I read 5 pm Vegas time.
No chance for Frost. Harsh reality
- Thread starter actionplayer
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I read 5 pm Vegas time.
Frost is a complete killer when playing almost any 1-pocket players on the planet. His offensive style and ability combined with his ability to design traps for his opponent make him a favorite against almost anyone. When listening to the commentary by Scott Rabon and Gentile (two extremely knowledgeable and accomplished 1-pocket players in their own right) you often hear then talk of taking on tough bank shots Scott has forced Alex into, or dangerous tough to accomplish safety returns Scott has forced Alex to play. These two guy who are awesome at 1-pocket being trapped into those tough shots is why Scott is such a feared and effective 1-pocket player. He forces very good players into bad situations where they cannot see any "easy" escapes and they are forced into lower percentage offensive shots or defensive plays. These shots are often played, missed because they are low percentage, and Scott tortures the person for it with his high offense abilities.
The problem is, Alex does not react to Scott's traps like anyone else. While Alex sits and stares at the table and all the different options Rabon and Gentile are saying "Wow, I think he needs to play this bank and run the cueball 4 rails around the table and avoid all the traffic and try to get safe". Then Alex shoots a shot the announcers never even thought of, rolling the cueball safe and taking a foul, or playing a stop-shot and freezing Scott to a ball on the side of the table most 1-pocket players think they "must" get away from and it leaves Scott without the offensive chance he thought his safety was going to gain him. The announcers go "wow, I did not think of that, a simple shot that works", and Scott is left flustered and does not get to torture his opponent like he normally gets to.
Alex is a triple smart 1-pocket player. He does things most 1-pocket players (even the accomplished ones) do not see. He finds shots like that 2 ball carom shot early in the match off of what "looked" like a good break by Scott and gets a game from what looked like nowhere. He does not get forced into the shots that Scott tries to force him to shoot that almost all other players get forced into shooting (and missing). Scott simply does not control a 1-pocket match against Alex like his does with almost any other player on the planet. Alex does not get goaded into shooting the brutally tough shots, he finds ways to spin stuff 180 degrees and back onto Scott and forces HIM to make the tough shots, and that is not how Scott usually plays. Scott is used to forcing the action, but Alex does not let him, he forces it right back onto Scott and Scott to date in this match has had to shoot at least as many tough shots as Alex has been forced into shooting. That is a losing game for Scott because as shotmakers Alex is going to win most of those battles.
The problem is, Alex does not react to Scott's traps like anyone else. While Alex sits and stares at the table and all the different options Rabon and Gentile are saying "Wow, I think he needs to play this bank and run the cueball 4 rails around the table and avoid all the traffic and try to get safe". Then Alex shoots a shot the announcers never even thought of, rolling the cueball safe and taking a foul, or playing a stop-shot and freezing Scott to a ball on the side of the table most 1-pocket players think they "must" get away from and it leaves Scott without the offensive chance he thought his safety was going to gain him. The announcers go "wow, I did not think of that, a simple shot that works", and Scott is left flustered and does not get to torture his opponent like he normally gets to.
Alex is a triple smart 1-pocket player. He does things most 1-pocket players (even the accomplished ones) do not see. He finds shots like that 2 ball carom shot early in the match off of what "looked" like a good break by Scott and gets a game from what looked like nowhere. He does not get forced into the shots that Scott tries to force him to shoot that almost all other players get forced into shooting (and missing). Scott simply does not control a 1-pocket match against Alex like his does with almost any other player on the planet. Alex does not get goaded into shooting the brutally tough shots, he finds ways to spin stuff 180 degrees and back onto Scott and forces HIM to make the tough shots, and that is not how Scott usually plays. Scott is used to forcing the action, but Alex does not let him, he forces it right back onto Scott and Scott to date in this match has had to shoot at least as many tough shots as Alex has been forced into shooting. That is a losing game for Scott because as shotmakers Alex is going to win most of those battles.
Scott ain't gonna beat anybody if he keeps missing critical long shots.
hmmm
If Scott keeps blaming everything but himself for poor play, losses etc. Then he will never get better. Champions need at least some level of humility.
If Scott keeps blaming everything but himself for poor play, losses etc. Then he will never get better. Champions need at least some level of humility.
This is good copy. That being said Scott missed too many easy shots. Even Alex missed straight in his hole with ball in hand in the kitchen.
Both players looked a little snake bit to me but Alex played better overall. If you miss easy shots against great players there is only one outcome.
4 1/8" they said
I think 4 and 1/8th.
Don't think there was a more clear way to describe this matchup and why Alex seems to be Scott's Kryptonite.
<~~~~~~~~~~~ Thinks Alex has everyone's Kryptonite
I agree with all of this, but I've also seen Alex be the victim of the same thing he put on Scott. Alex payed Efren in the 2006 DCC 1P semi-finals, and hit so many amazing safety shots that the commentators (Incardona and the Beard) were beside themselves - only to have Efren turn it around on him every time. Alex played as good a game as I've ever seen and Efren walked right over him.
But here's why Alex is my favorite player - he plays at the highest levels of skill and creativity, but gets creamed anyway, so how does he react? With smiles and clear admiration for Efren.
pj
chgo
Same thing...........
When you lose and say you played terrible it's an excuse.
Scott just goes into more detail.
We all feel that way when we lose.
I just had a guy get on the forum and say I made an excuse for losing a match in a big tourney.
I broke the balls and they broke like mud. We racked for each other in this tournament. It's only a race to 7. I won a game and broke again. Broke like mud again. Now I'm behind 5-2. I win another game and check the rack. There are gaps where they shouldn't be. I tell him to tighten it up. His reply is ,,,you can't get them perfect. My reply was,,,,,,,,you certainly can get them better than that. I lose.
6 months later this anonymous guy comes onto a thread I have and accuses me of making excuses I guess because I was checking the rack and arguing with a player that he said would never do that. He said this guy would never try to give a bad rack.
Like Scott and Alex and everyone else that plays well, you know when you hit the rack and it sounds kind of sick, the balls only get one rail, you know the rack was not good.
Whether it's the guy doing it on purpose, which it usually is in a rack for each other tourney, or he's just a bad racker, usually not the case with higher level players. You have to put an end to it or you have no chance unless you do it back to him.
Let the players vent and say why they thought they lost without criticism.
A player like Scott can usually look at about 3 or 4 shots for a match like this that would have turned the whole thing around.
I really like the fact that Scott has a personal trainer that he has been working with. A player needs to be in tip top shape to play at his or her best.
I used to work out allot when I was on the top of the heap on the bar table. Worked out everyday I could with a friend. He was like a personal trainer.
Scotts a great player and a good guy. Let him vent a little and not be too critical.
One thing for sure is you know that he is going in there with both guns blazing.
What more can you ask for.
Good Luck Mr Scott Frost. from your old buddy Gene...............
When you lose and say you played terrible it's an excuse.
Scott just goes into more detail.
We all feel that way when we lose.
I just had a guy get on the forum and say I made an excuse for losing a match in a big tourney.
I broke the balls and they broke like mud. We racked for each other in this tournament. It's only a race to 7. I won a game and broke again. Broke like mud again. Now I'm behind 5-2. I win another game and check the rack. There are gaps where they shouldn't be. I tell him to tighten it up. His reply is ,,,you can't get them perfect. My reply was,,,,,,,,you certainly can get them better than that. I lose.
6 months later this anonymous guy comes onto a thread I have and accuses me of making excuses I guess because I was checking the rack and arguing with a player that he said would never do that. He said this guy would never try to give a bad rack.
Like Scott and Alex and everyone else that plays well, you know when you hit the rack and it sounds kind of sick, the balls only get one rail, you know the rack was not good.
Whether it's the guy doing it on purpose, which it usually is in a rack for each other tourney, or he's just a bad racker, usually not the case with higher level players. You have to put an end to it or you have no chance unless you do it back to him.
Let the players vent and say why they thought they lost without criticism.
A player like Scott can usually look at about 3 or 4 shots for a match like this that would have turned the whole thing around.
I really like the fact that Scott has a personal trainer that he has been working with. A player needs to be in tip top shape to play at his or her best.
I used to work out allot when I was on the top of the heap on the bar table. Worked out everyday I could with a friend. He was like a personal trainer.
Scotts a great player and a good guy. Let him vent a little and not be too critical.
One thing for sure is you know that he is going in there with both guns blazing.
What more can you ask for.
Good Luck Mr Scott Frost. from your old buddy Gene...............
Absolutely. Efren was basically like Alex, only even more inventive. Efren was basically unbeatable for about a decade there in 1-pocket. He was simply untrappable. You could not force Efren into doing anything you wanted him to do, he turned bad situations his opponent thought they had him in into the complete opposite by doing things noone ever even thought of before.
Alex is basically doing what Efren used to do to everyone. Not quite at the same level, but he is the best we have now. Scott could not handle Efren back then and he cannot handle Alex today.
Now mind you... Alex needs to stop missing straight in shots and ball in hand. He has not actually "shot" that well yet. He is winning so far because he is actually out moving Scott.
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Alex is winning because he is shooting better than Scott. Alex is moving well with simple solutions that work better than the aggressive ornate solutions that Scott is laying down. If Scott wants to get back into the match he needs to squeeze.
If Scott did not miss shots he usually would make this match would be very close. Early on in the match he made a long shot to his pocket, just to have the cue ball go two rails into the corner pocket. After that he was snake bit on the long shots.
Both players were snake bit in the beginning. Efren is the most creative and fun to watch player when he is on his game. His stroke alone is a thing of intense beauty. Parica back in the day was hell on wheels taking down the cash.
The Pinoys seems to handle loss better than a lot of players from other places. I think the mind set might be that just being a professional pool player and travelling the world they have already won the lottery compared to most other Pinoys.
That Efren vs. Alex match was really the most amazing pool I've ever seen. That's the year Efren ran over Jason Miller (think it was him, the guy who won the banks) before playing Alex, with equally amazing play.
My favorite too. Unfortunately I don't think you can find it on YouTube, but Accu-Stats has it.
pj
chgo
Reason I didn't buy stream. Next will be jump cues in 14.1 75th WORLD. Johnnyt
I don't agree with this. Both Alex and Scott missed a lot of shots in the match. Alex missed a easy shot with ball in hand, he has flubbed a lot of large ball runs with weak shape play, and his banking has been very inconsistent. He is jumping up on a lot of shots and does not look confident on long pots so far, which is uncharacteristic for him because these are all relative hangers compared to his snooker experience. Alex is normally insanely accurate on tight Diamond tables. He out shot SVB on the Fatboy rails and lost only because of his inability to break effectively.
The best offensive ball running in this match was from Scott early in the match when he had some good banks leading to 8 and outs and a 4-2 lead. He simply could not keep up that level of play over the long run with Alex constantly putting pressure on him and giving him so many tough opening shots.
Alex has not turned on the offensive gears yet and is winning this match in the trenches. If Alex gets his offensive ball running and banking to his top gear to go along with his moving ability this could be a fairly short second night of pool because Scott cannot match Alex's best on either front.