2019-2020: Week 2 Player Reports

Game 1: Team Black (Matt V) vs. Team White (Freddy)

-We finally got a chance to look at Matt V’s team and…meh. Rob looked like he aged 20 years in Tennessee from all that Nashville pussy. The rest of their supporting cast looks flimsy, as well. They didn’t get much of a test in their season opener against the woeful Team Freddy who was playing without Steigerwald, but I actually think Team Black’s biggest problems will come with defense and rebounding. They have a couple guys who can score, but they are beset by a massive lack of size and toughness. The more physical teams might give them a hard time. Team White drops to 0-2 in this snoozefest.

Game 2: Team Gold (Kelly) vs. Team Blue (Matt Koll)

-Team Gold bounces back after a failed comeback attempt in Week 1. As expected, Team Blue may not have enough firepower to last 40 minutes against teams with multiple scorers. They have a few guys who can score 10-15 a game, but no one they can go to when the game bogs down and they badly need a bucket or a trip to the line. Matt Koll has started the season well, averaging a double-double on top of 3.5 assists per game and 2 blocks per game, but his team looks like it will be lucky to crack .500 on the year. Team Gold pulled away down the stretch in this one and the Blue Balls Boys had no answer.

Game 3: - Team Green (Troy) vs. Team Orange (Jerry)

-Playing 4 on 4 was likely to alter the way the games would be played this season, opening the floor to a degree and creating some interesting rotation scenarios, as there’s one less man who can be on the floor. The number of guys showing up to games is still about 7-8 per team, which is very similar to year’s past when HatchetBall was a 5 on 5 league. Depending on your roster, this can create a big issue for playing time. Smart captains will always draft guys who don’t mind not playing. This helps in a variety of ways, but obviously it helps most by keeping your best players on the floor. It’s tough to take out front line guys just to hand out a few minutes to a scrub. It’s the right thing to do, as everyone wants to play, but it can lead to some extremely exposed matchups that can lead to insurmountable momentum. This game was played pretty evenly by the starters, but Team Orange is getting almost nothing from the reserves even when they’re playing on their own for extended stretches. Coach Hahn will have to figure out a better rotation or teams’ like Team Green are going to pick his second unit apart. While some funky lineups were a contributor to Team Green getting to 2-0 on the season, the real reason they won was the surprising dominance of Declan Kelly, HatchetBall Rookie extraordinaire. Making Jerry look like a month old ziplock bag full of mashed potatoes, Declan bullied his way to the rim time and time again for easy buckets. Luke, Troy, and “Big Dick” Schick all chipped in, but this was the Declan show in the second half as they put the game away. Team Orange shouldn’t worry, however. It’s not like there’s anyone else who is likely to slow Declan down, so Team Green has solidified its spot as the favorite for one of the critical playoff BYEs. Team Orange is more than capable enough to grab the other one.

Standings

Team	Captain	Win	Loss	Record	Win %	Streak
Green	Dave Troy	2	0	2 - 0	1.000	W2
Black	Matt V	1	0	1 - 0	1.000	W1
Orange	Jerry Hahn	1	1	1 - 1	0.500	L1
Blue	Matt Koll	1	1	1 - 1	0.500	L1
Gold	Bob Kelly	1	1	1 - 1	0.500	W1
Red	Steve Dudek	0	1	0 - 1	0.000	L1
White	Freddy	0	2	0 - 2	0.000	L2