Meet the Team USA Captain: "My name is Johan Ruijsink"

Pangit said:
So, who's 'The Buck Stops Here' decision maker for USA's Mosconi Cup Team...Barry Hearn?
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Per this article Barry Hearn was the decision maker for appointing Johan Ruijsink as captain of team USA:
http://www.matchroompool.com/news/mosconi-cup/ruijsink-new-captain-america/

Per this article Yohan is the decision maker for who the five members of team USA will be, with some stipulations on ranking points requirements. The article says that the five must be in the top 10 in the Mosconi Cup points rankings, but the recent discussions on the forums have said that only four must come from the top 10 in points and the fifth does not need to be in the top 10 in points and can be anyone. Perhaps someone else can point to the source that confirms that only four of the members have to come from the top 10 in points.
http://www.billiardsdigest.com/new_current_issue/mar_17/bb_index.php
 
From what I read in that interview al 5 picks come from the top 10 in points. He wants 2 wild card picks in case any of those 5 dont work out....in his estimation
 
Pangit said:
It's funny that the Americans are turning to a european coach in an effort to keep up...don't ya think?
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It sounds to me that the Americans did not choose their new coach (Matchroom gave him a call, and I assume they are the ones that gave him the job as the new USA Team captain). Did the American players have any say on who their coach would be, or have a vote in the decision? I assume not, since the entire team would not have even been known yet. So, it sounds to me like Matchroom (which is controlled by a guy from the UK, right?) made the decision (not the Americans).
 
Poolplaya9 said:
... Perhaps someone else can point to the source that confirms that only four of the members have to come from the top 10 in points.
...
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"At the end of the qualification period, Team Captain Johan Ruijsink will select four players from the top ten of the rankings plus one other player (top ten or not) to comprise his squad of players to travel to Las Vegas as the USA attempt to win the Mosconi Cup for the first time since 2009."

http://www.matchroompool.com/news/team-usa-qualification-series-announced-2/
 
justinb386 said:
It sounds to me that the Americans did not choose their new coach (Matchroom gave him a call, and I assume they are the ones that gave him the job as the new USA Team captain). Did the American players have any say on who their coach would be, or have a vote in the decision? I assume not, since the entire team would not have even been known yet. So, it sounds to me like Matchroom (which is controlled by a guy from the UK, right?) made the decision (not the Americans).
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Surely American players did not choose their new coach, Mosconi Cup is owned by Matchroom Sports = read Barry Hearn and as such Barry is THE guy who chooses the way MC evolves. And from Euro fan standpoint I know for sure that this MC will be tight encounter, Johan will push US players to the very best of their abilities at Mosconi Cup. Markus Chamat is a good coach for Euro team but Johan is on whole another level. Lets see what happens in December, really looking forward to it :thumbup:;)
 
I am dying to see what Johan can accomplish with the American team. Also dying to see which players he selects, by the way.
 
Seems embarrassing that we had to turn to another country for talent. Why even have a team, then?
 
WVShootist said:
Seems embarrassing that we had to turn to another country for talent. Why even have a team, then?
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So basically you are saying that it is embarassing to learn something new..?!? :confused:And you wonder why you keep losing to Europe... :eek::cool::grin:
 
Thanks JAM...that's a pic of my pups about three years ago at the "Running of the Chihuahuas" at the waterfront in DC.
 
hotelyorba said:
I am dying to see what Johan can accomplish with the American team. Also dying to see which players he selects, by the way.
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I am curious about the same things. Also curious to see whether he tries to impose a curfew or otherwise control extra curricular activities as is often done in other sports, as well as to see what kind of schedule and training regimen he tries to impose.

It would seem that the conventional wisdom might be that the captain can't have much effect on the team's performance, particularly if he doesn't get to work with them much or for very long, but I strongly suspect that the US may end up having a better showing this year than they have had in a while. If this is what ends up happening, then depending on what Johan did it could be telling and something to learn from. It will also be very interesting to hear what the players have to say about Johan and their opinions about his effectiveness and what difference they think he made once this is all over.
 
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WVShootist said:
Seems embarrassing that we had to turn to another country for talent. Why even have a team, then?
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When I have a deficiency in anything I do, I'm not embarrassed to try to find out what it is in an effort to fix it. That is the definition of the right thing to do to take corrective action as quickly as possible.

Matchroom looked at the situation and on paper, our teams should match up relatively well on individual talent so what else can they tweak? Coach. If we win or even if we lose but it is very close then that may demonstrate that a different style of coaching was helpful and we can identify what it was that worked and duplicate it in the future. I am very excited to see what Johan does with these guys. He is taking a beating on social media from the European fans, they seem nervous about this. Perhaps coaching plays a bigger role than we have realized in the past.
 
Also, don't forget that on the European side, there are more than one player that still knows what Johan was telling them when he was their captain and coach. They know Johan's methods and they know how powerful they are. And now they know he's using those methods on the other side. There has got to be some effect from that fact alone -- they know there will be a different USA team opposing them, and they know it will be a stronger USA team too if Johan has done his job even half-right.
 
hotelyorba said:
Also, don't forget that on the European side, there are more than one player that still knows what Johan was telling them when he was their captain and coach. They know Johan's methods and they know how powerful they are. And now they know he's using those methods on the other side. There has got to be some effect from that fact alone -- they know there will be a different USA team opposing them, and they know it will be a stronger USA team too if Johan has done his job even half-right.
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Yes, we all know European's have superior tactical coaching skills in many games compared to homegrown folks.

Another Johan (Bruyneel) lead Lance Armstrong and the USPS team to unprecedented success in Le Tour de France for example. :thumbup:
 
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