Jeremy Hollowell admits he is in a slump at Georgia State.
He is hitting 29.5 percent (18-of-61) of his shots in the past six games to bring his scoring average down to 14 points per game. Making things worse, his lack of offense is affecting his defense. He had no rebounds in Saturday’s loss to Texas-Arlington and was frequently caught out of position early in the game. Pegged as the team’s best player before the season – a forward with the range of a guard and with the ability to play a number of spots in zone defenses — he’s not contributing as much as expected on either end heading into Thursday’s game at South Alabama.
“When we talk about the other great players we’ve had, when they go in slumps it doesn’t affect their defense,” coach Ron Hunter said. “That’s hurting us more than the scoring.”
Hollowell said he has been in slumps before and he has been able to work his way out. This time is a little bit different because so many of Hollowell’s circumstances are different.
When he transferred from Indiana, Hollowell thought he would be playing alongside longtime friend R.J. Hunter. But after leading the Panthers to a win in the NCAA tournament, Hunter left school early for the NBA. Hollowell doesn’t begrudge his friend’s choice. The two still talk often, even more so during the slump. But the spotlight turned on Hollowell to become the next Hunter, or the next Ryan Harrow, and lead the Panthers back to the NCAA tournament.
Hollowell said he was ready for that. Coach Ron Hunter isn’t sure he was.
“We had to throw him into the fire,” Hunter said. “I think that part has hurt him.”
Plus, after taking a year off because of the NCAA's transfer rules, Hollowell is also playing in a new conference, with new teammates and in a new defense that he doesn't prefer and admits is having a hard time learning. After the 21-point loss to Texas-Arlington, Hunter said that Hollowell was "killing us defensively."
Everything seems to be adding up and affecting Hollowell at the same time. He said he owns the reasons and knows that he must continue to do the work to pull himself out.
“I’m not going to come up with any excuses,” Hollowell said. “I have to play harder and play with more energy and step up and be a leader.”
Like Hollowell, the Panthers (13-8, 6-6 Sun Belt) are in a tailspin with four losses in the past five games that that they must break. The two-time defending Sun Belt regular season champions have little hope of winning a third consecutive league title because they trail leaders Arkansas-Little Rock by five games with nine remaining and there four teams between them. But if Hollowell can find a solution to his slump, the Panthers may be able to get on a roll in time for the Sun Belt tournament and at least improve their chances to making it to the NCAA tournament.
Hunter said he has tried everything to get Hollowell going. Hunter has brought him off the bench to start the second half in the past two games. He has run plays for him. He has not run plays for him. He has tried a smaller lineup to try to give Hollowell an advantage in matchups. He has gone bigger.
Now, Hunter is considering not starting Hollowell for the first time this season in an attempt to get him to relax because he said he is pressing right now, which only makes things worse.
“He’s playing hard,” Hunter said. “He tries way too hard on offense and messes up on defense. That means I have to play him less minutes, which makes us not a very good team.”
Hunter has given him a simple goal in Thursday’s game: don’t worry about your points, just get seven rebounds. Hunter doesn’t care if they are on offense or defense. An offensive rebound may lead to an easy putback. A good play on defense may spark the team. Either may give Hollowell a confidence boost to get his game consistently going on both ends of the court.
“I know I haven’t been playing well,” Hollowell said. “I’m going to continue to put in the extra work and I know I’ll be fine.”
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