Sleeping with the Enemy: The Terriers of St. Francis

After an eight month offseason, Georgetown basketball is just days away!  Your Fighting Hoyas of Georgetown take its first step to the National Championship on Saturday (OMG THE SEASON STARTS ON SATURDAY!) against the Terriers of St. Francis Brooklyn.  With us to usher in the new season and shed some light on the Terriers is John Templon (@nybuckets) of Big Apple Buckets, your go-to source for all things NY hoops.  Let's do this!

College hoops is back! On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being 'most amped' how amped are you to get this season rolling?

It's 10 time. I'm so excited. At Big Apple Buckets we cover the entirety of New York City and there are a bunch of good teams in the area this season, so I'm really pumped. At some point you just want to stop talking about the season and start watching games!


My guess is most Hoyas fans are unfamiliar with this Terriers squad.  Who are some of the guys that the Hoyas should worry about?

The guy you have to know is Jalen Cannon. The 6'6" forward is an NEC Player of the Year candidate, an excellent rebounder, and has developed an inside-outside game. He's SFC's best player and a ton of fun to watch. The other all-conference talent is Brent Jones. He's a feisty, 5'10" point guard who's not afraid to attack the basket. The other guy you might notice, mostly because of his blocks, is Amdy Fall. The 6'7" forward is really athletic and helps the Terriers defend around the rim.

Where do you see St. Francis finishing in the Northeast Conference this season? Who gets the Conference's bid to the Dance?

(Note: Here is our St. Francis preview.) St. Francis is one of the favorites in the NEC this season, in fact, the coaches picked them first in the preseason poll. There are definitely some questions. One of the biggest is: Who will provide offense from outside of the paint? Ben Mockford was SFC's sharpshooter last season and he graduated. There are a number of freshmen and junior college players who could fill the role, but that's a big question mark. My guess is that it's going to come down to St. Francis Brooklyn versus perennial NEC favorite Robert Morris. RMU has the experience so they get my nod right now.


Let's say you and I are dining at a steakhouse.  Please detail your order (including beverages) and, assuming you order steak, how you prefer your meat prepared.

Is this where I admit that even at steakhouses I don't often order steak? I'd much rather have a lobster or lobster tail than steak, so depending on the place that's typically my order. I'm a big fan of whiskey on the rocks with a splash of water plus a good lobster. Now that's a meal.


How difficult is it for a school like St. Francis to recruit New York talent?

St. Francis is never going to get the top tier of New York City talent. There are schools like Pittsburgh, St. John's, and even Fordham going after those players. But a large portion of St. Francis' roster are New York City products who were overlooked in high school. Nine of the 14 players on SFC's roster are from New York. Head coach Glenn Braica has been able to find some productive players in the city.


Syracuse is horrible, correct?

Ha! I've seen your Twitter account, so I know how this works. My first reaction in word association when you say "Syracuse" is "meh," so maybe that's good enough? Fun fact! St. Francis almost beat Syracuse last season. The final score was 56-50, but the Terriers just needed a few more possessions to go there way for the win.


Final score prediction?

This game might be closer than Georgetown fans want. St. Francis plays tight games against major conference opponents, especially in openers. I'm not sure if the offense is ready though. 70-62 Georgetown.

(Casual Note: If this is a 6 point game with 5 minutes left I am going to light myself on fire.)