 to Filler at the US Open 9-ball.

If Tyler isn't picked, Team USA's chances, already fairly slight, drop down yet another level.

Words of wisdom. Jeremy said while commentating he likes what Tyler has been doing with his game. I think he is the odds on favorite to be one of his picks and should be

 

[Taxi]

This might be a man's world in pool, but it would be nothing, NOTHING without a woman or a girl.

View attachment 666100

He's LOST....in the wilderness....He's LOST....in bitterness....

 

[SlateMan]

I think that has changed. Tyler used to be kind of an unemotional kind of guy. Many mistake this as being a snob or antisocial or mean. But since he's met, fell in love with, and married Margaret Fefilova, he's different. He shows emotion and is friendly and has a warm herat. In fact, he has been playing nonstop and it shows in his performance. He's hitting 'em strong, practicing every day of the week when he's not competing in every event he can reach.

This might be a man's world in pool, but it would be nothing, NOTHING without a woman or a girl.

View attachment 666100

This should be the caption contest for next month.

 

[sjm]

I don’t believe Styer is popular with some of the other American players who would be his potential teammates. His wild card selection is far from a slam dunk, imo.

I think the Earl Strickland pick of a year ago should be considered irrefutable proof that team chemistry is not a factor in the selection process.

Tyler is playing well at present, and to leave him off the team would be foolish.

 

[sjm]

Poland is loaded and could field a top 5 against anyone

A Team Poland of Zielinski, Fortunski, Szewczyk, Juszczyszyn and any of Kaplan, Maciol or Skowerski would be heavily favored over Team USA, but not over a Team Philippines of Orcullo, Biado, Corteza, Chua and Garcia, all five of whom are Fargo 800+.

 

[buckshotshoey]

I think the Earl Strickland pick of a year ago should be considered irrefutable proof that team chemistry is not a factor in the selection process.

Tyler is playing well at present, and to leave him off the team would be foolish.

Shane might be the exception. I recall he likes to play with Earl. At least they seem to play well together.

 

[Tooler]

I've never been a big fan of Tyler's. That all changed last week. Kid has a ton of heart, and has worked really hard on his game.

Tyler picked up a lot of support after the Open. Well deserved pick. This will be a no brainer.

Joey would be nice to see, as he seems to handle pressure well. We need some more young bloods.
Vegas may be a good place to let him get his feet wet. I think he can handle it. Could go a long way to help season him.
Personally, I would love to see how he handles it.

We're gonna be dogs, regardless who goes.

 

[mattydrva]

If SVB plays his game at Mosconi Cup Team USA would be fine and very competitive. Unfortunately, Mosconi Cup is really not his bag as he's proven over and over again throughout the years.

Team USA can win short race 9 ball against anybody. Just need everybody to perform to their capabilities and hope for favorable table layouts (super important in short races). Shane is such an amazing player and competitor. His will to win and skill level take back seat to nobody. I'm endlessly impressed by how consistently excellent he's been for 15 years. He never really seems to slump; just always in the mix at the top of the game for a long time now.

Maybe this is the year he brings his individual excellence to Mosconi Cup. I'll be pulling for him; that's for sure.

 

[PoolPlayer4]

I've never been a big fan of Tyler's. That all changed last week. Kid has a ton of heart, and has worked really hard on his game.

Tyler picked up a lot of support after the Open. Well deserved pick. This will be a no brainer.

Joey would be nice to see, as he seems to handle pressure well. We need some more young bloods.
Vegas may be a good place to let him get his feet wet. I think he can handle it. Could go a long way to help season him.
Personally, I would love to see how he handles it.

We're gonna be dogs, regardless who goes.

Love the kid but I think he needs to show some more successes first. He beat Stephen Folan Fargorate 708, then lost to Kristina Tkach 722 and SVB 832. Joey shows Fargorate 699 and that's expected performance for his level. I'm not familiar with his previous tournament play, but everyone on the USA Top 100 is above him. That's a lot of other choices.

Better to go with Oscar, Tyler, and someone in the vicinity like Chris Reinhold, Shane Wolford, or even Tony Chohan or Josh Roberts. Tony in particular has done pretty well in a lot of tough 1P action this year and is no slouch at 9 ball.

 

[benny-the-blade]

I think the Earl Strickland pick of a year ago should be considered irrefutable proof that team chemistry is not a factor in the selection process.

Tyler is playing well at present, and to leave him off the team would be foolish.

True. The common factor is Shane: he didn’t care much for Tyler back then and Shane also lobbied hard to have Earl on the team last year.

 

[sjm]

True. The common factor is Shane: he didn’t care much for Tyler back then and Shane also lobbied hard to have Earl on the team last year.

What few realize is that even if Earl had not been disqualified because of contact tracing on his flight over, he would not have gotten to play the full Mosconi Cup last year. For those of us who attended, we know that on days three and four, you couldn't even enter Alexandra Palace without showing a valid vaccination card.

Yes, Shane likes Earl, but not nearly as much as Barry Hearn does, and that's the bigger reason we need to be worried that Earl could be selected yet again.

 

[SEB]

What few realize is that even if Earl had not been disqualified because of contact tracing on his flight over, he would not have gotten to play the full Mosconi Cup last year. For those of us who attended, we know that on days three and four, you couldn't even enter Alexandra Palace without showing a valid vaccination card.

Yes, Shane likes Earl, but not nearly as much as Barry Hearn does, and that's the bigger reason we need to be worried that Earl could be selected yet again.

I see the sentiment for choosing a Mosconi member for the wrong reasons but at the end of the day, who from the US could beat Earl in 9 ball race to 100?

There’s like 5 guys. Shane, Sky, Bergman, Dechaine, and…maybe Oscar?

Even if he’s picked for the wrong reasons we’re still getting a player better suited to getting us wins than a Shane Wolford or Chris Reinhold.

Billy doesn’t deserve to be on this year’s team. He’s not in form at all. I’d rather have Earl.

 

[sjm]

I see the sentiment for choosing a Mosconi member for the wrong reasons but at the end of the day, who from the US could beat Earl in 9 ball race to 100?

There’s like 5 guys. Shane, Sky, Bergman, Dechaine, and…maybe Oscar?

Even if he’s picked for the wrong reasons we’re still getting a player better suited to getting us wins than a Shane Wolford or Chris Reinhold.

Billy doesn’t deserve to be on this year’s team. He’s not in form at all. I’d rather have Earl.

You left out Tyler Styer. If the team consisted of five wild cards, he'd be my third pick, behind Shane and Skyler, and yes, he'd beat Earl in a long race right now, not that it matters.

In the past, when some complained about how fields were filled in their invitationals, Matchroom offered that they wanted to turn over a leaf and make invitations based on merit. In their three invitationals year to date (Premier League Pool, World Pool Masters, World Cup of Pool), they've delivered in a big way, rewarding those that kept their Matchroom nine-ball ranking high. Pool is once again a meritocracy. At long last, fields are no longer filled on sentiment, but instead on merit.

I have already taken note of the fact that Earl is still a good player but a Mosconi spot is earned through playing excellence during the competitive year. I wonder how you know what Earl's current speed is given that he has barely hit a ball in competition this year? The only time I saw him play this year was at Turning Stone and he didn't show me much form, tying for seventh in an event having a very weak field.

Though his selection a year ago was an insult to our collective intelligence, I did feel sad for him when he had to quarantine rather than play, and if he's selected, at least a little part of me will be happy for him. That said, I'd rather see the spot be allocated on competitive merit, even if I had to contribute significantly to a GoFundMe to get Earl the money he'd have made.

 

[SEB]

You left out Tyler Styer. If the team consisted of five wild cards, he'd be my third pick, behind Shane and Skyler, and yes, he'd beat Earl in a long race right now, not that it matters.

In the past, when some complained about how fields were filled in their invitationals, Matchroom offered that they wanted to turn over a leaf and make invitations based on merit. In their three invitationals year to date (Premier League Pool, World Pool Masters, World Cup of Pool), they've delivered in a big way, rewarding those that kept their Matchroom nine-ball ranking high. Pool is once again a meritocracy. At long last, fields are no longer filled on sentiment, but instead on merit.

I have already taken note of the fact that Earl is still a good player but a Mosconi spot is earned through playing excellence during the competitive year. I wonder how you know what Earl's current speed is given that he has barely hit a ball in competition this year? The only time I saw him play this year was at Turning Stone and he didn't show me much form, tying for seventh in an event having a very weak field.

Though his selection a year ago was an insult to our collective intelligence, I did feel sad for him when he had to quarantine rather than play, and if he's selected, at least a little part of me will be happy for him. That said, I'd rather see the spot be allocated on competitive merit, even if I had to contribute significantly to a GoFundMe to get Earl the money he'd have made.

I disagree on favoring Tyler in a long race. Maybe if there wasn’t a shot clock he could make it semi close.

Earl is a beast. It’s a tricky pick. We all know what he brings…both good and bad. I like that it’s mostly a meritocracy now. That’s how it should be. It bothers me on here how so many people want young players for the sake of them being young. I don’t care if Earl is 90 walking with a Cain… if he is still the 5th best American rotation player we should have him on the team. And that goes for any of the old guard wanting to make a run.

But you’re right…we haven’t seen him in high level competition in a while so he did nothing to Earn his spot. But he showed an interest and we all know how hard he trains…so we’re all putting him in the mix.

Also Sidenote to everyone throwing Tony, Chip, and Josh Roberts in the conversation. FargoRate is now completely skewed because Mike Page started adding one pocket games into the system so players like Tony Chohan and Josh Roberts have shot up 10-20 points. Their rotation ability is inflated by Mike lazily dumping these games in his algorithm.

He should have made a separate FargoRate JUST for one pocket matches. That would have made far more sense.

 

[Scrunge19]

I disagree on favoring Tyler in a long race. Maybe if there wasn’t a shot clock he could make it semi close.

Earl is a beast. It’s a tricky pick. We all know what he brings…both good and bad. I like that it’s mostly a meritocracy now. That’s how it should be. It bothers me on here how so many people want young players for the sake of them being young. I don’t care if Earl is 90 walking with a Cain… if he is still the 5th best American rotation player we should have him on the team. And that goes for any of the old guard wanting to make a run.

That is exactly the point Stu is making. If Earl barely plays any events, how can you actually say he’s one of the 5 best American players and deserves a spot on the team? Play in the events and prove on the table that you’re worthy of being picked rather than dine out on your reputation from years gone by.

 

[jokrswylde]

Also Sidenote to everyone throwing Tony, Chip, and Josh Roberts in the conversation. FargoRate is now completely skewed because Mike Page started adding one pocket games into the system so players like Tony Chohan and Josh Roberts have shot up 10-20 points. Their rotation ability is inflated by Mike lazily dumping these games in his algorithm.

He should have made a separate FargoRate JUST for one pocket matches. That would have made far more sense.

MC cup veterans
Chris Reinhold- 743
Tyler Styer- 762
Billy Thorpe- 770

Never Had a Chance to play MC

Josh Roberts - 779 (759) if you take away the 20 points he jumped up since 1 pocket matches added.
Tony Chohan- 780 (760)
Chip Compton - 751 (not sure if he got a big 1 pocket bump)

It is not outlandish to want to give these guys a shot. I would love to see T-Rex and how he handles the pressure of the MC.

 

[SEB]

MC cup veterans
Chris Reinhold- 743
Tyler Styer- 762
Billy Thorpe- 770

Never Had a Chance to play MC

Josh Roberts - 779 (759) if you take away the 20 points he jumped up since 1 pocket matches added.
Tony Chohan- 780 (760)
Chip Compton - 751 (not sure if he got a big 1 pocket bump)

It is not outlandish to want to give these guys a shot. I would love to see T-Rex and how he handles the pressure of the MC.

Fair point.