InsertCleverNameHere
Well-known member
I’d bet on Filler playing 14.1 and 9ball pretty comfortably.
With Fedor Winning Banks Who would you put against him?
- Thread starter u12armresl
- Start date
9-ball: Filler is clear favorite
10-ball: Fedor slight favorite
1-pkt: Fedor slight favorite
Banks: Fedor clear favorite
I'm too young to have watched prime Eddie Taylor or Bugs Rucker, so I leave comparison of those to Fedor to others.
My sense here is that prime Brumback or Varner vs the Gorst of today is a coin toss at bank pool. As others have noted, the knowledge gap has grown small. There may be a couple of shots that Brumback knows that Fedor hasn't learned yet and if you want to learn banks, John Brumback is your guy, but Fedor executes at a slightly higher level, and his speed control is, in my opinion, comparable to that of Efren Reyes.
As Fedor doesn't play banks as often as John did, it's uncertain that his bank pool game will continue to develop much further, but the sky is the limit for him.
If asked who, of the current crop, would have the best chance to beat Fedor in a race to ten at bank pool, my choice would be Evan Lunda.
My sense here is that prime Brumback or Varner vs the Gorst of today is a coin toss at bank pool. As others have noted, the knowledge gap has grown small. There may be a couple of shots that Brumback knows that Fedor hasn't learned yet and if you want to learn banks, John Brumback is your guy, but Fedor executes at a slightly higher level, and his speed control is, in my opinion, comparable to that of Efren Reyes.
As Fedor doesn't play banks as often as John did, it's uncertain that his bank pool game will continue to develop much further, but the sky is the limit for him.
If asked who, of the current crop, would have the best chance to beat Fedor in a race to ten at bank pool, my choice would be Evan Lunda.
I don't know what happened at the Derby, but Thorpe stayed at Gorst's house the week before for tuneup practice. I watched Thorpe beat Fedor handily, 3-0, in their first session of Banks pool, as I mentioned in another thread. (Gorst streamed the session.).
Thorpe made everything seem routine and easy. IMO, he's the best pure banker among top pros. Sky is right up there, too.
Nothing makes me think Fedor is a better pure banker. He's just seems better at not giving his opponents a good look when he's got no good shot at a reasonable bank. Great banker, to be sure, but I'd take Thorpe if I needed a bank to save a life.
You have to play the game for a while though for all the shots to come up, and to learn from the mistakes. 1 tournament per year is not going to cut it. Unless, your competition is in the same boat, which today it is.
I've said countless times on here, all pool games are just a ball and a stick. The better player will win. When it comes to specialty games they never played before, it might take them a few months to get there, but they eventually will.
If we transplanted Gorst to 1960 or 1970 and he played 9 ball every day, and only one banks tournament per year.... while Bugs, Taylor, Brumback, played nothing but Bank Pool every day, I'd bet on the Banks specialists.
They all thought the same thing about 1pckt(which is a lot harder than banks) and these same guys ran over the specialists. Their shotmaking and cueball control are just too great for the "specialists" to overcome.
I love watching Chohan play but I wouldn't bet a nickel on him vs Fedor
InsertCleverNameHere
Well-known member
the main thing that separates Fedor from the field is his cueball. Most banks he misses leave absolutely nothing. Billy, Skylar, Justin Hall even might be better at just purely making a bank but Fedor's cueball control and selection is superior. Hard to overcome being glued to the end rail 7 feet away all the time.
I believe they recently played a long one pocket race with Fedor giving up a ball. Fedor ran over him pretty easy as I recall.
Oh good lord.... A reasonable, sensible response from you.
Is this one of the signs of the upcoming apocalyspe?
Or mebbe Sweet Baby Jesus™ is coming back?
Don't agree. Yes, all the multi-railers are known, but the specialists have more ways to play the defense off the more obscure shots than those that only play bank pool occasionally and they are more skillful at beating the kiss off of certain shots. In short, they still enjoy a small, but real knowledge edge. Still, I'm not sure it is enough to overcome Fedor's edge in execution of the more standard shots in bank pool.
Back in the day, I felt full rack banks was almost unwatchable. Too slow.
InsertCleverNameHere
Well-known member
Can Fedor continue to refine his banks? Yes of course. But he isn’t learning a new bank he doesn’t know already. The specialists have no knowledge edge at all imo. He knows as much or more than any player playing today aside from Efren and even Efren couldn’t show him a bank he doesn’t know.
I'd have taken Eddie Taylor against any of them, including Gorst. It's my understanding that the man didn't miss often.
I saw him play! Eddie was a great all around pool player, not a specialist by any means. He just happened to excel at Bank Pool and One Pocket, where his banking ability helped him a great deal. You would never see Taylor hit any bank bad, everything went right at the pocket. He would whack them in and also slow roll one if necessary. He was the only player I ever saw bank a ball and make it bounce over the edge of an impeding ball. He might hit a point once in a while, but if he could see it he could bank it. Taylor is the only player I ever saw throw all the balls on the table and bank them all without missing. Let Fedor try that!
Plus Eddie had that supreme confidence. He never showed any weakness or lack of confidence. He would smile if his opponent made a few banks. He liked good competition. In fact he thrived on it. Only Bugs and Cannonball could play him even, and they were still underdogs.
is that!
He and Bugs never missed. Eddy was a little before Bugs time but they both spoke highly of each other and called each other the best ever. Gorst aint beating either of them on no day.
good point. a lot of players got sauce, some more than others- but to be the best you have to be truly *precise*
and the longer the game/set, the more precision plays its part. many can win a short one, but I'll take the american (from russia) over time..