Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Georgetown's upside
By Luke Lapinski
Most of the attention at the top of the Big East right now is going to No. 6 Syracuse and No. 12 Louisville. Both programs certainly deserve it, as each boasts top-end talent, legendary coaches and a very real shot at going deep -- very deep -- in to the NCAA Tournament next month.
That said, they're not the only two teams that could make some noise in the highly regarded conference. Marquette, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame are all still in the running for the regular season title, as is Georgetown. To that end, ESPN's Dana O'Neil suggests the Hoyas are definitely a team to watch down the stretch.
It's not hard to see why. Otto Porter has emerged as one of the top weapons in the nation, and having a player like that at your disposal can really swing results at the college level. The gifted forward emerged as a player on the rise as a freshman during the 2011-12 campaign, and he's improved his game considerably as a sophomore. Chad Ford has him at No. 8 on his updated big board -- yet another indicator of his remarkable rise.
Without a ton of depth after the top six, Georgetown will certainly rely on Porter. But he's not the only player to watch on the roster. Markel Starks is chipping in 12.4 points per night, and Nate Lubick has shown signs of improvement lately with Greg Whittington on the shelf. The victory over Marquette earlier this week was big, but there's obviously still work to be done if the Hoyas plan on catching a team like Syracuse. Fortunately for John Thompson III, he has the pieces in place to make things interesting.
