Greetings. I spent four more days in London after the completion of the Mosconi Cup, so I just got home to New York. That explains the lateness of my trip report. I have not read any of the postings on AZB pertaining to the Mosconi Cup, so I may well be repeating what others have said, for which I apologize.
I attended all four sessions in London at Alexandra Palace and I won’t beat around the bush about what is best described as an embarrassing effort by Team USA and a rock-solid performance by the far superior squad from Europe that underscored the huge gap between American and European pool. I rooted hard for Team USA, but it was hard to watch them take such a thrashing.
It is usually around this time that we get the following excuses from some on the forum: 1) If a roll or two went differently, it would have been a different match, 2) American players are able to play with Europe but have weaker mental games, 3) Team USA only had to break a little better to win, 4) Europe had better teamwork than the US and that was the difference, and let’s not forget my favorite, 5) Team USA didn’t lag well enough to win. Others have surely suggested that Team Europe is on a hot streak now, but there are ebbs and flows in the event and Team USA will likely go on a similar streak one of these days. None of these excuses are valid.
So, what exactly did happen? Team Europe outplayed Team USA in almost every area of the game. They had better fundamentals, played better patterns, broke the balls better than Team USA, and played better defense than Team USA. The total rack score showed that, in rough terms, Europe beat the USA in a twenty-five ahead set, so this was a massacre of the highest order. Europe, in rough terms, won a twenty-five ahead race against Team USA in a single Mosconi Cup!!!
At Large estimated that each match took an average of 50 minutes, so there was about 700 minutes of play in total, or just under twelve hours. Imagine a gambling match played to twenty-five racks ahead. This one only took about twelve hours. Most would say that the loser of a twelve hour twenty-five ahead race had no business even being on the table with the winner. That’s how bad this was.
What went on at the individual player level? Despite his Match 14 meltdown, Shane Wolford exceeded expectations. We got Fedor’s “B” game when we needed his “A” game. The Mosconi was a nightmare for SVB, Woodward and Styer. At Large noted that Team USA broke and ran just 20% of its racks compared to 35% for Team Europe ---- two very different levels of play.
Team Europe was, indisputably, great but America needs to own how far it has fallen behind Europe in pro pool. I remember thinking in June that Team Europe would likely be Filler, Gorst, Kaci, FSR and Shaw or Ouschan. It’s hard to even imagine the beatdown that such a team would have offered to a Gorst-less Team USA. To their credit, Matchroom accurately assessed what was coming and tried to shake things up by proclaiming Gorst eligible for Team USA.
I’m a bit of a broken record on this subject and have said pretty much the same for nearly fifteen years on the forum: Team USA is just as far behind Team Europe in its decision making as in its stroke fundamentals. 9ball has evolved to the point that players lacking both superior conceptualization and superior execution skills are, for the most part, incapable of winning anything big, so the immediate future looks bleak. With tight pockets and difficult breaking rules in vogue, one must possess superior tactical skills to succeed, and few Americans show such skills.
Where does the solution lie? Yes, some of it lies in practicing harder, but the real solution lies in training. American training is falling short of the mark and needs a rewrite to ensure that the next generation of American pros will have more well-rounded games than this one.
Congratulations to the far superior Team Europe. Well played!
I attended all four sessions in London at Alexandra Palace and I won’t beat around the bush about what is best described as an embarrassing effort by Team USA and a rock-solid performance by the far superior squad from Europe that underscored the huge gap between American and European pool. I rooted hard for Team USA, but it was hard to watch them take such a thrashing.
It is usually around this time that we get the following excuses from some on the forum: 1) If a roll or two went differently, it would have been a different match, 2) American players are able to play with Europe but have weaker mental games, 3) Team USA only had to break a little better to win, 4) Europe had better teamwork than the US and that was the difference, and let’s not forget my favorite, 5) Team USA didn’t lag well enough to win. Others have surely suggested that Team Europe is on a hot streak now, but there are ebbs and flows in the event and Team USA will likely go on a similar streak one of these days. None of these excuses are valid.
So, what exactly did happen? Team Europe outplayed Team USA in almost every area of the game. They had better fundamentals, played better patterns, broke the balls better than Team USA, and played better defense than Team USA. The total rack score showed that, in rough terms, Europe beat the USA in a twenty-five ahead set, so this was a massacre of the highest order. Europe, in rough terms, won a twenty-five ahead race against Team USA in a single Mosconi Cup!!!
At Large estimated that each match took an average of 50 minutes, so there was about 700 minutes of play in total, or just under twelve hours. Imagine a gambling match played to twenty-five racks ahead. This one only took about twelve hours. Most would say that the loser of a twelve hour twenty-five ahead race had no business even being on the table with the winner. That’s how bad this was.
What went on at the individual player level? Despite his Match 14 meltdown, Shane Wolford exceeded expectations. We got Fedor’s “B” game when we needed his “A” game. The Mosconi was a nightmare for SVB, Woodward and Styer. At Large noted that Team USA broke and ran just 20% of its racks compared to 35% for Team Europe ---- two very different levels of play.
Team Europe was, indisputably, great but America needs to own how far it has fallen behind Europe in pro pool. I remember thinking in June that Team Europe would likely be Filler, Gorst, Kaci, FSR and Shaw or Ouschan. It’s hard to even imagine the beatdown that such a team would have offered to a Gorst-less Team USA. To their credit, Matchroom accurately assessed what was coming and tried to shake things up by proclaiming Gorst eligible for Team USA.
I’m a bit of a broken record on this subject and have said pretty much the same for nearly fifteen years on the forum: Team USA is just as far behind Team Europe in its decision making as in its stroke fundamentals. 9ball has evolved to the point that players lacking both superior conceptualization and superior execution skills are, for the most part, incapable of winning anything big, so the immediate future looks bleak. With tight pockets and difficult breaking rules in vogue, one must possess superior tactical skills to succeed, and few Americans show such skills.
Where does the solution lie? Yes, some of it lies in practicing harder, but the real solution lies in training. American training is falling short of the mark and needs a rewrite to ensure that the next generation of American pros will have more well-rounded games than this one.
Congratulations to the far superior Team Europe. Well played!
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