Previewing Georgia State

Akula Wolf — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:29:35 -0000

2009 Scouting Report / 2009 Game Plan
2009 Stats (pdf)
2010 Roster
2010 Schedule

Georgia State Offense '08-'09

Four Factors	Percent	Nat'l Rank
eFG%	46.8	259
Turnover Rate	19.6	125
Off Reb Rate	31.0	239
FTA/FGA	30.0	314

The Georgia State Panthers are led by head coach Rod Barnes, who you may remember from such tenures as Ole Miss, 1998-2006 but probably don't because no one cares about SEC basketball. I swear every team in the SEC West plays in the same decrepit, poorly-lit multipurpose cave.

We'll get around to that fresh coat of paint for the lockers, coach, right after we complete this unnecessary Segway docking station for the football program.

But all we've ever wanted is your love!

A polar bear replaced Barnes at Ole Miss for all anyone knows.

Anyway. The Panthers finished last season 12-20 overall, 8-10 in the CAA. They managed just one win over a team in the Pomeroy Ratings top 100. Barnes gave decent minutes to a lot of dudes in a desperate attempt to catch mediocrity in a bottle.

They'll be without a pair of forward starters from a year ago, Leonard Mendez and Rashad Chase, neither of whom were significant contributors offensively. Just about everyone else is back, and this is a guard-oriented team led by Wake Forest transfer Joe Dukes and Trae Goldston.

As you can tell from the four factors, offense was a bit of a problem for this group in '09. They couldn't make twos, threes, or free throws; they couldn't generate many second chances; and they rarely got to the line. Those deficiencies made for an offense that ranked 237th in adjusted offensive efficiency.

Projected Starters:

Joe Dukes (6-1, 184) -- Earned pre-season second team All-CAA honors, which is the extent of the accolades on this team. Dukes posted a fine assist rate last season, kept the turnovers under control, and displayed some quick hands at the defensive end. He'll be heavily involved as a passer and a scorer, and you can expect him to see some time at the 2-guard spot as well. But he was a mediocre shooter last season (the workload didn't help) and wasn't able to get to the line very often. He'll shoot from outside but prefers to do his scoring inside the arc.

Trae Goldston (6-0, 180) -- Dukes and Goldston combined to take 53.5% of GSU's shots when they were on the court together, with those shots split evenly between them. Goldston is primarily a three-point bomber, and with 191 3FGAs last year, he isn't shy. You can bet he'll take enough threes to be a potential difference maker in a scary way. Threes are about the extent of his contributions, though.

Jihad Ali (6-5, 195) -- Played sparingly as a freshman in 2008 and redshirted in 2009, so it's hard to figure what to expect. He's got three-point range, and the way Georgia State's athletics website describes him, he's a guy that can do a little bit of everything.

Trey Hampton (6-7, 225) -- Hampton, who followed Rod Barnes from Ole Miss to Georgia State, is described as "a blue collar post player known for rebounding and defense" by the GSU athletics website. At no point in his career, be it at Ole Miss or Georgia State, has he been a good rebounder. He was a turnover machine a year ago, but he hit 50% of his twos--quite the rarity for this team--and he blocked shots at a rate that suggests he's pretty athletic.

Xavier Hansbro (6-10, 230) -- Another Ole Miss refugee, the 6-10 Hansbro was spectacularly awful from the field in 2009, making just 45% of his twos and 22% of his threes. That hurts a team under any circumstances but was particularly damaging to the Panthers because he took a team-high 28.5% of the shots when he was on the court. He's like the dude in every pickup game ever who has no self-awareness whatsoever. Pass the fucking ball a few times, Clankmaster. Perhaps more appalling than his shooting percentage was the fact that he managed only 11 free throw attempts in 475 minutes. I don't understand how that's possible even if he does like to hang around the perimeter.

Bench

Ousman Krubally (6-6, 195), Kevin Lott (6-7, 215), Dante Curry (6-4, 195), James Fields (6-3, 192), and Marques Johnson (6-5, 205), among others.

(Random aside: Wanted to note that GSU has an assistant coach named Scepter Brownlee.)

Georgia State Defense '08-'09

Four Factors	Percent	Nat'l Rank
eFG%	50.0	214
Turnover Rate	20.4	159
Off Reb Rate	33.4	200
FTA/FGA	35.2	146

It's not a very tall team, their 2FG% defense was poor in 2009, and they weren't disruptive in terms of blocking shots. All of that bodes well for the Wolfpack. But they were good at stealing the basketball, and with a couple of experienced guards returning, I'd bet on another rough night turnover-wise for the NC State offense.

SB Nation - Marques Johnson

Previewing Georgia State