Week Thirteen Player Reports

 

Mark Koll: For the first time in a month, there's reason for Team Grey to be optimistic.  For one thing, they got a win in Week Thirteen, over the team with the best record in HatchetBall.  Secondly, they snapped their first two-game losing streak of the season.  Thirdly, they pretty much assured themselves a playoff spot.  But most importantly, Grey finally looked like a decent basketball team.  The two things plaguing Team Grey over the past few games had been an unwillingness to share the ball and a complete failure to convert easy opportunities.  You'd need a high-powered calculator to determine how many lay-ups Grey missed in the month of February.  And while Grey continued its trend of refusing to figure out a way to get Mark the ball more often, they were able to share it amongst themselves, finally taking advantage of the singular defensive focus Mark forces other teams into.  It's hard to say if Mark's teammates only cooperated because their shots were falling, but time will tell.  At the very least, this was a step in the right direction, and it couldn't have come at a better time with so much on the line.

           

            What's Next: Grey has a week off to mull over its final two games of the season, against Orange and Brown.

 

Mark Koll 2013-2014 Season Averages

 

PPG

RPG

APG

BPG

FT%

24.80

11.30

2.30

1.40

92.86%

 

 

Matt Koll: Depending on how the playoffs shake out, Dark Blue may look back on Week Thirteen with a high level of disgust.  Playing against the hottest team in HatchetBall (Team Orange), Dark Blue looked dominant.  However, Orange hung around with their usual gritty effort and were able to put themselves in position to take and make the game winner as time expired.  Dark Blue faltered for the same reasons they've been a middling team all season: stagnancy on offense.  It seems that when other defenses put the screws to them, they are unable to produce a quality shot.  They are already thin on shooting as it is; when you pit them up against a good defense, they really struggle to get baskets.  Dark Blue still looks like a serious title contender on size and talent alone, but where will the points come from when they need them the most?

 

            What's Next: Dark Blue gets a favorable matchup against Team Brown in Week Fourteen.

 

Matt Koll 2013-2014 Season Averages

 

PPG

RPG

APG

BPG

FT%

10.64

9.55

3.00

1.27

41.67%

 

 

Matt Vitaliano: Matt V has suddenly decided that his "injury" has healed and will be playing the remainder of the games this season.  But what good is a hobbled hobbler?  It's not that Matt V's game ever relied upon athleticism of any type, but when teams go man in the playoffs, what's the difference between him and an old drawer full of dirty socks?

 

            What's Next: Yellow will attempt to get things back on track against Team Baby Blue in Week Fourteen.

 

Matt Vitaliano 2013-2014 Season Averages

 

PPG

RPG

APG

BPG

FT%

13.43

2.86

1.29

0.14

0.00%

 

 

Rob Knapczyk: Idle in Week Thirteen.

 

            What's Next: ACL surgery set for 3-19-2014.  Good luck buddy.

 

Rob Knapczyk 2013-2014 Season Averages

 

PPG

RPG

APG

BPG

FT%

25.25

10.38

3.50

0.13

62.96%

 

 

Luke A: In one of the stranger events to occur in HatchetBall history, Luke has become the first player ever to record two consecutive triple doubles.  This is partly out of necessity, as there is no one else on Yellow to handle the ball and run the offense, but it still feels awkward to think that Luke can put up such monstrous stat lines.  And don't forget that Luke probably should have lost both of those games.  He escaped with a win in the first, but wasn't so lucky this time around.  Running 95% of your offense through Luke is just a recipe for disaster.  Seeding will be critical for Yellow in the playoffs, as it's starting to look like they don't stand a chance against certain teams.

 

            What's Next: Luke will go for his third consecutive triple-double against Team Baby Blue in Week Fourteen.  Who would have thought that sentence would ever be written?

 

Luke A. 2013-2014 Season Averages

 

PPG

RPG

APG

BPG

FT%

8.64

8.36

5.64

2.73

43.48%

 

 

Jerry Hahn: Team Orange plays hard from whistle to whistle and the second half of the season has really exposed the benefit hustle can have in the win-loss column.  Orange has ripped off five straight wins and catapulted themselves into first place in the standings.  At this point, especially with the future of Team Yellow in doubt, Orange is almost guaranteed a first-round BYE in the playoffs, which is huge.  I don't think they're necessarily afraid of any other team, but with their lack of size and sporadic shooting, they have a tough time dominating games.  The flip side to that coin is that Team Orange will never be dominated by any other team, but they aren't the high-scoring type of team that can run away from a lesser team.  The games, more or less, are always pretty close.  Week Thirteen brought an exceptionally close game against Dark Blue.  Orange came out on top in this tilt, but it easily could have swung the other way.  Dark Blue might be the worst matchup for Team Orange, because of their front-line height; ideally, it would be beneficial for Orange not to play Dark Blue until the championship, or even better, not at all.

 

            What's Next: Orange gets a week off to celebrate their growing streak before finishing out the season against Team Grey and Team Baby Blue.

 

Jerry Hahn 2013-2014 Season Averages

 

PPG

RPG

APG

BPG

FT%

10.44

9.44

7.44

0.44

60.00%

 

 

Dave Troy:  Troy has basically been on a farewell tour all season: like one of those veterans who sign on with a crappy team just to retire in their hometown.  Green is just a mess.  They have been all season.  Now they can barely get enough guys to produce a starting lineup.  This week they used a teenager and a drunk bastard in their starting lineup.  The result was about the same.

           

            What's Next: Green will go after another loss in Week Fourteen against Team Red.

 

Dave Troy 2013-2014 Season Averages

 

PPG

RPG

APG

BPG

FT%

10.55

4.82

1.36

0.36

66.67%

 

 

Mike Steigerwald: Idle in Week Thirteen.

 

            What's Next: Red gets an easy one in Week Fourteen against the bottom-feeding Team Green.

 

Mike Steigerwald 2013-2014 Season Averages

 

PPG

RPG

APG

BPG

FT%

22.00

10.83

2.83

0.00

83.87%

 

 

2013-2014 Standings

 

Team

Captain

Record

Streak

Orange

Vito

8-2

W5

Yellow

Matt V

7-3

L1

Grey

Beave

5-5

W1

DarkBlue

Brennan

5-5

L1

Red

Tierney

5-5

L1

BabyBlue

McElligot

4-5

L1

Green

Danaher

2-8

L2

Brown

Rech

3-7

W2