Tom I have to go with Dr.Bill's way of playing the shot.Your way is to tough and a sell out. Remember to breath again so you get more oxygen to your one pocket brain. Also too early in game for shooting a sell out shot. Maybe getting back into stroke gave you confidence but when you get down to shoot I'm sure you'll change your mind. Also you forgot the table is a 5x10.
Wow, I would never have thought to do something as radical as that.
Thanks Larry for showing us this sequence of shots. Very interesting choice of shot.
Tom
I consider Corey a great shot maker but a poor one pocket mover. He is the only person who would shoot that shot. The worst shot selection he could have played. I saw Corey play Dippity and couldn't believe his shot selection, Dippity loved playing Corey. He also outmoved Corey. Remember I did say he is a great shot maker which can overcome bad moving sometimes.IMO
i was writing while you were posting
but i agree corey sometimes sees things alittle differently than most of us.....
Wow, I would never have thought to do something as radical as that.
Thanks Larry for showing us this sequence of shots. Very interesting choice of shot.
Tom
For Corey to choose that option the combo must have been dead in Efrens pocket and I still don't like his choice
Corey is certainly not a poor mover playing one pocket. He may be guilty of playing with too much imagination, in terms of being overly creative, however, playing on the 5x10 will help him with his style of play, imo. Playing on the 5x10 as opposed to playing on the 4-1/2x9 the game changes. The extra space the 5x10 offers allows you a degree of freedom which was evidenced here with the shot Corey shot. Also, positions like the one Corey shot from playing on the 5x10, are easier to defend then playing on a smaller table. It's for that reason I don't agree with Tom's choice on playing the 8ball, especially when playing a great ball runner like Reyes with a 3 to 0 lead. I really don't remember how this game turned out but to fault Corey for this move, to me is being a little too critical.
Lets not forget that Corey won the one pocket division at the DCC year before last, came in third at the US Open last year, and second at the US Open this year. Poor movers just don't get those kind of things done.:sorry
Dr. Bill
I'm sure if the 11ball was positioned to shoot and stick under the 8ball Corey would of shot it. You must give him the benefit of the doubt here with such an obvious correct shot like the shoot and stick shot he was offered. The shot that Corey chose suggest to me that that shot wasn't there (awkward angle) So he decided to open up some balls and possibly break up a good combo for Reyes. He also left the cue ball in a semi-tough position. He probably was hoping to get a better result with his shot but never the less imo he got a result he can live with.For the record, I think Corey's shot sucked rotten eggs with a bent straw. He had so many options he could have chosen it is mind boggling that he elected to shoot that shot. That is what I found to be so interesting.
Rob, you are probably right in thinking the combo was dead for Efren but so what? Efren had so many loose balls surrounding his hole that a dead combination would make no difference. From up table (and this is where Corey left him) any one ball was as good as another to begin his run of the table. If Corey was so worried about the dead ball he could easily have ducked off the eight and under the stack leaving Efren somewhere on the bottom rail. I am not advocating that shot mind you. I am simply stating even that lousy shot in better than what he did.
Shoot the damn eight ball play position and win the game!
Personally, I have little doubt Corey thought about shooting the eight. He is a great shot maker but I think he probably choked on the thought and backed off. 5 x 10 tables can do that to the best of shooters.
Tom
You may be right about what you say, in terms of moving and shooting. However, being able to out shoot your opponent is not a good enough reason to shoot a shot that's as curious as a shot as this one is. Imo.Bill, by no means is Corey a poor mover in One Pocket but in this match he is up against maybe the best mover the game has ever seen. He certainly can not imagine he has an equal chance at out moving Efren in this game but he very well may out shoot him.
Tom
I'm sure if the 11ball was positioned to shoot and stick under the 8ball Corey would of shot it. You must give him the benefit of the doubt here with such an obvious correct shot like the shoot and stick shot he was offered. The shot that Corey chose suggest to me that that shot wasn't there (awkward angle) Yes Bill, I made that point in an earlier post. Had the angle been on for the eleven ball bank and stick there would be no question that it would be the correct shot.So he decided to open up some balls and possibly break up a good combo for Reyes. He also left the cue ball in a semi-tough position. He probably was hoping to get a better result with his shot but never the less imo he got a result he can live with. I agree with this point as well.
Tom, imo, shooting the 8ball is just too daunting of a proposition. I look at it like this. If I shoot the 8ball i'm certainly not going to try to play "close position" for my next shot, simply because i'm also playing close position for my opponent, should I miss. Agree? If I choose to shoot the eight ball I would play it one of two ways. Play solid position on the one ball without regard to what I give up should I miss. I miss the eight I lose the game. The second way I could play the shot would be with a safety behind it. Find a path for the cue ball to reach the foot rail. I'm not a big fan of this option.If you agree that choosing the 8ball for your option is your choice then after pocketing the 8ball you will have another long shot which you will need to make another decision on. Not much of a decision to be made here. Should I make the eight, kill the cue ball off the side rail for position on the one and come down for the combination on the three balls on the foot spot.Keep in mind that you're leading 3 to 0 and you're playing on a 5x10. Shots that carry distance are difficult for me, especially on a larger table, and i'm sure Cory weighed that option and decided against it, for reasons we don't know, however, he decided against it and he's a hell of a better shot maker than you and I both.No question about that one.
The position we're debating isn't a position to me that's a "do or die" position, especially playing on a 5x10. There's a lot of pool left in this position, i'm just not ready to gamble with a shot i'm not comfortable shooting especially if I have other options.Agreed. But given the lay of the land in this case I still think I would have to put my money on trying to win the game from here, especially if I shot as well as Corey shoots. Of course a players odds of pocketing any shot is reduced when their comfort level is low. For this reason I can well understand his passing on the shot.
Dr. Bill