I Bleed Blue and White

Update: Head to Casual Hoya to check out my answers to their questions!

Just so you know, this is my absolute favorite Q&A of the year, because nobody tops the guys at Casual Hoya. Luckily, we’ll get to do this twice this year as the ‘Cats take on the Hoyas twice! So this time, I talked to Andrew Geiger, who apparently has an on-going Twitter feud with their best player, but at the same time is a great guy.

Take a read below as Andrew answers my questions on the Hoyas. Most disappointing thing: Finding out Nikita Mersheriakov has already transferred. On the one hand, I’m sad because I no longer having one of my best punching bags. Then again, the odds I get to see him get dunked on increase because he might actually play in that schoolgirl’s conference.

Chris (IBBW): I feel comfortable saying that Chris Wright and Nikita Mersheriakov defeated DaJuan Summers (bolted to the NBA out of fear) and Omar Wattad (transferred to Never Never Land) in their bouts last year. Who are these two enigmas looking to get after this season? And how long will we have to put up with the inevitable Mersheriakov steroid saga?

Andrew (CH): In the tournament of transferring (to another school or the NBA D-League), it broke down like this: Wright over Summers and Nikita over Wattad. Then this year Wright, faster than we could have expected, dispatched with Nikita (who transferred to Wake Forest during the fall semester. You knew that right?) Thus: Wright is champion and we are ready for him to either turn on Freeman and destroy the team, or vanquish The Majestic Sims, whose tweets we will honestly miss.

Chris (IBBW): I just found out that John Thompson calls his son’s games on the radio, but haven’t had the chance to listen in. How frustrated does he get? Is he yelling out plays? Making substitution calls? And what’s the over/under on games until he gets T’d up from press row?

Andrew (CH): To be honest, I have never listened to a Thompson call on the radio, I don’t think he does every game. For away games where Dick Vitale is announcing, I normally mute the TV and listen to Rich Chvotkin, who is now in his 36th year of broadcasting George games. He works alone and has a cult following. USA Today ran an article on him and his “personal language” a few years back. Chvotkin got the gig by sending self-recorded broadcast to Big in the early 70’s, and hasn’t missed a match since. Great gent too, have fun into him at various Georgetown events.

As for Big John, I have listened to his sports radio show and as expected, he does not refrain from criticizing his son’s team. Last year he called out the team for lacking “thugs” to enforce the paint. I am sure he gets frustrated with the team bu he has mellowed down since retiring, and does a pretty good job doing NBA games for TNT. While I doubt he micro-manages his son, I am sure he still influences a lot of what goes down in the Georgetown Athletic Department.

Chris (IBBW): What sick deal did Austin Freeman make with the Devil? I was STUNNED at what transpired in the UConn game. By the way, you owe me a thank you for jinxing those sons of bitches.

Andrew (CH): I’m not sure he made any deal with the Devil. His increased performance this year can be attributed to his weight loss – was 240 pounds at the end of last year, now down to about 215 – and his work over the summer. He was quiet during non-conference play, partly because he is unselfish and partly because the games weren’t as close. He has been dominating since BIG EAST play started, averaging 21.3 points per game while shooting 58.5% from the field. He has been our most consistent performer, and the player we’d feel most comfortable with taking a last second shot. On top of that, he is showing off the athleticism and mid range game that was expected of him coming out of DeMatha as a Top-10 prospect. I’m not sure you be STUNNED by what transpired, considering he was a a McDonald’s All=American, First-Team All-BIG EAST Rookie, and is leading Georgetown in scoring. I would have been much more STUNNED that Scottie Reynolds put up 36 points on less than 55 shots. That, my friend, was stunning.

Chris (IBBW): Besides the trio of Wright, Monroe and Freeman, who do Wildcats fans have to look out for on Sunday?

Andrew (CH): Besides Wright, Monroe, and Freeman? That’s like asking me to walk into a McDonald’s and order something that isn’t a hamburger, cola, or french fry. But to answer your question, I expect sophomore Jason Clark to play a big role in this one. Clark has a superhuman wingspan, and will play a vital role in breaking whatever press you throw at us as well as hleping to contain Nova’s explosive guard play. I wouldn’t ignore Julian Vaughn down low, either. He’s capable of putting up 15 and 8 if he’s ignored.

Chris (IBBW): We know JTIII prefers a slow, methodical approach to the game, but after seeing what Louisville’s press did to us in the 1st half on Monday night, any chance he turns the hounds loose? Or is he hoping that by going to the complete other end of the spectrum he can lull 22,000 fans/players to sleep, resulting in an easy win?

Andrew (CH): There is no chance that Nova sees a press for any more than a possession or two. Our schemes are predicated upon getting back on defense in the half-court sets. UConn exploited the Hoyas’ horrible transition defense in the first half of that game, as I’m pretty sure 90% of the hoops they made all day were dunks or layups. The press is something that Georgetown has struggled with (both applying it and breaking it_, so we’ll just leave it to the experts like you clowns and Louisville.

Chris (IBBW): When I visited my friend at Georgetown, a good portion of the school was gated in. So Judge Smails, how does it feel to go to a school at an exclusive country club? God forbid you let that upper-middle class crowd in, right?

Andrew (CH): I would argue that the gates of the University are there to keep students out of the surround area, not the surrounding area of of campus. The University and its neighborhood have a notoriously bad relationship, all the rich politicians and talking heads hate the loud, drunk and obnoxious students – go figure. Once heard a story of a student opening the door at an off-campus house party only to find an irate George Stephanopoulos demanding that the music be turned down. Good times.

Chris (IBBW): Are you one of those schools with a Quidditch team? My brother at Dartmouth just informed me of this phenomenon, and for some reason I immediately thought of Georgetown as a definite member.

Andrew (CH): As a University that embraces all cultures, Georgetown apparently does indeed have a Quidditch team. I can assure you, however, that there are indeed some incompreshensible d-=bags at that school and if any of them pretend to be wizards or witches, they should be punched in the mouth if they aren’t already teased and abused by their classmates.

One of the local bars used to have a drink called a Harry Potter, and after enjoying about 50 Harry Potters after watching a Summer League game, I bumped into Roy Hibbert (then a rising sophomore), who was carrying a bag of McDonald’s fried deliciousness and clearly dejectedly after a poor performance. I let him know that he played well. Clearly, my white lie was suffcient to press him to his NBA career. As an aside, Hermione has become far more attractive as the movies have progressed.

Oh yeah, and Hoyas 68, ‘Nova 64.

Make sure you head to Casual Hoya and check out my answers to Andrew’s questions!

…Thanks again to Andrew for doing this…and good luck on Sunday, so long as the luck only involves no hospital trips after what is assured to be a pounding that will drive you to the local watering hole…