• The Hoyas played their second and last scrimmage of the preseason this weekend, taking on the Virginia Tech Hokies in Blacksburg. While the scrimmage was closed to the public, there are some reports that Georgetown lost on Saturday. Scrimmages are behind us now, though, as the first game of the season takes place Friday night at Tulane.
• As of this weekend, Allen Iverson has taken an indefinite leave of absence from the Memphis Grizzlies to deal with a personal matter. The Grizzlies confirm that it is a family matter and has nothing to do with Allen’s displeasure with his playing time.
• Roy Hibbert returned to the Verizon Center on Friday to take on the Washington Wizards. The Pacers won easily, and Roy had his third-straight double-double putting up 12 and 11 off of 5-9 shooting.

Last week, the NBA season got underway, and here’s how your Hoyas have been faring so far:

• Allen Iverson has yet to play for the Memphis Grizzlies as he injured his hamstring before his new team’s season got started. He did however return to practice this weekend, and he will likely make his Memphis debut tonight.
• Jeff Green has gotten off to a great start with the Thunder as he’s averaging just shy of 20 points in his first three games. Last night, Oklahoma City dropped its first game of the season, but Jeff earned a double-double in the losing effort with 19 and 11.
• Roy Hibbert and the Indiana Pacers are off to an 0-2 start to the 2009-10 season, but the good news is that Roy has been getting some more minutes and he’s been managing his foul trouble situation a bit better than he had in his rookie season. We’ll have to see if he can keep that up, because the more minutes Roy can play, the more of an impact he’ll have. And more good news – the Pacers have picked up the contract option on Roy for the rest of the season.
• DaJuan Summers has yet to see any action with the Pistons so far, as Detroit has gotten off to a 1-2 start. He hasn’t dressed for the first three games, but hopefully his effort in practice will help him break in to the game day roster.

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.

• Michigan State beat Connecticut in the first game of the Final Four. With the entire city of Detroit behind them, the Spartans upset the Huskies, 82-73, to advance to their first championship game since they won it in 2000.
• In the other semifinal, North Carolina defeated Villanova 83-69. They’re set to face Michigan State in the Championship game tonight on CBS with tipoff scheduled for 9:21.
• Allen Iverson came back to play for Detroit after sitting out a month with a back injury. But apparently, he still wasn’t healthy enough, and Detroit announced that he would sit out the rest of the season.
• Jeff Green and the Oklahoma City Thunder traveled to Indianapolis yesterday to play Roy Hibbert and the Pacers. Roy had 17 points and 8 rebounds for the winning campaign, while Jeff had 11 points in the loss.

Those of you who made out to the Verizon Center on Monday night might remember seeing a message from Roy Hibbert on the big Diamond Vision screen before the 2nd half. (Technically, he was trying to deliver the message before tipoff but the audio didn’t work). Basically Roy introduced himself to the new fans and tried to get the crowd excited for the huge game.

Well apparently, that wasn’t the first time Big Roy has been in front of the camera, as the Indiana Pacers have decided to give Hibbert his very own section of Pacers.com for a video blog called “Roy’s Life.”

In Episode 1, you can see the Big Fella playing Guitar Hero, singing along with “Livin’ on a Prayer” and dancing to “Beat It”.

NBA.com videos don’t let you embed so here’s the link – Roy’s Life: Episode 1

• The Georgetown Hoyas lost their sixth game out of the last seven, falling to the Cincinnati Bearcats 64-62 in overtime. It was the first overtime loss for the Hoyas in four years.
• In the Top 5, both Duke and Louisville lost games during the week, as #5 Louisville lost to #1 Connecticut on Monday, and then on Wednesday, #10 Clemson destroyed #4 Duke 74-47.
• Roy Hibbert returned to the Verizon Center again, last night as Indiana faced the Washington Wizards. Johnny wrote about his experience the last time the Pacers came to town, and unlike the game in December, this time Roy did not get the start and only played 4 minutes. He did shoot 2-3 from the field for four points in the losing effort.

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.
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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.
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• The Georgetown Hoyas defeated Mount St. Mary’s at Verizon Center on Saturday, extending their home unbeaten streak to 28. The Hoyas face Florida International tomorrow night at 7:30 in Chinatown.
• Four teams from the Top 10 in both polls lost on Saturday. #5 Texas lost at home to #19 Michigan State 67-63, and #9 Louisville lost to the Minnesota Golden Gophers 70-64. In two Top 10 matchups, #7 Xavier fell to #6 Duke, 82-64, and #8 Gonzaga lost to #2 Connecticut in overtime, 88-83.
• Allen Iverson had his best game as a Piston as he scored a season high 38 points in their 120-114 loss to the Jazz in double overtime.
• Similarly, Roy Hibbert scored a career high 16 points in his double overtime loss to the Clippers. Big Roy started the game, played 23 minutes, shot 8-10 from the field, pulled down 8 rebounds, and had 5 blocked shots. And with all of that action on the court, he only picked up two personal fouls, which is a good sign for the foul-prone rookie.

So I guess I wasn’t paying too much attention. Maybe I was too focused on the Memphis game, I don’t know, but I completely forgot that Roy Hibbert and the Pacers were coming to the Verizon Center to play the Wizards last night. I realized it yesterday morning, and without a press pass, I decided I would fork over the $20 to see the game from the stands.
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