TD,
Nobody is talking about equating winning with being an intelligent player. If you noticed I was responding to diamondave13 who did equate talent & creativity with intelligence. That's the context that you should read in my post.
That said, I will also say this: Many times in the endgame or even in midgame situations Efren shoots shots that cause him to lose games that he has pretty much locked up. That is not the mark of an intelligent one-pocket player. I do not cut any player slack because they win, I couldn't care less about that, I care about how they play in every situation, winning, losing, for their own cash or whatever scenario you can conjure up. As I said in my post you quoted, Efren is the greatest one-pocket player ever in my opinion but he's most definitely got flaws in his game. Just because he is the best doesn't change that. If you read post #7 in this thread you will see two scenarios described where Efren messed up simple layouts to end up losing. One of those layouts has been posted here and discussed.
Trying to defend Efren's mistakes because he's been so great for so long doesn't really bolster anyones case for him.
P.S. Why would you hate to disagree? That's how we learn
. Your post is well thought out and respectful, I just think it's misguided that's all. Incardona and I have already had this discussion and there's not much point in arguing it too much longer, at least with me. Great players can have flaws in their games, some people refuse to acknowledge that fact.
Dennis