Mike Dechaine DCC

sammylane12

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The mention above of hopes that Mike would go full time pro again.
Mikes time has long gone, if it was ever here. You just do not take a major block of time off from top tier 9 ball and come back to where you were before you stopped. Most likely you will never return to that level. Think about the time Cory Duel decided he wanted to play golf instead of pool. He wasn`t gone long but when he got back he was never as good.
 

hang-the-9

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
What are you basing this on? I was with you until the "beyond gorst and filler, and its not even close"

He may be right about "natural" ability since Mike pretty much never practices and never really played all the events. I think Filler has a ton of natural ability, Gorst was built up from solid drills and dedication as much as nature. I think some people just "get" how to play pool, Mike's ability to shoot with spin and power is on the level of someone like Shaw.
 

8cree

Reverse Engineer
Silver Member
You have to give props to Sky because he competes all of the time still and is quite successful, but if Dechaine and Bergman get in stroke, I think they would beat him in a long race- particularly Dechaine
I know what you're saying, and maybe that was true several years back... but they've been left behind now.
 

JolietJames

Boot Party Coordinator
Silver Member
Since JB seems to live on a barbox these days, I'd like to see a top player head over to his room for a match.
I say this only because it appears he isn't leaving town for any events, so he'll just fade away if nothing changes.
 

Mich

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Mike is an uber talent, natural ability beyond most of the top pros, including guys like Gorst and Filler
and its not even close
guys like this exist, mostly in America but simply never put it all together for various reasons,
John Schmidt imo falls into this class also, lots more too
Not sure I would agree. I saw him play before he "retired" and he was a good player but not in the Upper Echelon tier of players. He definitely was world class when it came to racking! :cool:
 

jalapus logan

be all. and supports it to
Silver Member
Mikes time has long gone, if it was ever here. You just do not take a major block of time off from top tier 9 ball and come back to where you were before you stopped. Most likely you will never return to that level. Think about the time Cory Duel decided he wanted to play golf instead of pool. He wasn`t gone long but when he got back he was never as good.
I had not heard that...when was his layoff? Corey was and is a sick talent.
 

sammylane12

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Since JB seems to live on a barbox these days, I'd like to see a top player head over to his room for a match.
I say this only because it appears he isn't leaving town for any events, so he'll just fade away if nothing changes.
Sounds like he should match up with Bergman in a big money bar table match.
 

MitchAlsup

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
So why do you think we do so well in the Olympics even in sports where the athletes are not sponsored? Many of these athletes work and still win metals or are at least respected as a threat to win in the sports the compete in?
Many of those Olympic sports are won by people that found something they liked doing at 5 years old and just did it until nobody could touch their abilities. No sponsorship, no <real> money long term, just grit and determination (and some enablement's by the parents.)

Archery, various shooting sports, and a lot of sports where the only real competition is the player against himself (or herself as the case may be.)

Pool could be in this category, but gambling got in the way.
 

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
Gold Member
Silver Member
Mike is an uber talent, natural ability beyond most of the top pros, including guys like Gorst and Filler
and its not even close
guys like this exist, mostly in America but simply never put it all together for various reasons,
John Schmidt imo falls into this class also, lots more too
Fail!
 

ShortBusRuss

Short Bus Russ - C Player
Silver Member
What are you basing this on? I was with you until the "beyond gorst and filler, and its not even close"
Same question here. Filler won the China Open at what,18? And never let his foot off the gas since. Dechaine has never had a year as dominant as the one Gorst had last year. Dude is smoking some good stuff, that's for sure.
 

skogstokig

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Same question here. Filler won the China Open at what,18? And never let his foot off the gas since. Dechaine has never had a year as dominant as the one Gorst had last year. Dude is smoking some good stuff, that's for sure.

i think he was 19 or 20. filler is the most extreme talent since earl imo

agree on dechaine being talented though, but coming back from a hiatus at this point and with the level that pro pool is at now, that's a very tough ask. he could probably make the MC team
 

Woodshaft

Do what works for YOU!
Love all the predictive comments from guys who have never even met Mike lol.
Well, I haven't either.
But I've seen him shoot on youtube in several events and he looks pretty strong to me.
It would be nice for us American fans if he got back into the big tourney scene more often.
But, there's more to life than pool, so what he does is his business.
I wish him all the best!
 

Joe_Jaguar

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Mike is an uber talent, natural ability beyond most of the top pros, including guys like Gorst and Filler
and its not even close
guys like this exist, mostly in America but simply never put it all together for various reasons,
John Schmidt imo falls into this class also, lots more too
I know they got some liberal laws up there in Canuckland, but that doesn't mean you should use.
 

ShortBusRuss

Short Bus Russ - C Player
Silver Member
i think he was 19 or 20. filler is the most extreme talent since earl imo

agree on dechaine being talented though, but coming back from a hiatus at this point and with the level that pro pool is at now, that's a very tough ask. he could probably make the MC team
And because I just can't let the point stand as far as his "humbleness", though I don't think you are the one who mentioned it... To this day, I will always remember a Mike Dechaine guest commentating on a Derby TAR match with amateur players playing for a respectable amount, saying how he would love to play either of them for money, when he really hadn't accomplished much of note in the game at that point, and even if he had, he was missing the entire point of these two lesser players putting themselves out there for the world to view, in a grudge match.

It spoke to me of the character of the young man at that time... That being said, I assume he's grown up quite a bit since then, and I was still cheering for him (fruitlessly) over Shaw last night. It would be nice to add another truly world class talent back into the American ranks, though.
 

CanadianGuy

Well-known member
What are you basing this on? I was with you until the "beyond gorst and filler, and its not even close"
eye test and several decades worth of experience in this game

I could be wrong

Gorst and Fedor are work ethic monsters, the type of quantity and quality of practice most American pros eschew

I like to think I have an eye for insane talent, the example of Schmidt waking up from bed one morning and simply deciding to win the US open, that was ridiculous, Gorst and Fedor can't do that

Mike clearly has not been focused on a pro career in pool, who can blame him
 
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