Mitch Ellerman

midnightpulp

midnightpulp

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Watched the Barbox Champ. on AZTV, shoots damn good.

Anyone know anything about him? And if you post here, Mitch, well done.

He has a bright future. Very confident around the table.
 
Watch the other matches with Mitch Ellerman, when I was living in AZ 4 years ago, I never heard of him, which could mean he moved there, or was coming up, whatever the case, the guy shoots good.
 
Mitch does seem to play well. Who am I to say this, but I wish he would slow down his play a little. He seems to one stroke. I think he could even be better than he already is. That's just my opinion though. He is a better player than I am.
 
He is very young and getting better every time I see him play. First time I saw him I was impressed by his shot making, and unimpressed with everything else. When I saw him play last month, his strategy and cueball control had improved greatly. IMHO he has the potential to become one of the greats.
 
At tournaments, I call him the "eliminator" and he calls me "hollywood" (inside joke from a tourney in Riverside) :cool:

As far as his game, he wasn't really on the map about 2 or 3 years ago (although he still shot pretty well). But in the last year to year and a half, his game has gone up exponentially. Lots of factors involved (e.g. organized tour now in AZ with some pretty decent competition, travelling/seasoning, playing high caliber players more frequently, a completely fearless attitude at the table, and just plain old talent). This is JMO of course. Mitch has also worked very hard on his game for a long time (even though he is still somewhat of a young pup).

As far as his tempo, it is very fast, and I don't think he plans on slowing it down anytime soon.
 
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I've known him for over two years and I've never seen him not one stroke every ball. I don't know how he does it, but I enjoy watching him play.
 
Mitch is a super nice kid and just got raised to a 10-2 here in AZ. I am pretty sure that is the highest you can go. His one stroke seems to work very well for him and I think changing it would hurt his game at this point. He rarely misses and shoots very well.
Currently he is the;
State Champion 9-ball barbox
State Champion 10-ball barbox
State Champion 8-ball bigtable
State Champion 10-ball bigtable
2nd place State Tourney 9-ball bigtable (lost to Scott Frost)

He most recently beat Scott Frost at the All-Around at Kolby's - bigtable 9-ball 13-12. Snapped in the 9 on hill-hill.

Watch out for this kid - you will see a lot of him in the future. That is for sure.

BVal
 
Paul Juarez said:
Where's Jimmy Mendoza...working too hard probably.
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I haven't played in a tournament in Arizona in like 6 months - maybe longer. I can't remember, to be honest. I've just been working and my wife and I had a baby on September 28th. Not to mention, I'm totally hooked on mountain biking now and, with the little spare time I do have, I'm usually out on the one of the hundreds, if not thousands, of trails that we have here. I played like crap the last couple tournaments here in AZ and, with everything else going on in my life, it just took the desire to play right out of me. If I don't have time to actually put into my pool game, I don't even care to show up just to play half-ass. I'd rather go ride my bike. I might not be a top player, but I'd like to at least be able to play what I consider "my game" when I do go out and play.

I haven't seen Mitch play in 6 months or so, but he was playing pretty good when I saw him play back then. He has a huge break and he can make anything he shoots at.
 
a couple years ago all the youngersters were talking about this kid... When I saw him (2 years ago) he was 9 speed and beatable... Hard to believe he is up there with Griffis, Frost, and whoever the other 12 speed players in AZ are/were...

From the 10 minutes I saw on AZBTV.com, he still gives you chances (looks beatable) but I think I would steer clear of his action :) with everything he has been winning...



For those reading not familiar with pool in AZ, AZ has some VERY STRONG players and if Mitch is winning everything in sight, he must be a force on the table... You have to earn it in a big AZ tourny... No free rides there at all...

Looks like AZ's future is bright!
 
CaptiveBred said:
a couple years ago all the youngersters were talking about this kid... When I saw him (2 years ago) he was 9 speed and beatable... Hard to believe he is up there with Griffis, Frost, and whoever the other 12 speed players in AZ are/were...
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The current ratings system is a bit misleading. None of them play "up there with Griffis" (talking 9-ball). At least, not the speed that Roger played at the time. Roger left and the committee was in need of a hero, so they started making people 10-2's. I thought it was ridiculous at the time, and I still feel that way. Regardless of what the AZ railbirds might tell you, I've played them all in tournaments. I've played Roger dozens of times. They aren't there. Roger's tournament wins with all of the top professionals of the time present, contrasted with 0 tournament wins with all of the top professionals present for all of the current 10-2's combined, serve as a pretty good testament to that, in my opinion. I don't want to take anything away from anyone's game. That is definitely not why I am pointing this out. However, I also don't want to falsely give credit that isn't quite due yet.

The exception to that is Scott playing one-pocket. Scott's one of the best one pocket players in the world and I don't think it's an insult to Roger for me to say that Scott is the definite favorite in that game. Of course, the 2007 Roger Griffis might not be able to beat any of them. I don't know. I haven't seen him play in years and I'm not even sure if he still does play.
 
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Ya, I noticed about four 10-2s on the sheet when Rogger skipped town... He was the only one at the time... Those others just came out of nowhere to me... From what I remember, 10-1 was introduced after the fact for the players that were just too strong to make the 4 to 10 system work... Then there was the special 10-2 for the world beater (Rogger Griffis)

I agree 100% about Roger and the shi.tty rating system :)

Oh yeah, JimmyM is a 10-1 for anybody reading :) He is one of those "special case" players that ruin it for everybody else :)
 
CaptiveBred said:
Ya, I noticed about four 10-2s on the sheet when Rogger skipped town... He was the only one at the time... Those others just came out of nowhere to me... From what I remember, 10-1 was introduced after the fact for the players that were just too strong to make the 4 to 10 system work... Then there was the special 10-2 for the world beater (Rogger Griffis)

I agree 100% about Roger and the shi.tty rating system :)

Oh yeah, JimmyM is a 10-1 for anybody reading :) He is one of those "special case" players that ruin it for everybody else :)
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I would absolutely LOVE to go into how it all transpired (the advent of the 10-2 rating), but I don't want to hijack the thread. Roger used to be the only one who was rated over a 10. He was a 10-1 and that was as high as it went.
 
Jimmy M. said:
I would absolutely LOVE to go into how it all transpired (the advent of the 10-2 rating), but I don't want to hijack the thread. Roger used to be the only one who was rated over a 10. He was a 10-1 and that was as high as it went.
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I think if you go back even further than that, it was only Danny DiLiberto that was rated as a 10 and everyone else was below that (this was back when Danny was playing champion speed).

It's kind of funny the 10-2 issue came up because I was just having this conversation the other day... but Jimmy M. brings up a good point. A 10-2 in Arizona (I just know everyone not from Arizona is wondering what the hell a 10-2 is) is not the same today as it was 10 or so years ago. And I would second the notion that Mitch Ellerman (or Scott Frost for that matter) are not near the level that Roger Griffis was in 9 ball during his hey-day. Roger was a machine and his game got that way while he was here in Arizona. When he became as good as he was, he was beating TOP professionals, not just top regional players. This is the most glaring difference between Roger and todays' 10-2's.

Factor in Roger's haitus from Arizona pool and you have the makings of what is the standard for today's 10-2's. All that said, on any given day, Mitch is still probably one of the top 4 or 5 players in Arizona right now (9 foot or bar box) in 9 ball or 10 ball. FYI, for those of you who don't know, Jimmy M. is also on that very short list... sorry Jimmy, but since you're not playing right now, I'm not hurting your action by outing you ;)

I actually just found out about Mitch's raised Arizona rating recently and was a bit surprised to hear of it as I often thought that a 10-2 was reserved for players who are basically touring professionals, or some form thereof (i.e. Scott Frost, Roger Griffis, Dave Hemmah, etc...). And as far as I know, Mitch does not play in any pro tournaments. Either way, this still does not demean his play, he is an outstanding player, especially for his ripe young age of 21.
 
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Mitch has had a lot of commitments to play here in Arizona and hasn't been able to leave the state to play a whole bunch. From what I have heard (from him) that will be different next year. I know he made it out to CA earlier this year to play in a big tourney out there and took 2nd. Right now Scott is the only one who has been able to take Mitch down. He is a super nice kid and has lots of talent. Watch out for him!

BVal
 
Mitch

Might be the only guy out there nicer then myself. He's one of my closest friends and it's an honor to know such a great person (especially one from the pool world). I've spoken to him about other people around the state and Jimmy ranks very highly on his list as well. Both are top notch players and people. Too bad there aren't more of them out there...
 
Brady...What about Dennis O.? He is the current BCA Masters national champion, and two-time state champ. He is also playing in a ring game this weekend with Mitch, Frost, and some others. :D

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

BVal said:
Mitch has had a lot of commitments to play here in Arizona and hasn't been able to leave the state to play a whole bunch.. Right now Scott is the only one who has been able to take Mitch down. He is a super nice kid and has lots of talent. Watch out for him!

BVal
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