• The Georgetown Hoyas opened their season with a road win against the CAA’s Old Dominion 62-59. They start their home season tonight with a game against Tulane at 7:00pm.
• After missing three games with a sprained ankle, Jeff Green returned to the starting lineup with the Oklahoma City Thunder yesterday. He left the game late in the third quarter ice his ankle and had this to say:
  

  It just got a little sore. It’s not something I want to try to push through,” said Green, Oklahoma City’s third-leading scorer. “It’s still early in the season. If it was the playoffs, yes. I don’t want to drive it to the point where I reaggravate it too much and then I’m out longer than I was before. I didn’t want to push it too much.

• Allen Iverson postponed his debut in Turkey saying he “did not feel ready.” So instead of playing his first game in a #4 jersey on Friday, he will most likely have his debut tomorrow.
• After being waived from the New York Knicks’ roster, Patrick Ewing Jr. headed to Nevada to attend training camp with the NBDL’s Reno Bighorns. There’s been no official word if he will be playing with them once their season starts this Saturday, but for what it’s worth, his picture in a Reno uniform has made it to the Bighorns homepage.
• Memphis coach John Pastner announced on Saturday that freshman Jelan Kendrick is off the team. The McDonald’s All-American had missed 2 weeks of practice for personal reasons back before the season started, and there was no explanation for the move. The Hoyas face off against the Tigers in Memphis on Dec. 23.

Last year, we set up Twitter lists so you could keep track of all the Hoyas, past and present, who are on Twitter. Well a year’s a long time in the Twitterverse, so we felt it was time to update those lists with some new faces and to add some long-lost fan favorites.
More »

• Patrick Ewing Jr. was cut from the New York Knicks roster yesterday, failing to make the last spot for the second time in three seasons.
• The Hoya Hoop Club Open Practice took place on Saturday at McDonough, and Hoya fans got their first opportunity to see the five freshmen practicing with the team. During the question and answer session, Coach Thompson talked about the tough out-of-conference schedule and the brutal start to the Big East season with three games in six days including two road games.
• Late last week, 1989 Georgetown alum Charles Smith was shot twice in the chest in his Bowie, MD home. He is in critical but stable condition.

The New York Knicks signed former Georgetown forward Patrick Ewing Jr. to their roster, filling the maximum 15 spots. Patrick Ewing Jr. played two seasons with the Hoyas after transferring from Indiana, and was part of the Big East Championship team that made it to the Final Four in 2007. He was also the Big East 6th Man of the Year in 2008.

The signing is also significant since New York was the home of his father, Patrick Ewing Sr., for 15 seasons. Ewing led the Knicks to two NBA Finals and is the franchise leader in points, rebounds, blocks, steals, and games played.

[Via Bloomberg.com]

The Kenner League is not the only summer basketball to get underway this past weekend. The NBA Summer League started up yesterday and two Hoyas are on rosters: Brandon Bowman and Patrick Ewing, Jr.

While Brandon has yet to see any action for the Charlotte Bobcats, Patrick has been the leading scorer for the Orlando Magic in both of their games so far.

The Magic lost both games, but they are still the team to watch for Hoyas fans as Patrick Ewing is coaching his son in the hopes of landing him a spot on a regular season NBA roster.

Here’s an interview with father and son after this afternoon’s game:

2009-10 Schedule News

• Last week, it was finalized that the Hoyas will play in the 2009 Jimmy V Classic. They will be playing Butler at Madison Square Garden on December 8.
• Also, the Big East conference matchups were announced, and Georgetown will be playing Villanova, Syracuse, and Rutgers twice in the upcoming season. Georgetown’s other home games will be against Connecticut, Notre Dame, St. John’s, Seton Hall, Cincinnati, and South Florida.
  [Press Release via GUHoyas.com]

NBA Summer League News

• The Orlando Summer League starts tonight, and two Hoyas are set to take part in this week’s games. Roy Hibbert will be teaming up with former Elite Eight opponent Tyler Hansborough for the first time as the Pacers square off against the Philadelphia/New Jersey hybrid team.
• Mike Sweetney is also set to play this week as he has been named to the Boston Celtics Summer League Roster. Big Mike will have a chance to earn his way back in the League starting with his game against Utah tonight. After being drafted #9 in the 2003 NBA Draft, Mike has not been on a team for the past two seasons.
• The Las Vegas Summer League starts up on Friday, and there are two more Hoyas set to take part in those games. DaJuan Summers is on the Pistons’ Summer Roster, and Patrick Ewing, Jr. will be back with the Knicks again trying to make a case for making the final roster after being the last player cut last season.

Just a quick reminder that we’ve reached the NBA’s All-Star Weekend, and plenty of Hoyas are going to be in on the festivities.

• Tonight at 9:00, Jeff Green and Thunder teammate Kevin Durant will be playing on the Sophomore team in the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge. The game will be shown nationally on TNT.
• Also tonight at 9:00, Patrick Ewing, Jr. of the D-League’s Reno Bighorns will be participating in the Dunk Contest as a part of the 2009 Dream Factory. Patrick had a great showinglast year at the college Dunk Contest during Final Four weekend as he came away with second place.
• Allen Iverson will be participating in the NBA All-Star game at 8:00pm on Sunday night. This will be Iverson’s 10th All-Star game, and his 9th time as a starter. The only year he did not start was in 2007, his first year in the Western Conference, after being traded to Denver, but he did not play at all in that game due to injury.

• The Georgetown Hoyas defeated the Providence Friars on Saturday 82-75. The Hoyas relied heavily on their freshmen as Jason Clark and Henry Sims played big roles off the bench and Greg Monroe had a standout performance with 13 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 steals, and 2 blocks.
• #3 North Carolina lost again this weekend, this time falling to #4 Wake Forest 92-89. The highly touted Tar Heels had been the #1 pick in both polls for the first six weeks of the season but have now dropped conference games on consecutive Sundays.
• Allen Iverson made his debut return to Denver after being traded to the Detroit Pistons for Chauncey Billups. The Pistons won 93-90 thanks to 20 second half points from Iverson. Billups had the game high 30 points in the losing effort.
• Patrick Ewing Jr.’s team, the Reno Bighorns of the NBA Development League, have won five straight games over the past nine days. Over the course of the win streak, Ewing is averaging 16 points off of 50% shooting from the field to go with 9.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists.

We’ve been talking a lot lately about the Hoyas’ home winning streak, and how at last the Hoyas have a real home court advantage. After the impressive win against UCONN on Monday, it’s time to turn our attention back home, as the Hoyas face Pitt on Saturday at the Verizon Center. We’re hoping Georgetown can keep the streak alive against the Panthers, and we’ve also put together a small list of the best moments so far.
More »

Jeff Green, Roy Hibbert, Jonathan Wallace, Patrick Ewing, Jr., and Tyler Crawford were the Georgetown Basketball Class of 2008. Ewing transferred in from Indiana after two years in Bloomington, and Jeff Green left school after his junior season to enter the NBA Draft. Still, these players and that class as a whole did as much for Georgetown Basketball as any group ever.
More »