Countdown to Midnight Madness Final Week: Dikembe Mutomobo & HHC on Roundball: Man to Man Defense

One of the most famous international basketball players in history came from the Institut Bobotoin Kinshasa, Congo. His name was Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean Jacque Wamutombo. His fans on the Hilltop and throughout the world now him as Mutombo! He graduated from Georgetown in 1991 standing 7-2 with a smile that would light up the world. I remember hearing about this project of a player who could not even dominate GU intramural basketball in Yates Field House, who would go on to legendary status in the Kenner Summer League. Indeed a young Jim Calhoun from UCONN would send many scouts to McDonough Gymnasium to see Dikembe block shots and score all of his points on dunks. Indeed Dikembe teamed with Alonzo Mourning in the years when Georgetown truly became Big Man U: Patrick Ewing to Alonzo Mourning to Dikembe Mutombo--the Legend Grew. The stories about Dikembe Mutombo throughout Georgetown University truly became the stories of legend. He hung out at the Tombs when he was not taking an early morning run to the Washington Monument and back. Even Coach John Thompson, Jr. would wear a cowboy hat to practice to take a playful jab at Dikembe's antics on campus. Mutombo will perhaps one day enter the NBA Hall of Fame. As great as his legend on the court became, he will best be remembered for his great humanitarian work in his African homeland raising money for a new hospital to care for those less fortunate. Dikembe Mutombo is a great example of the Georgetown Jesuit Ideal: Men and Women for Others--Dikembe: You have made us proud.

To see some highlights of Dikembe Mutombo go to:

http://youtu.be/Xc0HALrWrXs

Hoya Hoop Club on Roundball: Man to Man Defense

http://youtu.be/eP2nBwYdHek

We are Georgetown!

Dr. Thomas A. Wong

Hoya Hoop Club Vice President--Communications

Proud Member of Generation Ewing

Countdown to Midnight Madness Week 3 Boubacar Aw; HHC on Roundball: The Triangle Drill

Boubacar Aw

AB 1998 Hometown: Thies, Senegal High School: Waccamaw (NC) Position: Forward Height: 6-7 Weight: 225 Years on Team: 1994-98

Highlights:
Career Scoring By Decade, #9
Career Rebounds, #26
Career Points, #48
Team Captain, 1998

Boubacar Aw came to GU as an athletic defensive specialist who became quite an offensive threat. He teamed with Jerome Williams giving the Hoyas a tremendous rebounding team. If he was not overshadowed offensively by Allen Iverson and Victor Page, he would be way up the line in the scoring records. His performance against #1 UCONN at US Air Arena allowed Allen Iverson to dominate Ray Allen and the Huskies. Boubacar was a typical physical presence that was a signature of the JT Jr era. Thanks for the memories--Hoya Saxa!

Triangle Drill:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lSihVPTm3k Dr. Thomas A. Wong Hoya Hoop Club Vice-President & Director of Communications Proud Member of Generation Ewing

Countdown to Midnight Madness Week 2 Victor Samnick; HHC on Roundball: The Overload Offense vs the 2-3 Zone

Victor Samnick was a 6 ft 8 inch forward out of the Cameroon via the Newport Prep School. I remember his long arms and active smile. My greatest memory of him was inbounding the ball to Nat Burton in the 2001 NCAA Tournament first round game against Arkansas. The play eventually let to Nat Burton scoring a wrap around layup at the buzzer to give Georgetown its first NCAA win in four years helping to launch Generation Burton in 2001. Victor would go onto play professional ball in France winning several championships. For those of you who speak French you can see the highlight film below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lQecbJqwlE

Victor Samnick

BSBA 2003
Home Town/High School: Doala, Cameroon via Newport (MD) Prep
Lettered: 2000,01,02,03
Jersey Number: 13
Position: Forward
Height: 6-8

Year     G   FG       FT    REB AST STL BLK PTS AVG. 1999-00 29  52-144   22-49  129  25  19  21 126  4.3 2000-01 33  49-121   25-39  113  23  16  13 125  3.8 2001-02 17  37-88    23-30   78  21  17  17  98  5.8 2002-03 32  71-165   57-77  127  24  37  20 174  5.4 Totals 111 209-518  127-195 447  93  89  71 523  4.7 

Hoya Hoop Club on Roundball: The Overload offense versus the 2-3 Zone defense:

A Look at the 2-3 Zone often used by the Syracuse Orange and the Overload Offense often used to attack the 2-3 Zone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfZzmPDbrd4

Dr. Thomas A. Wong

Hoya Hoop Club Vice-President & Director of Communications

Proud Member of Generation Ewing

Countdown to Midnight Madness Week 1 Sead Dizdarevic & HHC on Roundball: The Ball Screen

Sead Dizdarevic has distinguished himself as a great Hoya both as an integral part of Georgetown's Final Four Team of 2007, and by his many accomplishments off the court. Sead was born in Bijelo Polje, Montenegro the son of Besim and Lidija Dizdarevic. He lived with his host family of Aaron and Rebecca Toto while at North Highland High School in California. He has two sisters Amra and Alma, and one brother Emir. In 2008 he founded the Basketball Diplomacy Project in Montenegro, where current and former Hoya players have run clinics in Montenegro. Stay tuned to our future communications that will highlight this summer's basketball clinics. Today Sead is a Senior Security Analyst at Fannie Mae, and a board member of the Hoya Hoop Club. We look forward to following Sead's future accomplishments.

Hoya Hoop Club on Roundball:

During the 2011-12 Basketball Season we will focus on various aspects and trends in the game of basketball. We will certainly look at the Princeton offense, the Four Corners & Double Stack, as well as numerous zone and man-to-man defensive strategies. We will also look at rule changes and how they have affected college basketball. In recent years the "Ball Screen" has become one of the most used and perhaps overused plays in college basketball. In the following video, Hall of Fame coach Bob Knight explains the basics of the Ball Screen:

Have a good week as the Countdown to Midnight Madness Continues! Hoya Saxa!

We are Georgetown!

Dr. Thomas A. Wong

Hoya Hoop Club Vice-President & Director of Communications

Proud Member of Generation Ewing

Life Lessons From The Greatest Game Ever Invented

As a Double Hoya and an Asian-American I have lived my entire life loving the game of basketball. When I walked into Healey Circle during New Student Orientation this weekend, I experienced the same excitement that I had as an incoming freshman. Indeed former GU President Tim Healey's voice still lives on in me and my fellow Hoya classmates. As I walk to work every day through Bryant Park I think of Father Healey and his work with the NY Public Library and Bryant Park. As I visited my parents in Maryland this weekend, I went to the AFI Silver Spring Theatre to see my favorite basketball movie, Hoosiers, on the big screen. It is indeed a classic. I marvel at the passion that the residents of the small town of Hickory, Indiana have for the game of basketball. As Dennis Hopper tells Gene Hackman, he knows everything there is to know about the greatest game ever invented. Moreover, the movie is about second chances, and how we as individuals are defined by our actions. The naive Barbara Hershey does not understand why every game her brother ever played was the most important thing that ever happened to her family. It is not until she sees how Gene Hackman, Dennis Hopper, and her pupil Jimmie Chitwood get a second chance in life does she really begin to see why she is always drawn back to her home town. Indeed basketball is the greatest game because of its emphasis on teamwork, and its rare combination of athleticism, and strategy. You can fall behind and have a chance to come back, to rally, and redefine yourself through resilience and a team emphasis.

As I saw the highlights and tried to understand what happened in the Georgetown Hoyas trip to China, I marveled at the leadership Coach JT III and our coaching staff displayed. Indeed, they put the incident behind them and concentrated on the bigger picture. There was more at stake than just a basketball game. Indeed two nations found that they had more in common than they had differences. Indeed diplomacy, and goodwill won out. The Hoyas trip to China was more than just a basketball trip. The Jesuit principles of Men and Women for Others, and Cura Personalis were what came through. Yes two cultures, and groups of people learned some valuable life lessons from the Greatest Game Ever Invented.

For some pictures of the Georgetown trip to China from Super Hoya Fan Rich Hluchan see our

Hoyas in China Trailer at:

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150290238119244&oid=108495557266&comments

For the full view of pictures go to:

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150290278864244&oid=108495557266&comments

We are Georgetown!

Dr. Thomas A. Wong

Hoya Hoop Club Vice-President & Director of Communications

Proud Member of Generation Ewing

Weathering the Storm--Hurricanes & Mother Nature.

Agnes, Hugo, Andrew, Dennis, Katrina, and now Irene are the hurricanes burned into my consciousness. It is a humbling experience to know that you cannot fight Mother Nature. As I sit in my parents home this evening and thank the Lord for my parents and brother installing the backup generators a few months ago, I am humbled as we all are by the power of Mother Nature. We have come a long way. Technology and science allow me to do now things I had never dreamed about as a child. Yet we must understand that we are only one part of this planet--this universe. I am in DC not my residence in New York City because of Georgetown's Board of Governors meeting on Friday. I elected not to return on Saturday simply because it seems like NYC is being evacuated. Every year at Board of Governors meetings we seem to have major storms. Last year we had the Big Ice Storm, and two years ago the Snowpocalypse during the GU--Villanova game.

As my beloved Georgetown Hoyas became involved in the Brawl in China, I had many mixed feelings as an Asian-American. I was relieved that my alma mater Georgetown was clearly not the aggressor and instigator of the big fight. I was honestly embarrassed by the behavior of the Chinese Army team, the referees, and the Chinese police. To everyone's credit especially Coach JTIII it appears that this has been turned to a positive experience. Often I have sat at work meetings where a love-fest breaks out which is not genuine to say the least. I pray that I will be able to safely get back to the island of Manhattan this week and continue my work schedule. I pray that everyone survives Hurrican Irene and has a safe few days.

We are Georgetown!

Dr. Thomas A. Wong

Hoya Hoop Club Vice-President & Director of Communications

Proud Member of Generation Ewing

A Double Hoya's All-Time Kenner League Team

The league is now officially called the Nike Pro City League, but I am going to use the Kenner League name when picking my personal all-time team. I have actually attended games every year since the Kenner League started in McDonough gymnasium. Some years I have been able to attend more games than in other years. Please take note that these are my own picks for an all-time team. I am making these choices based on their performance for an entire summer, and these are only players I have seen play in the summer league in person. To be fair there are a few players I have not seen--a very small number. Anyway, here are my picks for the greatest players in the history of the Kenner League:

Center--Patrick Ewing: The greatest player in Georgetown Basketball history. There was never anyone in his league to face him in the Kenner League. He truly controlled the air above the rim, and after his freshman year dominated the Kenner League.

Forward--Dikembe Mutombo--I know he always played center but I am calling the shots with these selections! Actually, he was listed as a 5 ft. 9 inch point guard in the program much to the confusion of the many Syracuse and UCONN spies in McDonough gymnasium. In Jim Calhoun's earlier years he had many of his assistant coaches in the stands. Dikembe was perhaps the most improved player I have ever seen in the Kenner League as he began the summer as a very clumsy player, and then became a shot-blocking, dunking machine. If they ever kept official stats Dikembe probably had more dunks in single games than anyone. Oh did I love his enthusiasm.

Forward--Michael Graham: The man who helped bring the 1984 NCAA Championship to the Hilltop. He was the most ferocious power forward to play in the Kenner League. When you consider John Turner--Mr. Highlights and others this is saying quite a bit. To see him as an incoming freshmen play against dozens of All-ACC power forwards and make them look like timid school children was truly inspiring. If you saw these performances you would not be surprised that he single-handedly intimidated Kentucky and their twin towers in the NCAA Final Four. As ESPN has said, he was truly the baddest, baldest dude to ever play in the Kenner League.

Guard--Reggie Williams. Yes Reggie "Russ" Williams was the top rated high school player in the nation, and his much anticipated play in the Kenner League was not disappointing. Since his play on the Baltimore Dunbar Poets he had been heralded as the second-coming of George Gervin. His Baltimore Dunbar HS team with fellow Hoya David Wingate, and several future NBA stars was arguably the greatest high school team ever assembled. What impressed me more than anything was at 6' 8" he could handle the ball like a point guard and his height and passing ability opened the court up as nobody else could. The Tombs with future Hoyas teammates Pat Ewing and freshman to be Michael Graham was the best team I have ever seen in the Kenner League hands down!

Guard--Allen Iverson. Allen "The Answer--Bubbachuck" Iverson was truly the most exciting performer in the history of the Kenner League. McDonough was abuzz with excitement like I have never seen before, and probably never will. When he debuted he had not been seen on the basketball court for some time, and there were only rumors that he would attend Georgetown. The gym at that time could accomodate closer to 4000 people and they were packed in everywhere. For the playoffs fans were getting to their seats 2 hours early to get seats. Allen Iverson put on some of the greatest offensive outbursts I have ever seen. He would often start drilling four or 5 3-pointers in a row and then alley-oop dunking over 7 foot All-Americans like they were kindergarteners! If you saw these performances you would not be surprised that he was the only person to ever posterize the great Michael Jordan on ESPN video for the ages. Yes, his double cross-over and jump shot against the greatest basketball player ever is something for the ages. If you had the opportunity to see Allen Iverson in the Kenner League you truly saw some of the greatest playground performances in history.

Enjoy the Nike Pro City League Playoff this weekend. I hope to see many of you in the stands.

Dr. Thomas A. Wong

Hoya Hoop Club Vice-President and Director of Communications

Proud Member of Generation Ewing