Matchroom is taking some undeserved heat in this thread.
Yes, in the rear view mirror, some of the final result may be hard to fathom or explain, but that's hardly the point.
In the wake of Team USAs eight year losing streak, Matchroom and Johan created a vehicle by which Americans who were committed enough could make big strides in their game before the 2018 Mosconi. It was called boot camp training, and I praised them for it immediately while so many on this very forum knocked it.
The truth is, however, that the player who, arguably, embraced the tough boot camp training program more than any other has the most to show for it. That would be Skyler Woodward, who beat champion after champion at the just completed International 9-ball Open, and he was quick to credit Johan's training as the key to his great success.
The numerous American pros who failed to take advantage of this opportunity and those who praised or pardoned them for not buying in, to some extent, undermined the program developed by Matchroom and Johan to help Team USA narrow the gap between themselves and Europe.
Still, the fact remains that the ideas and methodologies proposed were well grounded, and because so many of America's premier players opted out of boot camp, it was impossible to restrict selections to those who participated.
I'm still giving Matchroom a lot of credit here and I don't think there was anything poorly considered in their approach other than the ultimately faulty assumption that American Mosconi hopefuls, with few exceptions, would embrace the opportunity for a new, more intensive, type of training.
