I think the 7 was blocking the 1-cushion kick combination, otherwise he would have played it.
Could be but even a two rail kick would have been easier than what he tried. At least he would have had a full ball and with both balls near the same long rail it is an easy calculation.
What he did was low percentage kicking at half a ball and having to guess at how much side to put on the ball and it gave Deuel bih hill/hill. Mika is a great player who would easily beat me but he had a brain fart there.