Georgetown Hoyas: The New Big East Team to Beat?

After the Georgetown Hoyas (10-1, No. 11 AP, No. 8 Coaches) handed the Connecticut Huskies (11-1, No. 2 AP, No. 2 Coaches) their first loss of the season in the Big East opener, one question is on everyone's mind.

How will the Hoyas fare in conference play this season?

The Big East currently has eight teams in the Top 25 with a ninth right on the cusp. To think that anyone is going to escape conference play unscathed is naive at best, but the best teams will excel in the face of adversity while others will come up short and finish in the middle of the pack.

When they took down the Huskies, the Hoyas proved that they have the ability to shut down tough opponents—can they do it against the rest of the Big East as well?

John Thompson III's Hoyas run the Princeton offense—a system that requires patience and conditioning. The idea is to move the ball around until someone gets an open look—something that usually takes up most of the shot clock.

This requires a lot of movement on both the offensive and defensive end. Since defenses are typically not conditioned for that much movement throughout the whole game, they begin to break down towards the end of the second half.

A new threat for Georgetown this season is Greg Monroe—a highly-recruited freshman center who has the ability to shoot the long ball as well as dribble and penetrate. When he stands beyond the arc, opposing centers are typically caught out of position outside the paint, leaving the lane open for the backdoor cuts that carried the Hoyas to the Final Four two years ago.

This was one of the formulas for success that Georgetown used against UConn.

The other Hoya to grab preseason accolades is junior forward DaJuan Summers, who was named to the preseason All-Big East Team. His presence is felt by everyone when he is on the floor as he leads the Hoyas in points per game.

The other three starters are senior guard Jessie Sapp, sophomore point guard Chris Wright, and sophomore guard Austin Freeman.

Chances are, however, if you follow college basketball on the national level, you have not heard of the individual players that make up Georgetown's squad. This is because under JT3, no one player is more important than the team, and everyone who plays for him believes this as well. 

How else do you put together a top-ten team and still have people wondering who the top players are?

Opponents, then, have to be wondering who to try and shut down every game. In their first eleven games there have been five different players with the high score, making it clear that any starting Hoya is a potential weapon. One concern for Georgetown, though, is the lack of depth on the bench. Against UConn, for example, the bench only had six of the Hoyas' 74 points.

Seeing how Georgetown will be Pittsburgh's first ranked opponent, there is a good chance that the Hoyas can stun pollsters for the second time in a week.

If the Hoyas split games with Syracuse and Marquette this season and keep their home win streak alive with quality wins against West Virginia and Louisville, they will finish in the top three, if not secure the Big East regular season title for a third straight year (teams with four losses have finished in the top three for the last two seasons).

The true strength of the Hoyas will be answered over the course of the next three weeks when they take on four ranked opponents (Pitt, @ Notre Dame, Syracuse, @ Duke), another that will most likely be ranked by the time they face them (West Virginia), and one that has a coach trying to prove that he deserves his Coach of the Year award from last season (Providence).