Less than 6 months now until the 2019 Mosconi Cup in Las Vegas. You can bet team Europe will be going all out to win back the Cup, after we broke their 8 consecutive year reign last year in London. I haven't looked at the current Euro tour standings and whether that has any impact on who gets selected, but you can be sure they won't make the same huge blunder they did last year by leaving the current 9-Ball World and US Open Champion Joshua Filler off of their team. I would fully expect Shaw, Ouschan and Kaci to be joining him, with their final pick likely going to one of the following - Gorst, Feijen, Sanchez Ruiz, Kazakis or Alcaide. Regardless of who that final pick is, they will be a tough adversary.
Our best chance to retain the cup will be to put up our best five 9-ball players, which in my opinion, we've failed to do in recent years. No one can dispute SVB and Woodward (last year's MVP) as our top picks. After that, I think most would agree that Dechaine and Bergman are undoubtedly among the top 4 players we have, but for whatever reasons (I'm assuming for lack of tournament play) neither one has played in the Mosconi Cup since 2016. Even if those two play, which is a big "if", the final pick is still wide open. I'm guessing many will choose Billy Thorpe, since he's been on our Mosconi team the past 2 years. Those would be the 5 players I would choose if it was up to me, although others may consider Deuel, Morris, Earl, Hatch, Dominguez, Archer, Bowman, Roberts, Styer (on last year's victorious team) or another worthy player whom I've failed to mention.
If there is any reason why any certain US players would not be permitted to represent our team in the Mosconi Cup, by Matchroom or whomever, I think this should be fully disclosed as to who and why, so we aren't left to blindly speculate why certain players may not be on this team - just my opinion. Just curious how my top 5 picks may differ from others here who care to share your choices?
Our best chance to retain the cup will be to put up our best five 9-ball players, which in my opinion, we've failed to do in recent years. No one can dispute SVB and Woodward (last year's MVP) as our top picks. After that, I think most would agree that Dechaine and Bergman are undoubtedly among the top 4 players we have, but for whatever reasons (I'm assuming for lack of tournament play) neither one has played in the Mosconi Cup since 2016. Even if those two play, which is a big "if", the final pick is still wide open. I'm guessing many will choose Billy Thorpe, since he's been on our Mosconi team the past 2 years. Those would be the 5 players I would choose if it was up to me, although others may consider Deuel, Morris, Earl, Hatch, Dominguez, Archer, Bowman, Roberts, Styer (on last year's victorious team) or another worthy player whom I've failed to mention.
If there is any reason why any certain US players would not be permitted to represent our team in the Mosconi Cup, by Matchroom or whomever, I think this should be fully disclosed as to who and why, so we aren't left to blindly speculate why certain players may not be on this team - just my opinion. Just curious how my top 5 picks may differ from others here who care to share your choices?