Hell of a situation to be in. Whole cup riding on you. People talk about getting seasoning under pressure...Mike is going through a graduate course right now.
Mike's nerves are giving him probs. After he missed the 8ball that he had to slow roll earlier, I believe he didn't want to roll the last 8 in again. Nerves make you go to whats comfortable and that means letting your stroke out.
I mean I am feeling bad for Mike as well. I know how it feels to dog it under pressure. But still, these mistakes are things that players of my caliber should do not what players of Mike's caliber should be doing.
It's just post-english cueball steering, even pros do it... their stick is reflecting their subconscious hope that the cue ball spin really takes just right off the rail.
I've already noticed American players moving their cue sideways on more than a miss or two in this Mosconi Cup but I haven't noticed any European players moving their cue to the side on a miss, even once. So there really is no need to watch what I've already seen. I didn't "think" I saw it.
I was hoping that some of the other viewers might have noticed if the European players were doing the same thing on occasion.