We’re back with another edition of Blogger Beat, which is the first of 2 for Georgetown (that’s right, I’m treating all you guys). I talked with Johnny from HoyaHoops in anticipation of the upcoming game. The transcript of my questions for him is below. If you go to HoyaHoops you can find my answers to his questions.
Chris (I Bleed Blue and White): Man, I always knew there was a rivalry between you guys and Syracuse, but “Georgetown Week” in the Syracuse blogosphere was out of control. Have Troy Nunes, Orange::44 and the bunch lost the plot or is the feeling mutual on your side? I don’t pretend like Villanova and Georgetown’s rivalry is huge, but it’s had some good moments (1985!) and some bad (I’m still fuming over the “foul” last year).
Johnny (HoyaHoops): Syracuse and Georgetown is a HUGE rivalry. They’re our #1 rivals hands down. I try to stay away from Orange blogs, so I’m not sure how over the top they went, but I know that after the Hoyas crushed them at the Verizon Center, that definitely amped them up for their home game a month later.
So I think that the rivalry is definitely mutual. I’m not sure how many Georgetown fans would throw bottles and things at visiting Syracuse fans if they made the trip to DC, but that’s another story altogether.
With Villanova, though, I think you guys make more of that than we do. For Hoyas fans, it’s Syracuse #1, everyone else #2. I know that a lot of the Hoya faithful consider Maryland a huge rivalry, and so they’re happy Georgetown got to destroy two of their biggest rivals.
Chris (IBBW): I think most agreed Georgetown would take a step back this year, but most (myself included) figured they would still be a Top 25 team. I’ve seen a lot of the media say that Greg Monroe hasn’t lived up to the hype, but in my opinion the loss of Jonathan Wallace at the point has hurt more. What’s the real story?
Johnny (HH): Nobody seems to know what the problem is, but I can promise you it’s not Greg Monroe’s fault. Like any freshman, he has his ups and downs, but he’s been doing very well at picking apart defenses by making the right passes. A lot of people are questioning whether he’s getting the ball enough in the post, but again, I don’t think Georgetown’s problems can be pinned on Greg. If he gets the ball more often down low, it’s not going to solve everything; there are a lot of things going on, and I think everyone, Coach Thompson included, is at a loss to figure out what all these things are and how to fix them.
Definitely, life without Jonathan Wallace has been tough for the Hoyas, and his calming presence alone would make this current team 100 times better, but he’s not coming back. After the Marquette game last Saturday, JTIII hinted at the fact that his team is very young and Marquette’s was full of veteran players, which is why the Hoyas failed to execute down the stretch. As a senior, Wallace was excellent in late game situations, especially at the free throw line.
Chris (IBBW): It’s been widely rumored that there is dissension in the Hoya locker room. It was believed there were problems last year between DaJuan Summers and Roy Hibbert, although they insisted everything was fine. Any truth to the chemistry problems this year?
Johnny (HH): Nobody knows what goes on in the Georgetown locker room. That place has as high security clearance as any in Washington DC. Saying that, there may be some team chemistry issues, I don’t know. But the thing is, it sure didn’t look like there was any problem at the beginning of the season when the team was winning, so I don’t put too much into that. When your team is losing, you’re gonna be upset, and tempers are gonna flair.
Chris (IBBW): Can only a Big East Tournament title save Georgetown’s NCAA hopes?
Johnny (HH): It would look that way. Now if the Hoyas beat Villanova, they’d have three big wins against Top 10 teams, and they do have one of the toughest schedules. I think KenPom has Georgetown with one of the Top 5 in terms of Strength of Schedule, and they are #45 in RPI. A big win at Nova would help, along with a nice run in the BET, so you never know. The main thing is that Georgetown needs to play better basketball. Sneaking into the tournament playing the way they have lately would just be embarrassing in the first weekend of the tournament.
Chris (IBBW): Finally, what’s your feeling on the game? Villanova struggled with DePaul badly on Wednesday, but Georgetown is reeling. The Villanova students will largely be on break, which helps Georgetown immensely. Any predictions?
Johnny (HH): I think the Hoyas will win. I always think the Hoyas will win. Before one of the games at Verizon – maybe Pitt – some people on press row were asking who everyone thought would win, and I said Georgetown. When the Hoyas lost, somebody said, see it’s your fault – you jinxed it. I was like, “Dude, I’ve said that before every game.” After the last few months, I’m finally beginning to believe them. Maybe I am jinxing things.
Thanks to Johnny for the Q&A session. He runs a great Georgetown blog, so head over to HoyaHoops before the game to get some Georgetown perspective.
