Hoya Paranoia | The Hoya's Sports Blog

Entering its 28th year, the Kenner League, an annual summer basketball tournament held at McDonough Gymnasium, began tonight with three high-quality games. Although this year the tournament was moved back a bit from its typical start date because NCAA paperwork was filed later than usual, the tradition of seeing Georgetown men’s basketball players in action during the summer continued. A number of Hoyas were on hand for opening night and several turned in stellar performances.

In the first game of the night, The Tombs team, led by Austin Freeman, former guard Tyler Crawford, and freshmen newcomers Vee Sanford and Jerrelle Benimon, thoroughly handled the Premier Athletics team, winning by a score of 69-40. Freeman turned in a dominating performance, comfortably knocking down pull-up jumpers, converting on powerful drives to the basket, and controlling the Tombs’ offense from the beginning. Crawford was a bit more passive on offense, but did knock down a few threes throughout the game. Both Sanford and Benimon got off to relatively slow starts, but Sanford picked up his game in the second half – showing incredible speed and strong use of both hands– and Benimon demonstrated tough defense and a willingness to fight for rebounds. In a physical game, Tombs led 32-17 at the half – capped by a breakaway Crawford dunk to extend the lead to 15 – and they never looked back.

In the second game, freshman Hollis Thompson led the We Are One team to a 67-62 victory over the Bearcats. Thompson came out strong, hitting a number of long and medium range jumpers. His length was difficult for the Bearcats to guard, but the Bearcats won the battle of the boards in the first half to tie the game at the half, 30-30. University of Maryland guard Adrian Bowie and Georgetown walk-on Ryan Dougherty also played on the We Are One team, helping to control the backcourt. In the second half, We are One wore down the Bearcats with an intense full-court zone press, leading to a 67-62 win.

In the final game of the night, Jason Clark and Henry Sims played for the Clydes team, which came up short against the Madness All Stars 77-72. Clydes had the manpower advantage, with 14 players compared to a benchless five for the Madness, but Clydes struggled on the glass and defending the post throughout the game. Clark hit a number of threes and floaters, while Sims struggled to find his touch or post game. Two field goals by Sims cut the Madness lead to three with only 13 seconds left, but Clydes couldn’t cut it any further and fell five points short.

With a sizeable crowd on hand and both Thompson coaches, Georgetown head coach John Thompson III and former coach John Thompson Jr. in attendance, it was a good opening night for D.C.’s summer league. A tournament official said that full rosters were not yet available because the league was still finalizing rosters up until an hour before the start.

Play continues tomorrow night at 7:15pm. Playoffs begin Thursday, August 13th, and the championship game is slated for Sunday, August 16th at 2:00 p.m. Check back with Hoya Paranoia for more updates on Kenner League play.

- Andrew Dwulet

Want some positives from the game? Thinkagain.

There weren’t many — if any — good notes to take away from this one. Georgetown shot poorly from three-point range, didn’t hit free throws, and turned the ball over in their half-court sets. The Hoyas were outrebounded by a team whose coach (Bob Huggins) said afterward is “starting a 6-foot-6 center.” It was the first time all season Georgetown had fewer than 10 assists (the Hoyas finished with eight, and their point guard had none).

Looking for Jessie Sapp, who buried the Mountaineers in Morgantown last year with a clutch three pointer, to break out of his funk? Maybe next time. He had three points in 21 minutes. He hasn’t scored in double-digits since Dec. 8 against Savannah St. He’s averaging 1.7 points over his last three games. 1.7!

Both DaJuan Summers and Greg Monroe struggled for the first time in a while. The post players combined for 8-of-24 from the field and were 6-of-12 from the line. Both just barely reached double figures, but neither was able to take control of the game at any point like they have both shown the capability to do.

Chris Wright put it very succintly in the one thing he said in the post-game press conference: “I understand that it wasn’t a great game for us offensively or defensively. They made shots, they made plays; we didn’t.”

Who!? But I didn’t have time to make sense of this new player on the men’s basketball team before Vanilla Ice ushered Nikita onto the floor and Omar Wattad was doing the Cotton Eyed Joe dance. Now, a few days removed from the initial shock, I think I’ve found out who this mysterious Ryan Dougherty is… Continue reading →

Yesterday the media got its first opportunity of the year to talk to the basketball team. Most of the questions focused on whether the team would play a more up tempo style and how they would replace the loss of last year’s seniors.

The players and JTIII were reluctant to give a definite answer about changing the style of play (probably because they still have over month to figure it out), but Thompson did say that he thinks it’s a possibility: “This team has the aptitude and athletic ability to play at a faster pace than the team in the past.”

Thompson always stresses that in order to play at a fast pace, players must not only be fast, but also must be able to make correct decisions quickly.

As far as replacing last year’s seniors, Thompson said it is important not think about new players filling the hole left by former players — that the new guys are different players. In particular, he noted that Greg Monroe will not take Roy’s peg and Chris Wright will not be taking Jonathan Wallace’s spot. Both bring different talents and styles to the table.

One topic I found interesting was the schedule. The Big East is going to be particularly brutal this year (most analysts agree that it is the premier conference in the nation), and the Hoyas will have a tough non-conference slate to prepare for league play.

“It’s rough. It’s a tough schedule, and hopefully I’m not sitting here in April saying that was a mistake,” Thompson said. “What I wanted to do is find out who we are. We are going to be tested early.”

Thompson also said that John Thompson Sr., who was sitting off to the side at media day, “Thinks it’s a very stupid schedule.”

Gone are the St. Leos of the Big John era (that 126-51 win in 1986 was closer than you might think), and in are the Memphises and Dukes. It’s important for fans to remember that this team may stumble early on (including in the brutal start to the conference season), but the hope is that come February and March, they have the experience to win when it really matters.

But enough of what I think, quotes from players and the coach after the jump…

Continue reading →