2013-2014 Playoffs

Round One, Game One: #3 Dark Blue (Brennan) versus #6 Light Blue (McElligot)

-Dark Blue continued their solid play from the last month of the regular season and easily got this Round One win. Good all-around players like Matt Koll tend to shine in the playoffs when the stakes are raised, and he came to play in this preliminary matchup. He finished with 13 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists to help Dark Blue cruise to a comfortable double-digit victory. One big reason Dark Blue found success was using their size and defensive pressure to force Pat M. (one of the best players in HatchetBall) into one of his worst games of the season. Look for Dark Blue to deploy a similar strategy in Round Two.

Round One, Game Two: #4 Grey (Beave) versus #5 Red (Tierney)

-This game was cued up to go exactly according to plan. Grey's fatal flaw appeared to be an inability to play a complete game. All season long, Grey's players have not responded to big leads or big deficits well, those being prime opportunities to resort to selfish play. Team Red, for their part, has relied almost exclusively on the outside shot to get their wins. It was always a concern that they would be in trouble when those shots weren't falling. And wouldn't you know, both weaknesses were on display in this contest. First, Grey stormed out to an early lead. Red missed shot after shot and built a big hole. But then Grey started to slip, missing easy shots and not sharing the ball. On cue, Red's shots started to fall. What was a ten point deficit turned into a twelve point lead in a matter of minutes. But then the script was flipped. In the span of two minutes, Grey erased Red's double-digit lead and built one of their own. It was a topsy-turvy contest, to say the least. One has the feeling that if this game were five minutes longer, Red would certainly have won. But the game lasts as long as it lasts and that's all you get. You only have to be winning when the clock reads triple zeroes, not a moment before, not a moment after. Grey advances.

Round Two, Game One: #1 Orange (Vito) versus #5 Grey (Beave)

-No one wants to re-imagine history, but you can't help but wonder how much Jerry's absence was going to affect Orange in Round Two. His team wasn't completely helpless without him, but before the game even started, you had to figure Orange was going to lose some of its firepower without its fearless leader manning the helm. And, unfortunately for Orange, Jerry's absence proved insurmountable. Grey repeatedly harassed them on the offensive boards and held them in check on the offensive end. Mark was in prime playoff form, finishing with a monstrous 34 points and 16 rebounds; he was simply too much for Orange to handle. It's tough to say if Jerry could have held Mark in check, but would his efforts have been enough to reverse what turned out to be a pretty comfortable win for Team Grey? We will never know, so it's not really worth thinking too much about.

Round Two, Game Two: #2 Yellow (Matt V) versus #3 Dark Blue (Brennan)

-There have been a lot of great storylines this HatchetBall season (The emergence of Steigerwald's rookie season; Team Orange's prolonged win streak; Team Danaher's utter collapse) but perhaps none have the staying power of Yellow potentially winning the title without Rob. With Rob, Yellow seemed like a sure thing to win it all. However, they wouldn't have gotten much credit for the accomplishment because their team clearly had what some would consider an unfair advantage. Then Rob's injury turned everything upside down. If Yellow could pull off a title with Rob playing less minutes than Pat Ash, it would be damn near the first HatchetBall miracle. But first things first, they had to play the formidable Team Dark Blue in Round Two. In the end, Dark Blue would fall victim to their own weakness. They just never seemed to figure out a strategy on offense. Yellow played a solid game, but it did seem like Dark Blue lost this game, rather than Yellow winning it. In fact, after a prolonged series of pathetic free throw misses, Yellow seemed to be actively trying to keep Dark Blue in it. Dark Blue even had an open shot at the buzzer to send the game into overtime. Unfortunately, the shot was harmlessly short and Yellow moved a step closer to HatchetBall immortality.

Championship: #2 Yellow (Matt V) versus #5 Grey (Beave)

-Staying true to the theme of "you never know what's going to happen in HatchetBall", this game was a real noggin-scratcher. On paper, due to both teams' limitations, this title bout figured to be a hard fought battle. Instead, it was a yawner. Grey took control very early and Yellow never threatened. Getting contributions from the entire roster, Grey just leaned on Matt V's boys until they threw up their hands in defeat. Yellow shot poorly, defended even worse, and couldn't get anything resembling momentum. Grey won by a large margin, becoming the lowest seed to ever win the HatchetBall title.

Season Recap:

-2013-2014 will be a memorable season for many reasons other than who won the eventual title. Mark did secure the first 3-Peat in HatchetBall history, but there were several other storylines that took precedence and will cast a larger shadow looking forward. Rob's injury is the biggest question mark. In the space of a few weeks, Rob went from marching towards what looked like a sure championship to sitting on the sidelines as his team came up well short in the title game. How will he fare in 2014-2015? More importantly, will he ever get another chance to win a title as good as he had before his knee surgery? Will he ever win a HatchetBall championship? A more encouraging story was the rookie success of Mike Steigerwald. Mike proved to be an elite offensive force, scoring over twenty points a game. However, Mike seemed stymied by the redundant nature of his team and his rookie season culminated in an early exit in the playoffs. Now that Mike is established, he'll want a better shot at winning it all. What roster will he land on next year? For better or worse, this is the same question everyone is asking about their own future, though the motivations aren't the same. Troy is breathing long sighs of relief after being released from one of the worst rosters in HatchetBall history. Jerry is cursing himself for not taking advantage of an excellent chance to win his second title; he'd be thrilled to get on a similar roster next year and take another crack at it. Matt Koll and Luke both need primary scorers to rely on and the draft is the only place they can get that type of teammate. Matt V seems cursed, having yet again drafted the best team and, yet again, walking away without any hardware. But, in the end, the only question that lingers is whether anyone will be able to dethrone Mark. His dominance over the last half-decade has been astounding. But there is no secret to his success. He's been dealt all types of rosters and made do. You just have to find a way. Who is going to step up and find their own way to get it done?