Break Stats -- 2017 Mosconi Cup, Dec. 2017

AtLarge · Dec 7, 2017

Here are some break results for the 2017 Mosconi Cup played this week (Dec. 4 - Dec. 7) at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. This event was 9-Ball racing to 11 matches, with each match being a race to 5 games. The format was one team match (everyone plays one game, then repeat until one side wins 5 games), 7 doubles matches, and up to 13 singles matches (only 7 were played). Europe won 11-4, with the match scores on the 4 days being 4-1, 4-1, 2-2, and 1-0.

The players for Team USA were Shane Van Boening, Dennis Hatch, Skyler Woodward, Oscar Dominguez, and Billy Thorpe. The players for Team Europe were Ralf Souquet, Nick Van den Berg, David Alcaide, Jayson Shaw, and Joshua Filler.

The conditions for this event included the following:

- Rasson Victory 9-foot table with 4¼" corner pockets and blue Simonis cloth;

- Aramith Tournament balls with the measles cue ball;

- referee racks using a triangle rack with the 1-ball on the foot spot (2-ball not necessarily in back location);

- alternate breaks from anywhere behind the head string;

- no illegal break rule;

- 30-sec. shot clock (60 sec. after the break), with one 30-sec. extension per side per game;

- foul on all balls;

- jump cues allowed;

- lag for the break.

The 15 matches were as follows, in the order they were played:

Mon. Dec. 4, 2017

Team Europe defeated Team USA 5-3

Shaw & Alcaide d. Woodward & Thorpe 5-3

Filler d. Hatch 5-4

Souquet & Van den Berg d. Van Boening & Dominguez 5-3

Van Boening d. Shaw 5-1

Tues. Dec. 5

Hatch & Thorpe d. Van den Berg & Alcaide 5-4

Souquet d. Dominguez 5-3

Shaw & Filler d. Van Boening & Woodward 5-1

Alcaide d. Woodard 5-1

Van den Berg & Filler d. Van Boening & Thorpe 5-0

Wed. Dec 6

Hatch & Dominguez d. Souquet & Shaw 5-4

Thorpe d. Van den Berg 5-4

Souquet & Alcaide d. Woodward & Dominguez 5-2

Shaw d. Van Boening 5-4

Thurs. Dec 7

Filler d. Hatch 5-3

The successful-break rates (made at least one ball and did not foul) were 81% for Team USA (46 of 57) and 81% (47 of 58) for Team Europe.

Team USA won the game on 49% (28 of 57) of their own breaks, whereas Team Europe won on 67% (39 of 58) of their breaks. Some details:

Team USA broke 57 times, with the following results:

• Made at least one ball (and did not foul) and won the game -- 26 (46%)

• Made at least one ball (and did not foul) and lost the game -- 20 (35%)

• Broke dry or fouled but won the game -- 2 (4%)

• Broke dry or fouled and lost the game -- 9 (16%)

Team Europe broke 58 times, with the following results:

• Made at least one ball (and did not foul) and won the game -- 34 (59%)

• Made at least one ball (and did not foul) and lost the game -- 13 (22%)

• Broke dry or fouled but won the game -- 5 (9%)

• Broke dry or fouled and lost the game -- 6 (10%)

For the two teams combined, the breaker made at least one ball (and did not foul) 81% (93 of 115) of the time; the breaking side won 58% (67 of 115) of the games; and the breaking side won 65% (60 of 93) of the games in which the breaker made at least one ball on the break and did not foul.

Break-and-run on all breaks:

• Team USA -- 12 out of 57 (21%)

• Team Europe -- 15 out of 58 (26%)

• Total -- 27 out of 115 (23%)

Break-and-run on successful breaks:

• Team USA -- 12 out of 46 (26%)

• Team Europe -- 15 out of 47 (32%)

• Total -- 27 out of 93 (29%)

AtLarge · Dec 7, 2017

Here are some 2017 Mosconi Cup break stats for each player. [Caveat: small numbers.]

Successful breaks (made at least one ball and did not foul):

Van Boening -- 10 of 13 (77%)
Hatch -- 14 of 15 (93%)
Woodward -- 6 of 9 (67%)
Dominguez -- 8 of 9 (89%)
Thorpe -- 8 of 11 (73%)
Team USA Total -- 46 of 57 (81%)

Souquet -- 10 of 11 (91%)
Van den Berg -- 9 of 10 (90%)
Alcaide -- 9 of 10 (90%)
Shaw -- 8 of 13 (62%)
Filler -- 11 of 14 (79%)
Team Europe Total -- 47 of 58 (81%)

USA + Europe Total -- 93 of 115 (81%)

Breaker's side won the game:

Van Boening -- 7 of 13 (54%)
Hatch -- 11 of 15 (73%)
Woodward -- 4 of 9 (44%)
Dominguez -- 3 of 9 (33%)
Thorpe -- 3 of 11 (27%)
Team USA Total -- 28 of 57 (49%)

Souquet -- 7 of 11 (64%)
Van den Berg -- 5 of 10 (50%)
Alcaide -- 9 of 10 (90%)
Shaw -- 7 of 13 (54%)
Filler -- 11 of 14 (79%)
Team Europe Total -- 39 of 58 (67%)

USA + Europe Total -- 67 of 115 (58%)

Break-and-run games, on all breaks:

Van Boening -- 3 of 13 (23%)
Hatch -- 6 of 15 (40%)
Woodward -- 2 of 9 (22%)
Dominguez -- 1 of 9 (11%)
Thorpe -- 0 of 11 (0%)
Team USA Total -- 12 of 57 (21%)

Souquet -- 3 of 11 (27%)
Van den Berg -- 3 of 10 (30%)
Alcaide -- 1 of 10 (10%)
Shaw -- 1 of 13 (8%)
Filler -- 7 of 14 (50%)
Team Europe Total -- 15 of 58 (26%)

USA + Europe Total -- 27 of 115 (23%)

Break-and-run games, on successful breaks:

Van Boening -- 3 of 10 (30%)
Hatch -- 6 of 14 (43%)
Woodward -- 2 of 6 (33%)
Dominguez -- 1 of 8 (13%)
Thorpe -- 0 of 8 (0%)
Team USA Total -- 12 of 46 (26%)

Souquet -- 3 of 10 (30%)
Van den Berg -- 3 of 9 (33%)
Alcaide -- 1 of 9 (11%)
Shaw -- 1 of 8 (13)
Filler -- 7 of 11 (64%)
Team Europe Total -- 15 of 47 (32%)

USA + Europe Total -- 27 of 93 (29%)

[Note: A B&R in a doubles game is credited here to the breaker.]

AtLarge · Dec 7, 2017

Regarding lags:

2017 -- Cup won by Team Europe 11-4

• USA won 4 lags, Europe won 11.

• The team that won the lag won the first game 10 times (4 by USA, 6 by Europe).

• The team that won the lag won every match (4 by USA, 11 by Europe).

• In the 5 hill/hill matches, USA won the lag 3 times and Europe twice. One of the wins for each side was by B&R in the final game.

The team that won the first game (9 by USA, 6 by Europe) won the match 10 times (4 by USA, 6 by Europe).

2016 -- Cup won by Team Europe 11-3

• USA won 8 lags, Europe won 6.

• The team that won the lag won the first game 12 times (7 by USA, 5 by Europe).

• The team that won the lag won the match 7 times (2 by USA, 5 by Europe).

• In the 3 hill/hill matches, USA won the lag all 3 times but lost the match twice. The lone win was not by B&R in the final game.

The team that won the first game (8 by USA, 6 by Europe) won the match 7 times (2 by USA, 5 by Europe).

2015 -- Cup won by Team Europe 11-7

• Each team won 9 lags.

• The team that won the lag won the first game 9 times (4 by USA, 5 by Europe).

• The team that won the lag won the match 10 times (4 by USA, 6 by Europe).

• In the 8 hill/hill matches, the team that won the lag won the match 6 times (3 by each team), and 4 of the 6 were by B&R in the final game.

The team that won the first game (8 by USA, 10 by Europe) won the match 9 times (3 by USA, 6 by Europe).

2014 -- Cup won by Team Europe 11-5

• USA won 2 lags, Europe won 14.

• The team that won the lag won the first game 13 times (2 by USA, 11 by Europe).

• The team that won the lag won the match 9 times (0 by USA, 9 by Europe).

• In the only hill/hill match, Europe won the lag and the first game (by B&R) but lost the match.

The team that won the first game (5 by USA, 11 by Europe) won the match 6 times (0 by USA, 6 by Europe).

2013 -- Cup won by Team Europe 11-2

• USA won 4 lags, Europe won 9.

• The team that won the lag won the first game 6 times (1 by USA, 5 by Europe).

• The team that won the lag won the match 7 times (0 by USA, 7 by Europe).

• In the 4 hill/hill matches, Europe won all the lags and 2 of the matches (one by B&R in the final game -- 9-ball on the break).

The team that won the first game (5 by USA, 8 by Europe) won the match 6 times (0 by USA, 6 by Europe).

So 21 matches have gone to a hill/hill game over the past 5 years, and the breaking side (winner of the lag) won 14 of those games.

bmsclayton · Dec 7, 2017

thankyou

I really enjoy reading your stats after these big matches. You rock. Thank you.

AtLarge · Dec 8, 2017

BeiberLvr said:
Any chance you would know the % of times either side won the rack when the number of visits to the table was >= 3?

I have a feeling this is where we lose the most.

49 of the 115 games ended on the first visit by the breaker (27 B&R) or the non-breaker (22 run-outs in his first inning). These were pretty evenly split -- 24 wins by Team USA and 25 by Team Europe.

So 66 games went as far as the 3rd visit (2nd inning by breaker or later). The split here was not at all even -- 23 wins (35% of the 66 games) by Team USA and 43 wins (65% of the 66 games) by Team Europe.

You were correct.

AtLarge · Dec 8, 2017

Regarding Fouls:

The following numbers are: Breaking Fouls + Kicking Fouls + Jumping Fouls + Other Fouls = Total Fouls

Van Boening -- 0 + 0 + 0 + 2 = 2
Hatch -- 0 + 2 + 0 + 3 = 5
Woodward -- 0 + 1 + 0 + 3 = 4
Dominguez -- 0 + 1 + 2 + 1 = 4
Thorpe -- 1 + 0 + 0 + 2 = 3
Team USA Total -- 1 + 4 + 2 + 11 = 18

Souquet -- 0 + 3 + 0 + 1 = 4
Van den Berg -- 0 + 0 + 0 + 4 = 4
Alcaide -- 0 + 2 + 0 + 1 = 3
Shaw -- 1 + 0 + 1 + 2 = 4
Filler -- 2 + 2 + 0 + 0 = 4
Team Europe Total -- 3 + 7 + 1 + 8 = 19

USA + Europe Total -- 4 + 11 + 3 + 19 = 37

The "Other Fouls" category includes:

- scratching off a safety (Van Boening 2)
- scratching while making a ball (1 each by Hatch, Van den Berg, and Shaw)
- scratching on a missed shot (1 each by Hatch, Woodward, Thorpe, Souquet, Van den Berg, and Alcaide)
- hitting another ball first on the way to the OB (1 each by Thorpe and Van den Berg)
- knocking an OB off the table (Woodward 1)
- missing an open OB, a "whiff," (1 each by Woodward, Dominguez, and Shaw)
- an intentional foul to tie up balls (1 each by Hatch and Van den Berg)

The opponent's side ran out the game on the next inning for 15 of Team USA's 18 fouls and for 13 of Team Europe's 19 fouls.

BeiberLvr · Dec 8, 2017

AtLarge said:
49 of the 115 games ended on the first visit by the breaker (27 B&R) or the non-breaker (22 run-outs in his first inning). These were pretty evenly split -- 24 wins by Team USA and 25 by Team Europe.

So 66 games went as far as the 3rd visit (2nd inning by breaker or later). The split here was not at all even -- 23 wins (35% of the 66 games) by Team USA and 43 wins (65% of the 66 games) by Team Europe.

You were correct.

Thanks a ton!!

AtLarge · Dec 9, 2017

I haven't heard or seen any discussion about the the racking change this year. After racking the 9-ball on the spot for many years, they changed this year to racking the 1-ball on the spot.

Some people said in prior years that racking the 9-ball on the spot was an advantage for Team Europe, as they were more used to playing that way than were Americans.
Perhaps the change was made because of that, but it didn't seem to help much in the end result.

Oze147 · Dec 9, 2017

The foul statistics is very interesting.
Just by watching I subjectively perceived, that Europe played the superior safeties and had ball in hand more often than the US players.
Turns out, that the Euros even made more fouls.

AtLarge · Dec 9, 2017

From a year ago:

AtLarge said:
Team Europe has now won 15 days of play in a row -- all 3 days in 2013 and all 4 days in each of 2014 through 2016.

The longest previous such streak was just 4 -- done once by each team (last day of 1995 and first 3 days of 1996 by Team Europe and all 4 days of 2001 by Team USA).

Team USA did, however, go 10 days of play without a loss, sprinkling 3 tied days among 7 winning days covering the last day of play in 2003 through the first day of play in 2006.

[I haven't called them "sessions" here, because in some earlier years they played two sessions per day, and I'm talking about full days of play.]

Well, we broke the losing streak with a 2-2 tie in matches on Day 3 this year. So the losing streak was extended to 17 days of play in a row before that tie. But we are now in a streak of 19 days of play without a win.

AtLarge · Dec 9, 2017

Regarding Balls Made on the Break:

Team USA averaged 1.3 balls per break on all breaks (72 balls on 57 breaks) and 1.5 balls per break on successful breaks (71 balls on 46 breaks).

Team Europe averaged 1.4 balls per break on all breaks (79 balls on 58 breaks) and 1.7 balls per break on successful breaks (78 balls on 47 breaks).

Distribution of balls made on the 115 breaks:

1s here means the 1-ball in the side pocket on the opposite side of the table from the breaker;
w means the wing ball on the same side of the table as the breaker, in the nearest corner pocket

- made 1s, but no other balls -- occurred 7 times (7 balls pocketed, incl. 1 on a foul)
- made 1s plus 1 or 2 other balls, but not w -- 7 times (17 balls)
- made w, but no other balls -- 32 times (32 balls)
- made w and 1 other ball, but not 1s -- 8 times (16 balls)
- made both 1s and w, but no others -- 27 times (54 balls)
- both 1s and w and 1 other ball -- 5 times (15 balls)
- made neither 1s nor w, but 1 or 2 other balls -- 9 times (10 balls, incl. 1 on a foul)
- dry, but no foul -- 18 times
- dry and fouled -- 2 times

Total -- 115 breaks, 151 balls pocketed

The 1-ball was pocketed in the side pocket on the opposite side from the breaker on 40% (46 of 115) of the breaks.

The wing ball on the same side of the table as the breaker was pocketed in the nearest corner pocket on 63% of the breaks (72 of 115).

Break Stats -- 2017 Mosconi Cup, Dec. 2017

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