2019-2020: Week 1 Player Reports

Game 1: Team Green (Troy) vs. Team Red (Steve)

-In a year of massive change, some things will remain the same. True, we are in a new gym, with new league management, playing with a mostly new group of players. However, Steve Dudek is still tainted with unprecedented decline. After an impossibly sweet start to his career, galloping to a 22-6 record and 2 HatchetBall titles, Steve’s career has been a flaming dumpster filled to the brim with hot diarreah. Since that dominant start, he’s 15-22 over the last 3 seasons and his personal stats correlate directly with the downward spiral of his personal life. While the team he drafted seems competent, with him at the helm, I wouldn’t expect much from Team Red this year. Team Green, on the other hand, looks solid. Declan Kelly might be the steal of the draft, proving yet again that when in doubt, draft young. With Jim’s Schick’s mountainous inside game providing viable offense whenever they want it, this might be the team to beat as the season progresses. Let’s see how they balance everyone’s needs, as Troy and Luke both want to shoot the ball, but they play very different games. After a tie-score at halftime, Green ran away with this one and won by 20+.

Game 2: Team Gold (Kelly) vs. Team Orange (Jerry)

-Adding some early drama, this Week 1 matchup turned into a double-overtime endurance contest. While a long, drawn-out contest is not ideal for Mark’s old bones, Team Gold, youngest in the league by far, was the one struggling through some bumps and bruises. Team Orange may not have the most overall talent, but their pieces might fit better than any other team. They can’t rely exclusively on Mark’s offense in the same way they can’t rely exclusively on Jerry’s defense. Everyone needs to chip in all the time for them to be successful. If everyone shrinks backwards into their specialties, they will become one-dimensional quickly and cough up big leads like they did in this one when the offense stagnates. Team Gold should be a tough out for anyone, but they lack rhythm on offense. They need to pair continuity and organization with their intensity. Team Orange survives in a thriller to get to 1-0.

Game 3: - Team White (Freddy) vs. Team Blue (Matt Koll)

-In the clear undercard on the night, an undermanned Team Blue was able to hold off Team White to get their first victory of the season. Team Blue was the only team playing without their first round pick, which makes this win a huge bonus. Team White looks slow and whatever is the opposite of dynamic, but they have steady guys who know how to play. They should be careful with their substitution methods. They got caught with second units on the floor while Team Blue surged ahead in the second half. There’s no equity in HatchetBall when it comes to playing time. You have to play to win. Get those bums off the floor when the game is on the line.

Standings

Team	Captain	Win	Loss	Record	Win %	Streak
Orange	Jerry Hahn	1	0	1 - 0	1.000	W1
Green	Dave Troy	1	0	1 - 0	1.000	W1
Blue	Matt Koll	1	0	1 - 0	1.000	W1
Red	Steve Dudek	0	1	0 - 1	0.000	L1
Gold	Bob Kelly	0	1	0 - 1	0.000	L1
White	Freddy	0	1	0 - 1	0.000	L1
Black	Matt V	0	0	0 - 0	NA	NA