Mosconi cup 2015

[Hello, Mr Big Shot]

It's fantastic 9 ball, makes me wonder why a few of the lower ranked snooker players don't have a go at it, especially with the money being good.

Completely different game but they're very talented players, their use of sidespin is exceptional.

Side spin is what makes the game difficult (and very rewarding to play).

Your point about money. Firstly, there's very little money in 9 ball - although the best of the best make a decent living out of it. Secondly, lower ranked snooker pros who give it a go, like mark gray or chris melling or tony drago, tend to be lower ranked pool pros too.

It's a totally different skill set, and one that is unlikely to be directly transferable from snooker. The break alone is huge, and something snooker players are never going to master IMO.

[Hello, Mr Big Shot]

If America are going to make a come back the final night pairings are probably as good as they could of hoped for, but I still strongly fancy Europe to finish the job probably 11-6 or 11-7. But as a spectator its always good to see it close at the end. Bergman will be on a high after winning last night, Van Boening was a bit unlucky with Feijen's golden break, Woodward has been playing pretty well, if Dechaine has any chance of beating anyone it's Ven Den Berg, Deuel has been struggling badly but will have a bit of a boost with his win yesterday. The crowd behavior can be pretty bad but no different from when its held over here, its aimed at being more like a PDC darts atmosphere rather than a snooker match.

Nice summation. Hugely impressed with bergman and woodward, and van boening finally showed up against boyes. Dechaine's appalling stroke makes him a liability and deuell's a bust flush, so they need to go - stick Shaw and Mika in there and the US are competitive. I'm not sure of the rules regarding residency but it's possible they could qualify to play for the usa.

And the crowd were great! Embarrassingly lame chanting from the seppos, but i love that atmosphere for pool.

[Alba_]

Shaw should have been on the Euro team and not that Nick Van Den Berg who was terrible. You can forget about Shaw son he is one of ours

[Hello, Mr Big Shot]

Shaw should have been on the Euro team and not that Nick Van Den Berg who was terrible. You can forget about Shaw son he is one of ours

Shaw is not good enough. He's a loose cannon. Great shot maker but not consistent. The MC is all about consistency, and never making mistakes. Shaw sells out.

NVB, despite being nervous in his singles matches, is a far superior player than shaw.

[Alba_]

I disagree with all of your post.
Nick being far superior to Shaw is laughable really. He's terrible and i called it before it even started.
You say America needs him for them to be competitive then the next line he's not good enough??
Shaw is a better player than the all the players on the US team with exception to SVB so how's he not good enough?
Europe's B,C,D,E,F,G teams would beat Americas A team Just saying. There that bad your trying to poach our boys lol

[Csmith]

It's fantastic 9 ball, makes me wonder why a few of the lower ranked snooker players don't have a go at it, especially with the money being good.

Completely different game but they're very talented players, their use of sidespin is exceptional.

The money isn't that great really. There are a few tournaments that are spaced throughout the year that pay up to 40,000 for the winner (sometimes a bit more), but the prize money at those events are top heavy so you have do very well in the event to break even in travel expenses. Some players make decent money, but they are playing constantly in both bigger events and smaller regional ones.

[Hello, Mr Big Shot]

I disagree with all of your post.
Nick being far superior to Shaw is laughable really. He's terrible and i called it before it even started.
You say America needs him for them to be competitive then the next line he's not good enough??
Shaw is a better player than the all the players on the US team with exception to SVB so how's he not good enough?
Europe's B,C,D,E,F,G teams would beat Americas A team Just saying. There that bad your trying to poach our boys lol

You don't read too good. Shaw is not good enough for Europe, not the US. And bergman just dicked him in a recent challenge match...

As far as NVB goes, his quality is undeniable. Yes he was nervous, but if you think shaw has a better temperament then good luck to you. The MC is all about temperament.

[Hello, Mr Big Shot]

The money isn't that great really. There are a few tournaments that are spaced throughout the year that pay up to 40,000 for the winner (sometimes a bit more), but the prize money at those events are top heavy so you have do very well in the event to break even in travel expenses. Some players make decent money, but they are playing constantly in both bigger events and smaller regional ones.

And they are DAMN good!

[Alba_]

You don't read too good. Shaw is not good enough for Europe, not the US. And bergman just dicked him in a recent challenge match...

As far as NVB goes, his quality is undeniable. Yes he was nervous, but if you think shaw has a better temperament then good luck to you. The MC is all about temperament.

Because he lost a challenge match to Golum means nothing. The better player doesn't always win and especially in 9 ball where you can run 5 racks by holding the break alone. Bergman is **** and is a little creep to go with it. You can see the colour drain from his face when he walks down those stairs after he gets announced. His temperament in the last MC was shocking and iffy in this one too.

So playing for money week in week out to survive in a foreign country and feed your kid does not compare to the MC? Please don't talk silly now son.
He's from Glasgow, the place where you need nerves of steel just to go out for a pint of milk in the morning

[Pleinairrider]

The pressure of the pattern play in rotation is what makes pool challenging. The break is the hardest shot and getting that CB just right for the next shot is where it becomes difficult. The pockets are 4.25" wide - they present a challenge in themselves. More of the table is used in pool and the middle pockets are tricker. Jump shots are NOT easy and Mosconi really had some crazy cut jump shots.
Glad to see pure snooker players enjoyed it.

[Pleinairrider]

Flukes are allowed in 9 ball.

[rdsalt]

I was surprised Van Den Berg seemed so nervous, it was his 7th Mosconi Cup and I thought that his experience was probably one of the main reasons he was picked. Would love to see Shaw play Mosconi and Melling play again too but that's just because I know of them from UK pool. I'm sure Shaw is good enough to play for either team he is a brilliant shot maker but maybe too aggressive for the short matches, although that can easily win you matches as well as lose them. Europe's safety and shot selection was better than the USA's and it was a contributing factor.

[ace man]

It is a good event to also see very different approach to the game and shot selection.
European and especially UK players definitely cue better and straighter which means they are more precise at pure potting and more reliable under pressure.
American players on the other hand are a lot better at speciality shots that require a bit of imagination, such as combinations (plants), jumps, caroms (kisses) off of another ball, banks (doubles)...etc.
I think despite US team getting closer this year, it will be very hard for them to beat team Europe in near future. This event I believe favours pure potters more than heavy breakers.

[Shockerz]

He's from Glasgow, the place where you need nerves of steel just to go out for a pint of milk in the morning

You boys don't drink milk up there do you? I though you had a nip of the strong stuff on your cornflakes.

[Shockerz]

The pressure of the pattern play in rotation is what makes pool challenging. The break is the hardest shot and getting that CB just right for the next shot is where it becomes difficult. The pockets are 4.25" wide - they present a challenge in themselves. More of the table is used in pool and the middle pockets are tricker. Jump shots are NOT easy and Mosconi really had some crazy cut jump shots.
Glad to see pure snooker players enjoyed it.

I thought it was great and really got into it (and the crowd). I only play snooker but it has sort of tempted me to try and find a 9 ball table and have a go for fun.

I remember the 80's when I thought there were a lot of different types of characters in the game, this seems the same in the Mosconi Cup, lots of different temperaments.

The young nipper in the USA team looked good (the one with eyes like P**s holes in the snow). And our one who potted the 9 ball off the break in the 9th rack, what a feeling that must have been.

I will certainly look out for any other televised tournaments; the atmosphere looked like a packed pub but I thought that just added to the needle. Good stuff.