From the CBI to NCAA Tourney Win for Hunter

Hunter after son RJ buries three pointer (courtesy of TBS)

Thursday, as I watched Georgia State Coach Ron Hunter literally fall off his chair, after his son R.J. hit a three pointer to give the Panthers a 57-56 win over Baylor, I couldn't help but smile.  This is one of the few men's college basketball coaches that I got a chance to talk to outside a press conference (Mo Cassara, former Hofstra coach and friend is another) and came away so impressed.  I couldn't help but root for him.

My first recollection of Hunter was back when he was coaching IUPUI against Hofstra in a CBI game in 2010.  This is a game where 953 people, including myself, attended a "college basketball tournament game".   You could see the game mattered to only a very few and certainly not to Hofstra, who lost 74-60 in what I considered one of their poorest efforts of that season.

But the Jaguars played as if it was the NCAA Tournament.  IUPUI was aggressive in their play,  jumping out to a 21-2 lead and they never looked back.  Judging by Hunter's demeanor on the sideline, they better have gone out to an early lead.  Hunter was intense, demanding excellence of his players every second they were on the court, even when they were up nineteen.  I was worried the man would have a heart attack right on the floor.

That night, I only stayed till halftime, as I was heading to Stony Brook to see the Seawolves take on Illinois in a real college basketball tournament game, a NIT game.  But Hunter left an indelible mark on me.  And I would get the chance to see him and his teams again, in fact several times.

Hunter had a long history with IUPUI.  He started heading coach in 1995, when the school was still in the NAIA.  Then eventually the Jaguars joined the NCAA and eventually a D1 school playing in the Summit League.

In 2011, Hunter accepted the position as head coach of Georgia State.  Now it meant their former CBI rival, Hofstra, would play Hunter at least once, possibly twice a season, depending on how the CAA regular season schedule would work out.

Hunter's first season with Georgia State in 2011-12 was impressive one.  He took basically the same team that was 12-19 the season before, predicted to finish again at the bottom of the conference and turned them into an imposing force.   They won eleven CAA regular season conference games that season, including a dominant 59-43 win over Hofstra on the Pride's home court.

It was how they won that game against Hofstra that was so impressive.  Using his team's height, Hunter had them play a match-up zone and they challenged every Pride shot that night.   The Panthers that season were first in the Colonial in field goal percentage defense, second in scoring defense, first in blocked shots and second in steals and turnover margin.

But it was something that Hunter said right before the Hofstra game that week that will always stick out in my mind,  Earlier that week, Georgia State struggled to win a game over then hapless Towson.   Right after the game, Hunter tweeted "I love my basketball team, but tomorrow, practice will be epic. Bring your lunch pail."

And sure enough, Georgia State brought their lunch pail against Hofstra too.

The Panthers kept that momentum going in the CAA Tournament, where as the sixth seed, they once again took on the Pride in the first round of the CAA Tournament.   In my ninth year of the CAA Tournament, it was my first and only CAA Tournament where I sat on press row as a member of the press, as I sat next to my dear friend Jerry Beach, aka Defiantly Dutch.  And we watched Georgia State use a 24-4 first half run to absolutely dismantle Hofstra 85-40 in what was the biggest margin of victory in the history of the CAA Tournament.

Ron Hunter & Jerry Beach (Courtesy of Defiantly Dutch)

And in the post game press conference, Dutch and I found out why.  The night before was the CAA Awards Banquet, many people thought, including yours truly that Hunter deserved the CAA Coach of the Year award for taking basically the same team that won six conference games the year before and nearly doubled that.  But Bruiser Flint, whose team was favored to win the CAA in the preseason, won the award.  Also Eric Buckner, the dominant shot blocker for Georgia State was denied the CAA Defensive Player of the Year.

Hunter at the press conference was angry and defiant.  He said his team played with a "chip on its shoulder".  He felt as if they had been not given the respect they deserved at the CAA Awards Banquet.   So Hunter channeled his team's anger into what I thought was the most dominant performance I ever saw in my nine years of covering the CAA Tournament.

Then came the next day, the day of heartbreak and missed free throws.  Georgia State came out in the same dominant fashion they had against Hofstra, and went up 22-11 early on George Mason.  Thanks in part to the Panthers missing many opportunities at the charity stripe, the Patriots responded and took the lead in the second half.   The Panthers rallied late to tie the game at 59 all.   But Byron Allen hit a reverse layup with 3.4 seconds left to send the Patriots the 61-59 victory and a trip to the CAA semifinal against VCU.

What I remember more than Allen's winning circus shot, was the post game press conference by Hunter.   As he was holding back tears, Hunter struggled to speak.  When he did, he passionately spoke about their "achilles heel", the missed free throws, and how he never saw a more hungry team in his years of coaching.   He wanted to have his team play one more game, since six of his players were seniors.

After the press conference, Dutch and I met Hunter right under the stands near the entrance to the lower bowl of the Richmond Coliseum.  Dutch and I shook hands with Coach Hunter.  He hoped his team would make the CBI or CIT because with twenty one wins they deserved that opportunity (they did make the CIT, winning one game before being eliminated).   Coach Hunter was very cordial and even got a laugh when we reminded him about his former IUPUI team beating up on Hofstra in the CBI in 2010.  He said "You remember that?!' as if no one would probably remember a game where 953 people showed up.

Courtesy of Defiantly Dutch

One season later, Hunter showed he had a sense of humor.   Georgia State was leaving the CAA after the season for the Sun Belt.  Hunter noted to former CAA Hoops pundit, now VCU radio analyst Mike Litos that " This is my farewell tour in the CAA,  How many guys in any league coach one year and get a farewell tour? I want gifts every place I go. I’ll tell them—get me a gift or I’ll take it out on them on the floor.”

Sure enough, someone met that challenge.  One Defiantly Dutch, Mr. Jerry Beach.  Dutch presented Hunter with the "Meritorious Service" plaque after Hofstra defeated Georgia State in the last few seconds. Dutch noted that "Hunter was a great sport during the 'awards ceremony'...Hunter seemed quite amused that someone remembered his throwaway quote. Or maybe amused is a synonym for frightened, I don’t know."

Hunter is also known for his "humanitarian efforts, partnering with Samaritan’s Feet, an organization that collects shoes for underprivileged children around the world."

Hunter's Georgia State team in 2013-14 went 17-1 in conference before a stunning overtime loss in the Sun Belt Tournament final.   This season, the Panthers got the job done, going 15-5 in conference, 25-9 overall, winning the Sun Belt Tournament and thus the automatic NCAA berth.   Hunter's team features his son RJ, former Kentucky Wildcat Ryan Harrow and former Louisville Cardinal Kevin Ware.

It is also Hunter's first NCAA Tournament as a head coach.  He was a member of three Miami of Ohio NCAA Tournament teams as a player, where one of his teammates was eventual longtime NBA player Ron Harper, who was also a high school teammate.

And here was Georgia State holding its own with Baylor.  Then came RJ's three point shot from long range at the top of the key to cap a 13-0 run to end the game.

Dead solid perfect as it crashed through the net.

And then came his dad, Coach Hunter, crashing down from his chair onto the court.

Georgia State won its second ever tournament game in just their third tournament appearance.  Ron Hunter had just won a NCAA Tournament game in front of twelve thousand plus fans, a far cry from his "first postseason win" as a head coach in front of 953 people.

I think a lot of people will always remember that.

Post Play the Difference as Bears Hold Off Gamecocks

Heading into Tuesday's Tipoff Marathon game against Baylor, South Carolina was looking for payback for a tough two point loss, 66-64 at the Bears' home court last season.   They certainly looked strong entering the contest, as they started their opening season with an 81-56 win over the Ospreys of North Florida last Friday night.  The Gamecocks had momentum, the home court advantage and revenge on their side for the nationally televised noon start on ESPN, which for many people in attendance was a long lunch break.

The problem was that they didn't have the frontcourt on their side to handle Baylor.

The Bears started out quickly with five straight points as Jonathan Motley, who would be a load inside all day for Baylor, scored the first two points of the game.   The Gamecocks would respond by outscoring the Bears 9-2 over the next four plus minutes.  Sindarius Thornwell's two free throws put South Carolina up 9-7.

The mini-spurts for both teams would continue throughout the first half.  After the Bears broke an eleven all tie with five straight points, the Gamecocks responded with seven straight of their own to take an 18-16 lead on a basket by Thornwell.

The Gamecocks would go up by as much as four points, 22-18.  But they would commit four turnovers in the last five and a half minutes of the first  half.  Baylor took advantage of this, outscoring South Carolina 12-5.  Motley again would be a difference maker, scoring a basket with two seconds left in the half to put the Bears up 30-27 at the halftime.

My good friend, Gary Bennett who, along with another good friend  of ours, Charley Adams, sat with me during the game.  Gary made the point that the South Carolina bigs barely had any post touches in the first half.   In fact in the first half, the South Carolina frontcourt scored only four points in the first half; two points on a tip in by Laimonas Chatkevicius of his own miss and two points on free throws by Michael Carrera.  Meanwhile, Motley by himself scored 13 points in the first twenty minutes.

During halftime, I went to see my good friend Mike Brodsky, known as @NUHF on Twitter, who came down from Boston for the game (and is somewhere having crab legs as he celebrates Northeastern's win over Florida State).  He was sitting with former Northeastern forward Kauri Black, who is going to South Carolina for his Masters.  Mike and I caught up on life, then messed with Defiantly Dutch's head by having Kauri take a picture of the Barone Bowl Buddies and posting it on Twitter.

The second half started with Frank Martin seemingly getting the memo from Gary Bennett to work the ball inside.  Carrera scored the first two Gamecock baskets on layups and South Carolina was within one, 32-31.  A little bit later, a Thornwell three pointer put the Gamecocks up one, 36-35 with a little under seventeen minutes left in the game.

It was the last lead South Carolina had on the day.  If Motley was not being a load inside for the Bears, it was Kenny Chery frustrating the Gamecocks from beyond the arc.   Chery's three pointer, one of three on the day for him, put the Bears up 38-36.   It was the start of a critical 15-6 run over the next four minutes.  A Taurean Prince three pointer capped the run and gave the Bears a 50-42 lead with 12:20 left.

The lead would still be eight, 57-49 with 7:44 left when Marcus Stroman nailed a three pointer to cut the deficit to five, 57-52.  The freshman Stroman would have another solid game for the Gamecocks, scoring ten points, grabbing five rebounds and adding three assists with only one turnover in twenty seven minutes of play.

Tyrone Johnson, who led all scorers with twenty one points, added a jumper and the lead was down to three, 57-54.  But the Baylor duo that had caused problems for South Carolina all day, Motley and Chery, would combine to score the game's next seven points and the Bears lead was now ten, 64-54 with about four minutes left.

The Gamecocks made one last run, scoring seven straight points.  A Stroman tip in cut the deficit to three, 64-61 with about two and a half minutes left.  Then South Carolina had a chance to tie, but Tyrone Johnson missed an open three pointer.   A Motley tip in off a rebound would be the final dagger, giving the Bears a 66-61 lead.

The Gamecocks would get as close as two the rest of the way, 67-65 on a Johnson layup with two seconds left.  But South Carolina could not steal the inbounds pass and was forced to foul Chery.  Chery scored the last of his twenty points, hitting two free throws for the 69-65 final score.

Johnson, Thornwell and Stroman combined for forty seven points on seventeen of thirty four from the field.  The problem was the rest of the Gamecocks shot five of twenty from the field.  The Baylor frontcourt outscored the South Carolina frontcourt 37-18.  Motley had seventeen of those points for the Bears, shooting six of nine from the field and hitting all five of his free throws.  Carrera had ten of the eighteen Gamecocks' frontcourt points.

As Gary, Charlie and I left Colonial Life Arena and headed back to our jobs at USC, we lamented the fact that the Gamecocks got little scoring from their forwards.  The bright side is that South Carolina has a terrific guard trio in Thornwell, Johnson and Stroman.   But the Gamecocks need to get their post players more involved.

The bright side is that this weekend's Charleston Classic will give South Carolina three opportunities to improve on that.