2020-2021: Week 1 Player Reports

Game 1: Team Blue (Troy) vs. Team Yellow (Vitaliano)

-After a wild year of trying to create our own version of HatchetBall in 2019-2020, many of us were looking forward to some consistency and familiarity for how things were going to operate moving forward. Instead, we got a once-in-a-lifetime civilization disruption that threw all of our best laid plans out the proverbial window. Here we are again, with a new gym and a new cast of characters. In the best way possible, it led to some pretty unpredictable results, which should continue throughout the season. Even after seeing the real thing, there was majority consensus that no team appeared to be the clear favorite and no team appeared to be the clear underdog. In Game 1, Matt V’s draft strategy of hoarding the youngest, fastest team possible paid instant dividends. In a wide-open court, playing 4 on 4, his team looked deep and dangerous. They jumped out to a quick double-digit lead and never let Team Blue get too close, despite giving up a ton of size and really having no answer for Mark in the paint. Konrad Kozina might be the steal of the draft so far, and the Pat/Declan experiment looked good after one outing. Team Blue might end up being the best team in the half court, with some good pieces that can score in a lot of different ways. It’s a good thing that their team won’t rely exclusively on outside shooting the way several other teams will. But none of it will mater if they’re all gasping for air 5 minutes into a 40 minute game. Team Blue was clearly ill-prepared for this Opening Day matchup and Yellow won easily.

Game 2: Team Green (Koll) vs. Team White (Hahn)

-Team Green was easily the least talked about team after the draft, which really wasn’t fair. With 3 extremely steady players steering the ship with the Schicks and Matt Koll, as long as their other guys weren’t complete busts, they were likely to be a tough out every night. The problem with all Matt Koll teams is a low ceiling offensively and, at first glance, that will likely be the problem again this year. Relying on Matt Koll to hit 5 threes a game is a prescription for heartache. Team White looked like the 2008 All-Star team that they are. With an extremely experienced, balanced front line, they should feast on opposing teams by taking care of the ball and getting good shots every time down the court. Instead, Rob looks like he’s never attempted a jump shot before, Mike has added a Fatherhood Fifty, and Jerry’s usual antics amounted to almost nothing. This team still deserves the benefit of the doubt, for now.

Game 3: - Team Red (Dudek) vs. Team Orange (Garmes)

-In the highest scoring game of the night, we got a fun look into a few new players that will be difference-makers in HatchetBall. Justin Weirgzac immediately staked a claim as potentially the best player in the league, while Luke was as useless as a condom to a eunich. Team Orange basically operated as separate entities on the court at the same time. Justin did his thing, McGinty pulled a few slo-mo tricks, and it resulted in almost zero possessions of team basketball. Team Red was always going to play the part of heel this season, but their potential firepower can’t be denied. It seems unlikely Chuck and Bob Kelly will operate as seamlessly as this every week, but Wreck-It Ralph Peck is a nice complementary piece. I can’t wait until Week 2 when Steve makes his season debut and instantly ruins the natural cohesion of this team.

Standings

Team	Captain	Win	Loss	Record	Win %	Streak	PS	PA	DIFF
Green	Koll	1	0	1 - 0	1.000	W1	67	57	10
Yellow	Vitaliano	1	0	1 - 0	1.000	W1	68	58	10
Red	Dudek	1	0	1 - 0	1.000	W1	82	70	12
Orange	Garmes	0	1	0 - 1	0.000	L1	70	82	-12
Blue	Troy	0	1	0 - 1	0.000	L1	58	68	-10
White	Hahn	0	1	0 - 1	0.000	L1	57	67	-10