Welcome back to another edition of Bulls Recon V5ers. Today, our esteemed friends at Casual Hoya came in from THE GLOBAL PHENOMENON Headquarters to talk some Georgetown Basketball. We talked about Austin Freeman, last year's game in DC, and of course Big East expansion.
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1. After a slow start in conference play, JTIII and the Hoyas have been on a tear over the last month. What's been the difference?
The biggest difference has been the insertion of freshman Nate Lubick into the starting lineup and moving Hollis Thompson to the bench. The Hoyas were getting beat up inside against bigger teams as Thompson was playing out of position at the 4. With Lubick in there now, Georgetown's rebounding numbers and overall defense have improved dramatically and opponents no longer have a mismatch they can key in on. Thompson has been terrific coming off the bench as well, and now that he doesn't have to deal with the opponent's power forward, has become a slashing swingman in the Trevor Ariza mode. Since the starting lineup switch Georgetown has gone 8-1.
2. Austin Freeman is awesome. Tell us why he'll burn us for 30 Saturday?
Freeman is a good player, and after all he’s gone through at Georgetown it’s safe to say that to Hoyas fans he is respected and indeed awesome. I’m not sure he’ll go off for 30 against you clowns however, because unlike ball hogs like Kemba Walker, Freeman doesn’t take that many shots. My guess is that he puts up something like 21, with Wright and Clark chipping in numbers in the high teens.
3. Who has stepped up at the 5 to replace Greg Monroe?
Julian Vaughn. Did I answer that right? Yes! I am like that damn Watson computer to your Ken Jennings.
Yes, Vaughn has moved from the 4 to the 5, and as mentioned above Lubick has filled the 4 spot. Vaughn has really improved as this season has progressed, and now has a few decent post moves to go along with pretty good defense. He’s not a beast by any means, but he has provided good post presence and has hit numerous key shots. It’s tough to replace a guy like Monroe whose skill set was multifaceted, but Vaughn has done so admirably.
4. What angered you more about USF's upset win last year. The DoJo "Ya'll Come See Dominique Jones Play" quote, or the Mike Mercer reverse double pump slam to finish the game off?
Was Dominique Jones’ nickname "DoJo"? Because if so, that’s pretty awesome – definitely would have hated him less had I known that. In fact, since USF sucks at everything basketball, why didn’t you guys just roll out Cobra Kai uniforms and start sweeping legs out there? NO MERCY, MR. LAWRENCE! The "Y’all" quote was great because he dropped 30+ on Georgetown and I dig players who have that kind of swagger. The quote was even better a month later when the Hoyas DESTROYED USF in the Big East Tournament by 20 points, ending Jones’ career at your dump in Tampa, while holding that Mercer gimp to 2 points.
5. What are your thoughts on Big East expansion? Do you think we should stay at 9 football teams, or should we go to 10, 11, or even 12 teams? #BootDePaul?
To be honest, I have no f*cking clue. I want whatever is best for Georgetown - which means I want the conference to stay together in some form or another. I don't know what that takes. I know Big East football is a joke and am not sure adding TCU alone will fix that problem. Add and subtract as many teams as you need. I just want the core teams to stay put and historic rivalries to stay intact. Football might make the money, but basketball is definitely more exciting.
6. Will Georgetown ever figure out how to run a successful football team?
Will South Florida? The short answer to your question is NO, and it’s primarily due to the limited resources the school has. Unlike bigger, uglier schools in the conference like Syracuse and UConn, Georgetown doesn’t have the means to build football stadiums and begin to attract prized recruits. I think Georgetown is fine just where it is the Patriot League, and maybe one day they’ll be able to finish above .500. But really, who cares?
7. Finally, how much do you guys win by on Saturday?
USF got blitzed at home by Notre Dame but then went on the road and showed some spunk against Pitt, hanging in there until a second half spurt by the Panthers put the game away for good. I think the Hoyas take care of business in this game, and the loss to UConn should prevent them from falling into a trap scenario. I’ll peg a final score of Hoyas 74 – Bulls 61, and I’m hoping the final margin of 13 is only that close after a monster 20-0 run by the Bulls in the final 2 minutes with the game way out of hand while I’ll already be sipping boat drinks and toasting the win. Yes, I toast wins.
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We hope you guys keep the Korbel on ice Saturday. Check out Casual Hoya for my answers to their questions, and if you aren't following them on Twitter, why aren't you? Their 140 character war with TheUConnBlog and Hoya Suxa makes the day go by just a little bit easier.