Why does USA keep bringing back proven Mosconi losers?

What I find hilarious and scary at the same time is that almost all of you keep saying you would put Shane on ”your” team - he went 1 and 5, how in any math from anywhere in the world would that be a good thing??? He was involved in giving Europe damn near half their wins.
Jason
 
jasonlaus said:
What I find hilarious and scary at the same time is that almost all of you keep saying you would put Shane on ”your” team - he went 1 and 5, how in any math from anywhere in the world would that be a good thing??? He was involved in giving Europe damn near half their wins.
Jason
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I've been on FB saying the same thing. He is a great player, will go down as one of the goats. He just can't play the team event for whatever reason. Statistically it is not a hump, a drought, a bad day, etc etc etc. There is nothing wrong admitting that a certain game/tournament just isn't for you. It's part of being an adult.
 
Bugz said:
I've been on FB saying the same thing. He is a great player, will go down as one of the goats. He just can't play the team event for whatever reason. Statistically it is not a hump, a drought, a bad day, etc etc etc. There is nothing wrong admitting that a certain game/tournament just isn't for you. It's part of being an adult.
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Totally agree. Shane is the lone-wolf player. For whatever reason(s) the MC is just not his forte. One-on-one action/tourn. match play is a whole different deal from team play. He may eventually adapt/warm-up to Cup play but so far its a struggle.
 
As I've said MANY TIMES before, the prize fund needs to be winners take all!!! Maybe, and I mean maybe pay airfare / lodging. You have to earn your keep. I might even have an F it attitude if I knew I was gonna get $10k even if I don't make a ball. Also, there's nothing u fair about winner take all - with the exception of maybe one tourney you play well or you go home broke. That seems like a great motivator to me.

To be completely honest we have players ; every one of our players actually, that can and do beat any of the Euros on any given day in all other formats. People keep on acting like there's a huge skill gap between US and Euros. Really I don't see any skill gap, just performance issues. What's the best way to overcome performance issues? Motivation. If it's not gonna be national pride then make it good old greenbacks - the all time biggest motivator. Same thing that motivates all of us even in our every day normal lives. As I said in another thread, I'd bet a handful of our local gamblers could do better. Even if they didn't straight up win it ( although there IS a skill gap between them and the pros - albeit small, these guys are skilled enough to beat anyone in the world in these short sets and most importantly they are scrappers for the cash and DO have ice water running thru them!

Yup, make the Mosconi more of an action match, just like Gambling and watch what happens. Right now it's JUST an exhibition and you get $10k for having a pulse. Lol. Let's say these guys ( pool players ) really need the money , are you gonna try harder if you're planning
a Ying for your food and rent money etc? - and that's not a hard assumption to make with the state of pro pool here in the US - and let's see if that lights a fire. Let's see if they would then practice practice practice for it knowing it's a great payday if they win. One thing is absolute and that's whatever we are doing now does not work - period!
 
iusedtoberich said:
Europe can pick any of 20 players and win this cup. USA can't even pick 5 players, because we don't have 5. That is the crux of it. Nothing more, nothing less.
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Sad but true. Have been doing a lot of travel lately and the difference between the average American pool hall and those in Europe and Asia is truly shocking. In much of the US its nearly impossible to find a place to play at all, and when you do there are hardly any young players at all. Meanwhile in Europe and Asia the clubs are filled with young guns.

Outside a few areas, pool has ceased to be a part of American culture, and the talent pool is rather shallow. There are good players out there, and top talents too, but the environment and culture to cultivate that talent just isn't there anymore. Perhaps Team USA should be Team America (North America) to allow Canadians, and/or Team Europe could be restricted to people who actually reside in Europe. That would even out the talent pool a bit.

For the coaching issue, I don't think Johann was the way to go. I'm sure he's a nice guy and all, but not someone the US players look to for inspiration/guidance. Team USA/America coach should be Rodney Morris. He's got the right attitude and he has the players respect.
 
All I saw this year, last year and the year before was a lot of choke, but that's what happens under the pressure of the Mosconi Cup when you have poor technique.
 
Europe, for whatever reason, is just way deeper.
Scary to think they won this easily without Daz and Niels Feijen, arguably two of the best European players as well.
 
My ONLY question is WGAF who wins, besides the player, and maybe someone who is betting on a match?
 
Picks

jasonlaus said:
What I find hilarious and scary at the same time is that almost all of you keep saying you would put Shane on ”your” team - he went 1 and 5, how in any math from anywhere in the world would that be a good thing??? He was involved in giving Europe damn near half their wins.
Jason
Click to expand...

Shane is the best player in the US and there’s no question about that, but the MC format is not his cup of tea. The races are just too short which makes the luck factor come into play more than normal in 9 ball. One lucky roll or one missed shot could cost you the match in a race to five plus the luck of the break shot and all this equals a huge amount of pressure for team USA. They’ve lost so many times in a row that the pressure to win is unreal to get back to winning for team USA. Europe has so many countries to get players from and pool is big in Europe. I’d like to see it changed to Europe vs North America which would open the door for Team USA to add some of the top players who live in Canada. What about the Europeans who live in the US being eligible to play on the US team like Mika, Darren, and Thorsten who are top players not playing for Europe.
 
Firstly, I am European, so will be slightly biased anyway.
IMO alot of the comments on this thread show why the USA is not going to win again in the near future.
These comments look backwards to the players of old, whereas you should be looking forwards.
Like it or not the game as evolved and moved on all over the world except the US.
The amount of posts generally that say things like: It's got to be winner breaks, got to be 1 on the spot, got to be true double elim, got to be played on a Diamond or Brunswick, cloth is not thick enough, etc.
Every little change seems to be opposed.
So now as there is little money in the game and most Americans don't travel abroad. They stay stateside playing US style pool.
The rest of the world are now playing a different game.
So like the changes in the game or not, to be competitive you need to have the same mindset as the rest of the pool world and play the same game.
Do I believe the US has the talented players to do this if they learnt to play 'world pool'.......yes I do.
 
Heck, I would have just put in Earl "The Pearl" Strickland on the team to mess with their mojo.

We don;t need to be liked, just need to win.

:D:D:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
 
GB Basher: I suspect you are pretty much right, but what exactly do you mean by “world pool” and how does it differ from how pool is played in U.S.?
 
It's a sad fact,that Europe beat the U.S. without Hohmann,Appleton, Feijen, Immonen, and many other Champions! That's beside the fact that the U.S. doesn't expose our younger population to the beauty of the Game at an early at,well enough,and American Pool still allows an unhealthy image of Pool to exist. America doesn't promote,train,or select the best Players out of our population. The U.S. has a long way to go to catch up with the rest of the World in International competition,and there seems to be more great,young players coming from other parts of the World. The excuse-making from us Americans is sickening,and embarrassing.
 
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