Brian Otskey is an RTC correspondent. He filed these thoughts from Georgetown’s victory over Texas in game one of the Jimmy V Classic.

Three Takeaways:

1. Texas is brutal offensively.  Most of this can be attributed to the Longhorns missing Myck Kabongo (eligibility) and Jaylen Bond (injury) but man, are they bad. Texas had just 33 points with less than four minutes remaining in the second half and finished the game with a total of only 41. Rick Barnes’ club shot 29.2% for the game and made just two three-pointers all night. Georgetown was a bad match-up for Texas because of its basketball IQ and strong defense but that’s no excuse. This was a pathetic effort by Texas offensively. In addition to the poor ball movement and poor shooting, Texas displayed incredible ineptitude with the ball. Twenty-two turnovers gave Georgetown plenty of extra shots, many more than it needed to win the game. This team needs Kabongo and Bond back in the worst way or else it’s going to be a long Big 12 season in Austin.
2. Georgetown is steady seemingly every game. I saw the Hoyas take Indiana to the wire a few weeks ago in Brooklyn and while this game was as boring as that one was good, Georgetown’s style of play remains incredibly consistent. Not many teams in America can go out night after night and excel in a system that requires so much knowledge and discipline. It’s a tribute to John Thompson III’s coaching acumen and the willingness of his players to embrace the team concept. It’s not the most exciting style but no matter the opponent, Georgetown plays the same way every time out. You don’t see that too often in college basketball today.
3. The Longhorn defense did not impress me. Texas is going to have to win games with incredible defense because of its inability to score points. Holding teams under 65 or even 60 points is not easy but that’s what Texas must do to win games this season. This team entered tonight’s game ranked third nationally in defensive efficiency but did a poor job containing Georgetown’s deliberate offensive attack. Georgetown shot 41% for the game but the Hoyas built a 13-point halftime lead (it didn’t feel that close) thanks to 48.3% shooting in the first half. Texas can’t win games without playing good defense for a full40 minutes, it’s that simple.

Barnes Faces Perhaps His Toughest Season in Austin (photot credit: F. Franklin)

Star of the Game: Otto Porter, Georgetown. Porter is a stat-sheet stuffer and did it again tonight. He was all over the floor on both ends, posting 14 points, eight rebounds, three blocks and three steals. Georgetown’s best player didn’t have a great shooting night but he still managed to lead all scorers. Only a sophomore, Porter is one of the most versatile players in the country. John Thompson III knows exactly how to utilize him and Porter plays within himself — that’s a dangerous combination for Georgetown’s future opponents.

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Brendon Mulvihill is the head curator for @SportsGawker and an RTC contributor. You can find him @TheMulv on Twitter. See bottom of the post for the Official RTC Star System.

It’s Jimmy V. Week and the college football regular season has come to end. That means college hoops takes center stage at universities across the country and we couldn’t be happier. Let’s get to the breakdowns.

#16 Georgetown vs. Texas – 7:00 PM EST, Tuesday on ESPN (***)

Expect Otto Porter to Bounce Back Against Texas (AP/R. Sutton)

• The big question in the Georgetown-Texas game is where are the points going to come from on both sides. The Hoyas are coming off the ugliest game college basketball has seen in quite some time. While they beat Tennessee on Friday night by a score of 37-36, coach John Thompson III cannot be happy with how his team is performing on the offensive end. On the other side, the Longhorns are struggling to score as well. They are shooting an eFG% of 48.7% on the season against teams like UT-Arlington, Sam Houston State, and Chaminade (a game in which they lost). Expect this game to be a defensive slugfest. No one wants to see a disaster similar to Georgetown-Tennessee, but this game has that kind of feel. The Hoyas have the length advantage once again in this match-up and should be able to take advantage on the boards, and it’s unlikely that Georgetown forward Otto Porter will be held in check again. So keep a close eye on how he responds to his eight-point performance on 4-11 shooting against the Vols. While the Texas defense has been strong, their competition does not give us much to go on. The Longhorns will continue to struggle without point guard Myck Kabongo in the lineup regardless.

#21 North Carolina State vs. Connecticut – 9:00 PM EST, Tuesday on ESPN (***)

• Since UConn’s surprise win against Michigan State in the opener, the Huskies have come back to earth and played very mediocre basketball. A close win against Quinnipiac and a loss to New Mexico showed that Kevin Ollie’s team still has a lot of work to do. NC State is on the verge of a very disappointing non-conference season already with losses to Oklahoma State and Michigan, and a too-close-for-comfort game against UNC-Asheville. The good news for the Wolfpack is that their offense performed much better against Michigan, shooting almost 60% eFG in the loss. Look to see if they can put together a complete game for the first time this season against a quality opponent. The guard match-ups between UConn’s Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright and NC State’s Rodney Purvis and Lorenzo Brown should be fun to watch. However, the difference in this one should be the Wolfpack’s frontcourt of C.J. Leslie and T.J. Warren. NC State just has more scoring options across the lineup than the Huskies.

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I. Renko is a DC-based correspondent for Rush the Court. You can follow him on twitter @IRenkoHoops. He filed this report after Friday night’s game between Georgetown and Tennessee in the SEC/Big East Challenge.

Those of us who arrived at the Verizon Center in D.C. on Friday night were not expecting a shootout between Georgetown and Tennessee.  When you mix Cuonzo Martin’s grinding style with John Thompson III’s patient offense and zone defense , it’s a fair bet that you’ll get a low-scoring game.  But no one in the building predicted this.

Cuonzo Martin’s Vols Struggled to Unlock the Hoyas’ Zone Defense (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

In the ugliest game of the year to date, the Hoyas scraped their way to a 37-36 victory.  How brutal an offensive night was this?  This brutal:

• The last points of the game were scored with 4:09 left in the game, when Markel Starks hit what would prove to be the game-winning jumper.
• Georgetown shot 36.4 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from the free throw line.
• But they were not as bad as Tennessee, which managed to shoot 32.6% from field — which in turn was not as bad as the 27.3% the Vols shot from the charity stripe.
• Each team shot worse than 20 percent from the three-point line:  Tennessee at 18.8% and Georgetown at 14.3%.
• No single player scored in double figures.
• Jarnell Stokes had more rebounds (nine) than any player had points.

Yet both coaches seemed nonplussed about the whole lurid affair. Listening to Martin’s post-game press conference, you could have been forgiven for thinking that the final score was 67-66, not 37-36.  After providing a terse and banal summary of the contest (a “competitive, physical game”), Martin dismissed the notion that he was unhappy with how the game was played: “Oh that doesn’t bother me at all.  At the end of the day, you’re trying to get out with a W. I don’t need anything to be pretty. … If you get a W, leave the scene. How we win it doesn’t matter to me.” That may not be what Tennessee fans, who had grown used to Bruce Pearl’s up-and-down style, wanted to hear. But Martin’s grinding style is what made him a success at Missouri State, and it’s that success in the win column that landed him in Knoxville.

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Evan Jacoby is a regular contributor for RTC. You can find him @EJacobyRTC on Twitter. Night Line runs on weeknights during the season, highlighting a major storyline development from that day’s games.

It didn’t earn the victory in Tuesday night’s Progressive Legends Classic final against #1 Indiana, but Georgetown proved once again that it’s a painfully underrated team this season. The unranked Hoyas took the nation’s top-ranked team to overtime in Brooklyn’s Barclays Center after hanging around all night in an entertaining back-and-forth game that didn’t make John Thompson III’s team seem like the underdog. Riding the clutch performance of do-it-all sophomore star Otto Porter and the hot hand of junior Markel Starks, Georgetown competed with the Hoosiers and nearly converted back-to-back upset victories after defeating #7 UCLA on Monday. In the end it was Indiana with the 82-72 win in a solid performance that saw every Hoosier starter score in double figures, but it took an extra session to put away JTIII’s team. This season’s Hoyas flew under the preseason radar yet again, but they’ll be ranked in the top-25 come next week after an impressive showing in the Legends Classic.

Otto Porter has his Georgetown Hoyas back in the fold as a serious contender (M. Sullivan/Reuters)

Last season, the Hoyas were picked to finish tenth in the Big East’s preseason coaches’ poll before riding a consistent fringe top-10 overall ranking and finishing as an NCAA Tournament #3 overall seed. They at least earned a bit more respect from fellow conference coaches by being selected fifth in the 2012-13 Big East preseason poll, but G’Town once again looks like it has the talent, strategy, and toughness to compete with nearly anyone in the nation after taking top-ranked Indiana to the brink on Tuesday. It’s as if we had all forgotten about last season already, when the Hoyas lost leading scorers Austin Freeman and Chris Wright but didn’t miss a beat as fresh stars emerged with newfound roles. Despite three top dogs Jason Clark, Henry Sims, and Hollis Thompson all now gone this year, these 2012-13 Hoyas have again found former reserves to fill bigger roles and continue the consistent success of the Georgetown zone-heavy defense, Princeton-style offense, and overall winning program.

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Brian Otskey is a regular contributor for RTC. Every Tuesday during the regular season he’ll be giving his 10 thoughts on the previous week’s action. You can find him on Twitter @botskey

1. As someone who doesn’t watch one minute of college football but loves college basketball to no end, conference realignment frustrates me to no end as you might imagine. It’s actually quite depressing and I hate talking/writing about it. However, it’s a relevant story and must be discussed because of the far-reaching impacts it will have on the sport I love. I realize this is all about “stability,” TV markets and football. It bothers me like nothing else but I accept it. I’m in the minority when it comes to this and the minority holds very little influence in our country. The consequences (both intended and unintended) of realignment for basketball are distressing. The Big East conference, the pre-eminent college basketball league for the last 25 to 30 years, is on life support. The conference I grew up watching, with the best conference tournament of them all, is all but gone. Yes, Connecticut and Louisville are still in the league, but make no mistake, they’ll bolt at the first opportunity they get as we saw this week with Rutgers going to the Big Ten. Once everything shakes out, I find it hard to believe any Big East football program will remain in the league. It simply makes no sense to do so at this point and they’re looking out for themselves in doing so. I don’t blame them. I blame the greedy conference leadership concerned about how many eyeballs the Big Ten Network can draw in New York and New Jersey, the schools who set this in motion (Syracuse and Pittsburgh), and the Big East as a whole for turning down a massive TV deal that could have given the conference a great deal of security. Once the football schools leave, the Big East will be down to seven Catholic basketball-only schools: DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John’s, Seton Hall and Villanova. As an alumnus and fan of one of those seven schools, this pains me greatly. I could live with Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Notre Dame leaving the league. The real punch to the gut was Syracuse, a Big East founding member, saying it could find long-term stability in the ACC. The final, fatal blow will be Connecticut and/or Louisville bolting, likely in short order. The basketball-only schools have no leverage and must wait and see as everything crashes around them. Hopefully they get together, keep the Big East name and pick up a few other schools like Butler, St. Joe’s and Xavier. That wouldn’t be a bad league and it would get back to the roots of the Big East, basketball and basketball only.
   

   The Big East Needs to Find Its Roots in Basketball

2. How does realignment affect other schools and conferences?  For one, the bottom teams in the ACC may stay there for a very long time. With Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame coming in (and possibly Connecticut/Louisville), how will schools like Wake Forest and Boston College compete? There will be a good five or six programs ahead of them each and every year, plus they have to battle it out with the likes of Clemson, Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech just to make it into the middle of the pack. It’s a vicious cycle that will keep programs like these as the bottom of their respective conference for many years to come. They always said it was tough to climb up the Big East ladder but now the ACC is effectively the Big East (six of the ACC’s 14 future members, not including Maryland, will be former Big East schools). It’s going to be extraordinarily tough for schools like Boston College to compete in the revamped ACC. Only the strong shall survive in conference realignment, it seems. As for the Big Ten, the impact isn’t as significant. Penn State, Nebraska and Northwestern will always be among the worst programs in the league but the climb to respectability isn’t as difficult. Look at Northwestern. The Wildcats have never made the NCAA Tournament despite knocking on the door in the last few seasons, showing how it isn’t impossible to climb the conference ladder. Now though, the addition of a similarly starved program at Rutgers and a strong program at Maryland makes it more difficult for Northwestern to make a move. It’s uncertain what Rutgers is getting itself into. The Scarlet Knights haven’t made the NCAA Tournament in 22 seasons but have shown signs of progress under Mike Rice. You have to think it can go either way for Rutgers. The new recruiting avenues can help but the school is already situated in the middle of the talent-rich New York City area. That said, road trips to Wisconsin and Michigan State aren’t as simple as heading over to St. John’s or up to Providence. I’d lean towards Rutgers struggling in the Big Ten. Read the rest of this entry »

1. The shockwaves from yesterday’s shift in conference plate tectonics continue to reverberate across the college landscape today, as Rutgers will accept an invitation to the Big Ten during a 3 PM press conference. The announcement marks an abrupt end to a conference affiliation that began in 1991. Piscataway brass hopes to circumvent the 27-month notice stipulated in Big East bylaws by negotiating a higher exit fee in order to join the Big Ten in 2014. While there’s been a lot of speculation floating around about the myriad ways this move will fill Rutgers’ athletic coffers and bolster its football profile, little attention has been paid to the changes awaiting Mike Rice’s basketball program. But one New Jersey journalist claims that both sides are in talks to preserve the Seton Hall-Rutgers rivalry, so there’s that.
2. Although his team is currently struggling with a staggering lack of depth from injuries, Ed Cooley received some measure of relief yesterday when four-star Philadelphia forward Brandon Austin committed to the Friars. Cooley beat out finalists UConn and Texas, though the former Penn State commitment also held offers from Georgetown and UCLA, among others. With the talented 6’6″ wing entering the fold alongside Kris Dunn, LaDontae Hinton, Bryce Cotton, Kadeem Batts and Ricky Ledo (should he decide not to enter the NBA Draft), the stars might finally align for Cooley’s Friars to break out in 2013-14.
3. While Big East teams have turned in several notable early duds, no other team has been as disappointing as South Florida through the first two weeks. After being blown out by UCF in their home opener and suffering an ugly 58-53 defeat at home against Central Michigan on Sunday, USF has matched last season’s total number of losses in the Sun Dome in the first nine days of their schedule. Weeding through the discouraging statistics, several things stand out. Despite their coach’s emphasis on rebounding, USF was outworked on the boards by a wide margin (39-26) by a MAC team. The team ranks 14^th in the Big East in field goal percentage, after shooting 23% in the second half against Central Michigan. And if a career-best 12 assists from Anthony Collins isn’t enough to lift USF above a 10-point underdog at home, Bulls fans might be in for a long season. Stan Heath’s squad, which was predicted to place in the middle of the Big East pack this year coming off a historic top-four finish last season, could accrue quite a few losses before it even enters conference play.
4. In the face of fervent hype surrounding the collegiate debut of UCLA freshman Shabazz Muhammad, an unfazed Georgetown squad jaunted up I-95 to Brooklyn and handled its business last night against the 13^th-ranked Bruins, 78-70. The Washington Post’s Liz Clark makes a case that Otto Porter proved himself “the more valuable and versatile man” as he returned from the head injury he suffered in Georgetown’s opener to spoil the inaugural game of the Shabazz era. RTC’s own Brian Otskey suggests that the culture of consistent success John Thompson III has cultivated at Georgetown is “one of the underappreciated stories in college basketball”. While Thompson’s groups haven’t finished in the Big East’s top four since 2008, he has quietly groomed even his least talented rosters into dangerous, fundamentally-sound tournament teams. The Hoyas will try to sustain that discipline as they take on #1 Indiana in the championship game of the Legends Classic tonight.
5. Lastly, reports confirmed last night that Louisville and North Carolina have agreed to join the field of the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament next season. They will join Richmond, Holy Cross, and Belmont, among others. It will be the first time the Heels and Cardinals have met on the hardwood since the 2008 Elite Eight. Rick Pitino’s team, which will likely return almost all of this year’s underclassman-laden roster, will have the unique opportunity to play Duke and North Carolina on a neutral floor in back-to-back seasons.

Brian Otskey is an RTC contributor. He filed this report from Georgetown’s victory over UCLA on Monday night at the Barclays Center. Follow him on Twitter @botskey.

Three thoughts from Georgetown’s impressive win over UCLA and Shabazz Muhammad…

1. UCLA needs a ton of work defensively. Georgetown took it right to UCLA, getting whatever it wanted around the rim. UCLA’s rotations and help defense were putrid all night long and the frustration was clearly displayed by Ben Howland. The UCLA head man was yelling “hellllllp!” countless times to his defenders but the message didn’t seem to get through. UCLA was 35^th in defensive efficiency last season but an infusion of talented freshman could make it hard to match this time around. It’ll take some time for these highly talented offensive players to learn how to play defense that wins games at the college level. Howland’s club sure is talented but it has to get better on the defensive end if it hopes to make a serious move in March.
2. Georgetown is solid year after year. The culture of winning John Thompson III has established at Georgetown is one of the underappreciated stories in college basketball. Year after year, the Hoyas produce a winning team that displays great fundamentals and a trust between teammates that results in great chemistry and sound execution. Georgetown isn’t as talented as some of its previous teams but if the Hoyas keep playing this way, they’ll contend in the Big East yet again. Talent is important, but it’s not the most important factor at Georgetown. Make no mistake, the Hoyas do have some talent (Otto Porter comes to mind) but they win with basketball smarts and gritty defense.
3. Shabazz Muhammad. The highly-touted freshman from Las Vegas made his first collegiate appearance in Brooklyn after the NCAA deemed him eligible for competition. The UCLA wing clearly has a lot of talent and athletic ability but it could take him some time to get into a flow. Throwing him into the fire right away against a fundamentally sound Georgetown team (and star defender Greg Whittington) isn’t the best way to see what he really can do. Once Muhammad gets comfortable against lesser competition, he should be more than ready to take on the big boys on UCLA’s schedule. Muhammad will make UCLA better but it’s unrealistic to expect instant gratification with the star freshman.

I. Renko is a DC-based correspondent for Rush the Court. You can follow him on twitter @IRenkoHoops.

Exactly seven months ago, rumors ran through the internet that top recruit Nerlens Noel was poised to follow up his tweeted plan to “shock the world” by picking the Georgetown Hoyas over John Calipari’s Kentucky juggernaut. Instead, Noel revealed his decision by unveiling a UK logo that had been cut into his famous flat-top haircut. His spurning of Georgetown dashed the hopes of Hoyas fans who had been fantasizing about adding Noel’s name to a legacy of dominant big men that includes Ewing, Mourning, Mutumbo, and more. More importantly, Noel’s decision left a big question mark on a program that had graduated star center Henry Sims and had no clear successor at the five spot.

Georgetown’s Prospects May Depend on the Development of Mikael Hopkins (AP Photo / Jay LaPrete)

On Sunday night in DC, that question mark was underlined in red. After an ugly 61-55 win against Duquesne, Hoyas fans’ biggest worry was probably the early departure of super sophomore Otto Porter, who, it was later revealed, was kept out as a precaution after he took a blow to the head in the first half.  But a more subtle concern was the uneven play of Sims’ would-be replacement, sophomore Mikael Hopkins. Hopkins struggled to find his way on both ends of the court, often tentative on offense and decidedly unimposing on defense, despite playing an undersized Duquesne team whose tallest starter was just 6’7″.

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Georgetown’s three leading scorers from last season – Jason Clark, Hollis Thompson Jr., and Henry Sims – are all gone. But while the trio were excellent college players, none of them were true NBA talents. You know who is a true NBA talent? Hoyas’ sophomore forward Otto Porter (9.7 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 52.5% FG), who is back on campus and ready to become the star of a young and inexperienced team. Porter is a projected lottery pick expected to make quite a leap this season, and without the precocious forward, John Thompson III would be staring down a very long season. But with Porter in tow and solid complementary pieces like Markel Starks and Nate Lubick, plus freshmen like D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera and Stephen Domingo, the Hoyas should have enough talent to compete for an NCAA Tournament berth and maybe even a top-six seed.

2011-12 Record: 24-8, 12-6

2011-12 Postseason: 1-1, Lost 66-63 to North Carolina State in Round of 32.

Otto Porter Was Terrific As A Freshman, But He Will Be Better This Season.

Schedule

Georgetown opens with a stiff test against No. 10 Florida on an aircraft carrier off the coast of Jacksonville and just 10 days later they head to the Legends Classic where they will start with No. 13 UCLA and potentially end with a match-up against No. 1 Indiana if they get past the Bruins. They have two more tough tests, one at home against Tennessee in the SEC/Big East Challenge, and the other in Madison Square Garden less than a week later against Texas. It should be noted that after the season opener against Florida the Hoyas don’t play a true road game until starting conference play after the new year, although it is hard to find fault in that considering how much other traveling the Hoyas will be doing this winter. Their conference schedule doesn’t hold any surprises as they will play Marquette, Syracuse, Rutgers, and St. John’s twice while only facing the rest of the conference once.

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1. Today is the rare double holiday and no offense to Columbus Day, which is great and all, but let’s face it, the first day of the 2012-13 Big East Microsite is a far bigger deal across the country. If you read Will’s opening post, you know that we have a solid group of folks this year and we are aiming to be bigger and better this season. So let’s dive right in, shall we? It seems only fitting that we should lead off with a note involving new commissioner Mike Aresco, who spoke to reporters about the state of the conference this weekend and had some interesting things to say about basketball in particular. The jist of his chat was that he isn’t worried about weak football teams dragging down the brand because Big East basketball is “legendary.” I guess we shouldn’t tell him that some of the conference’s most “legendary” programs are leaving soon enough for greener pastures and one has already left. We will cut him some slack since its his job to make the conference sound good and because the basketball will remain pretty darn good. Frankly, we have always thought of the Big East as a basketball conference, I am sorry, but Syracuse v. Connecticut just doesn’t hold the same allure on the gridiron as it does on the hardwood.
2. Well, that was quick. Facing a rather grim season outlook, UConn fans got a surge of hope in September when the nation’s No. 1 prospect, Jabari Parker, took an in-home visit from the Huskies after new head coach Kevin Ollie was promoted last month. But just as quickly as it began, it has ended, as Parker has announced his five finalists and UConn is not among them. UConn was hardly a favorite at any point in the race so it shouldn’t be too disappointing. And in some sense, just the fact that Ollie has enough influence to get through Parker’s doorway after the Huskies had already been cut from the list means that the program’s recruiting is in capable hands.
3. I don’t have any idea how far away the “very near future” is but it sure sounds like Georgetown and coach John Thompson, III, are very close to getting a new, on-campus, athletic facility that would help Georgetown’s athletic teams stay competitive in the conference’s ongoing facilities race. The new building will cost $60 million dollars and basically only needs a final round of fundraising before the school can get started on its construction. The facility is going to house multiple sports teams, but make no mistake about it, Georgetown knows where its bread is buttered, and this move is designed to help the basketball teams stay competitive. The conference is full of programs with glimmering, shiny, multi-million dollar facilities, and it is high time that Georgetown got its own.  It is far too early to see what type of impact the facility will have on recruiting, but needless to say, it won’t hurt.
4. The good folks over at CBS Sports examined the question of whether Madison Square Garden is better-suited to host the ACC Tournament than the Big East Tournament, especially in the wake of all the defections. There are a lot of angles to analyze here but it does seem surprising Madison Square Garden didn’t at least take a shot at landing the ACC, which figures to feature better altogether basketball programs and programs like Syracuse and Pittsburgh that always draw well in New York City. It is also pretty clear that while the Big East has done an admirable job of patching up its basketball holes, the tournament isn’t going to have the same aura about it. I would explain more but frankly they do a better job, so just go read the article.
5. We end with something fluffy and really there is nothing fluffier than a nice “top list.” Taking a break from its excellent coverage of the local Orange, Syracuse.com ranked the top five transfers coming into the Big East this season and the list is pretty excellent. Personally I would have said Luke Hancock will make more of an impact for Louisville than Tony Chennault will for Villanova but that is the beauty of these lists. They are pointless and fun-to-read at the same time. We will try to stay away from these for the most part and deliver some actual news. But it’s the first day, and this post is already late. So enjoy and welcome back for what should be another excellent season of college basketball.