At least one Georgia State player didn’t go out to celebrate Saturday night’s record-breaking overtime win over Texas-Arlington.
Manny Atkins turned down dinner with his family and a chance to bask in the school-record 12th consecutive win. Instead, unhappy with how he played in the 101-91 victory, Atkins headed back to the GSU Sports Arena, which had been rocking earlier that evening, to put up jumper after jumper, the swish of the net and squeak of his shoes the only noises in the gym.
“The reason the game was that close is because of me,” Atkins said. “I didn’t feel like I gave them everything I had. That’s why the game was close. It won’t happen again.”
Atkins bounced back from that seven-point performance to pour in 20 in Monday’s 85-65 victory over South Alabama. He will try to keep it going on Thursday at Arkansas-Little Rock when the Panthers (16-6, 9-0) attempt to remain unbeaten in the Sun Belt.
That kind of commitment signals to coach Ron Hunter that he has a special team this year.
“No one told him to do that,” Hunter said. “He knows he played bad. He came in and got shots up and look at the results.”
Atkins said he was dealing with an undisclosed injury last week that threw his timing off and that he didn’t feel right on Saturday. Instead of shooting 3-pointers that he would normally take, Atkins usually passed to a teammate.
That wasn’t the case on Monday. He hit two of his four 3-pointers among his eight baskets.
Hunter said Atkins’ dedication is an example of the exceptional season that is brewing on Decatur Street. The Panthers haven’t been beaten since Dec. 7, are undefeated at home (9-0) and off to their best start in conference play in school history.
“That’s what great teams do,” Hunter said. “He’s a senior, he wants to finish this thing out. That’s an impressive deal.”
Atkins isn’t the only Georgia State player who had a moment of introspection after Saturday’s game. He and Curtis Washington have grown close because they share the experience of transferring to GSU from a power conference (Washington from USC; Atkins from Virginia Tech). They also share experiences of overcoming injuries.
They have talked about what Washington could do to improve. He had one of his worst games of the year against Texas-Arlington, contributing six points and no rebounds in 19 minutes. It was another in a less-than-stellar string of games for the 6-foot-9 forward, who was averaging 8.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per game before Monday’s game.
Hunter met with him before taking on South Alabama and told him that if the Panthers were going to win a championship, he needed to contribute.
“He gets frustrated with me because he thinks I don’t play as hard as I can all the time,” Washington said. “That’s something I struggle with. I’m still learning about the game. It’s really my first year playing. I’m learning to be more physical and not worry about injuries.”
Taking advice from assistant coach Everick Sullivan, Washington decided that he wasn’t going to worry about re-injuring his shoulder, which he said has felt fine all season. He re-committed himself to being aggressive because, he said, it changes the mindset of the team.
Playing with tenacity, Washington scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds as the Panthers uncharacteristically outrebounded South Alabama. It was the second time during the winning streak that Georgia State outrebounded an opponent.
“He’s going to make mistakes, but I love when he’s aggressive,” Hunter said. “We need him to be this aggressive the rest of the season.”
About the Author
