Syracuse vs. Georgetown preview: Q&A with Casual Hoya

The Syracuse Orange (8-1) take on the rival Georgetown Hoyas (8-0) this weekend in a basketball game that can easily be seen as a battle of good vs. evil. Or just good vs. bad. Or recent Final Four participants vs. non-recent Final Four participants. Any of these work.

Before things tip off, we spoke to Casual Hoya, another blog that covers Syracuse basketball, to ask questions about Georgetown. Weird how that happens. Their responses are below. We also answered some questions over there, which you should check out.

How's mid-major life treating you these days?

OMG that’s so funny you guys! By mid-major are you referring to the Big East conference in which the current NUMBER ONE TEAM IN THE NATION plays in and that same very team WON THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP two years ago and THIRTY PERCENT of the teams in the Big East are in the Top 15 teams in the country? Life’s good, homey!

Georgetown is 8-0 on the back of the worst non-conference schedule I've ever seen. Do Hoya fans care about the latter caveat?

Certainly a lot has been made of Georgetown’s non-conference slate this season, and while it has indeed consisted primarily of a plate of delicious cupcakes, being one of the last six unbeaten teams in the country has brought Georgetown a lot of headlines and PR that it otherwise likely would not have received starting out against tougher competition.

If you aren’t going to win many games in January through March, you might as well try to have some fun and win the PR war in November and December, and that’s exactly what the Hoyas have done thus far. Also, this question seems like one of those “people in glasses houses shouldn’t throw stones” things coming from you gimpburgers, who usually play no one outside the air-conditionless confines of the horrible Carrier Dome until conference play starts.

Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports

What did you guys have to pay Big John in order to fire JTIII? Does he own the university now? When does he rename the place "Johntown?"

Look, the powers that be at Georgetown deserve credit for taking the step to make a head coaching change given that 1) that head coach was the son of the guy who put the hoops program on the map, 2) that same guy has a statue of himself in a shiny new practice facility that 3) bears his name. That being said, and while the various parties involved in making the change and picking the new head coach have publicly denied that JT2 had any involvement in the selection of Ewing, that is clearly nonsense and he does maintain a lot of power over the program, and deservedly so. I’ll accept ‘Johntown’ if you roll with ‘BoeheimPicksHisNose University’. Deal?

Jessie Govan seems to be having a pretty good season so far. Is that a product of opponents, or is he really that deadly of a big man?

Probably both. Jessie has certainly improved from last season into this one, largely due to a scheme that better fits his athleticism. We don’t know how his numbers will carry over once the level of competition kicks up a notch, but he’s putting up 20 and 13 so far and that’s pretty impressive. It’s good to see him finally playing with confidence and I pray to the hoops Gods that he can remain out of foul trouble in every game for the rest of the season because we’re probably screwed without him on the court.

Why are you threatening toddlers with Georgetown fandom on Saturday?

Ha, isn’t that great? Frankly I think they should put that “orange is my least favorite color” and sell them to everyone in America. As an aside, have you ever wondered what it would be like to wear a diaper during a sporting event or a movie so that you wouldn’t have to get up and go to the bathroom? You know, perhaps just for #1 purposes? I can’t say that I’m totally against it. Moving on…

Where are the Hoyas finishing in the Big East this year? Feel free to categorize your answer in "below DePaul" or "WAY BELOW DePaul" terms.

Before the season I had set the over/under on Big East wins at 3.5, and even though the Hoyas are a nationally receiving votes beloved by Van Gundy undefeated powerhouse, I’m not sure at this point I can stray from that number. I do think Georgetown is better than DePaul, however, because DePaul stinks. As such, my answer to your question is “above DePaul because DePaul stinks.”

What do you hate the most about us? Please don't be shy.

This is a question that is simply impossible to answer, really because there is nothing at all that I like about you. In the triumphant movie OFFICE SPACE when Peter Gibbons tells the therapist “Every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that's on the worst day of my life,” that’s basically how I feel about Syracuse every damn day.

Here are a few things, however:

• Most Hated Syracuse Players of the Past Decade (Casual Hoya)
• Syracuse Hate: Their Message Boards (Casual Hoya)
• Casual Rivalry: The Definitive List of Syracuse Insults (Casual Hoya)
• 10 Things Georgetown Fans Hate About Syracuse Basketball (Syracuse.com)

And of course, what is basically on par with the Bible:

• Crimes and Misdemeanors: A Complete Guide to Syracuse Basketball Under Jim Boeheim (Casual Hoya)

Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

What's Patrick Ewing done well as a coach so far? Anything he's been particularly less adept at?

I mean, other than the fact that he HAS NEVER LOST A SINGLE GAME? I think the schemes are a work in progress as Ewing learns the strengths and weaknesses of this group of players, but the offense is more open and up-tempo and he seemingly has the attention of his players in a way that I don’t quote think JT3 had last season.

On the flip side I’m still not sure if he knows basic rules (how many timeouts, when the media stoppages are, etc) but I could be very wrong on that. The problem is that most of our games thus far have been over halfway through the 1^st half, so we don’t really know how Ewing is as an in-game Xs and Os guy just yet. I will say, however, that this possession down the stretch against Richmond was excellent, and came directly after a timeout.

If we threw Georgetown a life raft to join the ACC as a non-football member, would you take it? If not, why would you spurn potential athletic success for FS1-flavored purgatory?

As much as I enjoy having Xavier, Creighton, and Butler as our new brethren, the Big East and the Big East Tournament just aren’t the same without you fools and the other defectors. I mean, the new shooters have added some juice to the Conference no doubt, but the best part of the old Big East was hurling insults at fat and pasty Syracuse and UConn fans at the Garden and that just doesn’t happen anymore because the fans of these new programs are just too nice. I don’t know if I’d bolt to the ACC or whether I’d prefer to have you, UConn, Pitt, etc. back in the Big East, but at some point I hope we can all swim in the same cesspool again.

Prediction time: What happens in this one and why?

The Georgetown Hoyas are a nationally receiving votes beloved by Van Gundy undefeated powerhouse and I fully expect that to continue throughout the game on Saturday. Whether or not the game ends with Georgetown as a nationally receiving votes beloved by Van Gundy undefeated powerhouse is anybody’s guess, but I really hope it happens because 1) I really enjoy being a nationally receiving votes beloved by Van Gundy undefeated powerhouse, and 2) this would be the worst loss for Syracuse in the history of our rivalry. In Ewing We Trust.

No pressure, buddy.