2018-2019: Week 1 Player Reports

Game 1: Team Jimmy Konrath (???) vs. Team Matt V (Dark Blue)

-It’s likely that this season of HatchetBall will serve as a dividing point between what was and what will be. I can already hear the nostalgic reminiscences about what HatchetBall “used to be like.” There was a mass exit of talent from the league, leaving behind some significant uncertainty. Matt V, as usual, used the chaos to his advantage in executing a highly questionable trade just one day before the season opener. He strengthened his team by adding a second ball-handler in Pat Statham (not to mention a second first-round pick). Team Jimmy Konrath took a different approach to roster building by electing a front line of streaky, mostly-immobile shooters. When shots aren’t falling for this group, they may struggle to find scoring opportunities. Matt V, on the other hand, has a nice collection of guys who can get their own shot when they need to. It took a while for Team Dark Blue to get going in this one, even with some hot shooting from smaller/older McGinty, but they still pulled out an opening night victory.

Game 2: Team Beave (Light Blue) vs. Team Brennan (???)

-With Tree McGinty and Matt Koll, Team Beave has assembled one of the most stout front lines in recent HatchetBall history. But don’t sleep on a few of Team Light Blue’s extra pieces, which may make them one of the top contenders this year. One player is never enough in HatchetBall, especially when your second round pick is allergic to scoring (despite a solid 13 point showing from Matt Koll in Week 1). Team Brennan has some nice pieces as well and seem to play well as a group. Steigerwald’s hot shooting led to 8 made 3-Pointers and a week-high 31 points, but as is usually the case, once the defense clamps down on his opportunities, it’s critical his teammates take advantage of the distraction he causes. Team Brennan couldn’t quite turn the corner down the stretch and dropped this one. Let’s see how they fair against Team Matt V in Week 2.

Game 3: - Team Vito (Teal) vs. Team Kenny Konrath (???)

-Team Kenny Konrath was supposedly on the short end of the HatchetBall-Eve trade, shipping their first-round pick for two players whose collective value would need to be higher than what they were giving up in order for the trade to have any semblance of common sense. The jury is still out on that discernment. For now, Team Kenny Konrath relied on hustle and grit to grind out a low-scoring win in Week 1. Team Vito was led by a miserable effort from their first-round pick, but showed flashes of what they could be with a few games to get to know one another. The reality is that no one really knows anything about how this season will shake out, so it would be foolish to jump to conclusions about any team. The only resolute truth in HatchetBall will always be that Matt V is a piece of shit.

Standings

Team	Captain	Win	Loss	Record	Win %	Streak
Light Blue	Beave	1	0	1 - 0	1.000	W1
Blue	Kenny Konrath	1	0	1 - 0	1.000	W1
Dark Blue	Matt V	1	0	1 - 0	1.000	W1
Teal	Vito	0	1	0 - 1	0.000	L1
	Jimmy Konrath	0	1	0 - 1	0.000	L1
	Brian Brennan	0	1	0 - 1	0.000	L1
	Kyle Garmes	0	0	0 - 0	#DIV/0!	NA