Morris is never playing for the team again, people need to get over that. You can't threaten to take people outside and fight at an event like this and be invited back.
There is no team that was built. It was the top 5 from the qualifying system. (yes 2 captains picks technically) Next year 3 other players might EARN their way onto the team. (ok technically 2 others)
I don't understand how Hall, who imo was the best player last year was not considered this year..... did his game go downhill that much? Although Sky getting the chance to play on US soil I think was 100% the right idea.
What I suggested last year and still think is the right idea is to have a couple tournaments throughout the year with the same format as this. Race to 5 single elimination. Get a couple qualifiers like that @other big events. Winning races to 100 don't mean shit in this format. :/
Who knows, at the end of the day we're all nobodies who post on AZ and have no control over it. Which is part of the problem with pool that no one ever seems to address. It's the same *old guard* who think things are the same as it was in 1975.
**I'll still enjoy watching!**
Jesse is pretty smart, and saw the lack of money in pool. He is working a lot...where he is one of the owners. He still plays a little. I was with him last night....when he won a local tournament for probably $80.
I want to say that I thoroughly enjoyed watching the 2015 Mosconi cup. It was exciting as all hell. I was betting on most of the matches. I lost, but they were amazing sweats.
Since everyone has an opinion, here is mine:
I would not change a single thing from the USA side. I could not imagine any team from our current players that could possibly be stronger than the one Mark assembled for this year. Yes, the US lost, but we were very competitive. I would like this exact team to stay the same for the next 3 years. Let them all play together and get stronger as a team.
I unfortunately don't see any monster 16 to 20 year olds that are up and coming to replace any 2015 member. And forget about Archer/Hatch/Morris/Earl. They were top tier in their time, but their time was 10 to 20 years ago. And then the youngish other pros, like Oscar, Saez, Frost, Compton, etc, are simply not as good as any guy on our 2015 team. No offense to them, but they are a ball lower.
Keep the team exactly the same, from top to bottom for 3 years. Work together during the 3 years to build it stronger.
After the 3 years, there might emerge a superstar teenager in the US, that could replace a member.
