Top 8 Mosconi picks announced!!!

voiceofreason said:
Good luck to Wilson and the rest of the team. Hopefully you'll make a bit more of a fight of it this year... :)
Click to expand...

Great to hear Mr. Wilson is working on the team.
Yes, it seems a little premature to be announcing names already, but it looks good that players are being thought about.

SVB is obviously a great choice. NOT because of his skill but because of his temperament.
(I notice he has gotten a little cocky over the past few years, but then who wouldn't?)
Corey D. is another great choice. Knows how to stay cool.
Oscar indeed has a great attitude.

I hope to God that John Schmidt is NOT picked.
He is a fun guy when things are going well, but he tends to have a bad attitude (give up) when things aren't so peachy.
Besides, there are better overall picks. Schmidt is a specialist—he doesn't bode well for MC. PICK ANOTHER PLEASE!

Brandon Shuff is another great pick. Cool head, knows how to stay in focus

The fifth pick IMO should be someone who is a veteran.
I mean, come on, let's not pick young players just for the sake of picking young players!
We have to be smart! Pick someone older who meshes well with the other guys. someone who can inject years of experience.
And no, I'm not talking about Earl or Hatch. A good fit here would be Johnny WITHOUT his children present.

ALSO PLEASE do not nominate SVB as vice-captain.
There is no need to give him that extra title right now.
Let him concentrate on the action. Please do this!
 
Last edited:
boogeyman said:
...ALSO PLEASE do not nominate SVB as vice-captain.
There is no need to give him that extra title right now.
Let him concentrate on the action. Please do this!
Click to expand...

A vice-captain has already been chosen. It's Willebetmore (Don Wardell). :)
 
nicksaint26 said:
If the US is trying to win and build a young team with talent I just don't understand how you cannot have MD on the team. He is the clear cut number 2 in the US behind SVB in my opinion and I say this as someone who knows Mike and has not always got along with him. However when trying to field the best team and win you pick the best players! I leave personal feelings aside when trying to win. It should be about ability period. I am not saying the other choices aren't all great players but besides SVB Ill bet Dechaine over anyone listed.
Click to expand...

I agree with this....Mike Dechaine belongs on this team....
...if results don't mean anything, it's just another 'old boy' system...
...and it's not supporting pool in America.

I also don't like having only five players...it gives the captain no opportunity
to bench somebody....last year they needed 8 players, 'cause 3 of
them should've been put on the bench.

And I've been saying since the inception of the Cup....
..Europe is a continent...so is North America.
One Canadian and one Mexican would achieve this balance.
Alex and Shane, although fierce competitors, like and respect each other....
...they would be great on the same team.

And the Euros that have made the US their home....
...should consider citizenship.
 
BeiberLvr said:
As far as Landon goes, him not being picked shuts down all the favoritism talk, and shows that Mark is actually considering results as well.

I still think he would have been a great pick, but I understand why he's not there.

My picks

SVB
Corey
Schmidt
Oscar
Hall
Click to expand...

I don't understand why Landon would even be considered. What has he done lately? I know he's a great player but it seems apparent that he is a college student focusing on his studies and playing on his college team.

His inclusion with this group of professional players wouldn't make any sense.
 
lukemindish said:
Love that hes changing things up and mixing in young talent with veterans. My team would be as follows:

SVB
Corey Deuel
Oscar
Justin Hall
Justin Bergman

I do have to say that Im very surprised that Mike Dechaine is not on the list her. I definitely thought that he would be at least in the list of players to be considered.
Click to expand...

Yes, Dechaine is a wonderful player.
Unfortunately, he has a personal reputation that is suspect.
That being the case, it was probably good NOT to have Dechaine on the team.
I do feel bad here because Dechaine definitely is one of our best.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JAM
JAM said:
I find it unusual that the names are announced so early, now in March 2014, for a December 2014 happening.
Click to expand...

Like any team, time to work together and other issues that need addressing. They will also have plenty of time to train.:thumbup2:
 
nicksaint26 said:
If the US is trying to win and build a young team with talent I just don't understand how you cannot have MD on the team.
Click to expand...


Have you looked at his MC record?? His winning percentage is less than 20% over two times playing for USA. Just saying, why not give someone else a shot. I know he is a great player but so are these other candidates.
 
I think this is a sad day for American pool. Last time I checked this was a rotation game between the US and Europe. This is not 1 pocket, bank pool, etc. In the United States SVB is top on everybodys list and 2nd through 5th is a tossup, however Mike Dechaine is top 5 in the country HANDS DOWN!!!! I don't think anybody on this list aside of SVB wants to play MD in 9 ball or 10 ball for the cash. If they do, you can send me a private email to Ryan@bridgemgt.com and I will arrange something. I think the fairest way to see who represents OUR country to get this title back is to have a playoff or round robin format, even if it has to be regionally based among the top 12-16 players in the country. I don't mean to rant, but when I look at this list and see that Dechaine gives the 8 or 9 playing 10 ball to most players on this list is sickening that he is not even considered. JMO
 
poolpro345 said:
I think this is a sad day for American pool. Last time I checked this was a rotation game between the US and Europe. This is not 1 pocket, bank pool, etc. In the United States SVB is top on everybodys list and 2nd through 5th is a tossup, however Mike Dechaine is top 5 in the country HANDS DOWN!!!! I don't think anybody on this list aside of SVB wants to play MD in 9 ball or 10 ball for the cash. If they do, you can send me a private email to Ryan@bridgemgt.com and I will arrange something. I think the fairest way to see who represents OUR country to get this title back is to have a playoff or round robin format, even if it has to be regionally based among the top 12-16 players in the country. I don't mean to rant, but when I look at this list and see that Dechaine gives the 8 or 9 playing 10 ball to most players on this list is sickening that he is not even considered. JMO
Click to expand...

Nice first post, poolpro345. :) A member since June 2011. Wow! :cool:
 
boogeyman said:
ALSO PLEASE do not nominate SVB as vice-captain.
There is no need to give him that extra title right now.
Let him concentrate on the action. Please do this!
Click to expand...

The article states that SVB and Don Wardell are the vice-captains.. "Head of the pack and named as one of his two vice-captains is SHANE VAN BOENING,"
 
Looks like what people were expecting -
The past-their-prime "TV names" like archer and strickland are out. The young guns are in.

It sucks that pool politics or whatever is hurting our chances by keeping out Dechaine.
I don't know what the 'behavior' is that might rule him out... crying about Corey's big turkey dinner?
Smacking his stick on the table? Talking trash to someone? None of this stuff seems like a big deal.

He has more tournament experience and higher finishes (especially in big money high pressure events)
than many of these guys. And he has mosconi cup experience which makes him less likely
to dog it under pressure. The skills are there so this is clearly something else.

Anyway, it's a done deal.

The 5 I like:

Shane - duh

Corey - loads of seasoning, won all sorts of majors, won a us open, made the finals of another.
Won a turning stone. I think we need him because he is a 9b rack scientist and we need someone
who can figure out how to get maximum results out of this center break matchroom forces them to use.

Schmidt - I feel like at least one guy out of his 30's might be good for the team.
And his 9b/10b resume is good. US Open, Valley Forge, some TAR events, a million tour stops.
I am concerned he's either past his prime or else has been inactive too long.
Maybe his A game is still available and he just has other interests.

Oscar - he's getting better. He won the east coast championship, and 3rd a few weeks ago,
and lots of top-10 finishes in the us open, USBTC, etc.
But, he always seems to be hovering around the top finishes without actually winning the tournaments.
Is that bad luck or does he dog it a little as he gets closer to winning an event?

Justin Hall - sort of next best thing to having MD, he enters a lot of events and
has won pretty good money for a pool player. His specialty seems to be more 1p and banks
than 9b but if I you could only pick one justin, it absolutely should be Hall.

----

Bergman - sorry, he feels too much like a flavor of the week to me.
Yeah he won a DCC 1p last year, and that's awesome.
But for the 4 years prior to that, he entered only like 2-5 tournaments a year
and won nothing, except one small $400 tour stop. Without any 9b majors
and only facing tournament pressure a few times per year, he is not likely
to perform well in the highest pressure 9b event.

Sossei - no huge objection, similar to Hall. I just think Hall's got a little edge lately.

Shuff - I like this guy a lot and like his game, it just seems like he's mostly winning when
he's in his comfort zone playing our local tour stops. He wins a ton of those.
But when he travels and plays in the larger events, almost no first place finishes.
He didn't kick ass at his last mosconi cup but having the experience is a plus.
The skills are there, I'd be fine with him replacing hall or oscar if he can tap into his best game.
 
Well, let me add this to the fray! :embarrassed2:

We've got a long, long, long way to go until December 2014. Let's see what unfolds in the coming months.

In the end, it's Matchroom Sport's show, and my thoughts about this company are, and have always been, that they go out of their way to be fair to all. Every year, they have had to change the selection criteria because the American pool political machine was corrupt. Matchroom Sport wanted the show to go on, however, so they kept adjusting, trying to make something good happen for the United States.

I'm going to sit back and enjoy the show. Whoever is on Team USA, I'll be pulling for them, as usual.

USA, ALL THE WAY!
 
MOJOE said:
Have you looked at his MC record?? His winning percentage is less than 20% over two times playing for USA. Just saying, why not give someone else a shot. I know he is a great player but so are these other candidates.
Click to expand...

Shuff's record is that much better? And I love Shuff but
 
pt109 said:
I agree with this....Mike Dechaine belongs on this team....
...if results don't mean anything, it's just another 'old boy' system...
...and it's not supporting pool in America.

I also don't like having only five players...it gives the captain no opportunity
to bench somebody....last year they needed 8 players, 'cause 3 of
them should've been put on the bench.

And I've been saying since the inception of the Cup....
..Europe is a continent...so is North America.
One Canadian and one Mexican would achieve this balance.
Alex and Shane, although fierce competitors, like and respect each other....
...they would be great on the same team.

And the Euros that have made the US their home....
...should consider citizenship.
Click to expand...

Respectfully disagree on Dechaine. imo Dechaine's personality really makes it hard to argue for his inclusion in a team based event. Chemistry will make or break any Mosconi cup team and Dechaine's personality would not have improved chemistry.

There is no denying that Dechaine has skills and is accomplished. Ask yourself why he is widely disliked by other players? Its not because of jealousy.
 
Great choices for the new Mosconi Team. Congrats to all. I'm going to plan to see this years tournament.

Good Luck...
 
DeMike DeChaine would indeed be a good pick but keep in mind that we don't know the whole story. Perhaps he DeClined or DeNied the opportunity to be a part of DeTeam. Maybe he will be unavailable. Maybe he lost his passport. I don't pretend to know.
I'm just sayin. We have a good foundation from which to build a house o' pain.
Get past the what-ifs ands or buts, and back our guys up .
Nowhere to go but up at this point.

< -- uses super powers for good, not evil.:grin:
 
I'm surprised with this list

No hatch
No archer
No Rodney
No Dechaine
I wanna see
Svb
Corey
Sossei
John Schmidt
Oscar or shuff
 
nicksaint26 said:
Shuff's record is that much better? And I love Shuff but
Click to expand...

I think he's pointing out that Mike's played twice. He mentioned earlier that the first time can be rough for people who haven't experienced it. It's a lot of pressure.

I really like Brandon for this team. He's a guy that has all of the skills and knowledge to be a top player, but needs to work on his focus. Every once in a while, he'll just one-stroke something, and that seems to his biggest (only) weakness, which ties right in with what CreeDo was saying about getting his best wins in his comfort zone. Working with a world-class coach like Mark could really help pull his best game out. And his best game could beat anybody. And the 3rd place finish at Turning Stone last year could be a sign that he's getting more comfortable at bigger events already.

But I think we're being a little unfair making judgments at this point in the game... the whole point of picking the players and announcing this early is to give them a chance to try working together and give Mark 9 months to help develop them, both as players and as a team. I'm willing to bet that come November, we're going to see some changes in all of their games (at least the ones whose initials aren't SVB).
 
Mr. Bond said:
DeMike DeChaine would indeed be a good pick but keep in mind that we don't know the whole story. Perhaps he DeClined or DeNied the opportunity to be a part of DeTeam. Maybe he will be unavailable. Maybe he lost his passport. I don't pretend to know.
I'm just sayin. We have a good foundation from which to build a house o' pain.
Get past the what-ifs ands or buts, and back our guys up .
Nowhere to go but up at this point.

< -- uses super powers for good, not evil.:grin:
Click to expand...

I know for a fact that he did not decline
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top