2026 Mosconi Cup Team USA

[benjaminwah]

No mention of Oscar? His first place finish in Ultimate Pool last night was amazing, down to the last second. Tons of pressure with the short shot clock, he kept his cool. Hopefully the rape van joke, as distasteful as that was, is forgotten and isn't preventing him from getting an opportunity...

 

[JAM]

No mention of Oscar? His first place finish in Ultimate Pool last night was amazing, down to the last second. Tons of pressure with the short shot clock, he kept his cool. Hopefully the rape van joke, as distasteful as that was, is forgotten and isn't preventing him from getting an opportunity...

I agree. He is also the consummate professional. His win with his dad must have been very special.

 

[sjm]

Ok, maybe I do recognize all of those names, but which one(s) will be able to hold their own against any of the picked Americans, much less he Euro's? Outside of an upset, I don't think they can. Or are you just saying you want them to get the experience too?

And yes I realize we will need there to be "upsets" in order to win anyway... thats not the point here.

Agreed that they are not merit-based picks. In post 32, I explained why I like going young.

 

[jbart65]

Agreed that they are not merit-based picks. In post 32, I explained why I like going young.

Verner and Childress are the only ones eligible. I like the progress of Childress, but at times, he just gets swamped by better players. Next year will be huge for him. If he improves as much next year as he did this year, he might break through.

 

[sjm]

Very thin gruel. Very thin.

Verner, as you already reported, is still hurting from his car injuries.

Laz Martinez has only played in one single Matchroom event in his young career, from what I could find. Battle of the Bull in 2025, it seems. He didnt even play in the US Open this year even though it was in his home state of Texas.

Sam Henderson has promise, but he has no real big wins over top players or any high-place finishes in 9 ball.

Childress had a good year and pulled off his first real big wins (Moritz Neuhausen). Maybe in a year or two.

Eric Roberts improved, but had less success than Childress. Not ready for prime time.

Landon Hollingsworth played in only a few WNT events this year. He did have a nice run at the Vice City Open, but no real big wins.

Payne McBride was probably the best of the lot among this group after accounting for Verner's injury. Only real good win this year was over Felix Vogel.

Pretty much agreed. Lukas is the best of this crop and, in my view, projects as a future Fargo 800+ player. Still, no-one is quite sure where he is with his car injury recovery. He did, however, resume competing and matching up a couple of months ago, still playing in pain, which is when I last saw and spoke with him. Where he is today in his recovery I cannot say.

I'm with you on Payne McBride. He's committed to the process. He's not there yet, but he has a habit of hanging tough with the stars of the game, though not often beating them. For example, in a match I watched, Payne pushed Pijus Labutis to the limit at the US Open 9ball, reaching 6-6 before Pijus caught the proverbial gear. He also gave SVB a stiff 9-7 test in Stage 1 at the Florida Open a few months ago, during a week in which SVB would go on to win the title. I'm not sure whether Payne has turned 20 yet, but he's on a good trajectory.

Also, Laz shot well over .900 TPA in the final of the Junior event at the International Open, playing on the same crazy-tight table the pros used in their late rounds. Strong player, great potential, but it's not yet clear he wants to pursue a career in pro pool.

 

[easy-e]

No mention of Oscar? His first place finish in Ultimate Pool last night was amazing, down to the last second. Tons of pressure with the short shot clock, he kept his cool. Hopefully the rape van joke, as distasteful as that was, is forgotten and isn't preventing him from getting an opportunity...

I really think he's the best option.

 

[markjames]

I really think he's the best option.

oscar, agreed

 

[jay helfert]

Bergman is going to be a game changer.

He is a great doubles player and his cue ball control is great.

Team USA will win.

Sorry to burst your bubble.

 

[8intheside]

I do not agree with your statement, but that's okay. We can have different opinions. Most people do.

Absolutely! We’re all entitled to our opinion.

 

[sjm]

For me, the real problem is that Europe's two biggest stars seem to be at the very top of their game right now.

Filler is playing the best pool of his life right now. He has won four majors this year in rotation games: Las Vegas Open, UK Open, Bali Open, and Qatar World Cup. Just for good measure, he also won his third straight Derby City Classic 9ball and took bronze at the World 10ball.

FSR, despite a forgettable first half of the year in rotation games, caught fire in August, following up a fifth place in Florida with a US Open 9ball gold medal and a bronze medal at the Bali 10ball. He also teamed up with Alcaide to win gold at the WPA Men's Doubles World Championship and was the MVP at the recent Reyes Cup. He's starting to remind me of the 2022 FSR, that year's player of the year.

As several have suggested, any hope of a Team USA success story starts with Shane and Fedor. Neither has ever showed his top form at a Mosconi Cup, and they'll have to be at the top of their games just to equal the performance of Filler and FSR. There's hope, for we saw how well Shane played at the WNT Florida Open and Gorst wowed us at the China Open. Still, despite the victory, Shane did not play well at the Reyes Cup and Fedor had a tough go of it over the recent Asian swing. Which Shane will we get? Which Fedor will we get? We well know of what they are capable.

Yes, I think Shane and Fedor will have to bring their "A" games just to equal what we'll likely get from Filler and FSR. If one were to assume that this will happen, though, the matches not featuring any of these four will all be ones in which Europe will be heavily favored.

Team USA can win, but it's an awfully tall order and Shane and Fedor must lead by example for it to happen.

 

[sjm]

I agree. He is also the consummate professional. His win with his dad must have been very special.

Oscar has always been a great representative of our sport.

 

[NevadaP]

The dilemma is USA has less pro-caliber players than Europe to choose from.

Yes, exactly!! And I don't know why we (USA) are so upset when we continually lose to 'Europe'. Europe has many, many nations to select from, and in many of those nations, pool is more popular that in the USA.

If the USA were to dominate Europe in the Mosconi Cup, that would be 'news'.

More competitive would be USA vs. 'Great Britain' or 'USA vs Germany'.

 

[sjm]

Yes, exactly!! And I don't know why we (USA) are so upset when we continually lose to 'Europe'. Europe has many, many nations to select from, and in many of those nations, pool is more popular that in the USA.

If the USA were to dominate Europe in the Mosconi Cup, that would be 'news'.

More competitive would be USA vs. 'Great Britain' or 'USA vs Germany'.

It was a few years ago, but a European poster guessed that there are ten nine ball players in America for every one of them in Europe. Might only be five for one now, but the only reason we haven't been beating Europe is poor player development, not a lack of players.

What matters is how many nine ball players you have, not how many people you have. Team USA would probably destroy Team India in a Mosconi style match, despite India's 1.5 billion population.

I don't think the answer is to make excuses and start hunting for smaller game but, instead, to raise our level to where it belongs.

 

[jbart65]

I'm with you on Payne McBride. He's committed to the process. He's not there yet, but he has a habit of hanging tough with the stars of the game, though not often beating them. For example, in a match I watched, Payne pushed Pijus Labutis to the limit at the US Open 9ball, reaching 6-6 before Pijus caught the proverbial gear. He also gave SVB a stiff 9-7 test in Stage 1 at the Florida Open a few months ago, during a week in which SVB would go on to win the title. I'm not sure whether Payne has turned 20 yet, but he's on a good trajectory.

Also, Laz shot well over .900 TPA in the final of the Junior event at the International Open, playing on the same crazy-tight table the pros used in their late rounds. Strong player, great potential, but it's not yet clear he wants to pursue a career in pro pool.

I have high hopes for McBride. He didn't start playing until fairly late, even though he's just 20, but he's shown a steady arc of improvement.

As for Laz Martinez, he has said he wanted to make pro pool his career. But I have to guess he doesn't have the financial means. What else would explain him not playing in the US open even though it was in Texas this year?

He won the junior U.S. Open held by Matchroom two or three years ago in Atlantic City. He's also won a Predator junior event. Yet he's been scarce on the pro circuit otherwise. He does seem to play a lot of money matches.

Too bad. He is probably the most talented American player under 20.

 

[skogstokig]

It was a few years ago, but a European poster guessed that there are ten nine ball players in America for every one of them in Europe. Might only be five for one now, but the only reason we haven't been beating Europe is poor player development, not a lack of players.

What matters is how many nine ball players you have, not how many people you have.

is that league players?

 

[jbart65]

For me, the real problem is that Europe's two biggest stars seem to be at the very top of their game right now.

Filler wasn't super in the Reyes Cup. FSR was, but he's been shaky in the past.

Team USA has to be consistent and they have to play with more mental acumen. I have got to believe having a good coach again will help.

The key, of course, is just to be competitive on Day 1 and not fall behind so much.

 

[NevadaP]

It was a few years ago, but a European poster guessed that there are ten nine ball players in America for every one of them in Europe. Might only be five for one now, but the only reason we haven't been beating Europe is poor player development, not a lack of players.

What matters is how many nine ball players you have, not how many people you have. Team USA would probably destroy Team India in a Mosconi style match, despite India's 1.5 billion population.

I don't think the answer is to make excuses and start hunting for smaller game but, instead, to raise our level to where it belongs.

I don't disagree with your take on the need for 'player development'. That, alone, is probably the biggest differentiator between Europe and USA.

And my intent was not to 'make excuses' or 'look for a smaller game' but instead to point out the futility of the USA hoping to overtake all of Europe given the current state of player development and overall interest at a high level.

And to further drive home the point, I use your 'USA vs India' example. You are certainly correct that a team USA should dominate a 'Team India'. But a more apt comparison to the Mosconi format would be 'Team USA vs Team Asia'. I think we know how that would go.

 

[sudocrushms]

Shane and Fedor need to be at 100% to even keep it close.
Those 2 can also take a bit to get going. March them out there as much as you are allowed and let them find a rhythm.
Tyler has been really consistent and has been playing well lately from what i've seen.
After that it doesn't really matter. You're going to need MAJOR upsets to win further down the roster.

I like the idea of throwing some new blood out there to see if one of them can step up and play above expected.

Earl? No. Just no.

 

[sjm]

is that league players?

All players, men, women, league, semi-pro and pro,

 

[sjm]

Filler wasn't super in the Reyes Cup.

So what? In the Asian swing, he won the Bali 10ball, won the Qatar World Cup and came third in the World 10ball. He is in dead stroke right now.

FSR was, but he's been shaky in the past.

If you eyeball this thread, you'll see that, although Shaw was named on points, most of us felt that FSR was, by far, the best player on Team Europe at the 2024 Mosconi, which is the last one in which he played.

https://forums.azbilliards.com/threads/sjm-at-the-2024-mosconi-cup.570807/

Here's a post you made in that very same thread.

Shaw probably got MVP because he was also the captain, but FSR was virtually flawless. Captaincy aside, he was clearly the best player on team Euro. Not by much, but he was.

Yes, FSR was brilliant in both his last Mosconi Cup and his last Reyes Cup. His excellence at doubles was further validated by his win with partner Alcaide at the WPA Men's Doubles Championship last month.

Team USA has to be consistent and they have to play with more mental acumen. I have got to believe having a good coach again will help.

The key, of course, is just to be competitive on Day 1 and not fall behind so much.

Right on, brother.