Day 2 - Summary - Shane vs Mika - TAR 19

"CaliRed".

High Def Videos!!!
Silver Member
Allright then.... we're done with Day 2. We started at 6:30 est and ended at 2:30 am with about a 1/2 hour break. So about 7 1/2 hours of pool for 70 games. That's right, they each won 35 games today.

Score is Shane 70 , Mika 60.

First, Fatboy suggested I should have a Dry Rack field and since the 10 ball on the break column wasn't being used for this match, I swapped it out and make a Dry Break column. Something to keep in mind, that if someone scratches on the break, there is no entry for it being a Dry Break, since the shooter did not give up the table due to a Dry Break. So while there may be more Dry Breaks, that it was, was not a factor in that game. I have went back and tallied up all the Dry Breaks from Day 1 and Day 2.

The tale of the tape today, was pretty much Shane's steady play. The lead see-sawed back and forth from 12 up at one point to only about 6 up or so. At one point right before the break at 9:30, Mika was on a roll and had one 5 in a row. Mika wanted to play another game of course.

In those 5 games he won, all of them were ones Shane missed a ball in. In the final game before the break, Shane made a very careless mistake and actually hooked himself with only the 9 and 10 on the table, so that was a real gimme.

They come back from the break and Shane reels off a couple of break and runs, a couple of games go by and Shane reels off 3 more Break and Runs. So he lost 5 right before the break, but made them right up after the break.

Mika, once again, just couldn't get it going. He is just not running racks. He gets out of line on too many shots or misses makeable balls. His safety battles with Shane, usually come out with Shane on top. Shane is also locking him real good on safeties.

Shane is playing pretty solid except for some misses.

The break is still a major factor along with Shane's more solid play.

The both had 35 breaks tonight and Shane had 4 Dry Breaks and Mika had 14. I believe Shane also had some scratches on his breaks too though.
Mika appeared to get his break working a little better right towards the end of the night.

So Shane got up on Mika 10 games the 1st day and they battled to a draw on Day 2, where Shane still has his 10 game lead going into Day 3.

Tomorrow Mika has to win 40 games before Shane wins 30.

Who's going to win? Will Mika mount a comeback? Will Shane continue to play solid and preserve his lead?

Stay Tuned !!!

complete stats can be found at www.oldpoolhall.com/tarupdates and here is a screenshot of the Totals so far.

day2 grand totals.jpg
 

Dagwoodz

the dude abides...
Silver Member
What's pretty amazing is Mika is making a ball on the break close to 60% of the time (58.8% actually).

More amazing? Shane has made a ball 91% of the time. Only six dry breaks out of 70? woooooow...:eek:
 

abbassi

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I thought I heard the table cloth was changed for day 2, wonder why? Cloth looked fairly new on day 1.
 

abbassi

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Shane's demeanor is very professional while on and away from the table, shows little emotion. Mika is quite the opposite, banging the table, hitting stick on the table etc. etc.

A little suprising.
 

JarnoV

JarnoV
Silver Member
Shane's demeanor is very professional while on and away from the table, shows little emotion. Mika is quite the opposite, banging the table, hitting stick on the table etc. etc.

A little suprising.

I agree, but I don't find it surprising. Shane's pretty much always like that and Mika is like that when things aren't going his way. Though I don't know if it would help Mika if he acted differently.
 

abbassi

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I agree, but I don't find it surprising. Shane's pretty much always like that and Mika is like that when things aren't going his way. Though I don't know if it would help Mika if he acted differently.

It may not help him at all. But those watching would have a better opinion of him.
 

perspicaz

o-^-*-^-o
Silver Member
Yeah, I agree. It's painful to watch.

I think he is struggling a little with the format. He should realize it is a LONG match and be more patient. Shane does the 'being calm' thing much better, although he is showing a little more emotion than other times when missing for example.

The dry break difference is difficult to fade, IMO. Mika is fighting to reduce the gap, Shane is mostly cruising to maintain it.

Do you guys think the players can hear the commentary? They appear to be right behind :) That could get into their nerves a little and might be slightly in favor of Shane if he turns his hearing aid off (with all respect and NOT saying he has any advantage with his hearing handicap of course).
Mika's face doesn't react to the commentary though, so maybe it is a non issue.
 

Johnnyt

Burn all jump cues
Silver Member
Thank you for doing the stats on this and other TAR matches. They do tell the story. Johnnyt
 

Railbird

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I thought I heard the table cloth was changed for day 2, wonder why? Cloth looked fairly new on day 1.

Hey there Abbassi, what's the good word?
The table cloth was actually changed out the day before the match began -- not after the first day, Mika was a little disappointed as he plays on that table everyday, but while playing in the Straight Pool Championships he was unaware that they changed the cloth.
 

abbassi

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hey there Abbassi, what's the good word?
The table cloth was actually changed out the day before the match began -- not after the first day, Mika was a little disappointed as he plays on that table everyday, but while playing in the Straight Pool Championships he was unaware that they changed the cloth.

Whats up big Jim, playing Chicago still?
Thanks for that info. I thought I heard it was changed after 1st day, which did not make sense to me.
But if what you say is true, then it levels the playing field a bit, since its Mika's house. Even still at this level of play, I would imagine he would adjust after the 1st hour of play.
 

abbassi

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Shot of the Night

Mika was aroung 55 games and the 10 ball was 1/2 diamond from brunswick cue directly accross. He calls side pocket (Golf Shot) 3 rail 2 way shot that went in heart of pocket.

The other highlight was Shane getting Mika on the 3 fouls to win the game.
 

Kickin' Chicken

Kick Shot Aficionado
Silver Member
Calired; you are the man. Thanks for posting these.

And yes, as JohnnyT said, the stats don't lie. :thumbup:

Best,
Brian kc
 

Zivan1967

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Mika came into day 2 with the right mindset, he looked strong and could run out (he made two break and runs while practicing if i recall correctly), after his break wasn't working he started showing signs that he was upset. Especially when Shane would break dry and always leave no shot on the one or shane would finally miss a ball and leave mika hooked. Shane had 19 missed makeable balls but half of them he got a random safe and those threw mika off his game fast

Shane's safety play kept his 10 game lead here in my opinion (not the random ones but his well planed ones), most of the safety battles were won by shane, Mika frustrated did a lot of just hit the ball and hope the next safe isn't as bad as this one

Toward the end of the match mika found a nice spot for the break and even though it wasn't as pretty as shane's break, it was effective. If mika comes into day 3 with a good mindset like day 2 and can find that spot again, there might be a good chance for him to string some games together.

Shane didn't play as well as he played on day 1, but he fixed his break and controlled the cue ball much better so i'm guessing today for day 3 he'll fix the problem he had on day 2

Day 3 is going to be a good show, whoever can find a gear will take the match, and i suspect that someone will force themself to find a gear with that money in range.

I still take Shane for the win, 100 to 94 (last 4 games won by mika because that last rack will be hard to get lol)

but mika definitely still has what it takes to squeeze out a victory if he can control his emotions and keep that sweet spot he found.

Can't wait for tonight :D
 

mosconiac

Job+Wife+Child=No Stroke
Silver Member
Thanks for the stats! I can't believe the number of B&R's doubled & quadrupled for the players between days 1 & 2. Also, Mika's break production improved on day 2, but his dry breaks also increased. SVB missed twice as many balls, but still maintained the lead. Weird.
 

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
Gold Member
Silver Member
Mika came into day 2 with the right mindset, he looked strong and could run out (he made two break and runs while practicing if i recall correctly), after his break wasn't working he started showing signs that he was upset. Especially when Shane would break dry and always leave no shot on the one or shane would finally miss a ball and leave mika hooked. Shane had 19 missed makeable balls but half of them he got a random safe and those threw mika off his game fast

Shane's safety play kept his 10 game lead here in my opinion (not the random ones but his well planed ones), most of the safety battles were won by shane, Mika frustrated did a lot of just hit the ball and hope the next safe isn't as bad as this one

Toward the end of the match mika found a nice spot for the break and even though it wasn't as pretty as shane's break, it was effective. If mika comes into day 3 with a good mindset like day 2 and can find that spot again, there might be a good chance for him to string some games together.

Shane didn't play as well as he played on day 1, but he fixed his break and controlled the cue ball much better so i'm guessing today for day 3 he'll fix the problem he had on day 2

Day 3 is going to be a good show, whoever can find a gear will take the match, and i suspect that someone will force themself to find a gear with that money in range.

I still take Shane for the win, 100 to 94 (last 4 games won by mika because that last rack will be hard to get lol)

but mika definitely still has what it takes to squeeze out a victory if he can control his emotions and keep that sweet spot he found.

Can't wait for tonight :D

Excellent analysis here!
 
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