Big Ears Versus Pushblocker

[pingpongrob]

Following on with Honey's recents topics, I decided to add a little twist.
Have a look at the following youtube clip of a gentleman that calls himself Pushblocker (Aka Olivier Mader).  He has a very awkward style, and troubles a lot of players. His USA Ranking is about 2150, and Big Ears has been clocked in at about 2250 (by other members at MyTT)

Olivier Mader vs. Cho Yoon Je (KOR)

[Honey]

Well before I vote, I want to know from Big Ears what is record against M.Truman is.

IMO we have a player in my local league (which Big Ears used to play in) called M.Truman who plays almost identical to Olivier Mader, but IMO M.Truman is a level above, easily. I believe that if Big Ears has little trouble against M.Truman, then he would wipe the floor with O.Mader.

It's just one video, but I've seen this guy before on videos on this forum. IMO he's just not consistent enough to play that kind of style. I think I mentioned this before, but its very normal for M.Truman's games to use the the expedite system, purely because he does not miss, full stop. I would put M.Truman at about

I would probably put M.Truman in UK rankings at about 300-350. He seems to have slipped locally, but IMO only because he's played in that division so many years with similar players that they get used to his style. Put him in a tournament and he'd be band 4 maybe 3 its hard to say. I will ask my team mate what he thinks of O.Mader compared to M.Truman, and I'll be interested to know what big ears and JKC think.

[pingpongrob]

Yet he's able to get a 2150 rating, yet someone like myself that can loop all day long, and push consistently (haha Speedplay), and I only get the same rating. If It's an easy beat for BE then his US rating should be much higher.

[Der Echte]

Big Ears 2200ish??!!! What a joke. B.E. is 2400 for starters, minimum. B.E. is 1 and 1/2 levels above Pushblocker. That alone should say he wins nearly 100 percent of the time.

However, if B.E. plays pushplocker's game, he will lose a game or two. If B.E. figures out the Pushblocker doesn't attack on FH very well and setus up his shots, B.E. has the arsenal to make it a long day for PB. I think Biggie would figure Pushblocker out after the first game or two, then it would be lights out, party over, game over, dude.

[Honey]

Yet he's able to get a 2150 rating, yet someone like myself that can loop all day long, and push consistently (haha Speedplay), and I only get the same rating. If It's an easy beat for BE then his US rating should be much higher.

He hasn't got a US rating, its all guesswork so maybe his US rating is higher.

I agree with Der Echte and would say Big Ears is at least 1 level above push blocker. I would be happy to put money on the fact if O.Mader came to UK and played a few tournaments, he would be a band 4 player. That currently (bands go on points not on position) means he would be between 272 to 399 in England. I am sure he would definitely be no higher than this. Big Ears is a high band 2 player. So in UK terms big ears would be 2 clear levels above O.Mader.

I am top of band 6. Whilst I would fancy my chances against any band 4 player if I was playing well, I would be happy to say it would be classed as an 'unexpected win'.

Does this not show the gap in class? I think it does.

[big ears]

From what players have told me who I've played (Baal) and who have played In the USA but are English (Ben Johnson, Mike Levene, Stuart Mcintyre Mark Donaghue and more) I would be 2400+ Ben Johnson was ranked one place below me when he moved to USA and he's on 2419.
Malc Trueman is indeed a massive problem for many players, but I absolutely eat him alive!  You are welcome too ask him Honey, I've even beaten him 11-0 a couple of times. In all we have played about 20 times and he has never troubled me, infact because of his limited style, he just gives up. The only 'pushblockers' I have a problem with are those with a quality f/hand who attack consistently, such as Nigel Eckersley, the ones who cover the table with their pips are fodder because I play them down the line to their f/hands, and because I am very two winged, they can't keep me 'out' where ever they place the ball, if they get my 'bomb' back, I just start all over again. Golden rules for playing these players;

Never ever use sidespin.
Always push deep to the pips, you are guaranteed a ball to attack with no spin on it
Never loop two balls on the trot
if you push long attack the next ball like its been blocked by reverse rubber
If it comes back push long again.

Unless they can attack with their f/hands, they have no answer to this.

 Honey, the reason that malc has slipped recently is because his rubber got banned and he can't find anything as potent, I think he was playing with Dr N scalpel.

[speedplay]

Crap, Biggy beat me to it

I was going to say that his rating would be significantly higher then 2250 and that he would most likely destroy pushblocker in a match. Now, he have already said it him self

The thing with Pushblockers style is that how successful it is depends as much on the opponent as it does on the player playing the style. I'm sure there are players at Biggys level who would struggle with Pushblocker, but at the same time, there are plenty of players at my lowish level that would beat him fairly easy. If you know what do to and how to play against it, he's got no answer to it, as his style is so extremely limited.

I've played a similar style my self, but I tried to develop a fh, but against some opponents, I was just a punchin bag, while other opponents kept on missing the table. I found the style to be boring to play and even worse to play against. There is no joy in these matches, not to play, not to watch. A LP chopper on the other hand is extremely funny, but difficult, to play against.

Rob, if we look at it from the bright side, I think even you would beat him, use your normal tactic, push against backspin and loop against topspin and you are home free

[JKC]

I think most local leagues in England had 1 or 2 players like Pushblocker who learned to play with the frictionless stuff and found that they beat most players in the lower divisions all of a sudden and were competitive at the lower end of the top division. Strangely most of them have returned to where they came from over the last year and some have given up the game. They were never really competitive with reasonable players with brains though.

[big ears]

The thing with Pushblockers style is that how successful it is depends as much on the opponent as it does on the player playing the style. I'm sure there are players at Biggys level who would struggle with Pushblocker, but at the same time, there are plenty of players at my lowish level that would beat him fairly easy. If you know what do to and how to play against it, he's got no answer to it, as his style is so extremely limited.

so very true.

[Honey]

Who voted 0-10??!

Big Ears - Do you think Malc Truman is better than Olivier Mader?

[pingpongrob]

I wonder who voted 0-10

[speedplay]

Yet he's able to get a 2150 rating, yet someone like myself that can loop all day long, and push consistently (haha Speedplay), and I only get the same rating. If It's an easy beat for BE then his US rating should be much higher.

Get the same rating? Who have rated you at 2150? Must be Der_Echte and not the crowd over at Mytt. I'm estimating my level to be between 1800-2000, considering Baals results against some players here, but I might be way of target.

As I said earlier, a guy with pushblockers style can celebrate great success against players who have really good strokes, but lacks the brain to go with them, or, lacks the brain to realise that they can play it safe, they don't need to blast balls a him, cause he have no weapons to hurt them. Put the ball on the table and wait for your chance to kill it. A guy look Pushblocker could actually lose to a decent basement player, who plays with a pre-made and don't incorporate spin on his strokes, cause he have eliminated every tool Push blocker have to work with. I've seen this happen in the local league here, and even if the guy who used LP wasn't as consistant with is as push blocker, he managed to beat several of the better players in the league before they figured him out. Then a basement noob arrived to the club and beat him 3-0. Says a lot about that style of play and explains why there will never be a highly rated player playing it.

[Der Echte]

Pushblocker never loses against players a level below him , never. That is a fact. That says his rating is true and solid, no doubt. Pushblocker does lose some matches to players a half level below him, those who can figure him out and be patient, then execute the finishes. Bogeyhunter was almost a half level below Pushblocker when he defeated Pushblocker. Pushblocker will NOT lose to under 2000 players, just won't happen, unless that U2000 is big time under-rated. Pushblocker DOES give fits to those who foolishly and recklessly attack when they arer out of position, have bad balance, or do not know exactly the spin. Pushblocker has field days against that type.

Still, Biggie would figure it out the first match and the result would be the same every match afterwards, unlast Biggie did something to get him in a body cast.

[Pushblocker]

Hi guys! A friend sent me this link as it's about me..

If the other guy really plays at Ben Johnsons level, then he really is about 1 - 2 classes above me. I can beat players of that level BUT only maybe 1 out of 10 or so but never consistently.. My rating is actually 2188 and I have been up to 2225. I frequently beat players up to 2300 level in training and occasionally in tournaments..  I usually don't lose to many players much below my rating. I'm working on my offense so that I can step up my game in the future. I'm still not confident enought to use my offense too much in a tournament but I will do that soon. I have taken players of very high level (world ranking of 500) to 5 games. Had Geovanny Coello (2521 rating at the time) (Equador champion) 2:0 and only lost 11:8 in the fifth. Had former Cuban National Team player Yosmely Vadillo 2:1 in games and lost 11:8 in the fifth against him too. Had De Tran from New York (2400 player) 5:4 in the fifth game and lost.. It's rare that someone can beat me easy BUT it's also rare that I actually win against someone of that level.. My highest win in training was in 2001 against former Jamaican National Team Player Stephen Hylton (2550 rating at the time). However, Stephen was known to have problems against that particular playing style.. I ALWAYS took games off him and beat him once.. Back then, he was Florida State Champioin..
Like I said, players of Ben Johnsons caliber are at least 1 - 2 levels above me!

[Pushblocker]

Pushblocker never loses against players a level below him , never. That is a fact. That says his rating is true and solid, no doubt. Pushblocker does lose some matches to players a half level below him, those who can figure him out and be patient, then execute the finishes. Bogeyhunter was almost a half level below Pushblocker when he defeated Pushblocker. Pushblocker will NOT lose to under 2000 players, just won't happen, unless that U2000 is big time under-rated. Pushblocker DOES give fits to those who foolishly and recklessly attack when they arer out of position, have bad balance, or do not know exactly the spin. Pushblocker has field days against that type.

Still, Biggie would figure it out the first match and the result would be the same every match afterwards, unlast Biggie did something to get him in a body cast.

Bogeyhunter beats me because he is fairly unpredictable.. However, the 2 times that we played, he was higher rated than me! Have never played him since my level went up about 100 points..

[Pushblocker]

made a mistake and quoted my own message.. No idea how to delete it..

[Der Echte]

PB, send a PM to Rob, maybe you got mistakingly put you in the "Naughty" group where there is no priviledge to alter or delete posts. Don't worry, it's not a Saftladen or anything like that.

[speedplay]

No, Push Blocker haven't been placed in the naughty group, as he have managed to edit his post. Not sure if regular members can delete their posts.Any way, I'll leave it there, to bring more activity to the forum

This isn't to down grade PB, but I think that at least 50% of the players in my club would beat him, despite our low level. Not because they are better then the player's he talks about, but because they have gotten used to playing against this style. At one time, we where 3 players in the club playing this style and soon enough they figured it out and used our LP's against us, as we became predictable.

I don't doubt that PB have made the results to earn his rating, but I still don't feel it is a good representation of a ~2200 player, due to the limitations of the style and the fact that they are so depending on their opponents skill rather then on their own. Not saying PB lacks skill, the style is a lot harder to play then it actually looks like, but regardless of that, in the end, the result of the match is most often determinded by the opponent.

[pingpongrob]

Welcome Pushblocker, hope you enjoy your stay.
May I ask having seen Big Ears play and the style of play, what would be your tactics before the match.
And Big Ears, what would you do to limit PB's awkward returns, or do you think it would be a third ball game.

[RebornTTEvnglist]

Rob how would you see my game going against PB, having seen me play today (and getting some idea of PB via the vid which we know is harder to judge)?

Oh and hi PB and welcome to Rob's forum, good to have you over here.

[big ears]

Rob how would you see my game going against PB, having seen me play today (and getting some idea of PB via the vid which we know is harder to judge)?

Oh and hi PB and welcome to Rob's forum, good to have you over here.

 I imagine, it would not be pretty.....

[RebornTTEvnglist]

I imagine, it would not be pretty.....

Since when did TT ever have to be pretty? Pretty doesn't make it any more or less fun.

[pingpongrob]

I imagine, it would not be pretty.....

And do you think your game would be pretty.

[big ears]

And do you think your game would be pretty.

 pretty....err

[speedplay]

Matches against pure LP blockers are never pretty and the loser will always look like a basement player, regardless of their actual level.

[Pushblocker]

I think that I changed my opinion today.. Maybe my chance is better than I thought.. I just came back from the Florida State Championship and I'm the new Florida State Champion.. Won all my 9 matches. My toughest match was against a guy who just moved to Florida from China. I've only beaten him once before but I beat him for the 2nd time at the State Championship. I also beat a player of russian heritage whom I've never beaten before.. I should be rated well into the 2200's after the NA Teams and the State Championships are processed..

[Pushblocker]

Welcome Pushblocker, hope you enjoy your stay.
May I ask having seen Big Ears play and the style of play, what would be your tactics before the match.
And Big Ears, what would you do to limit PB's awkward returns, or do you think it would be a third ball game.

I haven't had a chance to look at Big Ears play yet.. I will look for videos when I'll get a chance.. I've been pretty busy lately.. I usually figure out what to do in the first game. I try to push short, long, in the backhand, forehand, fast, slow, pace change and I'll figure out what the opponent likes and doesn't like. The key to my success is the ability to find weaknesses on most opponents, even very strong ones.

[Pushblocker]

Here's another one of my videos.. In this video, I'm winning against Canada #39, World #1196.

This is game 5.. Game 1 - 4 are online on youtube too!

Olivier Mader (2188) vs. Bryan Michaud (Canada ) GAME 5

[pingpongrob]

Very Good Pushblocker, an impressive win.  It amazing how the young players think they can just hit you off the table.
Speedplay - comments please - Quality Canadian player that pushes on the forehand side.
Blocker - Where ever you are, whats your take on this, how would you beat Pushblocker since its claimed you have won a State Title in the past, and you are a quality player.
If Blocker dont answer, then please can we have a detailed explaination of the technique required to beat pushblocker.
Pushblocker, how do you go against player that are consistent and basically put the ball back safetly. Do you have an Attacking Stroke, I know your return is attacking, but one where you actually place more speed on the ball that what was first given.

[diamondinvest]

I think pushblocker would do more damage than you think and BE would be in for a battle.