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Don't do a ton of Q&As for basketball season since there are just so many games, but had a chance to exchange questions with Andrew of at SB Nation's resident Georgetown blog, Casual Hoya in advance of Tuesday's game. See his answers to my questions below and be sure to head on over there for my answers to his.
The Catholic 7 almost sounds like a gang, a small cult, a group of priests on trial for some heinous crime, or some type of band. Are you sick of that moniker yet?
Casual Hoya: Our defection would be a heinous crime if we weren't able to land a decent TV deal, but now that it looks like we each may be getting double what we got in the "old" Big East, we're more like an oversized boy band doing synchronized dance moves to that hit "I Wanna Be Rich." We have always been proponents of 'The Chosen Ones' more than the Catholic 7 since our goal isn't to offend those who are true believers of the Old Testament.
With that said, what are your thoughts on the Catholic 7 and the new conference?
Assuming we can pull in a few excellent hoops schools like Butler and Xavier and sprinkle in a Creighton, Dayton and (Insert decent hoops mid-major HERE), we'll be just fine. Though a Georgetown-Xavier game ins't as sexy as a Georgetown-Syracuse, it should still be enough to cause people to turn on whatever channel Fox Sports Ass is, and will likely draw viewers away from that epic Pitt-Wake game on the same night.
Georgetown has some good non-conference wins and their sole loss was in overtime to the then No. 1 team in the land, Indiana. You've got to be pretty pleased with that considering non-conference games against the Hoosiers, Texas, Tennessee, and UCLA.
Under JT3 Georgetown has always had a difficult OOC schedule and has performed remarkably, and I think in each of the last 5 years the Hoyas have gone 10-1 before Big East play started. The wins over Texas, Tennessee and UCLA are nice to have on our resume, and especially that one against UCLA who has seemed to right the ship lately and should be right in the thick of things for PAC-12 supremacy.
4. Okay, a 37-36 win over Tennessee? Discuss.
A win is a win, right? Look, we can't win every game pretty, and this one just happened to be really, really ugly. The national takeaway from this game was that Georgetown's offense was terrible but the reality is that it was a very impressive defensive showing by Georgetown. The Hoyas defense has been a bright spot so far and should keep Georgetown in games that the offense is struggling throughout this season.
Any chance Otto Porter jumps ship to the NBA after this season?
Put it this way, I'd be 100% surprised if he comes back to Georgetown for his junior season. Porter isn't flashy, but he has a number of NBA tools and is currently projected as a lottery pick, so why would he come back? Sure, we'd love him to since if he did I think a frontcourt of Josh Smith, Mikael Hopkins/Nate Lubick, Porter and a backcourt of Greg Whittington and Markel Starks would be a top 10 team, but hey, we Hoyas have been burned in the past with early departures submarining National title hopes (Jeff Green, Greg Monroe) so we're used to this by now.
I'm not sure Pitt and Georgetown was enough of a rivalry to ever continue playing each other, but other than Syracuse, who else would you like to see the Hoyas keep on the schedule among former Big East teams not in the Catholic 7?
Our fanbase is rightfully divided on this. On one hand, some feel that since Pitt and Syracuse decided to leave we should let them leave and be done with them. On the other, it's tough to just toss aside rivalries, and many would like to see the series continue against both. My guess is that the Hoyas will schedule Syracuse as an annual out of conference game in December with the series rotating between the Carrier Dome and Verizon Center, and maybe even Madison Square Garden. That rivalry is just too good to die. I also look forward to playing you clowns in the NCAA Tournament now, which would be really fun.
I've not seen one minute of Georgetown basketball this year. Give us an under-the-radar player to watch for.
You know about Otto Porter so I'll give you sophomore forward Greg Whittington. Whittington has really stepped up this season to become Georgetown's numer two option on offense as a 6'8" shooting guard he causes matchup problems for most opponents. His length on the perimeter is also the key to the effectiveness of Georgetown's zone defense which I suspect Pitt will see a ton of since the Panthers aren't exactly the greatest outside shooting squad.
Any chance that the Hoyas are the best team in the conference?
I mean, there's always a chance, but not really. Louisville is the best team in the Big East until someone beats them and as of now the Cardinals are probably the only real chance the Big East has of sending a team deep in the NCAA Tournament. Also, Rick Pitino had sex with a woman who was not his wife in a restaurant in Louisville. #neverforget
What are your thoughts on the game against Pitt?
I think this game will be your typical low scoring Big East slugfest. Your Panthers can't really afford to start 0-3 in Conference play and Georgetown doesn't want to begin 0-2 either. Georgetown should be able to frustrate Pitt on the perimeter and if Hopkins and Lubick can contain Zanna and Adams I think Georgetown should be able to do enough offensively to pull out a squeaker. Call it 58-54 Hoyas, friendo.
There you have it -
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