5 observations from Georgia State’s win over Emmanuel

It was an interesting move because Williams is a better offensive player than Dennis at guard, and Session a better defensive player than Thomas at forward. Dennis played well in the first two games, with 19 points, eight assists and two turnovers. It was especially curious considering Hunter said after the win in the exhibition game against Oglethorpe that Dennis was going to be the team’s engine.

“I’ve been spoiled,” Hunter said. “Here five years and I’ve only had two point guards. I’ve got a new point guard. Timing is off. It’s like having a new quarterback.”

Thomas struggled to find his shot against Oglethorpe and in the season-opening win against Middle Georgia State, going 7-of-25 from the floor, including 3-of-17 on 3-pointers. Session had 10 points in 25 minutes in the two games.

Thomas and Dennis both came in less than six minutes into the game. Neither scored in a combined 35 minutes. Dennis missed his four shots while Thomas missed his two. Hunter said he probably made a mistake with Thomas early in expecting too much of someone who didn’t get to practice last year.

Williams scored nine points in 22 minutes Thursday, while Session scored eight points in 19 minutes.

Hunter said the starting lineup for the next game at Ole Miss on Nov. 25 will likely be different than the previous two. He said other than himself, Kevin Ware and Jeremy Hollowell he’s not sure who will even be on the bus.

Jeremy Hollowell can play. Speaking of Hollowell, Hunter said Hollowell, who sat out last season after transferring from Indiana, was going to fill up a box score, and so far he has. After 12 points, five rebounds, five steals, two blocks and an assists against Middle Georgia State, he scored a career-high 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting with two rebounds, three steals, one block and two assists.

“Jeremy Hunter,” Ron Hunter said. “We had Ronald Hunter (RJ), now we have Jeremy Hunter.”

For all the good things he did on offense, Ron Hunter said his new protege didn’t rebound as well as he expects and needs to improve on defense. Hollowell said he is getting used to playing again after sitting out a year.

After playing mostly man-to-man at Indiana, Hollowell said he’s still learning the zone schemes at Georgia State and will sometimes forget to guard space, and instead guard a man.

Success against the zone. After struggling initially to solve Middle Georgia State's zone defense, Emmanuel played something similar Thursday. Georgia State's results were much better. The Panthers attacked the zone with Kevin Ware and Hollowell, scoring 26 of their first 39 first-half points in the free-throw lane while shooting 61.5 percent.

The Panthers kept it up in the second half, either easily breaking Emmanuel’s press the few times they tried or getting inside against the zone.

They shot 56.9 percent for the game, with 46 points inside the free-throw lane.

Hunter said they spent “77 hours” on their zone offense between last week’s game and Thursday’s.

Markus Crider rebounds. Crider bounced back from a rough opener in which he fouled out and had at least one shot blocked to score 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting and grab six rebounds. After the opener, Hunter said he didn't think Crider was the same player as last season, noting the offseason surgery Crider underwent seems to have affected his explosiveness. After getting one of his first shots blocked Thursday, Crider became more aggressive and found his energy, posting a dunk, a block and an acrobatic spinning layup to open the second half.

Free throws. The Panthers' mediocre free-throw shooting was about the same as it was in the opener. After making 21 of 32 last week, Georgia State made 17 of 26 against Emmanuel.

Subtract the free throws shot by Dennis (0-2) and T.J. Shipes (0-2), the team’s worst two free-throw shooters, and the Panthers hit 17 of 22.