After a marathon production night, the first Fall issue of the Voice hit stands this earlier today.

In Features, a whole bunch of staff members ran down the best of Georgetown. Curious to know where you should barricade yourself in the event of a zombie apocalypse? Or how about the best food station at Leo’s? It’s all there—and more.

News details a seven-year, $2.8 million contract between Bank of America, the Alumni Association, and GUASFCU.

Leisure previews the Breakthrough Art Organization’s September exhibition of German, Cold War-inspired art.

Sports recaps how the basketball team handled the Kenner Summer League.

The Ed Board weighs in on this summer’s UIS wireless announcement.

In Voices, some mopey fool laments the plight of being a transfer student.

While storms brewed around the D.C. area on Sunday, a few Hoyas decided to bring some thunder of their own into McDonough during Kenner Summer League scrimmages.

With 18 points to his name, junior guard Jason Clark led Team Takeover to a blowout in the early game, but that’s not to say it wasn’t entertaining. Team Takeover amused the crowd during warm-ups with an impromptu dunk exhibition, and again when the game devolved into a series of uncontested jams. (The Kenner League: Where six footers repeatedly get open dunks in a set offense.)

In the late game, Austin Freeman was noticably absent. (Rumor has it that he spent his weekend playing in Las Vegas.) However, it gave the Tombs’ underclassmen a rare chance to shine. And they did—mostly.

To date, Hollis Thompson has yet to stand out in Kenner League play. And I’ve been a nervous wreck because of it, mostly thanks to the statistical minds at Hoya Prospectus, but also because his beautiful left-handed take against Ohio was the single positive memory that I took into the off-season.

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The annual Kenner Summer League is an early opportunity to see Georgetown basketball. While we shared our thoughts about some of Georgetown’s lesser-known players on Monday, today we tackle the big names (except for Jason Clark, who didn’t play on Saturday or Sunday).

Chris Wright

Wright, who is possibly the streakiest shooter on JTIII’s squad, put on a show last Saturday to the tune of 40 points, six rebounds, five assists, and three steals. What surprised me—aside from the eye-popping stats—was how Wright used his size and strength to get to the rim when his jump shot wouldn’t fall. (And, I have to add, without pulling his goofy, oft-used “spin, then crash into the paint” move.) While Kenner League is historically a poor barometer for Big East performance, one thing was clear: Wright was easily the best player on the court.

Although he played on Sunday, Wright essentially took the day off. And I can’t blame him—he was matched up against a guard that shares my dimensions. Wright didn’t take the scrimmage too seriously, but you know what? As long as he stays healthy, I don’t mind.

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The  annual Kenner Summer League is an early opportunity to see Georgetown basketball. Today, we check in with some of the team’s lesser known players (except for Jerrelle Benimon, who didn’t play on Saturday).

Julian Vaughn

As the tallest and strongest player in his game on Saturday, Vaughn succeeded around the basket. But, don’t expect Vaughn to play defense for 40 minutes a night—he disappeared for portions of the scrimmage, despite finishing with a line of 14 points, eight rebounds, an assist, and a steal. The following day, he kept up his strong inside game by dominating the boards and finishing with some surprisingly-polished post moves.

Henry Sims

Oh, Henry. Although he was a lauded recruit, Sims is still an indecipherable mixed bag. He has the ability to hit mid-range jumpers, has the best length of any Hoya, and seems to have better hands this summer than in seasons past … but, he gives up too much ground while defending his man in the paint.

One sequence from Sunday summed up Sims’s weekend: he blocked a shot, gathered the rebound, turned the ball over on an ill-advised pass, and then he held his ground on a 3-1 break, blocking the shot against the rim. He still needs to work on his post moves, but it was good to see Sims play confidently.

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The Kenner Summer League started this week, giving me my first look at incoming freshman Hollis Thompson in action.  There’s no reason not to be optimistic in the summer, so I will be—when I stopped by the Kenner League this Sunday, he was fine.  Almost good even, with a scoreline of six points, six rebounds and a block.

The 6’ 6”, 180-lb. forward from Los Angeles got lost at times under the basket defensively, allowing his man a few easy put-backs and he was also beaten badly at least twice on pick and rolls.  These missteps aside, he was solid defensively and very good in the open court—all in all not a bad day, even if his team, We Are One, lost a hard-fought game to Beyond Belief.

If Thompson’s play was optimistic, sophomore guard Jason Clark’s in the following game was just plain exciting.  Clark, who led a Georgetown-heavy Clyde’s team that included former Hoyas Jeff Green, Jonathan Wallace and Tyler Crawford as well as current sophomore center Henry Simms, scored a game-high 26 points (21 in the first half) to lead the team to victory over the Bearcats.

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The one thing you can always expect from Kenner League games is that something unexpected is going to happen—games aren’t likely to start on time and you have no idea who is going to be playing until you walk into the gym. The championship game between the Hoya-dominated Tombs and the Madness All-Stars was no different.

For one thing, Georgetown’s star freshman Greg Monroe was notably absent from the Tombs squad. Madness, on the other hand, bolstered their roster significantly with Roger Mason Jr. of the San Antonio Spurs. Mason averaged just over nine points a game last season in his final year with the Washington Wizards. Mason was joined by former University of Maryland standout and NBA veteran Lonny Baxter, who currently plays for Panionios BC in Greece.

Despite the uneven rosters, the Tombs dominated the second half en-route to an 81-65 win.

Without Monroe, the pressure was on the slight shoulders of freshman Henry Sims to win the battles in the paint. Add the 270-lb Baxter to the mix and one would think the slender Sims would have a rough time of things. But the freshman had other ideas, dominating the boards and stopping every would-be comeback with an onslaught of tip-ins.

Sims got help from sophomore guard Chris Wright, who was brilliant once again in transition and who effectively shut down Mason in the second half. Wright’s ability to penetrate just about any time he wants to is made all the more dangerous by the presence of sophomore Nikita Mescheriakov, who is all but automatic from three-point range when he is left open.

With the score tied and 2.8 seconds on the clock, Austin Freeman, dressed in Clyde’s unfortunate purple uniform, squared up at the free throw line. Then the 82% free throw shooter did something he rarely does: he missed. Three minutes of overtime later, and top seed Clyde’s was knocked out of the Kenner League playoffs by the eighth seeded Blaguards, 68-67.

It wasn’t for lack of trying, though. Freeman, seemingly determined to make up for his missed free throw, used his powerful frame and deft footwork to drive to the basket on his team’s next two possession, putting up Clyde’s only points in overtime. Future Hoya Julian Vaughn was a formidable inside precense and former Hoya/Celtic Jeff Green, filling in for DaJuan Summers, recreated some of his college highlights, but it wasn’t enough to hold off the coordinate attack of the Blaguards, most of whom apparently play for American University.

In the night’s earlier game, the second-seeded Madness All-Stars, led by UNC point guard Ty Lawson, took down the seventh-seeded Hoop Magic, 111-88. Hoop Magic, led by number-two draft pick and future member of the Miami Heat Michael Beasely and star Villanova guard Scottie Reynolds, were only five points down at halftime, but lost control of the game in the second half as they were outscored 59-41. The All-Stars deserve extra credit for this one too; they only had one substitute to Hoop Magic’s four. (Also playing: 6′ 8″ Villanova forward Dante Cunningham, who couldn’t miss a shot, and George Mason guard Isaiah Tate, who used to play with Freeman at DeMatha.)

The quarterfinals continue tonight at 7 p.m. in McDonough, featuring the Tombs with Greg Monroe and Co. and Myers and Alterman with Sapp and Ooooo-mar.

All three teams with Georgetown players made the Kenner Summer League’s playoffs. They’ll be going up against five other teams in Yates gym.

The first four games are tomorrow and Friday, at 7 and 8:15 both days. Semifinals are going Saturday at 3 and 4:15. The finals are Sunday at 2. Judging from past performance, I predict that Greg Monroe will sweep all before him.

When I said Georgetown’s two freshmen big men, Greg Monroe and Henry Sims on The Tombs team, would improve throughout Summer League and pre-season play, I meant it. I just didn’t realize they’d improve so fast. The two spearheaded a 79-52 rout against Hoop Magic this afternoon, dominating play at both ends of the court.

Monroe was able to score in every way imaginable on Sunday—soft mid-range jumpers, bruising post moves and rim-shattering dunks in transition. The greatest improvement compared to the last game I watched, however, was his defense. Monroe tallied several blocks throughout the game, and even when he didn’t get his hand on the shots the Hoop Magic players were tentative and sloppy in the paint in his presence.

Sims could still certainly stand to pack some muscle on before the season begins, but he did a better job of holding his own in the paint and was a force on the defensive glass. He, like Monroe, was also very effective running in transition with Chris Wright.

Jeff Green doesn’t live down to his nickname, after the jump

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