Observations on Van Boening vs Shaw Match 14 Mosconi Cup

ChrisinNC

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
This match was just posted today on youtube, and is worth watching. Neither player played very good, with numerous unforced errors and scratches by both players. Two things stuck out for me. I admit I was pulling for Shane, but Shaw's actions in the last game will never ever have me pull for him again in any match he ever plays the rest of his career - what an immature and classless display on the world stage, and he did it when playing one of the game's most well respected players.

Shaw knows he should have never won this match. After Shane unexplaineably missed a straight in 8-ball - the second straight game Shane, when given ball-in-hand, missed a straight in easy shot when running out, Shaw then has a fairly easy 8-ball shot which he makes and rolls down for excellent shape on the 9, and then celebrates like's he's already won the match. He then has to compose himself and come back to the table and focus on the 9-ball shot. After pocketing the 9-ball, he totally loses it, going over into Shane's corner and yelling at someone in the crowd who I'm guessing was heckling him, before eventually making an all too quick and meaningless attempt to shake Shane's hand, and then celebrating with his teammates.

Don't know about you guys, but anytime I've won a match I know I didn't deserve to win, against a player who has pitifully choked more than once when running out to win the match, I really feel it's disrespectful and out of place to celebrate. Just shake your opponent's hand, feel bad for them, and know that you got lucky.

In regards to Shane's misses - very hard to explain. In the 4-3 game, when running out, it looked like on the 5-ball, when attempting to draw it back off the side rail for the 6-ball, he may have been cheating the pocket just a hair to keep the CB from coming close to scratching in the side pocket. He's smart enough to know with such tight pockets you can't risk cheating the pocket in that situation.

The miss on the 8-ball in the hill-hill game was even more unexplainable. He had a very easy shot on the 7-ball and appeared to draw it back either too far or not quite far enough, leaving him nearly straight in on the 8-ball, knowing he had to get back up table for the 9-ball. It looked like he played it with high inside, and undercut just enough to miss it, but the mistake was made in the positioning error.

I can live with the 20 year old Filler's displaced excitement and enthusiasm during his early matches in his very first Mosconi Cup experience, but I would have expected a whole lot more class to be displayed from a veteran like Shaw, particularly under the circumstances of how he had that match handed to him by Van Boening.
 

BmoreMoney

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
This match was just posted today on youtube, and is worth watching. Neither player played very good, with numerous unforced errors and scratches by both players. Two things stuck out for me. I admit I was pulling for Shane, but Shaw's actions in the last game will never ever have me pull for him again in any match he ever plays the rest of his career - what an immature and classless display on the world stage, and he did it when playing one of the game's most well respected players.

Shaw knows he should have never won this match. After Shane unexplaineably missed a straight in 8-ball - the second straight game Shane, when given ball-in-hand, missed a straight in easy shot when running out, Shaw then has a fairly easy 8-ball shot which he makes and rolls down for excellent shape on the 9, and then celebrates like's he's already won the match. He then has to compose himself and come back to the table and focus on the 9-ball shot. After pocketing the 9-ball, he totally loses it, going over into Shane's corner and yelling at someone in the crowd who I'm guessing was heckling him, before eventually making an all too quick and meaningless attempt to shake Shane's hand, and then celebrating with his teammates.

Don't know about you guys, but anytime I've won a match I know I didn't deserve to win, against a player who has pitifully choked more than once when running out to win the match, I really feel it's disrespectful and out of place to celebrate. Just shake your opponent's hand, feel bad for them, and know that you got lucky.

In regards to Shane's misses - very hard to explain. In the 4-3 game, when running out, it looked like on the 5-ball, when attempting to draw it back off the side rail for the 6-ball, he may have been cheating the pocket just a hair to keep the CB from coming close to scratching in the side pocket. He's smart enough to know with such tight pockets you can't risk cheating the pocket in that situation.

The miss on the 8-ball in the hill-hill game was even more unexplainable. He had a very easy shot on the 7-ball and appeared to draw it back either too far or not quite far enough, leaving him nearly straight in on the 8-ball, knowing he had to get back up table for the 9-ball. It looked like he played it with high inside, and undercut just enough to miss it, but the mistake was made in the positioning error.

I can live with the 20 year old Filler's displaced excitement and enthusiasm during his early matches in his very first Mosconi Cup experience, but I would have expected a whole lot more class to be displayed from a veteran like Shaw, particularly under the circumstances of how he had that match handed to him by Van Boening.

Feel bad for them ? ?? They all are playing for something I don't really comprehend. National pride or whatever . I play for the cash ! Period. And will I ever feel bad for someone who dogs it and shots the bed and GIVES ME the cash ? NOPE, NEVER! Guessing might be the same thing here . Think EVERYONE is making WAY TOO MUCH of this and the handshaking and whatever anyone else is crying about. To the Victor goes the spoiles. Win and wanna act like an ass, well maybe I wouldn't but they did kind da earn the right. Now, if Hatch takes them out back, that's OK with me too lol!. I know there's not much else to talk about on here but really give it a rest. I truly don't think many care at all either way, nor should they cause it REALLY doesn't matter AT ALL!!!
 

PoolBum

Ace in the side.
Silver Member
The miss on the 8-ball in the hill-hill game was even more unexplainable. He had a very easy shot on the 7-ball and appeared to draw it back either too far or not quite far enough, leaving him nearly straight in on the 8-ball, knowing he had to get back up table for the 9-ball. It looked like he played it with high inside, and undercut just enough to miss it, but the mistake was made in the positioning error.

If you watch Shane's miss on the 8-ball you will see him stop his stroke--he decelerates through the cueball and doesn't follow through. He was not confident and it showed throughout the match, and especially in that last game.
 

spartan

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Classless move by Shaw. He was trying to retaliate at Hatch. Running over to Shane's side with Shane expecting him to shake hands but he left Shane hanging and after that gave Shane a handshake that is worst than the infamous dead fish handshake .

BTW, Shaw open mouth is bigger than MGM Lion. :D

mgm-lion-01.jpg
 

pmac666

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
shaws target was hatch, who said something like "good shot" when jayson made a mistake........yeah, hatch again
 

jeffj2h

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Shane seemed confident throughout the match until he missed that straight in 5 ball, trying to cheat the pocket.

In the last game it seemed a stop shot on the 7 would have left an angle, but a slightly awkward cut with the CB near the rail. He drew and got straight in again.



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jeffj2h

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Was Shane even in Vegas the last day? He was not in the arena during the last match, day 4. And he was not at the post match party.

I imagine he feels completely demoralized after that match, the week, and the last 6 Year’s of the MC. It’s not clear to me he will want to play in It next year.



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ChrisinNC

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
shaws target was hatch, who said something like "good shot" when jayson made a mistake........yeah, hatch again
He wasn't playing Hatch, he was playing Shane, and Shane showed nothing but complete respect to Shaw throughout the match. There was absolutely no excuse for Shaw to disrespect his match opponent by carrying on like that.
 

AtLarge

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
Was Shane even in Vegas the last day? He was not in the arena during the last match, day 4. And he was not at the post match party. ...

Shane was there, and he participated in the awards ceremony. Prior to that he might have been on the warm-up table, as he was scheduled to play the 3rd match of the day.
 

Nick B

This is gonna hurt
Silver Member
Does nobody understand this game? The man fell flat on both balls and thus the miss. The Five Ball miss he needed to draw back and avoid the side pocket. He overcuts it a hair (to screw back and avoid scratch) and catches the jaw.

The Eight Ball miss again he fell flat and was trying to hit a bunch of inside and come two rails for shape. Either shot with a different angle (matter of 1/2" either way) and he's home and dry. The balls know when you are struggling.
 

JohnnyP

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Jeanette Lee was angry when Shaw missed?

Is she playing for the other team now?
 

ChrisinNC

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Does nobody understand this game? The man fell flat on both balls and thus the miss. The Five Ball miss he needed to draw back and avoid the side pocket. He overcuts it a hair (to screw back and avoid scratch) and catches the jaw.

The Eight Ball miss again he fell flat and was trying to hit a bunch of inside and come two rails for shape. Either shot with a different angle (matter of 1/2" either way) and he's home and dry. The balls know when you are struggling.
Yes, I understand the game just fine - I started this post. If you look at the video, in the first miss, he had enough angle on the 5 to make it and draw back and avoid the scratch in the side without cheating the pocket, as when he drew back the cue ball he drew it in to the side rail almost 2 diamonds away from the side pocket. And on the 8-ball shot, he obviously wanted to leave a little more angle than he did, but he still had enough angle on the shot (it wasn't straight in) to be able to come around 2 rails with high inside english for shape on the 9-ball. For a player of Shane's caliber to miss both those shots at that point in the match is really hard to comprehend.
 

Swighey

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
For a player of Shane's caliber to miss both those shots at that point in the match is really hard to comprehend.

Not really. Elite players miss much easier shots than that. They make them far more often than you or me or most of everyone else but they do miss. It can be pressure, lack of concentration, complacency or just a moment of reverting to the mode of play that everyone starts with. Looked like pressure and lack of composure in this case.
 
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