5 more questions with Casual Hoya, St. John's vs Georgetown redux

The five questions returns with Casual Hoya - snappier yet more fatherly than a few weeks ago. Below, we discuss the Hoyas righting the ship, if the Hoya fans are at all worried about the Revenge of the Storm, their glaring lack of recognizable Big East Honor Roll talent, John Thompson III's prodigious sweat, and where one goes to have a good time in DC with a drink (spoiler: nowhere.)

Our answers to the Casual questions are HERE. We did not censor Mr. Hoya and the NSFW language because we believe in freedom.

Read on...

Rumble in the Garden: Looking back at the Hoyas' first matchup with St. John's, my silver lining is that the Hoyas were held under 1 point per possession. Also, Jamal Branch. Sweet chicken gravy, man, that's all I have. Is there any worry on the Hoya side about losing at home to St. John's?

Casual Hoya: There's always worry on our side about losing at home to anyone, and certainly the Johnnies could ruin our lives by leaving Verizon with a win. However, I don't think it happens. I'm always worried about St. John's athleticism taking over, but these Hoyas are grounded in defense and, aside from the game against Pitt, no team has been able to dictate their tempo on us. In the first matchup between us at MSG, our suffocating defense prevented Harrison from really getting going, and so long as he's muffled again I really don't see how the Johnnies are going to win this game.

Rumble: No really. Be a pal. Give me hope.

Casual: OK, well, assuming Steve Lavin was able to consult someone with knowledge of Xs and Os since our last game on how to break a zone and sprinkled your guys with Magic Jumpshot Sauce, I think you guys have a very good chance to win. Also, we don't have Greg Whittington anymore, so there's that.

R: Who's the most important player for the Hoyas right now outside of Otto Porter? Is Mikael Hopkins relegated to the bench again?

CH: I love me some two-part questions! First, Markel Starks is our most important player right now outside of Porter. In the absence of Greg Whittington, Starks has really stepped up and for the most part has brought consistent point guard play and steadied the troops. His game against Louisville was extremely impressive in that aside from scoring buckets when it mattered, he single-handedly disarmed Louisville's press and prevented Peyton Siva from scoring a single damned point. Impressive, huh?

Regarding dear Hopkins, he'll me the starting center against you tomorrow and though he has taken a lot of heat from the Hoyas fanbase for his superb inefficiency on offense, he has done a pretty good job containing opposing centers defensively. The kid's a sophomore and playing out of position, and he deserves a lot of credit. Thankfully, Chris Obekpa can't do much of anything other than block shots, so it's not as if the Johnnies gain any advantage in the middle.

R: How is the Worldwide Phenomenon of the Fightin' Georgetown Hoyas doing? Obviously, I can no longer say things like "bro-ham, the Hoyas are my sneaky pick to win the Big East." (Thanks for that, Hoyas. I shouldn't get into picks and bets anyway; only gets your legs broken and your nose bloodied.) What's the outlook?

CH: Listen, it's THE GLOBAL PHENOMENON and we're doing just fine, thanks. The Hoyas were picked to finish in the top half of the conference despite losing our top three scorers on last year's squad in Sims, Clark and Thompson, and that's really a credit to JT3's coaching.

Though the road in Big East play has been a bit bumpy (2 losses to open, then 2 wins, then soul-crushing loss to USF that ruined our top 25 ranking and now 3 straight wins), the Hoyas are in good shape sitting in 3rd place and I suspect that we'll be right in the thick of things for a 1st round bye in the Big East Jazzercise at MSG in March.

Incidentally, when did this "bro-ham" thing become popular? Who started it?

R: Have the Hoyas had any players make the Big East honor roll this year? In men's basketball, of course. Your team isn't somebody until you do.

CH: On the list of things I give a shit about, I would put 'Hoyas making the Big East Honor Roll' near the bottom of the totem poll, slightly ahead of the Chuck Hagel confirmation hearings and just below 'making sure Casual wife gets to see Silver Linings Playbook before the Oscars.'

R: So Mike Aresco had some words about wanting to keep the Big East name for his collection of Conference USA teams, located in the Midwest, south, and Connecticut. Thoughts? Do you or your Casual Horde think the basketball teams should keep the name or move on with another name?

CH: If we can't keep the Big East name (which we should, frankly, since we started the damn thing), I've always been a proponent of Conference of God. That will never happen, of course, but on a college landscape that has B1G divisions called Legends and Leaders or whatever it is, why not shake things up a bit? Also, I kind of like Casual Horde to refer to our Casual Community and will likely steal that going forward. Thank you in advance for your permission. (ed note: we approve of Casual's use of the term.)

R: You all have a strong group of commenting fans (I'm jealous, or "jelly" as the younger ladies say). Have any of them sent you slightly or wholly inappropriate pictures of body paint or Hoya-themed tattoos?

CH: We love each and every member of the Casual Horde, even those who have not yet sent us NSFW pics of themselves in various compromising positions. You'd be amazed where those darn Casual Headbands have been, and once SB Nation launches SBN After Dark I'd be happy to show you. Also, we have OUR OWN BEER.

R: How many towels does JTIII go through in a season? Can you bottle the smell and sell it, a la Derek Jeter's "Driven Black" or Michael Jordan's musky attempts at cologne?

CH: You sicken me.

R: Last time I was in the District, I went to a pleasant bar called the Passenger. What other semi-cool places are there in the city, both with and without basketball?

CH: NONE. While that might be harsh, DC isn't what I'd exactly call a casual town. Indeed, it is full of semi-cool places and sure, you can have a good time and talk socio-economic policy and Obama Administration crap with anyone, but the reality is that it is a town being overrun by hipsters who think it's cool to drink beers out of small jars (ed note: the Rumble appreciates beer seved in almost any form). If any NYCers are making the trip down, go to the Iron Horse right by the Verizon Center. That's where the Casual Horde parties. No Nerds Allowed.

R: Have you put a headband on the Casual Baby yet? Or are you shielding the future Hoya from the fame and madness? (It's a boy, right? I'm sorry, I completely forget.)

CH: How dare you forget the sex of my spawn! Casual, Jr. has not yet donned a Casual Headband, not for lack of interest on his part, but more because the lone headband I own has been with me for years, has been dragged across the globe, shoved in numerous bags, jacket pockets and garter belts and probably contains enough bacteria to set off alarms at the CDC.

This was a lot of fun, as always. We are Catholic 7 brothers for life.

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