It's too early to come to any strong conclusions about this team, but one thing appears certain. The Hoyas are a lot tougher than many anticipated.

The questions in the preseason concerned offensive firepower. Who would score besides Brandon Bowman?

As it turns out, the answer hasn't been Darrell Owens, who's struggled to find his shot. And it hasn't really been Ashanti Cook, though he's stepped up his offense from last season.

Instead, it's a pair of freshmen, Jeff Green and Jonathan Wallace, who have picked up a big chunk of the burden. If it weren't for Rudy Gay up in Connecticut, Green might be the favorite to win Big East rookie of the year honors; he's been fantastic on both ends of the court.

Walk-on Wallace, who the Hoyas found playing in the Kenner League this summer, has been a top shooter and an offensive threat.

Add to that freshman center Roy Hibbert, who's looked good in flashes off the bench, and Georgetown has a lot more talent than many anticipated.

The Hoyas have lost to the two truly tough teams on their schedule, Illinois and Temple. But impressive wins over Penn State and at Davidson raised some eyebrows, and this is a totally different team than the lethargic bunch that took the court under Craig Esherick last season. Anyone coming into the MCI Center looking for a walkover will almost certainly leave disappointed.

And if Georgetown can stop Ricky Shields and Quincy Douby from beating them from the outside, Brandon Bowman and Jeff Green should win the battle on the inside.

TOP CONFERENCE RIVAL: St. John's. You could really put any of the old school Big East teams here, but the Red Storm stand out because these teams always battle, regardless of whether they're good or bad in a particular year. It's easy to close your eyes and picture Walter Berry and Chris Mullin squaring off against Patrick Ewing and Freddie Brown.

LAST YEAR'S CONFERENCE RECORD: 4-12, tied for 12th place in Big East

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES: The Hoyas are unknown and unpredictable, both a strength and a weakness in this conference season. The emergence of Jeff Green and Jonathan Wallace gives Georgetown an offensive depth that most thought the team lacked in the preseason, and nobody else in the league plays the Princeton offense like the former Princeton coach's team. But only Brandon Bowman, Ashanti Cook and Darrell Owens have played key roles on a team that's gone through the rigors of a Big East season, and it remains to be seen how well the freshmen withstand the grind.

PROBABLE LINEUP: Point guard Ashanti Cook, shooting guard Jonathan Wallace, wing guard Darrel Owens, forward Brandon Bowman, forward Jeff Green.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "Roy is not a mascot. For us to have success this year, he has to keep getting better. ... His size causes dilemmas for people, and his passing will one day cause dilemmas for people." -- Georgetown coach John Thompson III on freshman center Roy Hibbert, in the Washington Post.

UPCOMING GAMES: vs. Oral Roberts (at Rainbow Classic in Hawaii), Dec. 20; vs. TBD at Rainbow Classic, Dec. 22; vs. TBD at Rainbow Classic, Dec. 23; vs. Norfolk State, Dec. 28; vs. Howard, Dec. 30; at Pittsburgh, Jan. 5.

KEYS: The Hoyas have a lot of games left to play before league play begins, and the team needs them all. Georgetown has been surprisingly good this year, but it's heavily dependent on freshmen, and the more game experience they get, the better. There's no reason they shouldn't sweep the rest of the nonconference schedule if they continue to shoot the ball well from the outside, freeing Brandon Bowman up to do some damage underneath.

ROSTER REPORT: Through six games, the Hoyas had three shooters hitting 40 percent or more attempts from three-point range; Jonathan Wallace (14-30, 46.7 percent), Brandon Bowman (16-37, 43.3 percent) and Jeff Green (6-15, 40 percent).

-- Freshman Roy Hibbert has shown an unusually soft touch for a big man at the free throw line. He sank nine of his first 10 attempts from the charity stripe.

-- Forward Jeff Green has shown himself to be a strong candidate for the league's all-freshman team, but one place he has not excelled is at the line. His 27 free throw attempts are by far the most on the team, but he's only made 16 of them, shooting 59.3 percent.

-- John Thompson's new offense has resulted in more players being involved in setting up shots. No Hoya averages more than Jeff Green's 3.2 assists per game, but three others average two or more and Brandon Bowman's right behind at 1.8 apg.