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I don't know if I'm biased on this assumption but I don't see this European team as all that strong besides Shaw. I'll preface this by saying all of the team are strong talents individually,Ralph is a legend, and Alcaide is one of my favorite players but I just don't think together they will be anywhere near as strong as past teams. Not to mention they'll have absolutely no chemistry or experience playing with one another considering Jayson was the only one on the team last year and nvd and Ralph havnt made the team in awhile Alcaide hasn't made the team in a decade and filler is a rookie. Again I could be partial in my assumption because of the fact I'm American and will try to find any reason to like USA's chances but I believe match room did us a favor building this team and leaving off perrennial killers like Niels and Darren who never seem to falter and kill us in the cup every year.

I think this match on paper is super close and both teams have extremely similar players.
Shane-Ralph (Legends and team backbones)
Skyler-Shaw (potentially each teams best cup performers)
Thorpe-Filler (young hotshots)(rookies)
Oscar-Alcaide (seasoned cup vets making there return)
Hatch-NVB (more cup vets returning and adding some spark)
 
marek said:
Well look what we have here:

Europe
Jayson Shaw
David Alcaide
Joshua Filler
Ralf Souquet
Nick Van Den Berg

USA
Shane Van Boening
Billy Thorpe
Skyler Woodward
Dennis Hatch
Oscar Dominguez

As strong as team USA is (+Johann as a coach on their side) I cant see them beating team Europe this year. My prediction is that it will be tense battle all the way with Europe winning all 3 days 3:2 coming with 9:6 lead into the 4th day. Then team USA will surge a strong come back to 9:8 while team Europe will win last two matches 5:4 (Dennis Hatch will hook himself when playing position for 8 at 4:4) to get another overall victory :thumbup: :D
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Why are you picking on Dennis Hatch? He has all the criteria that seems so valuable to you. Experience, team player, leadership what more could you ask for?
 
No Feijen, no Kaci, no Albin Ouschan????, Gray, Appleton, Boyes... this Europe team could be much stronger.
 
I wish Justin Bergman would have played in more points events to get qualified. He is definitely better than at least 3 of this current team.
I will still root for the USA all the way!!!
 
marek said:
Well look what we have here:

Europe
Jayson Shaw
David Alcaide
Joshua Filler
Ralf Souquet
Nick Van Den Berg

USA
Shane Van Boening
Billy Thorpe
Skyler Woodward
Dennis Hatch
Oscar Dominguez

As strong as team USA is (+Johann as a coach on their side) I cant see them beating team Europe this year. My prediction is that it will be tense battle all the way with Europe winning all 3 days 3:2 coming with 9:6 lead into the 4th day. Then team USA will surge a strong come back to 9:8 while team Europe will win last two matches 5:4 (Dennis Hatch will hook himself when playing position for 8 at 4:4) to get another overall victory :thumbup: :D
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I agree with another post in that team Europe could have made their team stronger (as a whole).
I'm sure guys like Ouschan and Feijen had other business to tend.

My opinion: this is Team U.S.A's best opportunity in quite some time.
They can win this. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the temperament of our players this year.

Folks, if SVB can stay motivated throughout and HATCH can keep his emotions in check, we could see Team U.S.A take this one home!
On paper, I have the TEAM PLAY as a toss-up. GO U.S.A.!!
 
It will be interesting to see Johan's coaching against Chamat's coaching in this one.

As I said in another post, I see mirror players across the teams. I'm just glad the US has Hatch back on the team. He may not always be the most consistent player, but he's the heart of the team and will be a great floor general.

I wondered if Alcaide or Ouschan would make the team this year, and obviously now we know. I'm not sure it was a trade I would have made, but it could work out. Oscar or Corey was the other toss up pair, and obviously Johan saw something that made him go with Oscar.


I see Thorpe and Vandenberg as the main keys to each team. If Thorpe turns in a solid performance, watch out. If Vandenberg finds his gear, could be a short event again. Though, and this is in jest, Alcaide's and Oscar's pace of play might make it a four day event regardless.
 
It would be a good thing for team USA if they had Bergman. But this is the first team in many years that team USA looks stronger than team Europe on paper. But they have to play pool not paper.
 
Here's an interesting fact.

In the last 5 out of 6 years. The winner of the US Open was on the losing team.
 
Imo SVB is playing better this year from what I've been watching. Which isn't huge. But I think this time he's gonna be the difference.

I have a lot of confidence in Thorp and Woodward. Hatch can be the man and then not so much. Dominguez idk.

Better choices than players I've seen in the past.

I feel we got a real shot.
 
strmanglr scott said:
Imo SVB is playing better this year from what I've been watching. Which isn't huge. But I think this time he's gonna be the difference.

I have a lot of confidence in Thorp and Woodward. Hatch can be the man and then not so much. Dominguez idk.

Better choices than players I've seen in the past.

I feel we got a real shot.
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I hate to even mumble this , but the coach just might make the difference,, from what I've seen is there is a clear separation of team cohesion between us and them ,I hope that's something that's brought together better ,also it's short races the variances of short races say it's anyone's ball game ,, however simple things like lagging we falter another thing we need to improve is safety play we need lock down safes no need to be a hero when a good safe is available short race going for the gusto is not how you win these things , we also need fight hopefully the coach and maybe Hatch can bring this to the table we've lacked that big time ,, we do these things we can Trump a slight lack in skill level

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For whatever reason Thorsten Hohmann seems to always get screwed out of playing in the Mosconi cup. He is better than at least 2 players on the European team
 
Team Europe is still the favorite, though this year looks more interesting than past years. The addition of Johan as Captain is the real X Factor here. I suspect it will make a big difference in how Team USA handles the pressure of the short matches, where every game is vital. If Shane wakes up and plays like he is capable of playing that could change everything. On the other hand, having Shaw is a huge asset for Team Europe. He's playing better than anyone else right now. It could really come down to which one of these two guys has the best event.
 
I think this year we will see a very close tournament.

I`m still trying to wrap my head around Ralf`s comeback at the Mosconi Cup...I know he made the top spot on the rankings and therefore deserves his nomination, but every time I was watching him this year, he didn`t play that well. He was the weakest player in the World Pool Masters and definitely the weak spot in the German team at the World Cup. I also fear, that the short race and the shot clock doesn`t really suit him.

Filler is in my eyes a bit of a surprise bag. For sure he has a lot of talent and he might step in the footsteps of Albin, who made a remarkable debut at the MC two years ago, but I think there is also the possibility, that the pressure could get to him.

Van den Berg and Alcaide had their best results early in the season and I hope they can bring their best game to the cup, but even if they do, they are nowhere near unstoppable for the Americans.

Which leaves us with Shaw, who might be the key player for Team Europe this year. If he can`t live up to the expectations it will be very hard for Europe to win this year.

Generally I`m looking forward to the performances of Shaw/SvB and Filler/Thorpe.
 
westcoast said:
For whatever reason Thorsten Hohmann seems to always get screwed out of playing in the Mosconi cup. He is better than at least 2 players on the European team
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It seems to be true that Toastie isnt favoured in MC selection usually, on the other hand Toastie didnt have superstellar year this time, still very good results but not great for his level of player. As for being better than at least 2 players on Euro team - I honestly dont think so as I see Alcaide, Filler, Shaw and Ralf playing better game than Toastie this year, the only player who I think plays slightly worse is NVD and Nick was automatic selection because of his ranking. Yes, Toastie can still bring really high level of game to the table but somehow his consistency isnt the same as it used to be 5-6 years ago.
 
skip100 said:
No Feijen, no Kaci, no Albin Ouschan????, Gray, Appleton, Boyes... this Europe team could be much stronger.
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I am sorry to say this and if you really think that - you don´t have a clue about the european players.
 
I think the single games will be close this year, so the scotch-doubles will be the key of winning the MC this year. So we have to look which team has the better doubles or chemistry in the doubles.
 
marek said:
Ralf is trying to turn back the time here, about 18 months back it seemed that his game is slowly fading but then something changed. He started to play sharp again learning back how to win big ones and this year he is the vintage Ralf from 10 years back. He may not travel that much as he used to but he always finishes high even in the biggest tournaments.
As for Joshua...if I was the coach the choice would be between him and Albin and my pick would be after long hesitation Albin as he is way more complete player than Joshua. On the other hand Joshua has insane firepower second to none (yes, Jayson Shaw included). Plus Joshua has proven himself to have rock solid nerves when under pressure so it was basically coin flip between those two. I would wait one more year to pick Joshua for him to mature a little bit if you ask me.
David Alcaide is one the most underrated player over the pond I guess, probably because he doesnt travel across too often. His high gear is just insane and his consistency this year was awesome. In my eyes David is second only to Shaw on Euro team this year.
NVDB is rock solid player with tons of experience yet here i give it to you he is the weakest player on Euro team. On the other hand - what does that say about Euro team when NVDB is its weakest link?:yikes::grin-devilish:
If you ask me what I am looking forward the most - doubles match with Shaw-Filler combo, that would be insane :grin-devilish:
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Well, I don`t say, that they are a bunch of losers, actually there is not much that this players haven`t won this year.
But I don`t know...a lot of people say, that the Europeans have a weaker team this year and I agree with them.
What I`m missing this year is this "cold as ice"-touch that players like Feijen, Gray or Ouschan have.
 
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