In anticipation of Monday night's showdown between YOUR Villanova Wildcats and the hated Georgetown Hoyas, we got together for our annual shindig with Casual Hoya to get the lowdown on what's happening in D.C.
He then proceeded to talk trash about sacred things like Josh Hart and gravy, stirring up emotions not felt in quite some time. Take a read, and head on over to THE GLOBAL PHENOMENON their blog for my answers to their questions.
More on Georgetown
More on Georgetown
Though the scheduling has generally been better this season, can you think of a worse time to play what was (presumably) the conference's first marquee game of the season?
Totes! I mean, I'm all for this new Big East and I've been amped about the coverage on Fox Sports, but to have the two premier teams in the conference play on two days rest at 9pm Martin Luther King day really doesn't shine a big enough spotlight on this game. This game needs more buildup. This game needs sex! This game needs drugs! Give us your drugs!
What's the adjusted expectation for Georgetown this season given the good start? Conference title? Second weekend in March?
Thank you for saying this has been a good start for the Hoyas, which I guess it has been. Thing is, if the ball bounces a few different ways against Wisconsin and Kansas we're talking about an excellent season so far, but with Georgetown having just two wins over RPI Top 50 opponents (Indiana, Butler) we're not exactly kicking our shoes off and whistling dixie.
As far as expectations moving forward, the Hoyas should make the Dance and need to win a damn first round game. I think the team has the talent to make some noise in March, so a Sweet Sixteen isn't out of the question and anything beyond would be gravy. Gravy, by the way, is very overrated.
Has the talented freshmen class lived up to their billing thus far?
Indeed, and I think they've been better than we thought they'd be so they aren't what we thought they were! L.J. Peak, Paul White or Isaac Copeland have the ability to lead this team in scoring on any given night, and Tre Campbell has been a very serviceable backup point guard. Every night after I brush my teeth I say a little prayer to the hoops Gods to keep this group together for many years. Then I check twitter and instagram and then I out on Jimmy Fallon.
Who are your five most hated players in the Big East?
In no particular order:
What has to happen for JTIII to get fired, given his family legacy?
JT3 will never be fired. Ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever.
And yes, the family legacy has everything to do with that, but really, he's a very good basketball coach who has been to a Final Four, does a great job with the talent he has and can still recruit at a high level. Save a couple losses to some gimp squads in March no one would ever bring up this topic, even though it's brought up in all of the gamethreads we have on THE GLOBAL PHENOMENON in any game we may play in if we're down six points. Hoyas fans are the best.
Must Reads
Must Reads
Georgetown deciding not to recruit Josh Hart (thank you again by the way) is comparable to what historical screwup?
Let's not get crazy over Josh Hart, who is a serviceable college guard but nothing more. Could he play lots of minutes on this Hoyas team? Sure, but I'm not crying in my sleep that he's on Villanova even though he wanted to play for us. As far as a historical screwup, I'd liken it to that chubby Packers coach deciding not go go for it on two 4th and 1's in the 1st quarter and blowing his team's chances at another Superbowl.
For Wildcats fans heading to D.C., what should their lunch, dinner and pregame bar plans be for Monday night?
Well, the Verizon Center is in the Chinatown part of DC, but if said Wildcats fans want to get a real Georgetown experience they should head to campus (maybe take an Uber!) and go to The Tombs, which is a famous Georgetown bar and restaurant. For dinner, DC doesn't have many beautiful people, but a few tend to congregate at Le Diplomate which is a solid French bistro with a lot of energy. Get some french onion soup and then head to Clyde's for the pregame, which is a shitty bar in that the owners cater to Syracuse fans, but it's huge and basically right in the Verizon Center so you can order a beer, drink it, and be in your seat within minutes. Cup of chili is pretty good, as are the oysters. My guess is most Nova fans are fat and do not endorse the low carb winning lifestyle, and they'll be in luck since Clyde's has lots of different beers and burgers and such.
Any desire to renovate/blowup McDonough and build a state-of-the-art home arena, or are the fans comfortable playing most of the bigger games at the Verizon Center?
Desire? Absolutely. But that will never happen due to town-gown relations and frankly, there's just no room for a large venue and the necessary parking. Georgetown plays all of its home games in Verizon, and though the atmosphere is less than exhilarating for most games, the students and fans get turnt when they need to for the big games. Georgetown is in the midst of an ambitious new Athletics Facility which should be completed in a few years and hopefully prevent us from losing recruits to worse schools that happen to have more shiny equipment.
Your prediction for Monday?
Shock the world, baby! Hoyas 67 - Wildcats 64.