Ko Pin-Yi. Best player on earth.

[snucar]

Not really. Ko and Wu both played an incredible match in the semis. They put on a better performance than any match in recent memory. Shane played good before the finals and he broke great, but Dennis practically handed Shane the match on a silver platter with tons of unforced errors and KPC couldn't get his break to work and gave back a lot of chances off of Shane's misses.

Ko may have been lucky off of a few rolls in the finals, but Shane was lucky to meet an opponent in the quarter finals of the world championship who would miss half a dozen open shots to him in one match.

Well said! It's simply not true that SVB played better than anyone else in the WC. That's Ted Lerner's idiotic thoughts. He had the easiest of draws till the quarters and his game was struggling. It was his break that made the difference in the QF and SF and of course the tons of mistakes Orcullo made cause he had his pants shitted from the word go. Little Ko's problem in the SF was, as Masayoshi mentioned, the fact that his break completely let him down. Shane's shooting wasn't that impressive too. Lots of positional errors and quite a few open pockets missed too.

There were ONLY two players that were constantly playing great pool through out the entire tournament, Ko and Wu. In fact, I consider the semi between them the best match of the WC by far and the true final.

 

[Poolmanis]

My point is you many of comments say one(insert your favorite) is best player etc..
While many those comments have their reasoning based on 1 or 2 short races what came 1 or 2 rack difference.
I don´t say Ko is not best but I say it is too much simplification based on couple of tournaments.

Wu on other hand have positive record against Ko on long run.. And even now Ko did beat him he did beat Wu just barely(SVB too). Both on those games could easily be other way around.

I personally think Wu or Ko is best player on short rotation games(9- and 10-ball).
Shane and Alex are just as tough still. Marginals are so tiny so any of them could win most of major tournaments couple of years..
And I think overall best player is Alex Pagulayan today. Just my opinion.

ps. Derby City is apparently just amateur crap tournament based on Snucar comments..

 

[nateschade]

shane and ko

We need a race to 100 10ball! Then we'll know.

 

[snucar]

And I think overall best player is Alex Pagulayan today. Just my opinion.

ps. Derby City is apparently just amateur crap tournament based on Snucar comments..

First of all, you have misunderstood me. With my comment I wasn't implying that Alex is not a great player. Of course he is, but, fact is, from 2008 and on he hasn't achieved anything special like he was in his prime. One Derby City win in what, 7-8 years of nothing won't change that. His results at all the majors are there for you to see. Hence the fact he didn't even try to enter the WC this year. Topping the money list because he beat Frost in one match is pure nonsense. What if Berlusconi and Trump played one set for $5.000.000? Would the winner be on top of AZB's money list? Would that meke'em the best players in the wold? hahahahaha

Oh, almost forgot. Derby City might not be an amateur tournament for sure but it's nowhere near as important as other tournaments around the world.

 

[mikeyfrost]

Ko is the best right now. However does anyone remember the last time SVB lost a match at the US Open. I bet your life was significantly different than it is now lol

 

[Donny Lutz]

Lucky

No man, he is very lucky................ :grin-square:

Yes, I think he should be banned from competition because he got some lucky rolls against SVB. JK.

I actually kept track of every shot in the match when I watched on Youtube, although four of the games were not recorded.

While the announcers were complaining about Ko's luck, several of those "lucky" leaves were actually 2-way shots that were pretty well executed.

Ko did however get four lucky rolls by my count, and Shane got none.

But while Ko made six errors (four potting errors and two position errors), Shane missed five shots, missed position twice, and played three ineffective safeties (ten errors). He had plenty of opportunities to fade Ko's lucky rolls.

I believe Ko played better in the match, despite what SVB fans want to believe.

Shane is one of pool's very best and I think it's a waste of time to try to rank the top ten in the world in any order. He'll beat Ko in the future and Ko will beat him again as well.

 

[(((Satori)))]

Not really. Ko and Wu both played an incredible match in the semis. They put on a better performance than any match in recent memory. Shane played good before the finals and he broke great, but Dennis practically handed Shane the match on a silver platter with tons of unforced errors and KPC couldn't get his break to work and gave back a lot of chances off of Shane's misses.

Ko may have been lucky off of a few rolls in the finals, but Shane was lucky to meet an opponent in the quarter finals of the world championship who would miss half a dozen open shots to him in one match.

Well said! It's simply not true that SVB played better than anyone else in the WC. That's Ted Lerner's idiotic thoughts. He had the easiest of draws till the quarters and his game was struggling. It was his break that made the difference in the QF and SF and of course the tons of mistakes Orcullo made cause he had his pants shitted from the word go. Little Ko's problem in the SF was, as Masayoshi mentioned, the fact that his break completely let him down. Shane's shooting wasn't that impressive too. Lots of positional errors and quite a few open pockets missed too.

There were ONLY two players that were constantly playing great pool through out the entire tournament, Ko and Wu. In fact, I consider the semi between them the best match of the WC by far and the true final.

Great posts!

Yes, I think he should be banned from competition because he got some lucky rolls against SVB. JK.

I actually kept track of every shot in the match when I watched on Youtube, although four of the games were not recorded.

While the announcers were complaining about Ko's luck, several of those "lucky" leaves were actually 2-way shots that were pretty well executed.

Ko did however get four lucky rolls by my count, and Shane got none.

But while Ko made six errors (four potting errors and two position errors), Shane missed five shots, missed position twice, and played three ineffective safeties (ten errors). He had plenty of opportunities to fade Ko's lucky rolls.

I believe Ko played better in the match, despite what SVB fans want to believe.

Shane is one of pool's very best and I think it's a waste of time to try to rank the top ten in the world in any order. He'll beat Ko in the future and Ko will beat him again as well.

Shane will no doubt beat Ko sometimes but I personally give Ko the advantage due to the fact that I see him as mentally stronger. Physically he is at least as good also so overall I think he has the best of that action.

 

[real bartram]

Ko is the best right now. However does anyone remember the last time SVB lost a match at the US Open. I bet your life was significantly different than it is now lol

1 reason is he knows the rack better then most .
He plays great but he out racks most people .
Very big edge for him at that tourney and it shows .

 

[Dockter]

And he's only 26, so he may have not even hit his prime yet...

This is the scary part.

 

[SUPERSTAR]

Shane will no doubt beat Ko in the future but right now I personally give Ko the advantage due to the fact that I see him as mentally stronger.

Wouldn't it be funny if SVB beat the daylights out of KO on the losers side of some tournament, only to have KO resurrected by the powers that be, deeming him triple elimination worthy, where they had to replay the match with KO winning and then winning the event?

Just imagine the epic meltdown the groupies would have. LOL

 

[(((Satori)))]

Wouldn't it be funny if SVB beat the daylights out of KO on the losers side of some tournament, only to have KO resurrected by the powers that be, deeming him triple elimination worthy, where they had to replay the match with KO winning and then winning the event?

Just imagine the epic meltdown the groupies would have. LOL

Oh I would love it strictly to see the reaction.

 

[ribdoner]

These anti-short format charlatans will only shut up Shane wins LOL
When will they ever realise that in a 128 field tourney, you are playing a field of players (NOT one to one ) and you need to you need to win 8 matches or more.
8 matches is like race to 50 or race to 80 but even tougher coz you need to play high level , minimum errors under pressure every match :grin-square:

logical...

 

[snucar]

One thing I've learned from the nuthuggers is this: they'll never come short of excuses!

 

[ribdoner]

how bout the 8 best on the planet are seeded and throw down double elim, races to 50, with a nominal entry fee of perhaps 500k


let the good times roll

 

[Dockter]

Everyone goes off in threads like this then in other threads want pool to be a more well known sport. This is the sport effect. Every sport has it's fans that will always believe their team or their player is the best and they will never listen to reason on why someone else is as good or better. It's even harder to do in pool because it can fluctuate so fast and things can turn at any point.

Anytime Shane is brought up you get the people that love him then for some reason people that it seems absolutely hate him. I don't know why anyone would hate SVB but my guess is it's more of a side effect of how some of his fans react.

There are probably 3 threads on the first page that have turned into flame wars because of someone's love or hate of Shane lol.

 

[HawaiianEye]

1 reason is he knows the rack better then most .
He plays great but he out racks most people .
Very big edge for him at that tourney and it shows .

And may we ask, just EXACTLY what is he doing that the others aren't?

Are you saying he's a "rack mechanic"?

 

[Cardigan Kid]

Yes he did.

Watching Taipei win yesterday and the rest of the World Cup, as well as Qatar 9 ball, Ko does not get tight like all the western players. Surely it's cultural for westerners to make excuses and blame their failings on bad rolls. It only makes a player weaker to go that route.

Yesterday Appleton and Boyes had given up about half way through the set. If your opponent plays great then you have to play even greater to win. I just don't see this mentality in play often enough lately. A lot of the top players are crybabies when the rolls don't go their way.

This view is right on point.

After the world 9 ball win, I watched Ko in his world cup of pool matches in not how great he was shooting, but in his conduct when something didn't go his way. There were a lot of smiles and friendly banter with his team mate.

It is safe to say Ko had stellar coaching to get to that form. Is he the most skilled player in the world? Possibly. Is he the strongest player mentally in the world? I would say yes IMO.
To carry himself as he does under pressure is not something you are born with, it was coached into him.

I created the thread analyzing how Ko and Shane both carried themselves differently in that crucial timeout...

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?p=5298784#post5298784

and I believe the answer was right there. Shane has more experience, and I would even say raw firepower. But Ko was more superior in the mental game, and THAT proved to me he is the best in the world at this time.

2strong4u said "a lot of the top players are crybabies when the rolls don't go their way" and it's true, and it's entirely due to coaching and mental conditioning.

Going forward, and into the U.S. open, I'll be watching how Shane responds. after the display in the world cup of pool, he's now looking at six Taiwanese players coming to town, well coached, and on fire. (In a double elimination format as well)

The western pool culture of solitary loner warrior and the blaming on rolls is now proven inferior (filipino players as well, Orcollo had mental breakdowns too). Coaching and mental conditioning is now a must in a post 2015 year of the Ko.

Good for him. Ko is a really special player and I am convinced now that he can be a bigger star (financially) than anyone because of the shifting pool market to Asian countries.

 

[HawaiianEye]

I believe that Ko Pin Yi is the most technically correct player at the moment and he seldom makes mistakes.

He very seldom gets out of line and he doesn't really try anything fancy that may get him into trouble. His safety game is excellent as well. He doesn't "sell out" much.

He can be beaten, like anybody else, but you need to bring your "A-game" when you are playing him. If you are missing balls and letting him get back to the table, you are going to more than have your hands full.

Aloha.

 

[Masayoshi]

This view is right on point.

After the world 9 ball win, I watched Ko in his world cup of pool matches in not how great he was shooting, but in his conduct when something didn't go his way. There were a lot of smiles and friendly banter with his team mate.

It is safe to say Ko had stellar coaching to get to that form. Is he the most skilled player in the world? Possibly. Is he the strongest player mentally in the world? I would say yes IMO.
To carry himself as he does under pressure is not something you are born with, it was coached into him.

I created the thread analyzing how Ko and Shane both carried themselves differently in that crucial timeout...

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?p=5298784#post5298784

and I believe the answer was right there. Shane has more experience, and I would even say raw firepower. But Ko was more superior in the mental game, and THAT proved to me he is the best in the world at this time.

2strong4u said "a lot of the top players are crybabies when the rolls don't go their way" and it's true, and it's entirely due to coaching and mental conditioning.

Going forward, and into the U.S. open, I'll be watching how Shane responds. after the display in the world cup of pool, he's now looking at six Taiwanese players coming to town, well coached, and on fire. (In a double elimination format as well)

The western pool culture of solitary loner warrior and the blaming on rolls is now proven inferior (filipino players as well, Orcollo had mental breakdowns too). Coaching and mental conditioning is now a must in a post 2015 year of the Ko.

Good for him. Ko is a really special player and I am convinced now that he can be a bigger star (financially) than anyone because of the shifting pool market to Asian countries.

One thing about Ko (and Wu) is that his mental recovery time is virtually instant. Even if he completely butchers a shot, he is back in the game on his next turn at the table. Orcullo, shane, and many of the top Europeans tend to spiral downward for a few racks before they recover.

Honestly, for most skilled player in the world, I like Wu over Ko. He was doing a lot more technical stuff than Ko with position and defense and was just as strong pocketing balls and mentally. That semi match was one that you could truly say came down to the lag. Of course Ko has accomplished a lot more than Wu in recent years, but I think Wu is still recovering from his extended break from serious competition. Once he is 100%, watch out.

 

[(((Satori)))]

One thing about Ko (and Wu) is that his mental recovery time is virtually instant. Even if he completely butchers a shot, he is back in the game on his next turn at the table. Orcullo, shane, and many of the top Europeans tend to spiral downward for a few racks before they recover.

Honestly, for most skilled player in the world, I like Wu over Ko. He was doing a lot more technical stuff than Ko with position and defense and was just as strong pocketing balls and mentally. That semi match was one that you could truly say came down to the lag. Of course Ko has accomplished a lot more than Wu in recent years, but I think Wu is still recovering from his extended break from serious competition. Once he is 100%, watch out.

You make some great posts!