Washington Post
By Ava Wallace
Injuries and transfers have turned Georgetown basketball practice into an alumni game
When Greg Malinowski participated in his first Georgetown basketball practice in months at the on-campus John R. Thompson Jr. Intercollegiate Athletic Center, he had just one thought.
“This is it?” he said.
Malinowski, who graduated from the university last year and is no longer eligible to play in games, transferred to Georgetown from William & Mary ahead of Coach Patrick Ewing’s first season in 2017. His only memories of Hoyas practices were those of hard sprints, legs that felt like lead and, well, nothing like what he saw when the Virginia native came back from playing overseas in early February and stopped by for a workout with his old team.
“Those practices would go for hours — like, a long time. It seemed never-ending,” Malinowski said. “And then coming back, my first practice back was like, ‘All right, starters, you guys shoot free throws and other guys do some conditioning.’ I’m trying to stay in shape, so I did the conditioning, and then we played three-on-three. I was like, ‘This is it?’ They just couldn’t do that much. . . . Nobody in the entire country, I couldn’t imagine, has a situation like Georgetown.”
The Hoyas have been so wracked by injuries and transfer departures that their roster has been winnowed to six healthy scholarship players over the past month, leaving Ewing desperate to find bodies to fill out a scout team. As the Hoyas (15-16) finished the regular season and then prepared for Wednesday’s matchup with St. John’s (16-15) in the first round of the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden — any willing and able former players who popped by for a visit were in danger of being put to work.
“I just came in a couple of times, and Coach was like, ‘Hey . . . can you keep coming?’ ” Malinowski said. “They needed help and I needed to stay in shape, so it worked out.”
Ewing’s current players have been essentially confined to two states when it comes to their basketball — either playing extended minutes or sitting in ice baths. Losing sophomore guard Mac McClung to a foot injury at the beginning of February and then senior center Omer Yurtseven to an ankle injury shortly after exacerbated the challenge of simply holding practice, where Ewing had to balance preparing his players with keeping their legs fresh.
McClung has missed nine of the past 10 games and Yurtseven has missed six of seven; neither is expected to play Wednesday.
With his two leading scorers out and his roster depleted, Ewing recruited help from former players such as Malinowski, who is living at home in Chantilly, Va., while awaiting his next overseas opportunity.
The former wing has practiced occasionally leading up to the Big East tournament. Trey Mourning came back and helped during the NBA’s All-Star Weekend while he had a break from playing with the Miami Heat’s G-league affiliate. Former big man Kaleb Johnson has been back, too. The trio of 2019 seniors all reunited at one practice in February.
What makes Malinowski and his former teammates perfect practice-squad guys is that they already know the bones of most of Georgetown’s plays.
“It’s great. To me, it shows how our guys are, the type of kids that we have here,” Ewing said. “Everybody’s willing to pitch in and help. . . . They pretty much know a lot of the stuff even though we change plays a lot. They know most of the stuff that we’re doing, and also they know the defensive principles that we have.”
In St. John’s, seeded ninth in the 10-team tournament, No. 8 seed Georgetown will face a fast-paced squad that likes to press on defense and will surely test the Hoyas’ legs. The Hoyas swept the Red Storm in two meetings this year, on Jan. 8 and Feb. 2, earning the latter win without McClung. Georgetown is hoping to avoid a repeat of 2018, when it piled up two regular season wins before falling to St. John’s in the first round of the tournament, 88-77.
The Hoyas have yet to win two games in a Big East tournament under Ewing.
“We’re going to have our work cut out for us,” Ewing said. “Who knows who I’m going to have to put in to spell them, but I think the guys are used to it.”
Malinowski wasn’t sure whether he would make it to Madison Square Garden for Wednesday’s opener, but he has been enjoying watching Hoyas games at Capital One Arena lately in his new seat behind the bench. He is happy to help the Hoyas any way he can — even if it means taking it easier than he is used to in practice.
“I don’t want to be another reason for injury,” Malinowski said with a laugh. Point guard Terrell Allen “tried to take a charge on me one practice; I just picked the ball up and traveled. I was like: ‘Hey, I’m just here to help. I’m not here to get anybody hurt.’ We both just started laughing at each other.
“I know it’s not about me when I come back — just feed the big guys, run around. Coach is good about it. He hasn’t yelled at me once, which has been kind of nice.”
