Keatts: "We Executed Very Well"
NC State head coach Kevin Keatts met with the media after the Wolfpack's 95-49 win over Maryland Eastern Shore.
Opening Statement...
I'm really excited about the way we played today. I thought everybody that got in the game did a tremendous job. I thought we played hard. Now certainly everything didn't go our way, but what I was looking for going into this game was improvement.
I thought on Tuesday we got driven by too much and guys got in the lane. Today I thought we helped each other. We had 23 assists on 35 made field goals.
Going five in and five out is not my plan for the rest of the year. I looked over on the bench I saw that I had a one, two, three, four, and a five and I decided to sub.
The story I know you guys are going to ask me about is Braxton Beverly. I told Braxton yesterday after practice, that I’m going to make a decision whether I’m going to play him tomorrow. I was supposed to call him last night but I didn’t call him on purpose. I didn't want to play him. I wanted to save him for another game just to give him a few more games on this half. Braxton’s smart. He knows the equipment manager and he’s got his uniform on when I show up here. When I went to sub the other four guys, there was no way I couldn’t not put him in the game.
He’s got those baby eyes looking at me like he wants to play and so I put him in the game. He gives us a different dimension. He can make shots and he knows how to play. He plays hard. He’s a very special player for us because he gives us a veteran who has played in this uniform and understands what I'm looking for.
I thought we executed very well so I looked at this team. I thought our guys locked in and came out with energy, especially for being a noon game.
On today’s rotation...
“It worked out today. The group that played that came off the bench has been working together and has been the scout team, so they have learned how to play together. Today it worked out well. I don’t know if I plan on doing that all year long, but I do like the balance we had in both groups. We had guys that could score, rebound, and understood their roles in both groups, so it was pretty good for us today.”
On Ian Steere...
“Ian Steere and I had a discussion yesterday about what his future may be here at NC State. Without going into detail because I don’t want to give up too much of our private discussion, I told him to sit back and give it a couple of days and decide if this is the best fit for him or if there is another place that he feels like he could go. I don’t know where his head is and I am planning on having another conversation with him on Monday, but I want him to take a couple of days to make sure that he is still excited about being at NC State.”
On D.J. Funderburk...
“When I went back and I looked at the stat sheet, he has been really good for us. D.J. Funderburk is a young man that has been really good for us and I’ve said this before-- he can guard the one through the five. He’s versatile, is able to rebound, and makes shots. I’m hoping he continues to play this way.”
On smaller lineups...
“I’m not worried about not having enough bigs. If you look at last year, we had Omer Yurtseven and Lennard Freeman. At times, if I needed to, I would slide Malik Abu over to a five when he’s really a four.
I have guys now such as Jericole Hellems, who is Malik’s size, but is a different player. He’s better on the perimeter but not as athletic. We can get away with that. In today’s basketball, if you look at any roster, it is hard to play three centers. In our league by itself, you can look at a list and see who plays and who doesn’t, so I don’t mind where we are as a group. I hope it works out for Ian because I believe that he could be a very good basketball player here. “
On improvement from last game...
“I think it’s been very good. The versatility of this team allows us to switch a lot of screens and we are able to get in the passing lanes. I thought we played better defensively this game than we did last game. On Tuesday, if you look at the first half, it was just okay defensively. I thought we were great defensively in the second half. Today I thought we played a great two halves. Did we get a full 40 minutes? No. But I like where we are right now.”
On keeping the team engaged with a large point margin...
“We talk about mindset and getting better from practice to practice and game to game. At some point, when you’re in a lopsided game you have to stop focusing on yourself. We talked about what makes us better as a basketball team as opposed to who we’re playing against.”
On Reynolds Coliseum...
“Wow, it’s unbelievable. I love Reynolds. I used to go in there as a fan. I think I’ve said this before. I remember sitting in the endzone and all the seats were connected. If you got up really quickly, the whole row would fall back on you and everybody else would fall. It’s great basketball and great tradition. It’s a powerful place. What we’ve done and what the university has done with that place--it’s one of the best arenas that size in the country. Being at UNCW, we had a tremendous arena and a great home-court advantage, but looking at Reynolds--a little over five thousand, right around there--it’s a great place to play. You can go from player to player who’s ever played in there. It’s a special place for me.”