A Casual Q&A With Casual Hoya

Syracuse vs. Georgetown.  Aside from Seton Hall vs. Rutgers, it's the most storied rivalry in Big East history.  So many memories, so many taunts, so much hatred.  The proprietor of Georgetown blog CasualHoya and I decided to lay down our arms, if only for a moment, to find out a little bit more about each other. 

They say that my enemy's enemy is my friend.  That doesn't really apply to what I'm talking about.  At all.  But it sounds nice.

Be sure to stop by CasualHoya to see my answers to his questions as well.

Wait, Georgetown's No. 12? When did this happen? How?

You think that's surprising? Imagine how I felt when I saw that Syracuse is No. 5! I am pretty sure that Carmelo has graduated--sorry, phoned it in for a season in Home Ec classes before moving to Denver to double the salary Boeheim paid him. And McNamara tried to go to whatever Mediterranean country can best use a bald white guy with a killer half-court shot before realizing his failure and come crawling back to the only school that would admit him. Now Devendork is in jail right? Or on probation? Sorry, I am not up to speed with the State Of New York's relevant laws regarding opening the door that your girlfriend "walks into totally on accident, I didn't touch her, your honor."

Anyways, so I guess the only answer for Cuse’s inflated ranking is Wes Johnson, who decided that being paid in corn at Iowa State just wasn't cutting it and decided to come to Syracuse and get paid in bad weather. And by bad weather I mean bags of cash handed over by sweaty palmed boosters who run that Chevrolet dealership out by the highway. Good luck getting him to donate to the Alumni Fund. That must be why they are No. 5. Oh, Georgetown is No. 12 because we are awesome.

Georgetown will beat Syracuse because...

...of the following 3 things and 3 things only. 1) Gym. 2) Tanning. 3) Laundry. But if you want a real reason and not something that our friend The Situation would tell you, I’ll give you another 3: Greg Monroe, Austin Freeman, and Chris Wright.

When Pitt flashed its version of the 2-3 Zone against the Hoyas, Wright and Freeman were able to quickly identify it, and make the passes necessary to destroy it, i.e the pass to the big flashing at the top of the key. The Hoyas are a good passing team, and big men Monroe and Julian Vaughn are particularly adept at the kind of interior passing that can cause the 2-3 fits and lead to a lot of close baskets and open looks on the perimeter. The open looks on the perimeter are where Freeman and Jason Clark come in. If the Hoyas are lights-out from behind the arc like they were against Pitt, then Cuse will have a long night. Not quite the kind of night that would cause a man to make out with Snooki in a hot tub, but pretty close to it.

Syracuse will beat Georgetown because...

The 2-3 Zone always causes Georgetown fits, and the Hoyas are notoriously awful at converting easy looks underneath the hoop. If Monroe and Vaughn (or any other starter for that matter) get in foul trouble early and Cuse can get into Georgetown’s bench, Cuse can exploit our lack of depth and take advantage of another disturbing tendency for the Hoyas –the prolonged scoring droughts that suck the life out of anything warm and fuzzy on the planet and turn them into cold, damp, caves. Also, I have no idea how Georgetown will guard Wes Johnson without one of our guys getting into foul trouble. I’d prefer we throw Hollis Thompson and Jerrelle Benimon and their combined 10 fouls at him and see if he is as good at picking himself off the floor as he is at making Jay Bilas drool at his length.

Bottom line is that if the Hoyas go cold on the perimeter, it will be a happy day for all of the grotesque Syracuse fans that will waddle into the Carrier Dome on Monday.

Georgetown fans were quite vocal last season when it came to Eric Devendorf. Who's the one player they're most looking forward to making obscene chants about on Feb 18?

It does hurt that Devendorf, aka The Inbred, aka The Woman Beater, aka Cheddar Bob, aka The Short Bus Rider, aka The Situation Wannabe has graduated. We'll miss him. Thankfully, we still have Gerry McNamara and his chin strap beard as a graduate assistant. If I were a student right now, I'd focus my energy on DaShonte Riley. This dude decommitted from Georgetown because he got owned by Henry Sims in a pickup game and thought he wouldn't be able to get minutes over him. Not sure how many Georgetown games you have watched this year, but Henry Sims is awful. Just how bad must DaShonte be? He must be absolutely terrible. Like, really, really terrible.(Ed. Note: DaShonte is a prince!  How dare you, sir!)

www.hoyasuxa.com Your thoughts?

I like that site. It is witty and well-written, although I sometimes feel bad for him, like that story about the trip to Georgetown, CT made me question his social life, or lack thereof... but I am sure he would be the first to admit he is a loser, much like every single person reading this answer right now, as well as the moron that wrote it. I have no qualms about sites like that - that is what the Internets is for, right? What good is a rivalry if you can't rip on each other? Which is a great intro to your next question...

Georgetown fans got quite the welcome in the Dome last year (which, for the record I wasn't a big fan of). Is there trepidation amongst the fanbase to travel for this year's game?

The bottle throwing was over the line, it tainted what turned out to be a great game for the Hoyas that traveled up to Hell, I mean Syracuse, US, I mean Syracuse, Canada (which one is it?). I don't think there is any fear among Hoya fans returning to the Dome, if anything I would think Carrier Dome Security (if there such a thing) would be anxious about antics the Cuse Delinquents will pull this year. Sports would be pretty damn boring if you couldn't disagree with the person sitting next to you, or in the upper levels. Just don't try to injure people by throwing stuff, pretty childish and pathetic. Just follow the lead of your visionary coach and whine and complain all the time. By the way, I hate you. (Ed. Note: Right back atcha)

Is there a JTIV waiting in the wings? How long can this legacy go on?

Yes. The JTIV who is waiting in the wings is likely Jonathan Wallace, who was basically JT3 on the court during his time at Georgetown as a 4-year starter. Wallace is well-schooled in the Princeton offense and would seemingly be able to recruit as a former player who can sport some clout with a Final Four appearance. His success as a player in the Beltway should help keep some of the local talent in the area, and his southern roots (he’s from Alabama) may help lure some kids from the south who normally wouldn’t consider Georgetown as a destination. This is all speculation, however, especially since Wallace was just drafted in the D-league and may have designs on a career in law as he was accepted to Georgetown law school a couple of years ago. The last Hoyas coach who attended Georgetown Law was Craig Esherick, so maybe it’s for the best that Wallace keep pushing that law career back and instead look to the coaching bench where he could really help us out. I don’t see JT3 leaving Georgetown for quite a long time.