Ron Hunter stammered for a few seconds when asked to describe his team’s free-throw shooting two years ago.
Finally, Georgia State’s coach arrives at an answer.
“Bad,” he said.
Succinct and accurate. Georgia State ranked 276th of 338 Division I teams in 2011-12 because it made only 65.6 percent of its attempts. At one point in the season it ranked in the bottom five.
Two years later, the Panthers (10-6, 3-0 Sun Belt) will begin a two-game homestand against Arkansas State (10-5, 3-1) on Thursday as one of the better free-throw-shooting teams. They have made 77.7 percent of their attempts, the third-highest mark in Division I.
Led by R.J. Hunter, who has made a school-record 25 consecutive, the Panthers have made 143 of their past 173 free throws (82.6 percent), including a Rick Barry-like 62 of 66 (93.9 percent) in Sun Belt play. That has been a key ingredient in the team’s seven-game win streak, helping to seal wins against Old Dominion, Troy and South Alabama.
“It’s super important,” R.J. Hunter said. “We aren’t the most physical team, so anytime we can get easy points, it gets us going.”
The process of clanks to swishes includes three ingredients, according to Ron Hunter: work during the summer, recruiting and lineup choices.
Surprisingly, the Panthers rarely practice free-throw shooting during the season.
“This is probably the less I’ve worked on free-throw shooting with any team I’ve ever had,” Hunter said.
Instead, Hunter said the team spent time at the line during the summer. He wanted his players to learn how to make free throws when they were tired, and he turned different drills into competitive situations. If players didn’t make a certain number of free throws, they would spend more time at practice.
R.J. Hunter, who said he has never been a good free-throw shooter, said he also worked on free throws on his own time, not leaving the gym until he made 10 consecutive. It sometimes took an hour.
“It’s all about getting reps up,” he said. “That’s what I learned being in college. When you don’t feel like coming in here, you still get in here late at night or early in the morning, getting reps.”
As he is wont to do, Ron Hunter couldn’t resist taking a crack at his son, saying the reason he weighs “105 pounds” is because he wasn’t allowed to eat when he was younger until he made free throws.
“That’s why he’s putting on weight now. He’s hitting free throws, so we are allowing him to eat,” Hunter said.
The work seems to have paid off: R.J. Hunter leads the team and the conference (89.9 percent). Three other Georgia State players, Ryan Harrow (83.5), Manny Atkins (80.6) and Devonta White (80.4), rank in the Sun Belt’s top seven.
All four of those players are starters, which is another reason Hunter said the team’s shooting has improved. He is willing to sacrifice size for skill.
“Which would you rather have, a good rebounding team or a team that takes care of the ball and makes free throws?” Hunter asked.
The players also reflect the type of players Hunter recruits.
Hunter’s first team featured a lot of physical players, who he said were more athletic than skilled. Hunter said that that composition, which he inherited from Rod Barnes, was necessary because the CAA featured athletic big men.
The move to the Sun Belt allowed Hunter to recruit the types of players he prefers: those who may not be quite as big, but whom he believes are more skilled.
“How we recruit helps our free-throw shooting,” he said. “People around here have been so used to having big, physical guys. We will have skill guys. That’s what I want; that’s what I recruit.”
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