The Panthers are 9-6 and 0-2 in conference, so they will be hungry for their first league win. Their biggest non-conference wins were probably at UMass and at Chattanooga. They just finished a winless swing through Alabama.

They probably will start 6-8, 6-5, 6-5 across the front line, so they go small, but they have three 6-9 guys on the roster if they need beef.

They have three players averaging double figures, led by D'Marcus Simonds at 21.3 ppg. They go 9 deep in the rotation, and that is all who play any appreciable minutes. They are dead-eye 3-point shooters, averaging 37.2%. Their overall defense is excellent, holding opponents under 40%, but they do allow opponents to shoot 35% from the arc. They are minus-4 on the boards, but make up for it in turnover differential.

This is a team that lives by the 3. Forty percent of their attempts are from the arc. Mitchell and Benlevi, their other two double-figure scorers, both shoot 45%, so if you don't stay on them, they will kill you from outside. We heard this song at Grand Canyon, and it turned into a funeral dirge, so I hope we have learned a new tune.

If you can get them in foul trouble, you might have success, because they do not have much depth in scoring.

RealtimeRPI picks GSU by 20.
Sagarin picks them by 13.

Both the Women’s & Men’s game at Georgia State will be on Espn3


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The two Georgia games are probably the toughest road trip we will take. Obviously Ga State can be beat, and this team is looking a little bit better with the addition of Pippin and Reedus. Maybe. Maybe.

But if we don't defend the arc we are burnt toast!

same story different day. Hard to get excited with all these losses.

No loss is good, but GSU is one of the better teams in the league, and our guys did not stink up the place like they have sometime.

Oliver another solid game on the boards, and how about Bankston with 9 boards in only 19 minutes! This kid could end up being a real force.

Lottie made some shots, which he has not been doing.

Anthony had 7 assists against only one turnover.

Reedus 19 points on 6 of 8 shooting.

We outshot them all the way across the stat sheet.

We got beat on the boards, and they shot 33 FTs to our 7, and that was the story of the game.

(01-04-2018 09:38 PM)MICHAELSPAPPY Wrote:  No loss is good, but GSU is one of the better teams in the league, and our guys did not stink up the place like they have sometime.

Oliver another solid game on the boards, and how about Bankston with 9 boards in only 19 minutes! This kid could end up being a real force.

Lottie made some shots, which he has not been doing.

Anthony had 7 assists against only one turnover.

Reedus 19 points on 6 of 8 shooting.

We outshot them all the way across the stat sheet.

We got beat on the boards, and they shot 33 FTs to our 7, and that was the story of the game.

This team is definitely improving. The coaching staff may be done with the senior transfers. Without them, we are a very young team with everyone back next season. That may not be a great thing if we finish at the bottom of the league. But, if we can finish near the middle of the pack I will be quite optimistic about our future.