Sunday, April 04, 2010
Spotlight: Top Half, Halfway.
As we come up on the halfway point in the season it's only proper we look at the top team Xtreme 8 Ball. With three of the strongest performers so far this season (Corey, Adam, Ross) the 7-1 record shouldn't be a surprise. But X8B has done it while everyone below has been jockeying for position. This week they play Pool Fiction. It's entirely possible that the top five leagues could all be tied at 7-2 by the end of that match. The lone loss came from Latino Pool Legends when LPL pulled off the first of two impressive comebacks already. The most impressive part of this season so far for X8B is the 40/16 overall record. That's six games clear of both LPL and Straightshots. There are plenty of 6-1s and 7-0s on the schedule so far, and as we head into the second half I don't think there's any reason to believe the results will be too different except for the Sexy Poolerz rematch.
Latino Pool Legends, Straightshots, and Pool Fiction all sit at 6-2. Of those three only LPL has lost to a team that is not in the top six. Sexy Poolerz jumped out to a 3-0 lead over LPL and held on for a 4-3 win. Latino Pool Legends has been the comeback team so far. If not for an uncharacteristic scratch from Si in game six LPL may well have pulled off four in a row to come back and steal that match. LPL fell behind Xtreme 8 Ball 3-1 before handing X8B their only loss of the season. And last week Pool Fiction fell victim to a sweep of games 4-7 and watched LPL erase a 0-3 deficit. With Ant, MJ, Si and Daru all on the same team Latino Pool Legends is automatically a contender. Just by playing the numbers alone you could realistically assume LPL will win as long as two of those four win. And when you know for certain three of the games you have break, things get really easy.
But Straightshots is actually the second place team in Major League Pool. With 4-3 wins over Latino Pool Legends and Pool Fiction SS has exceeded expectations. One might look at all the transfers as a sign of Straightshots' success. But the truth is this team beat Latino Pool Legends without any of that help. The first transfer came with Pita switched from Pool Fiction on February 23rd. Six days earlier SS took down Latino Pool Legends. Then came MMike and Matt from Money in the Bank. Pita and Mike have certainly made a difference but all they've done is make an outstanding team a great team. Straightshots is here to stay and they have the feel of a team that could give this league the most successful season in a while.
Pool Fiction rounds out the three-way tie at 6-2. PFN has contributed greatly to the stat which defines MLP's most exciting season so far: There have been 22 matches ending with a 4-3 result and 17 of those matches were decided in the seventh game. Pool Fiction has had three deciders in their six 4-3 decisions so far. Miz has been the workhorse for Pool Fiction thus far. Brian and Brent have also performed well for Pool Fiction, each coming up with important wins in the early weeks where PFN went through a long stretch of 4-3 results. Some of those teams will be weaker the second time through the lineup. But the elites such as Break and Run will be just as tough. 12 or 13 wins may be the most realistic outlook for many teams. Especially those caught up in this cluster near the top of the standings.
The last team highlighted in this particular article is Break and Run. While it might be a surprise Break and Run already has three losses it isn't a huge deal when you look at who beat BNR. Pool Fiction, Latino Pool Legends and Xtreme 8 Ball are responsible for the three BNR losses. At the start of the season it looked like BNR would hold the top seed from start to finish. The losses are all 4-3 decisions and BNR still has a core of Stu, Luis, and Tanmay. Like LPL, you have to assume a win is coming when at least two of those players are on their game. In all the years I've been around, I'm pretty sure I can count on my hands the number of big mistakes those three players have made - COMBINED - in interleague matches. I think it's a fair assumption BNR's second half will be much better than the first. Especially when you consider Money in the Bank is only two matches behind them right now. Of course the top six make it into the Playoffs so BNR is probably more worried about the teams tied at 2-6.
Speaking of those teams, later in the week those leagues will have their five paragraphs of fame. The reasons for their struggles aren't all necessarily in the open, or on the tables. What needs to change for these leagues to take that number six seed? You'll just have to wait to find out ;)
Stay classy, MLP.
