2024-2025: Week 6 Player Reports

Game 1: Team Green vs. Team Blue

-Well now. After being written off by most of the league after a pretty rough start to the season, Team Green finally shows up with their whole team and pickup not only their first victory, but an impressive one. They had 6 players score 5 points or more and played impressive defense throughout the second half, finding a way to eventually slow down Blue’s shooters. Bob Kelly was accurate from deep once again and Rodney continues his strong campaign, but once Green put some pressure on those guys, the game slowed to a crawl and a ten point deficit was eroded. Green still doesn’t seem to have a unified plan in the half court other than some sporadic probing and a few turns around the perimeter. Most of their possessions end with a player scanning the court and ultimately deciding to just shoot it from wherever they happened to be. I’m not sure what the French word for “miracle” is, but the final sequence was indicative of the chaotic way they generate shots. Tied at 63, Green was running down the clock for a final shot. Kennedy gave it up and they tried to get it back to him for a frustrating 10 seconds before deciding that wasn’t going to happen and the scramble ended with a fading launch by Troy that somehow banked in, securing the win for his team. Lots to be encouraged by for Green. They beat Blue, who has already beaten Purple and played Yellow tight. Also, they still aren’t getting much out of McGuire, which is a handicap that can turn into an advantage if he can regain his confidence. On the Blue side, this seems, more or less, what we’re going to see out of them this year. Lots of quick shots from the wings; not a lot of easy buckets. Additionally, they gave up 69 points in Week 5 and 66 points in Week 6, signaling their defense may be slipping a bit, which they can’t afford any more than they could a bad shooting night. Blue might ended up closer to the playoff bubble than they would like if this trend continues, while Green might have ignited hopes to being a part of that bubble.

Game 2: Team Purple vs. Team White

-On Paper, this matchup appears pretty even. Both of these teams are stocked with wings with size who can all attack or shoot. The difference maker in this one was probably Purple’s underrated defense. They made life tough for White all game long. Very little operating space or open lanes to shoot the gap. Finley took some very tough shots and Rob couldn’t get going at all. If Rob now has an injury to deal with for the foreseeable future, White could be in big trouble. They need a lot more out of him than spot up shooting. If he’s physically unable to do any of it, the burden shifts quickly to Finley and Chuck to figure it out. Luke Lally had his best shooting game and Finnin continues to be a load attacking the basket. He’s easily leading the league in And-1’s. Right now, Purple seems to have enough balance to provide them options on most nights. Justin about played even with Finley, which turned out fine, because Finnin drastically outplayed all the secondary players on White. That balance can swing either way as long as both guys stay engaged overall. Purple will get another favorable matchup against Team Pink in Week 7, while White will try to use their BYE to heal up and reconsider the trajectory of their season.

Game 3: - Team Red vs. Team Pink

-With Paul suffering from explosive diarreah, Bradley on an Eat, Pray, Love tour of Europe, Pete Les having a baby, and Alex literally quitting the team, Pink was extremely short-handed heading into this one. Despite that, they put in a respectable effort and were actually winning for most of this one. Ed put on a showcase of his talents, and if they could have gotten the victory, this might have been his HatchetBall masterpiece. Unfortunately, Pink was running on fumes for most of the second half, surrendering layups repeatedly as their lead slowly vanished. As a team, Red takes a long time to get going. Colin has a horrible habit of awful starts, and I’m not sure Kamba or Keaton has hit a wide-open three all season. They’ll be playing without Declan for the next few games while his shoulder heals, so they need someone to get them going earlier, or they’ll find themselves too far behind against the better teams. TJ Kennedy continues to impress in his rookie campaign, scarfing up double-doubles each week and even setting up his teammates with nice interior passes. Perhaps they can run more sets through him to get good looks. It was nice to see Marshall and Falco running for 40 minutes; I’m sure they haven’t done that in a while. Pink will get a BYE week and have a replacement player on the way. They certainly need a reset after a pretty disastrous start to the season so far. Despite the constant headaches that are inevitable on a Steve team, Red now stands at 3-2 and have a winnable game against Team Green in Week 7.

Standings

Team	Captain	Win	Loss	Record	Win %	Streak	PS	PA	DIFF
PURPLE	MATT VITALIANO	4	1	4 - 1	0.800	W2	321	269	52
YELLOW	MARK KOLL	3	1	3 - 1	0.750	L1	270	230	40
ORANGE	KYLE GARMES	3	1	3 - 1	0.750	W1	273	242	31
RED	STEVE DUDEK	3	2	3 - 2	0.600	W3	310	327	-17
BLUE	LUKE A	2	3	2 - 3	0.400	L2	294	297	-3
WHITE	ROB KNAPCZYK	2	3	2 - 3	0.400	L2	305	331	-26
PINK	MATT KOLL	1	4	1 - 4	0.200	L2	344	347	-3
GREEN	DAVE TROY	1	4	1 - 4	0.200	W1	304	378	-74