A lot of the cup now boils down to four pieces:
1. Who has the best mental game (aka who withstands the pressure of a short race and safety battle best)
2. Who has the best long shot making skills to start a run
3. Who has the soundest fundamentals that hold up under pressure
4. Who gets the best rolls when playing touch shots and off the break
To date, Europe has killed America in points 2 and 3, has a slight edge (but barely an edge) in point 1, and point 4 is a combination of luck and practicing the break. Many of the Team USA players, while top notch state side against American competition, are some of the best players we have. Yet they have not been able in recent years to make huge dents in international events, or even some of our larger events. Think about this with Shane. If Shane doesn't win his last three U.S. Opens, then the last four champions are from the Philippines or Taiwan. Going back further, while Mika and Darren do live stateside, they also compete oversees a lot, which would mean that for almost the last decade since Shane's win in 07, a European, Filipino, or Taiwanese player would have won the U.S. Open 9 ball championship. With the rise of players like Jason Shaw and Dennis Orcollo and Lee Van Corteza bumping up their games, it's getting harder and harder for Americans to win major titles except in places like Derby city and one pocket. And when was the last time an American was World Champion in any discipline? Niels has had a stranglehold on 14.1, Ouchan has been kicking tail the last few years in 9 ball, the English, Dutch, and Filipinos have been kicking everyone around in the World Cup of Pool, and so forth. Rodney is still dangerous in 10 ball, but so is the rest of the world, and Darren has been performing very well in the Chinese 8 ball events.
It's not impossible, but America has a lot to prove that we still can hang with the new top classes around the world in pool.
