2024-2025: Week 1 Player Reports

Game 1: Team Green vs. Team Orange

-The opening game of the year always has some weird vibes. It’s as if we’re starting completely from scratch, which in some ways we are. But it doesn’t take long for some of the familiar rhythms to return and everyone gets down to business. Kennedy and Chris battled in this one, nothing too intense, but they clearly were motivated to engage with each other at both ends of the floor. Orange jumped out to a healthy lead in the first half, which was mostly whittled away by Green in the second half as both teams appeared out of gas. The bevy of shooters on Team Orange, including Captain Garmes, Richie, and Dave Wills were the difference in this one and allowed them to run away with a comfortable 13 point win. Green has some big question marks on their roster already and Orange looks great without two of their presumptive starters. These teams may be headed for very different seasons.

Game 2: Team Purple vs. Team Red

-We knew Purple would be getting some type of advantage getting Finnin as a replacement player in the second round. Week 1 was already an example of how that can work. Justin did great work completely snuffing out rookie first rounder Colin Campbell, while Finnin patrolled the paint, offering help side defense, shot blocking, and tough rebounding. Taking some of that load off of Justin, who will mostly be guarding ball handlers on the perimeter, is a huge advantage. Finnin is exactly the type of player that can be supersized in a supporting role where he isn’t expected to do all of the shooting and scoring. Team Red looks feisty, but scattered. No one will be able to take them lightly, but I expect their results to be extremely volatile. Colin scored almost all of his points in the second half after a pretty horrendous start to his career. Declan looked just as quick and decisive as I remembered. TJ Kennedy looks like a bruiser who will continue to mix it up and give them some crucial rebounding/toughness in the paint on both ends of the floor. Red will suffer greatly when they have to play short-handed, if only because it means Steve will have to actually be on the court. Purple runs away easily with this one.

Game 3: - Team Pink vs. Team Blue

-In the best game of the night, Team Bluke pulled of an outrageous comeback that should never have happened. Pink’s shooters, particularly Ed, came out swinging and allowed them a 10+ point buffer in the second half. With the limited offensive range of Team Blue, that should be plenty to get the victory. On top of that Team Blue showcased one of the worst free throw shooting displays ever, going an unthinkable 8/31 from the line as a team. Down the stretch, many of those clanks were nullified by their ferocious rebounding, leading usually to more free throws. It seemed like a Dantean trap that Pink couldn’t get out of: Blue would miss a free throw, get the rebound, draw a foul, miss the free throw, get the rebound, draw a foul, etc. It was inexcusable that Pink couldn’t secure any of these rebounds. After a certain point, it was clear the rebounds were going to come off hard as the shooters continued to miss badly. You have to be ready for it. You have to have the right guys in position to secure the ball. They just couldn’t figure it out and eventually Blue got enough shots to fall to take the lead and stagger away with the victory. Classic Chris Carli game and it’s amazing how his unique skillset creates the identity of the whole team. Both of these teams will compete, but in completely different ways, and it will be interesting to see which of them learn lessons from this opening night debacle.

Standings

Team	Captain	Win	Loss	Record	Win %	Streak	PS	PA	DIFF
PURPLE	MATT VITALIANO	1	0	1 - 0	1.000	W1	68	59	9
BLUE	LUKE A	1	0	1 - 0	1.000	W1	55	54	1
ORANGE	KYLE GARMES	1	0	1 - 0	1.000	W1	67	54	13
PINK	MATT KOLL	0	1	0 - 1	0.000	L1	54	55	-1
RED	STEVE DUDEK	0	1	0 - 1	0.000	L1	59	68	-9
GREEN	DAVE TROY	0	1	0 - 1	0.000	L1	54	67	-13
YELLOW	MARK KOLL	0	0	0 - 0	#DIV/0!	NA	NA	NA	#VALUE!
WHITE	ROB KNAPCZYK	0	0	0 - 0	#DIV/0!	NA	NA	NA	#VALUE!