Georgia State coach Ron Hunter had a plan for Tuesday’s game at Arkansas State, but more of the blustery weather that has hit the Southeast this winter may alter what he does.
Because the Panthers (22-7, 15-1) clinched the Sun Belt Conference’s regular-season title with Saturday’s 66-55 win at Texas State, Hunter had been considering not playing his son and leading-scorer R.J. Hunter against Arkansas State. R.J. Hunter suffered a bruised knee last week and Ron Hunter wanted to give him time to recover. He was also considering cutting back minutes for some other starters.
And then the temperatures dropped on Sunday, delaying and cancelling flights out of Austin, Texas.
Georgia State was told it couldn’t leave Austin until Tuesday, which wouldn’t work. The Panthers were supposed to play Tuesday. So the team piled into a bus Sunday night and headed to Shreveport, La.
Ah, the best laid plans.
The bus broke down on an exit ramp seven blocks from the team hotel in Shreveport and with temperatures below freezing, another bus was summoned. The players didn’t walk into the hotel until 1:45 a.m. Only one of the three baggage doors on the first bus would open, leaving most of the traveling party without luggage. Their gear didn’t arrive until 9:45 a.m. Monday.
“This is the fourth time we’ve had changes in our travel and games because of weather,” Ron Hunter said. “I’ve never had anything like this. I had a plan, but now I have to make sure my guys are ready to play.”
Earlier games against South Alabama and Texas State had to be postponed because of the ice and snow storm that hit Atlanta. A game at Louisiana-Monroe last month also interrupted Georgia State’s travel.
Hunter said the saga and being on the road since Wednesday are beginning to take its toll. The Panthers were scheduled to practice Monday afternoon in Shreveport and then bus to Memphis.
Hunter said if he likes the team’s performance in Monday’s practice, he may go back to his original plan and rest or reduce the minutes of several players. If the team doesn’t have energy on Monday, he may put out his usual starting lineup, which would include Curtis Washington.
Washington was benched in favor of Markus Crider in Saturday’s win, although move didn’t work out as well as Hunter hoped. Crider had just two points and two rebounds in 16 minutes. He had averaged 11.3 points and seven rebounds in 24.3 minutes in the three previous games.
“I shouldn’t have done that,” Hunter said. “I wanted to see. I wanted to experiment. We did it and now we’ve seen. He was out of his comfort range.”
Hunter said he and the team are ready to come home. They are scheduled to arrive in Atlanta Wednesday morning, a week after they left and four days after they clinched the school’s first outright conference basketball title since 2000-01.
Not that Hunter is complaining. He and the players just want to celebrate and leave enough time to prepare for Saturday’s regular-season finale against Western Kentucky. The Sun Belt tournament will start next week in New Orleans.
“It’s a great problem to have,” Hunter said.
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