Keith Would have Crushed Them

That is a question that can never be answered....

I watched the live stream of SVB on an 8' table last night...I'm not saying one way or another...but yeah, I think SVB could hang with anybody in a fictional matchup...on any table. This 8' was a slow table, much like a bar table, looked like it had a funny roll or two. Shane quickly learned it's traits.

Not trying to take anything away from Keith here...

DrawtheRock said:

I know there were some very strong bar table 9 ball players in the past such as Keith Mcready, Dave Matlock, and Buddy Hall...but are there any top players today that are even close to what Keith was? I hear Corey, Shane, and some others are good but can they really even compare to to the others...especially Keith?...or would he have crushed them?

Just curious

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Keith at his high gear, is the best player I've ever seen. Bar or regulation table.

Being from the Midwest, DAVE MATLOCK was the best I have ever seen.

Im not saying he IS/WAS the best but just he was the best I had ever seen.

If you were from the West Coast, KEITH was probably the best you had ever SEEN.

Sometimes I think these new guys get around more and are seen by more folks.

JMO

Ken

on a given day . . .

DrawtheRock said:

I know there were some very strong bar table 9 ball players in the past such as Keith Mcready, Dave Matlock, and Buddy Hall...but are there any top players today that are even close to what Keith was? I hear Corey, Shane, and some others are good but can they really even compare to to the others...especially Keith?...or would he have crushed them?

Just curious

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The barbox tends to flatten the field a bit more than a tight playing nine footer. On a given day I don't think that there is any question that Keith could beat any of today's barbox players. However the other side of the coin is true too, on a given day Keith could get beat. The field of top players is considerably wider than it was in Keith's heyday making it harder for any one player to stand out but that doesn't take away from the fact we have many great players today.

Hu

i'd say Jason Kirkwood would be one of my top picks to play Keith in his prime.



Or Matlock, Corey, SVB would be another possibility.

matlock is the best bar table player i have ever seen. not saying he is best but the best i have seen lol

ShootingArts said:

The barbox tends to flatten the field a bit more than a tight playing nine footer. On a given day I don't think that there is any question that Keith could beat any of today's barbox players. However the other side of the coin is true too, on a given day Keith could get beat. The field of top players is considerably wider than it was in Keith's heyday making it harder for any one player to stand out but that doesn't take away from the fact we have many great players today.

Hu

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which ever way you slice it, keith had more gamble in him than the rest, before and since. true, he could be beat, but how many could honestly play as well for 50,000+ a set as they would in practice? keith was a rarity in that sense IMO. THAT is what I believe seperated him from the rest.

Gifts From The Gods For The Babyboomers

There are talented players everywhere,but gifted players are rare.
Talented players you like to watch
Gifted players- you love to watch and talk off the event for the rest of your days,yes -the now aging Babyboomers tell their grandchildren of the time they witnessed the gifted player perform..something miraculous NORMALLY occurred during the match.

This is your criterion- will you of this age tell YOUR grandchildren of Scott
Frost -SVB or numerous others of todays Champions.

Its all about the entertainment value..Keith McCready and his band of brothers,that only he could name are most likely to be the stories you entertain your children's children with.

May the Pool Gods smile on your generation and give a Gift...My moneys on Shannon The Cannon Daulton. But this is your time to chose, l've had mine.


Enjoy the Ride.

Cashrider

Most older players that I've talked to, that saw Keith in his prime, tell me that Keith had the highest gear they have ever seen. That includes the players of today.

The real test would be to see how players of today like SVB, Kirkwood, Bowman, etc. would respond to such a ridiculously high gear that Keith had. I don't think they have played anyone just like that yet.

Players

Never have seen Keith play, except on Youtube, but saw Buddy Hall in his prime, and Matlock in his prime, and Matlock was the best that I have ever seen.

macneilb said:

which ever way you slice it, keith had more gamble in him than the rest, before and since. true, he could be beat, but how many could honestly play as well for 50,000+ a set as they would in practice? keith was a rarity in that sense IMO. THAT is what I believe seperated him from the rest.

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Many a gambler is a better pool player than Keith by your standards because they will bet way more than $50,000 and play exactly the same. Somehow I don't think that is the standard to measure a pool player by.

Hu

ShootingArts said:

Many a gambler is a better pool player than Keith by your standards because they will bet way more than $50,000 and play exactly the same. Somehow I don't think that is the standard to measure a pool player by.

Hu

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who will bet 'way more' than 50 dimes and still play the same in regards to todays players? none. cornbread red..eddietaylor,
bugs, freddy? anybody who frequented the rack? yeah, there are wayyy too many to name from the past, but who does that today?

i give tons of props to guys like john schmidt and shane b/c they will step up when TAR puts something on when the oppurtunity comes
up, but how many now can say they hunted for action like keith? maybe shane to a degree. also, guys like keith who can hit that
high gear when they're playing for ridiculous amounts are indeed a rarity, espeically today, so to say that "many a gambler is a better
pool player than Keith by your standards because they will bet way more than $50,000 and play exactly the same"...just aint right.

keith could have a million above the lights and he'd still make it look effortless in his day. not too many can say that now, although there are a couple exceptions. and that is IMO a valid way to measure a pool player.

keeping your cool under pressure is how you measure just about anyone at a high level of any sport.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Those who deem players are the "Best" in these who's-the-best threads based their opinions on what they have actually seen with their own eyes.

It is absolutely impossible for anyone on this forum to know how strong Keith McCready played in his heyday, including myself, unless they were there and had the opportunity to see ALL players in their prime. I never knew Keith when he was in his prime.

What separates Keith's game from Buddy Hall, Earl Strickland, Nick Varner, Jim Rempe, and Mike Sigel -- the top players of Keith's era -- is that Keith was an offensive shooter, more so than defensive, and he went for everything because he believed he could make it. And sometimes, much to the surprise of his opponents, he did. Check out the 2003 match against Keith and Jose Parica at the U.S. Open on Accu-Stats.

Who can ever forget when he was getting ready to shoot the game ball in against Alex Pagulayan for the almighty win at the '03 Open. It was a nice, easy straight-in shot on the 9-rock. Why couldn't he just shoot the sucker in? Nope, not Keith. He already had the full attention of every single attendee in the Chesapeake Conference Center watching his game. They had to stop the TV table because even Efren and Bustie were sweating Keith and Alex. Johnny Archer was playing alongside Keith's table against Howard Vickery, and Johnny was extremely pissed off and just sat in his chair until Keith and Alex were through. I was extremely pissed off sitting in the audience, watching Keith prance around the table like a ballerina.

So, instead of knocking the 9 in for the win, Keith looks up at his fans in the stands while he's actually stroking the ball, NEVER lookihg at the pocket, and yells out, "And you can put this on the Internet." He missed the pocket by a mile. I remember hearing Sally Timko from InsidePOOL magazine in the audience yelling out, "And we will." Watching Keith compete at the Open that year was like sitting on the Rebel Yell roller-coaster at King's Dominion. :angry:

To this day, I don't know of anyone who won $360,000-plus gambling. There's an interesting story about this match, which I'm saving for another day, but it happened.

I do know that players came from all over the country to California, i.e., Larry Hubbert, Mike Sigel, Wade Crane, et cetera, and left with empty pockets. When Efren Reyes hit the States, his "advisors" and steermen would not let him play Keith McCready initially. They knew it wasn't a dead giveaway, and that there was an element of surprise with Keith's game. Nobody ever knew which Keith was going to show up.

Now, that said, I ain't taking nothing away from the bar table champions that are heralded on this forum. I know Keith has a great deal of respect of Dave Matlock, as an example, nd the two of them remain friends today.

I cannot forget the time when Keith and I were in New England, somewhere in Connecticut, I think. Filipino Jalapena was there, as were quite a few gambling sorts.

Jalapena and Keith began to bark at each other, and Jalapena wanted to play for 1,500. I'm thinking about how much we were stuck for the weekend and was not liking the 1,500 number too much, especially after I saw how many backers Jalapena had in his corner, confident that he was going to kick Keith's butt on a field of green.

Keith got sick of waiting for me to concede on the 1,500. I was hoping to shoot for a little lower number against this unknown entity to me. Ryan "Genie Man" McCreesh was there, as were others, and before I knew it, Keith rounded up his own posse of stakehorses. :grin-square:

The match went quick, with Keith winning easy. Then the Filipino camp pushed Santos up to the plate, wanting Keith to give them a chance to get their dough back. Santos, I knew, and I didn't feel comfortable with that game either. Keith's posse men told Keith to parlay their cheese and go for it. Santos and Keith played two rounds, and Keith won them both. He was on fire.

I always know when Keith is going to win by the way he is light on his feet around the table, and then there's that look in his eyes. Here's a cute shot of Keith and Genie Man right before he went to play Santos, holding his winnings from the Jalapena match. That weekend, we came home a little fatter!

Everybody will always have their favorites when it comes to pool players, and years from now, there will always be those who folks think are better than ones from yesteryear.

One thing for sure, they broke the mold when they made Keith McCready, and there will NEVER be another pool player like him.

JAM said:

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Those who deem players are the "Best" in these who's-the-best threads based their opinions on what they have actually seen with their own eyes.

It is absolutely impossible for anyone on this forum to know how strong Keith McCready played in his heyday, including myself. I never knew Keith when he was in his prime.

What separates Keith's game from Buddy Hall, Earl Strickland, Nick Varner, Jim Rempe, and Mike Sigel -- the top players of Keith's era -- is that Keith was an offensive shooter, more so than defensive, and he went for everything because he believed he could make it. And sometimes, much to the surprise of his opponents, he did. Check out the 2003 match against Keith and Jose Parica at the U.S. Open on Accu-Stats.

Who can ever forget when he was getting ready to shoot the game ball in against Alex Pagulayan for the almighty win at the '03 Open. It was a nice, easy straight-in shot on the 9-rock. Why couldn't he just shoot the sucker in? Nope, not Keith. He already had the full attention of every single attendee in the Chesapeake Conference Center watching his game. They had to stop the TV table because even Efren and Bustie were sweating Keith and Alex. Johnny Archer was playing alongside Keith's table against Howard Vickery, and Johnny was extremely pissed off and just sat in his chair until Keith and Alex were through. I was extremely pissed off sitting in the audience, watching Keith prance around the table like a ballerina.

So, instead of knocking the 9 in for the win, Keith looks up at his fans in the stands while he's actually stroking the ball, NEVER lookihg at the pocket, and yells out, "And you can put this on the Internet." He missed the pocket by a mile. I remember hearing Sally Timko from InsidePOOL magazine in the audience yelling out, "And we will." Watching Keith compete at the Open that year was like sitting on the Rebel Yell roller-coaster at King's Dominion. :angry:

To this day, I don't know of anyone who won $360,000-plus gambling. There's an interesting story about this match, which I'm saving for another day, but it happened.

I do know that players came from all over the country to California, i.e., Larry Hubbert, Mike Sigel, Wade Crane, et cetera, and left with empty pockets. When Efren Reyes hit the States, his "advisors" and steermen would not let him play Keith McCready initially. They knew it wasn't a dead giveaway, and that there was an element of surprise with Keith's game. Nobody ever knew which Keith was going to show up.

Now, that said, I ain't taking nothing away from the bar table champions that are heralded on this forum. I know Keith has a great deal of respect of Dave Matlock, as an example, nd the two of them remain friends today.

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that's a fearsome duo. players of any generation would have more than they wanted with these two imo. i would be willing to donate my left arm to get this pic signed by both as they are two of my favorite players all time!

I'd like to see Keith and Ronnie O'Sullivan... in a cage match all around playing everything... that DVD would sell.....and be worth the money...:thumbup: