Euro's better than us, or just a MYTH

i remember posting this 2 months ago after the Mosconi Cup

stats.png

the stats might help.
 
So going by those stats Karl Boyes is ranked 4th and Shane is 7th what kind of spot can Shane get from him playing a long set? Or how about Mika who is 8th? What was the score when he played Shane in his own poll hall again? Yeah.....
 
Doc Holliday said:
So going by those stats Karl Boyes is ranked 4th and Shane is 7th what kind of spot can Shane get from him playing a long set? Or how about Mika who is 8th? What was the score when he played Shane in his own poll hall again? Yeah.....
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The part if the title that says "Euros better than us" implies multiple people, not just Shane. If the US has one guy at world class level and Europe has half a dozen guys at a similar level, its pretty safe to say that Europe has better players.

"Euros better than Shane, or just a myth" would have been a title more worthy of debate.

When your argument relies on including games like bank pool and one pocket, its pretty safe to say that you are grasping for straws because nobody outside the US plays one pocket or banks unless their goal is to come to the US and beat money out of unsuspecting Americans at their own game.

The fact that the Filipinos come to the US and become top one pocket players doesn't make the Euros somehow lesser players, it just shows how much better they are than the Americans (and Europeans for that matter).

Also, this is not so much a display of egotism of American players so much as it is a display of the egotism of the American fan base. The American pros know how high the level of play is on the world stage, most of them have been there at one point or another and rarely go back. On the other hand, the general American pool fan thinks that Shane is the undisputed heavyweight champion of pool.
 
Doc Holliday said:
So going by those stats Karl Boyes is ranked 4th and Shane is 7th what kind of spot can Shane get from him playing a long set? Or how about Mika who is 8th? What was the score when he played Shane in his own poll hall again? Yeah.....
Click to expand...

the actual WPA stats are here, where i got the info from. http://www.wpa-pool.com/web/rankings

i remember in the world 9-ball championships, SVB got eliminated early (round of 32), while Boyes stayed until the semifinals where he was eliminated by Hohmann (who won the title).

here's a funny thing comparing Mika and SVB. both did not play in the china open. both got eliminated at round of 32 in WPC. Mika won the ultimate 10-ball challenge. Shane won the US Open. at this point they are actually even. then during the All-Japan Championship, Mika played and SVB did not. technically, Mika should have been ranked 7th and SVB 8th.

also, people get beat on their own table. efren beat earl 21-13 playing 10-ball. based on the commentator, that was earl's own personal table where he practices 5-8 hours a day.
 
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itsfroze said:
No European player has finished in, !st, 2nd, or 3rd place from 1999 through 2013
in the 9-Ball Banks or the One-Pocket divisions.

Except Darren Appleton 3rd place in the One-Pocket division in 2012.

So from 1999 to 2013 is 15 years x 3 spots a year (1st, 2nd, 3rd) = 45 spots
45 spots x 2 divisions (9-Ball Banks, One-Pocket) = 90 spots

Seems like with all the discipline and better work ethic that I've been hearing
about the Europeans having over the Americans, they would have figured
out these games by now and be beating the Americans.

Then when you add 9-Ball:
In the 9-Ball division from 1999 to 2013
The Euro's finished 8 times in the top three spots in these 15 years.
These finishes consisted of
Three 1st place finishes by Ralph Total (3)
1 win & 2 other top three by Mika Total (3)
1 win & 1 top three finish by Neils Total (2)

So to recap out of a total of 135 possible top three finishes in the last 15
years in the three standard divisions (9-Ball Banks, One-Pocket, 9-Ball)
That's three in each division x 15 years or 45 x 3 div. = 135 possible

Since I've been hearing how much better they ( the Euro's) play recently.
Why is it they have only taken a total of 9 spots out of a possible 135
over the last 15 years?

Euro's better than us or just a MYTH, you decide!
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Dear Sir,

All your above statistics show something that I would call slightly typical - your base are American tournaments.

Just imagine a Phillipino doing a similar statistics with Phillipin toutnaments or a French guy proving the French superiourity on French tournaments. And they would find out that their nation is far ahead ... just because foreign people are a minority at that tournament and they didn't make it to the finals ...

Please consider the difference:
If there is an All Phillipine Championship, that s what they call it: " The Phillipine Open" same with England or Brazil. In the USA, it might be called "The World Championship" - just because it's the major event in the USA. :-)

And if all real champions come together - uuupps ! After Shane van Boening (that I admire deeply) there seems to come a big gap before we can see any US-name.

There is a world outside, right after the American border - and they play pool out there, too.

So, to come back to your statistics, dear Sir: There is no statistic about Americans, winning in European tournaments recently. Might be because of lacking significance ... YOU DECIDE:wink:
 
Hmmm......does anyone watch pool?

The "eye test" for 9 Ball reveals:

Shane is a bit better than the best Euros.

The best Euros (6 or 7 of them) are better than the rest of the Americans. With 10 months for the US team to prepare in earnest for the Mosconi Cup; that could change...but only if the rest of the players work their a$$e$ off like Shane does. Just my opinion.
 
^ i admire shane a lot - im a fan. but i'll probably pick Toastie or Daz over shane.
 
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