Hoyas assaulted in China at Goodwill games

John Thompson III’s quick reaction to a melee on the court probably saved the day. His staff sprang in to action and removed the Hoyas from the court. As they left, they were pelted with water bottles and water. There is no excuse for this kind of behavior. It is uncertain if the Georgetown Hoyas will move on to the next round of games in Shanghai or not.

From SBNation:

The nearly two-minute video, which Burke “obtained from a Chinese source,” shows Georgetown player Jason Clark getting angry after being fouled by Rockets player Hu Ke, engaging him in a shoving match, and igniting a full-scale brawl. Clark is immediately swarmed by a number of Chinese players as both benches storm the floor, pushed down, and apparently kicked and stomped. Smaller scuffles break out throughout the arena, with chairs whizzing through the air and wielded as blunt instruments.

The fight itself appears to have been defused after about 30 seconds of chaos, but the Chinese crowd lets the Georgetown team have it as the Hoyas walk off the court, expressing their displeasure loudly and throwing projectiles — water bottles, the Washington Post reported — at the players.

There was a chance that the horrifying pictures of the Georgetown-Bayi Rockets fight cast a small skirmish as a much bigger deal than it was. Now, after seeing the video, it’s possible that the pictures didn’t capture quite how bad it was.

There has been other incidents in this same game before Jason Clark got angry.

Thanks, Big Dog.  I love it when I can get to a sports story before Mr. Howler.