Doc, thanks for acknowledging my use of a word more than seven syllables, it's not often that I use big words, never was my "strong suit" My forte is describing situations in "layman's terms" which I feel that I do a good job in doing. Occasionally i'll throw in a big word, kinda makes one come across like their smart, or at least more knowledgeable. (Always worked for Grady)
I would tend to agree with you on how poorly Cory broke the balls, it probably would not of changed the outcome, but at least it would of made Alex's job more difficult and interesting. Maybe he (Cory)would of won a game or possibly two, but I seriously doubt it.:sorry
I would like to bring up a few interesting times in the match that I found interesting and hopefully they will help, or at least bring to the attention that these options are viable..to a degree.
In game #1 18:40 Alex was in a
precarious position and chose an option that got a lot done. I'll try to explain what I believe he was thinking. He chose to pocket the 12ball in the side pocket and go up table then back down table with the cue ball (a little risky) utilizing his superb cue ball control. He improved his position with opening up the 10-12ball cluster and spotted the 12ball to where now it was pocketable in his pocket and blocked several balls that were pocketable in Cory's pocket, plus he protected the 3ball which was positioned on his side of the table.
Game #1 28:13 Alex played a combination bank option that sent both balls toward his pocket, one was off a carom the other off of a combination but the most interesting part of the shot was how he played the cue ball. He drew the cue ball to his side of the table feeling that there was a good possibility that he could position the cue ball behind a ball near his side rail and protect the balls that were ultimately going to end up near his pocket. Yes the shot looked a little risky but if you notice where the balls were positioned limiting Cory with his ability to run balls the shot made a lot more sense. I thought his choice was 100% correct for him, and maybe for many players that strike balls decently.
Game #3 at the 39:02 mark Cory shows his carom reading skills as he chooses to play a carom combination from the top rail, despite having a simple kick at the 13ball that was positioned on Alex's side rail. I thought he would of chosen the simple kick but he chose the carom combination, a testament to his ability and creativity reading the stack. This was the sequence that I was referring to earlier. After pocketing the carom he didn't come up with a follow up shot and that's when he played the power shot banking the 13ball into the stack and controlling the cue ball in back of the 10ball, another beautifully executed shot that seemed to turn the game around from no where. Also in the same game take notice on how Alex runs the balls at the 1:01:18 mark. Particularly pay attention how he plays position off the 2ball to fall on the 1ball and not the 10ball, a mistake that is often made. Playing for the 10ball off the 2ball is a huge mistake because you need to land perfectly on the 10ball to play for the 1ball afterwards. Playing for the 1ball allows you more margin for error with your position play and will give you many more options while running the balls.
Finally in game #3 at the 1:14:30 mark this is where the battle takes place near the bottom rail and pay attention to how Alex controls the position and develops a stronger position with each shot he chooses, and their all simple shots to execute. Cutting off the table is how Alex won this battle and broke Cory down, this type of strategy has proven very productive, with this understanding when given the opportunity to choose options, lean towards choosing the options that Alex chose, providing their available. At the 1:23:30 mark Cory made a big mistake in how he played off the hanging 3ball, he played the cue ball to go up table toward the stack area allowing Alex to bank the 9ball from an angle that allowed him to play position to start his run. His other option (imo) would of been to pocket the 3ball and leave Alex with a stiff angle on the 9ball by just keeping the cue ball in the pocket, at worst he would of left Alex a bank on the 9ball that offered no position potential.
Alex played a beautiful match against a player that exhibited a lot of skills.
Dr. Bill