Sneak Peek: Georgetown v. Syracuse

Georgetown goes into the bowels of Hades Monday night when it faces #5 Syracuse at the Carrier Dome.  Tip-off is at 7 pm EST; you can watch on ESPN or listen online at ESPN980.

Syracuse is riding high at 19-1, 6-1 this season (losses to D II Le Moyne apparently don’t count), with only a ten-point home loss to Pitt to mar an otherwise undefeated season.  The Orange have beaten good-but-not-great non-conference competition (Cal, UNC, Memphis, Florida) and had impressive back-to-back road wins at West Virginia and Notre Dame last week.  In fact, if you believe the RPI, Cuse is the best team in the land.  With that in mind, let’s look at the Orange (since we must):

• Star–Wesley Johnson.  An unfamiliar name for those that haven’t seen the Orange this season, Johnson is a fourth-year junior transfer from Iowa State.  He’s been compared to Shawn Marion because of his versatile inside-outside game (but not because of Marion’s busted J).  Johnson averages over 17 ppg and 9 rpg, and is an extremely efficient shooter, making over 55% of his shots from the field and 44% of his threes.
• Keep an eye on–everyone else in orange and white: seven Orange players average more than eight points per, and five average in double figures, so basically anyone on the floor is dangerous.  In particular, keep an eye on senior forward Andy Rautins, who can score, especially from deep, but also has quick hands on defense, where he averages over 2 steals per game.  Down low, Rick Jackson (9.6 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 2.2 bpg), Arinze Onuaku (10.2 ppg 4.5 rpg), and Kris Joseph (10.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg) will protect the boards.
  
• Strengths–shooting and defense.  The Orange are second-best at shooting the ball nationwide, making over 53% of their FG and almost 39% of their threes.  On defense, Syracuse’s standard 2-3 zone is better than ever, thanks to long defenders.
  
• Weaknesses–Not many, unfortunately, but the Orange turn the ball over frequently, and have trouble, with their zone defense, of keeping other teams off the offensive boards.
• Guy you’ll love to hate–it’s Syracuse, so why limit yourself to just one?  Seriously, who’s the last guy you even tolerated in Orange?  My guess is either Carmelo, who was kinda okay because he left after a year, or William of Orange, from roughly 1689.  This year is no exception.  There’s Jim Boeheim, as always, crying and moaning.  Rautins threw a nasty elbow in the Orange’s win at Notre Dame, so maybe he’s got another dirty play up his sleeve.  Plus, he appears to have done some really goofy-looking locker room workouts with Eric Devendorf, so he’s detestable by osmosis.  Last, the Orange have a new freshman guard Brandon Triche, who has big shoes to fill thanks to his eminently hate-able predecessors,  Gerry McNamara and Devendorf.  I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Georgetown is in sole possession of third place in the conference after an impressive Pitt victory and a walkover against Rutgers.  But the Orange are a talented and frustrating challenge for the Hoyas.  Georgetown often struggles to adapt to the long, athletic 2-3 ‘Cuse zone, which neutralizes the effect of Hoya back-cuts and encourages ill-advised deep three-pointers.  The Orange’s depth will provide a particularly difficult match-up this year for a Georgetown team that barely goes seven deep.  And, the Carrier Dome has been particularly unkind to the Hoyas, who haven’t beaten the Orange there since 2002.

To win, Georgetown needs to find the gaps in ‘Cuse’s zone.  Specifically, they need to get the ball into the high post to Greg Monroe and Julian Vaughn.  From there, the big men may find openings in the low post or the guards open for wing and corner threes.  The Orange have been trapping on the wings this year, so the Hoya guards will need to be particularly careful with the ball there.  On defense, strong close-outs against the Orange shooters will be a necessity, as will exploiting opportunities for turnovers and transition baskets.

Georgetown has proven resilient in conference road games this year, pulling out a convincing W at Pitt and pulling themselves up after shaky starts at ‘Nova and Marquette.  They can’t afford the comatose slumps that characterized the ‘Nova loss and the UConn win, but have to bring their best for all forty minutes.

Prediction–Syracuse 74, Georgetown 70.  (Holding my nose.  I’m such a traitor.)