Kevin Keatts: "Our Guys Came Out With a Lot of Passion"
NC State head coach Kevin Keatts met with the media following the Wolfpack's 99-50 win over Austin Peay Monday evening.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch Keatts’ press conference.
Opening Statement
Great energy for opening night. Our guys came out with a lot of passion. We set the tone on the defensive end. I know we're going to talk about the fact that we scored 99 points. I'm proud that we were able to turn them over 20 times. I thought we did a great job of keeping them in front. They have great size for a mid-major team. They did a great job, especially on [Elijah Hutchins- Everett] in the second half. I'm proud of them. We played on both ends of the floor. We were able to make shots, share the ball, and had 19 assists on 40 made field goals and 11 three-pointers. We were efficient from the free-throw line. We'll take the game, we will continue to build on it, and we’ll continue to get better.
On how encouraging was it not to have any offensive lulls...
I thought it was great. That's what we try to work on when you’ve got some older guys. A guy like Jarkel Joiner, you can talk to him, and he can lead our younger guys which I thought was outstanding. Terquavion Smith was fantastic tonight, he did a great job, very efficient, and made some really good plays. He played on both ends of the floor. But it was good that we didn't have those two or three minutes where we didn't score.
On this year’s team having a lot of fun playing together...
I thought last year’s team played hard. We were just limited. We had fun at times, but this is a good bunch. They have bonded both on and off the court. We will continue to be a work in progress. We will continue to get better. This is just one game, but if you told me that we could take this one game and try to build on it, we will continue to do it.
On opening up the season with a performance like tonight’s after last season...
I think that it was great. This is the toughest game, in my opinion, in college: the first game of the year. I don’t care who it is around the country. It’s still tough no matter who you’re playing against because you just don’t know. You want to get off to a good start which we did. I thought we played well which is great, but you can’t say that for everybody, so it’s tough. I’ve been on the other side of it in the first game where we were able to squeak away with a win, but we didn’t play well. I thought everything went as we planned tonight.
On how D.J. Burns and Dusan Mahorcic played...
They were great. I usually tune the crowd out and get locked in, but when D.J. made those baskets, man, you could just hear everybody like, “Woah, here we go now.” Those guys were tremendous. I consider both of those guys starters. I think between the two of them we had 18 points and 14 rebounds. D.J. Burns had nine of them. They played well. We have two guys where we feel like we can throw the ball in there and score. They both are getting better. Dusan’s a little better on the defensive end, but trust me; we're working with D.J. to get better in those areas. I love that we can score some inside baskets.
On Burns fighting for rebounds...
What makes those two guys great is their competition in practice is unbelievable. Half of the time, they foul each other every day, but at the end of the day, they really make each other better. You know, DJ is playing hard. I’m proud of him because one of the knocks on him is that he couldn't rebound the basketball, but he can score. I think he did a good job defensively and rebounding the basketball.
On Joiner setting a career-high with eight assists tonight...
When you have a veteran guard in college basketball, it goes a long way. We talked about what Jarkel did tonigh; he had 18 [points], eight [assists], and only two turnovers as much as he had the basketball, but he really works so hard. He puts in so much work every day. He’ll drag someone into the gym tomorrow. We're off tomorrow, I don’t get to see him, but I can guarantee you Jarkel Joiner will be one of those guys probably in the gym with someone else working on his game. To have a veteran guy who the player respects and plays hard on every possession, we talked about an older guy and will pick you up full court, and everyone behind him lets him lead. I'm proud of him.
On the transfers playing with urgency and filtering down to the rest of the team...
This is a confident bunch. We're going to have a lot of success, and we’ll have some ups and downs, but at the end of the day, I think, because they are veterans, we will save that moment for a long time. I think those guys are able to fight through some adversity and everything else. It’s good to have older guys. College basketball, it’s been proven that you have a lot more success. We just happen to have some veteran guys.
On the backcourt of Joiner and Smith...
I think it’s a talented backcourt. We had similar numbers when we looked at the way the sheet was written up. But we didn't have a bunch of guys who were there to contribute. The next leading scorer was Jericole. But with this bunch these guys feed off each other I can move either one of them to the one and two were playing Terquavion a little bit more at the one. But they both have a supporting pass and don't have so many bad shots. I think that's what helps them get better. I give them a lot of credit to Jarkel. You know, he’s a guy who comes in as a point guard from his own team in the sec. Embrace the young man that he knows is going to take shots. He’s been good for it Terquavion.
On Greg Gantt and if he’ll be back for the Campbell game...
Greg’s knee has been bothering him a little bit. He got an injection in his knee, and we just decided to hold him out. There's nothing major with anything. He just got a shot, and it’s really aggravating him a little bit. He got the shot on Saturday after the game, and it’s kind of been really sore for him. I hope [he’ll be back for the Campbell game]. That's the plan, I’ll say, until I diagnose him on Wednesday. We’ll be off tomorrow, but that's the plan.
On if he wants Smith to play with a lot of emotion...
I want them to play with a lot of energy. It’s great when your star player is playing with that type of emotion. It’s great when you sub and the guys are coming out of the game, and the guys who are playing the most minutes are the most energetic guys on the sidelines, and that helps. Obviously, we talked about continuing to play. With this year's team, we want to block out as much noise as we hear and just lock into the locker room and get better.
On his team having the mentality to win every four minutes...
We talk about winning the four minute segment and going to a timeout, “Let's win the four-minute segment.” At halftime, when you have such a big lead — I think we were up 28 — sometimes it’s hard to maintain and to play at a high level when you have a bigger lead. We talked about, “Hey, play like a scrimmage. I want it to be zero-zero [in their minds]. Let’s figure out how we can win the half.” I think the guys did a great job winning the second half. I think we came out the first two or three minutes in the second half and did some really good stuff. They scored a little bit, and then we locked in.