Shotmaker

SHORTY WRIGHT

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Who was the better shotmaker in their prime Earl Strickland or Efren Reyes.... I say Earl was better shotmaker... But Efren was the best player of the two ...
 

jrctherake

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Who was the better shotmaker in their prime Earl Strickland or Efren Reyes.... I say Earl was better shotmaker... But Efren was the best player of the two ...

Both Earl and Efren were and are giants in their profession.

IMO, it's all but impossible to choose between the two. To me, modern pool would suffer without either of them, just like their generation would have suffered without players like Mosconi and the like.

Again, it's a hard question to answer. Reminds me of going to an all-u-can-eat buffet while your starving and trying to decide what to eat first...I always want it all...and then over eat and regret it but, lol...do it again and again.

I'm sure there will be lots to come along and have "their opinion"....but, in the end I think someone like AtLarge on here would be the best person to come up with a true factual answer instead of the people that go by what they saw, thought, think or heard.

I would like to see hard data stats on this if it's possible.

Good question sir.

Jeff
 

evergruven

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
of course it depends on how you define "shotmaker"
but I think that term could apply well to both efren and earl

to me, earl pockets balls so well and so much of the time
he slices through racks like a hot knife through butter
making the game look so smooth, and effortless
but with power

efren also pockets balls very cleanly
but his imagination and creativity on table are without parallel
he's executed many, many shots that most don't even see
his feel for the game is evident, even to the uninitiated

earl and efren
efren and earl
they seem to pull from opposite sides of some spectrum
but also seem to meet in the middle
with their unique talents and personalities
to show we mortals
how good the game can be
 

Kickin' Chicken

Kick Shot Aficionado
Gold Member
Silver Member
Who was the better shotmaker in their prime Earl Strickland or Efren Reyes.... I say Earl was better shotmaker... But Efren was the best player of the two ...

I feel that Earl was the best pure shotmaker of all time and Jayson Shaw might take that title over if he can sustain a few more decades. ;)

Efren, however, and as logical alluded to, is the better improviser and I'd add that Efren was the better kick shot and kick safe player by a lot.

best,
brian kc
 

spartan

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Straight shotmaker or creative shotmaker

Earl is the pure/ straight shotmaker while Efren is the creative shotmaker.
Of the current generation , in rotation , Shaw and Filler are the straight shotmakers while Wu is the creative shotmaker. In other disciplines like snooker, E8B,C8B there are many straight shotmakers :D
 

jrctherake

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Earl is the pure/ straight shotmaker while Efren is the creative shotmaker.
Of the current generation , in rotation , Shaw and Filler are the straight shotmakers while Wu is the creative shotmaker. In other disciplines like snooker, E8B,C8B there are many straight shotmakers :D

In professional snooker.....lol.......first requirement is shoot str8 as an arrow or go home.
 

jrctherake

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I feel that Earl was the best pure shotmaker of all time and Jayson Shaw might take that title over if he can sustain a few more decades. ;)

Efren, however, and as logical alluded to, is the better improviser and I'd add that Efren was the better kick shot and kick safe player by a lot.

best,
brian kc

Did I hear someone say "kick safe "???


Can anyone say Philippino 61?
 

ShootingArts

Smorg is giving St Peter the 7!
Gold Member
Silver Member
Efren for me

In the early seventies I saw video of a young and healthy Willie Mosconi playing. He was playing spot shape, something I had never even considered possible. Caused me to majorly revise my game over the next two or three years.

A few decades later I watched video of Efren playing. Again, I had to revise my ideas of what was possible on a pool table. Not Earl, Johnny Archer, Buddy Hall, any of the top players or even the trickshot players had made me have to revise what was possible.

Willie and Efren were so next level that people not only weren't playing that speed, they weren't even in the same grouping. That was the best I ever saw Willie play so he might have been having a great day. Hard to say with so little film from that era. Efren repeated the same level of play over and over for years even when his eyes were quite bad.

Earl is one of the greatest players of his time. He doesn't seem unique in his skills like Efren was however.

Hu
 

jrctherake

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
In the early seventies I saw video of a young and healthy Willie Mosconi playing. He was playing spot shape, something I had never even considered possible. Caused me to majorly revise my game over the next two or three years.

A few decades later I watched video of Efren playing. Again, I had to revise my ideas of what was possible on a pool table. Not Earl, Johnny Archer, Buddy Hall, any of the top players or even the trickshot players had made me have to revise what was possible.

Willie and Efren were so next level that people not only weren't playing that speed, they weren't even in the same grouping. That was the best I ever saw Willie play so he might have been having a great day. Hard to say with so little film from that era. Efren repeated the same level of play over and over for years even when his eyes were quite bad.

Earl is one of the greatest players of his time. He doesn't seem unique in his skills like Efren was however.

Hu

IMO, Earl was a MUCH stronger 9 ball player.

On the other hand, Efren was MUCH stronger than Earl at all other games.

Some agree with me, some don't.


Jeff
 

sjm

Older and Wiser
Silver Member
Who was the better shotmaker in their prime Earl Strickland or Efren Reyes.... I say Earl was better shotmaker... But Efren was the best player of the two ...

Earl, by a whole lot.

Shotmaking means execution and Earl was able to bridge the gap between himself and Efren, who had better shot design/conceptualization skills and finesse, by a) outbreaking him and b) being the better shotmaker. Based on the 120-117 score in their legendary match, Earl's break and shotmaking proved almost exactly enough to offset Efren's "magical" advantages.

Earl Strckland in his prime was as good a shotmaker as we've seen in the nine-ball era (Luther Lassiter had that reputation in the straight pool era).
 

BillPorter

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Couple of pics of the two of them from 1986

Strickland_Reyes4-s-CC86-S4-X3.jpg


Strickland_Reyes1-s-CC86-S4-X3.jpg
 

hang-the-9

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Who was the better shotmaker in their prime Earl Strickland or Efren Reyes.... I say Earl was better shotmaker... But Efren was the best player of the two ...

Many times I have heard other pro players say "If someone had to shoot a shot for my life, I would pick Earl to shoot it". I think only a few players have had a high gear like Earl, players like Shaw and SVB come into mind in the modern era, he is one of the guys that would just stun people from racks he could run out and keep in you the chair. Efren's game was more like one of those table tennis players that don't have a huge return but can slowly return any hard hit you send them, you thought you hit a winner, and there goes the ball slowly coming back to you over the net. Earl just pounded you in the face till it broke, Efren slowly smacked you around till you made a mistake.
 
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jrctherake

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I'm pleased to see that lots of other members see Earl as the freak of nature that he was/is.......especially was.

Jeff
 

hayes1699

Registered
If Efren and Earl lived another life on the battlefield, Earl would be a front line gladiator and Efren would be a general calling the shots. Yes they're completely different players with different styles and tough to compare their physical games at the table. But it's easy to compare their mental states! Efren's emotional intelligence gives him the edge especially if you measure success over a period of time. These two quotes tell it all...

Humbled Efren: "I got lucky"
Ego'd Earl: "He got lucky"
 

ShootingArts

Smorg is giving St Peter the 7!
Gold Member
Silver Member
jumping

IMO, Earl was a MUCH stronger 9 ball player.

On the other hand, Efren was MUCH stronger than Earl at all other games.

Some agree with me, some don't.


Jeff


Earl was jumping playing twoshot pushout before most could. He hates jump cues but they are his bastard children. Other pro's had to tote jump cues just to try to keep up with Earl without one.

Reading other responses it is obvious that we don't all have the same idea of what shotmaker encompasses. I could make a strong case for either one being the best shotmaker. It doesn't matter, between the two of them they have shown us some of the best pool ever seen, sometimes playing each other. Who was best, and the best shotmaker, often comes down to the night or event we are considering. Trying to decide between them is like trying to judge between the runners in a graded stakes race. I was looking at twelve horses, ten of which had ran over a 100 speed rating. Best on that day was going to probably cost me some money. That is how I feel about Earl and Efren. Betting on the rail, I would probably pick Earl at the moment. Lifetime, I like Efren a little better.

Hu
 

jrctherake

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Earl was jumping playing twoshot pushout before most could. He hates jump cues but they are his bastard children. Other pro's had to tote jump cues just to try to keep up with Earl without one.

Reading other responses it is obvious that we don't all have the same idea of what shotmaker encompasses. I could make a strong case for either one being the best shotmaker. It doesn't matter, between the two of them they have shown us some of the best pool ever seen, sometimes playing each other. Who was best, and the best shotmaker, often comes down to the night or event we are considering. Trying to decide between them is like trying to judge between the runners in a graded stakes race. I was looking at twelve horses, ten of which had ran over a 100 speed rating. Best on that day was going to probably cost me some money. That is how I feel about Earl and Efren. Betting on the rail, I would probably pick Earl at the moment. Lifetime, I like Efren a little better.

Hu

Good.post sir
 
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