Judd Trump to play U.S. Open.................

BlueRaider

Registered
And skill level. Someone who knows him said he's an APA 3 maybe a 4 and he played like it. No disrespect to him. It is what it is. Obviously Judd has skill. He is a world champion after all. That being said, I think a decent short stop drills him. He's too new to 9B. Now, give him a six months to a year and he would probably be a very dangerous rotation player.
Honestly, I think even an established APA 7 would have looked like a clown out there. Watch the 7s on the APA World Championship streams.

They play like shit on Valleys. Being on the TV table probably reduces your skill level by 25% if you aren’t used to it, and anyone who isn’t at least well into the 600s Fargo Rate is going to look like a joke with that many eyes on them.

Anyway, I’m not disputing his SL. He very well may be a 3. I just thought that setup wise, he looked solid for a 3 but was completely overcome by stage fright.
 

Geosnookery

Well-known member
Trump is used to playing under the television lights with 20 million viewers,a half million dollars at stake and what are knowledgeable live fans usually cheering on his opponent.

The point? Judd may have weaknesses in this tournament but one will not be ‘pressure’. Judd is under pressure every snooker match he plays. He could win a half dozen snooker matches, make it to the finals and is still picked apart if he loses.

an aside: Trump likely made some questionable shot choices in today’s match. This isn’t just due to inexperience. He’s known to do this in Snooker. He’s one of those players that beats himself now and then. His skill at the table is only second to Ronnie O’Sullivan but his ‘judgement’ sometimes isn’t that of a top 16 ranked snooker player.
 
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rexus31

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The guy won his second match there is no way he is an APA 3. Some of you guys are unreal lol.
From the US Open update thread:

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Cameron Smith

is kind of hungry...
Silver Member
Honestly, I think even an established APA 7 would have looked like a clown out there. Watch the 7s on the APA World Championship streams.

They play like shit on Valleys. Being on the TV table probably reduces your skill level by 25% if you aren’t used to it, and anyone who isn’t at least well into the 600s Fargo Rate is going to look like a joke with that many eyes on them.

Anyway, I’m not disputing his SL. He very well may be a 3. I just thought that setup wise, he looked solid for a 3 but was completely overcome by stage fright.
We had a couple 600s on tv today and they couldn’t string more than a few balls together.

If Joe is an APA 3 player, he is either sandbagging or the greatest APA 3 of all time. My understanding of that rating system may be innacurate but my understanding is that APA 3s are 350-400 players. Joe had some sense of cue ball control and safety play which that level of player generally doesnt. So if he is a 3, he somehow managed to play his best game on TV against one of the greatest cueists of all time and then followed that up with a win on the losers side.
 

BlueRaider

Registered
We had a couple 600s on tv today and they couldn’t string more than a few balls together.

If Joe is an APA 3 player, he is either sandbagging or the greatest APA 3 of all time. My understanding of that rating system may be innacurate but my understanding is that APA 3s are 350-400 players. Joe had some sense of cue ball control and safety play which that level of player generally doesnt. So if he is a 3, he somehow managed to play his best game on TV against one of the greatest cueists of all time and then followed that up with a win on the losers side.
That's kinda what I was getting at. It's possible Joe is a 3 but generally 3s LOOK like 3s. They are unsteady in their stances, their bridges are wobbly, their pre-shot routines are all over the place (if they exist at all), and they cannot make long shots on a 9' table. Joe had, IIRC, a 3 or 4 ball run that I don't think many 3s would be able to string together on a table with 4.25" pockets. Plus, he just looks more steady than basically any 3 I've ever seen. Again though, anything is possible, and he may play in a super competitive league and would be a 5 in other parts of the country. Or perhaps he played 12 hours a day over the past month and really shored up his game in preparation for the tournament.
 

Nyquil

Well-known member
His opponent forgot how to play pool. With that said his break was solid. Trump had some good safety shots and drilled some long shots. Had a couple of really good banks and the pockets are tight at 4.25. Side pocket got him a couple of times and he needs to work on position play with more practice he is gonna do well I think. He is playing with a whole diff cue as well on top of everything else that has to take some getting used to. I am interested to see how he does as the tournament progresses.
 

BlueRaider

Registered
His opponent forgot how to play pool. With that said his break was solid. Trump had some good safety shots and drilled some long shots. Had a couple of really good banks and the pockets are tight at 4.25. Side pocket got him a couple of times and he needs to work on position play with more practice he is gonna do well I think. He is playing with a whole diff cue as well on top of everything else that has to take some getting used to. I am interested to see how he does as the tournament progresses.
Looks like he gets one more warm-up match and then he's gonna face a 733 Fargo Rate player. Will be a huge, huge test for him.
 

Swighey

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Side pocket got him a couple of times and he needs to work on position play with more practice he is gonna do well I think.
Side pockets can be tricky when changing from one game to another. If you are aiming for center pocket but erring on missing on the pro side, then you should err on the far side (like aiming for the back board in basketball) on an American pool table, but the near side on a snooker table or English or Chinese pool table. No matter how much a player knows this, old habits die hard. Shane visibly had the same problem (but with the other side of the pocket) last time I saw him play Chinese 8 Ball.
 

eastcoast_chris

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
My thoughts...

Trump shot well, which was expected.
Break was good, but the table was breaking super easy.
He obviously didn't know what to do on a few shots... just used instinct and shot.
He will eventually get crushed by one of the 780+ players. I predict 9-3 (if in the race-to-9 round)
His opponent screwed up about 3 easy outs, which usually equate to 2 game swing each time. A mediocre player would have made it close. A pro would have crushed him.

Aside, the tables are playing fair; tight, but seem to play very predictable... nothing like the tables in Vegas. The top guys will run large packs.

Entertaining though :)
 

JAM

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Karl Boyes taught Judd Trump well on the break. With his snooker background, his long shots were executed like the pool pros, but his strategy and other shots were shaky.

I felt so sorry for Joe Magee. On the one hand, it was the experience of a lifetime playing this champion, but on the other hand, being on the TV table for what may have been the first time with a super star, that can be overwhelming. I was in the Maryland State Championship for ladies in Baltimore one year, accompanied by the Maryland State Champion for men, Michael Gerace (Geese). I received ball in hand on the game ball and missed. I was just too nervous with all the eyeballs staring at me.

Judd will need to improve to rise to the top 16, but he did not disappoint this virtual railbird.
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8cree

Reverse Engineer
Silver Member
I cant lie, I was pulling for Trump! Felt a little sorry for Magee, but that's how the cookie crumbles sometimes. If you haven't been there before, you haven't played much pool.... and his experience was much more extreme.

Hat tip to them both!
 

rexus31

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
And we just take this no name at his word? There are a lot of haters in this world. An APA 3 is a 300-400 fargo, you mean to tell me a 400 fargo won a US Open match?
If he payed another similarly rated player, why not? It would be naive to think Magee was the only 300-400 Fargo rated player in the field.
 
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