LINKS: Some Georgetown Previews, Pickett’s Progress

#ROSTERWATCH continues here at Casual Hoya, as there is still no update for the Georgetown Hoyas website. The three requests from the editorial have been met with plenty of support and approval from Hoyas fans—including a few former players.

Meanwhile, even DePaul has announced a fan event. It is reported that the Creighton players are doing a “Fan Fest” separate from Creighton. Nothing from Georgetown yet, however, it does appear that Georgetown’s Assistant Athletics Director for Marketing, Vaughan Moss has moved on to Temple.

Georgetown’s ticket information is coming out, so keep your eyes peeled. This humble lunch blog contributor used his “Next 5” ticket exchange to request tickets for the Syracuse game.

Here are the links (be sure to click each one to read the full article and aid their advertising efforts!):

Georgetown Basketball: 2021-22 season preview and outlook for Hoyas | Busting Brackets

Donald Carey and Dante Harris are the two leading names that return to lead the charge for Georgetown basketball. They’ll look to keep the backcourt on the up and up with a ton of starting experience and production under their belt.

Five-star wing prospect Aminu Mohammed headlines their 2021 recruiting class that also features graduate transfers Kaiden Rice (The Citadel) and Tre King (Eastern Kentucky), all of whom should make an immediate impact in the rotation.

The frontcourt will be the biggest question mark heading into a new season, but with some young talent and versatility on the roster, Coach Ewing has an opportunity to show the program is ready to move in a positive direction in Year 5.

Big East Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2021-22 season | Busting Brackets

The Hoyas bring in a strong recruiting class (ranked 16th per 247, 3rd in the Big East), headlined by 5-star shooting guard Aminu Mohammed. I think Ryan Mutombo and Jordan Riley are also going to play a big role for the Hoyas later in the season.

The team just needs to be able to hang around until the freshmen get some experience under their belt. Luckily, Ewing also brought in Tre King and Kaiden Rice who can help Dante Harris and Donald Carey hold down the fort to start the season. King averaged just shy of 15 PPG for Eastern Kentucky last season but won’t necessarily stretch the floor with his shooting.

Kaiden Rice is a big guard/wing who comes from Citadel, averaging 17.6 PPG last year and is shooting around 35% from deep on his career. If they can contribute early and often, the Hoyas will have a chance this season.

Big East Basketball Preview | The Cowl (Providence)

Georgetown University’s run at the end of last year has many people questioning if it was a fluke or not. Led by head coach, Patrick Ewing, Georgetown was a talented bunch, but they did not put it together until the Big East tournament last year, where they rattled off four consecutive wins to win the tournament and secure a bid into the NCAA tournament. This year’s team is looking to build off that positive momentum, despite the departure of their top four scorers from last year. If the Hoyas can have a solid year, it will likely be Dante Harris, a sophomore point guard, stepping up to lead the squad with his ability to get to the rim and create easy offense for others. Another player to watch for Georgetown is freshman Aminu Mohammed, who is projected to be a first-round pick in next year’s NBA Draft. Mohammed will be relied upon to replace a large portion of the scoring that was lost from last year’s squad.

Georgetown Preview: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice? | The Big Big East Blog

The Hoyas will have a deep bench, but will struggle to figure out who on that bench will provide quality minutes. Kaiden Rice figure to be a useful scorer off the bench or even possibly in a starting role ahead of Mutumbo finishing what was a successful college career at the Citadel. The big man Patrick Ewing has worked to become a playable piece is the seven foot junior Igohefe, whose numbers improved slightly between his freshman and sophomore seasons. Another player Ewing tried to acclimate last season who might be able to contribute is forward Kobe Clark.

Georgetown men’s basketball schedule highlighted by weekend home games vs. Villanova, Syracuse | The Georgetown Voice

The season really gets underway on Thanksgiving Day [NB: 11:30PM ET start], as the Hoyas will fly to Anaheim to take part in the Wooden Legacy tournament, the same event which they were scheduled to compete in last year prior to its cancellation due to COVID-19. This year, the Hoyas face San Diego State in the first round, a team that lost its top three scorers from last year’s squad. The Aztecs earned a six seed in the NCAA Tournament last season and won their second straight Mountain West Championship before being upset by Syracuse in the first round of the big dance.

Depending on the results on Thanksgiving, Georgetown will then face either USC or Saint Joseph’s on Black Friday, with the winners and losers of the two Thanksgiving games facing each other. USC is expected to be the favorite in the latter Thursday matchup, despite the departure of star big man Evan Mobley. The Trojans have added Memphis transfer and former five-star recruit Boogie Ellis to their roster and return a pair of double-digit scorers from last year’s Elite Eight team. Saint Joseph’s (5-15 in 2020-21) is looking to rebound as they move into the third year following the departure of the school’s all-time wins leader, Phil Martelli, who is now an assistant coach at Michigan. The Hoyas would likely be favored against the Hawks but would be underdogs to USC, especially given the tournament’s location in Anaheim, creating a semi-home environment for the Trojans.

Pistons open practice impressions: Frank Jackson shines, Jamorko Pickett intrigues | NBA.com

The intrigue meter on Jamorko Pickett is ticking up pretty consistently. He made everybody sit up and take notice with an impressive Summer League run, which earned him an Exhibit 10 deal with the Pistons, essentially an invitation to training camp, which got turned into a two-way deal once the Sekou Doumbouya trade to Brooklyn opened a roster spot. Casey’s mentioned him positively more than once already in camp and he hasn’t looked at all out of place or overwhelmed in his preseason debut or the open practice. To the contrary, he looks like he knows he belongs. He hit a pair of threes in rapid order in the open practice, the first in transition and the second off a nice step-back move. Even against NBA athletes, Pickett stands out for his length. Another rookie who had a good day: Luka Garza. He did some damage inside, then stepped outside to knock down consecutive triples.

Also, what surprised Omer Yurtseven at start of Heat practices | Miami Herald

With Miami sitting most of its rotation regulars in San Antonio, the 7-footer totaled preseason-highs in points (14), rebounds (11), assists (four), steals (two), blocks (two) and minutes (23). “He’s getting better, and I think he played his best basketball in camp in the San Antonio game,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

“But I also think it’s important for young players, in their development is managing adversity and managing not playing as well as you want to. He’s had some good moments in camp and he’s had some tough moments in camp. Welcome to being a young player in this league... But he comes in every day with the right approach, and that’s just to get better, do things with more intention, more force, more physically, more force of energy. He’s definitely making progress.”

Film Room: What have we seen from Miami’s reserves so far this preseason? | Hot Hot Hoops

Yurtseven’s unquestionably been the Heat’s most active player on the offensive glass and around the rim, but let’s focus on another area of success first: His low post scoring. Yurtseven’s two most frequent avenues of scoring were in the low post and beyond the arc from above-the-break.

Yurtseven’s offensive skillset is arguably closer to Dedmon than Adebayo, but it still compliments the rest of Miami’s frontcourt. Especially in mismatches, Yurtseven’s good at establishing the deep seal; but if he’s able to expand his low-post bag against better equipped centers, he’ll have a bright future in this league.

Georgetown coach Ewing comes to Savannah to see D’Ante Bass work out at Windsor Forest | Savannah Now

Ewing played on the NCAA championship team with Savannah State men’s coach Horace Broadnax, and the friends came together to see Bass workout.

“It was the first time I met coach Ewing in person,” said Bass, a 6-foot-7 guard, rated as a three-star prospect by 247Sports. “He’s really down to earth. He talked to my mom and to coach (Aaron) Clark and they both liked him a lot, too.”

Bass said he has seen highlights of Ewing’s play in college and the pros.

“He was a force to be reckoned with,” Bass said.

So is Bass, who is considered one of the most versatile, athletic players in the state.

Last season, he averaged 16.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.8 steals, 1.6 assists and 1.1 blocks per game to earn All-Region 3-3A first-team honors. Bass helped lead the Knights to the GHSA Class 3A state semifinals. He was an All-Greater Savannah first-team pick for the second year in a row, and was a first-team all-state selection in Class 3A by Sandysspiel.com.