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

The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team scored a nice win over Georgia Tech last weekend, but we’re far from digging out of this hole just yet. We’ll have to plunge deeper first — with a matchup against the hated Georgetown Hoyas, a pesky mid-major that we face most seasons.

Since we’re (thankfully) not Georgetown fans, we went ahead and asked one about what to expect in this game. Casual Hoya (who I guess you can follow on Twitter if you’re into that sort of thing) joins us to talk all about the grey menace. You can check out those responses below. We also impart some knowledge about Syracuse over there, if you care to venture into that hive of scum and villainy.

Georgetown’s season hasn’t necessarily gone as planned. How are Hoya fans dealing with this latest disappointment?

What! You mean having 2 of our best 5 players leave the team in December and the program be mired in a Syracusian level of controversy wasn’t part of our plan when the season started? Hark! Look, I can tell you that the shiznit had definitely hit the fan like a week ago, but since then we are riding #AllTheFeels of an extremely successful road trip in which the Hoyas knocked off not one but two previously undefeated powerhouses. We are better than ever! Addition by subtraction, baby! By the way, does Syracuse know what a non-conference road trip is? Next question!

Speaking of: When will “Crimes and Misdemeanors” be updated to reflect recent developments at Georgetown?

I’d expect nothing less from you and you may take that as a complement of the highest (and also lowest) order. No doubt when the allegations (important word) came out I was wondering what sort of death spiral this would lead us down and how the program would ever recover from it, but then as some other details have come out about the alleged (important word) incident and the allegations (important word) against the players involved have been disputed, I decided that the best course of action was precisely what the school is doing, which is to allow its internal investigation run its course and for Ewing et al to take any action necessary once the Student Conduct Committee has levied its decision. This varies, you see, from what would have been done at Syracuse, for example, where any player involved is such an incident would have been thrown a parade and celebrated throughout the bitter barren fields of Southern Canada.

UConn’s back in the Big East starting next year. Are you happy to see the former power return to the conference, or is the league better off without them?

Definitely amped to have UConn back in the fold. Ever since you goobers left I’ve enjoyed our battles with Xavier, Butler, Creighton, etc but it’s just not the same level of fun. UConn is fun, I like fun, America likes fun. The Big East is definitely better off with UConn in it, just as it would be if you jerkbags were in it instead of bathing yourselves in ACC money while pretending to enjoy your new rivalries against Wake Forest and the like.

How have things looked different now that it’s basically Omer Yurtseven and Mac McClung’s team without a ton of obvious help around them anymore?

It’s odd to say the team has looked much better without Akinjo and LeBlanc but it really has. Suddenly we’re running offensive sets, the ball is moving around the perimeter, extra passes are being made, open guys are being found, and defensive rotations have been more crisp. It’s a different team, really. Credit to UCF transfer point guard Terrell Allen for doing everything right so far and everyone has bought into it. Sort of a rally around the flag type of thing and it’s working! At least so far. Yurt7 and Mac are still the main offensive cogs and the Hoyas need them to produce every night to be competitive, so we’ll see what happens moving forward, but so far definitely so good.

Syracuse has pulled victory from the jaws of defeat for the last two seasons vs. Georgetown. What’s been your favorite part of these Hoya losses?

Thank you. Have you ever had an entire fifth of Blanton’s in one sitting?

How about twice?

Next question!

Almost a third of the way through year three, what grade would you give the Patrick Ewing coaching era so far?

I’m going to go middle of the road here and go with B- (yes, I understand B- for Syracuse kids is really high). Ewing has done a good job elevating the program to some extent, but jury’s still out as to whether he is a solid Xs and Os guy and he definitely takes a hit re the Johnnys and Joes after so many of his recruits have been kicked off the team (Chris Sodom, Antwan Walker) or have left voluntarily (James Akinjo, Josh LeBlanc). One of our better recruites for next year recently decommitted so we have that going for us as well. You know what, I’m changing the B- to a C+.

Which Orange player are you most concerned with going into this game?

I hate all of them equally and they all concern me. Whichever one happens to be shooting at any given time is the worst.

If there’s one random, non-star player that goes off from three against Syracuse, who would you assume that is?

You may want to take a gander at the highlights of our game against SMU, where Jahvon Blair broke out of a season-long shooting slump to knock down 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 3s! Seven! He is now and forever will be known moving forward as The Blair Swish Project, so be very afraid!

Have to ask every year: How much does this game matter to Georgetown fans anymore?

Very much, yes. I was wondering if this series was going to continue after last season and am happy that the schools were able to come to an agreement to extend it an additional 4 years. That’s good, we need to hold on to our rivalry games and this one is always circled on our calendars.

Prediction time: Who wins this one and why?

I think Georgetown will continue its strong play of late and should be able to find holes in your horrific zone. We’ve come close before and this time we’re leaving with a W. I’ll go Hoyas 76 – Orange 65.

Also, eat it.

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Thanks again to Casual Hoya for taking the time out to answer these. You can also visit Casual Hoya, SB Nation’s other blog about Syracuse.