Kevin Keatts: "Tomorrow Will Be Another Great Opportunity"
NC State head coach Kevin Keatts met with the media via Zoom Monday morning during the ACC's weekly teleconference.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch Keatts’ press conference.
On coaching Casey Morsell…
First of all, he’s a tremendous young man. I’ve seen him grow in the last couple of years. He’s gotten very comfortable with our situation. Obviously, Tony [Bennett] and his crew did a great job recruiting him to UVa. He’s a really special kid. He had to adapt to two different systems. He’s been really good at that, and I think you’re starting to see him have more confidence this year than he’s ever had in his whole career. He’s really shooting the basketball well for us.
On how Morsell’s game has fit into the system…
Well, I think it was adjustment. I think he’s a type of kid that can play in any system. I think he was very productive for Tony and those guys, too, but it took a while any time you get a transfer. Obviously, they have to play a completely different way than what he was used to. I have to give him a lot of credit. He’s kind of adjusted, and he’s learning how to play the way we want to play and also how to be effective doing it.
On scouting Jayden Gardner…
He’s really talented. He’s kind of a throwback post because of his ability to make a 15- or 18-foot jump shot. He’s not really the traditional, back-you-down guy. He has the ability to space you out, and they do a great job of getting him to the short corner and to the free-throw-line area. You really have to respect his ability to score the ball. I think one of the things he’s gotten a lot better at is he’s doing a much better job at getting offensive rebounds. He’s scoring in a lot of different ways than he has in the past. He’s talented. Any time you’ve got an older guy who's played — once again, we’ve talked about Casey Morsell as a transfer — he’s starting to feel a little bit more comfortable with the way Virginia likes to play. His games lately have been really, really good for those guys.
On Terquavion Smith contributing outside of scoring…
I think it shows maturity. With him, and we sometimes forget that he’s just a sophomore, but being here last year, he wouldn’t have done that last year. If he weren’t scoring the basketball, it would’ve really affected the other parts of his game. The thing that I’ve been really impressed with him is that, a lot of times when people go through the draft process, they don’t listen, and he’s really listened to what the scouts have talked about. One of the things we’ve talked about is, if you’re not having a good game scoring the basketball, how you impact the game in other ways. Even though he didn’t score, he made a lot of passes that led to scoring. Ten assists [versus Georgia Tech] was a career high for him. That’s the maturity of his game. I don’t know where he ranks in the league in assists, but that’s one of the parts of his game where he’s grown. It’s respectful because we all know he’s a natural scorer, but when you can also get your teammates involved, I think that’s a maturity thing.
On how the guards can improve versus Virginia…
I thought Georgia Tech did a great job of keeping us off balance. You could tell that their focal point of the game was not to let [Smith and Jarkel Joiner] have a good game. I thought we stood around. I didn’t think we did a good job of sprinting away. I didn’t think we did a good job of pushing the ball in transition where we didn’t get an easy basket. For those guys, I think a lot of player and ball movement would be important. I think they both still were effective even though Jarkel didn’t play well offensively. I thought he did some great things on the defensive end. When you’re playing against Virginia, Virginia’s always tough. They’ve been No. 1 in the country for many, many years defending you. It’s also going to be a tough game for them. We just have to make sure the ball doesn’t stick.
On if he can look back at last year’s game versus the Cavaliers…
I don’t think it’ll help at all. They have a different team. They’re playing different. We have a different group of guys. You can certainly look at it just to see the flow of the game, but at the end of the day, I thought we played one of our better games at home last year when we shot the ball well against those guys.
On the importance of D.J. Burns versus Virginia’s small lineup...
I think it’s a challenge on both ends. Obviously, Tony’s done a great job with his program; I don’t think he’ll change because he’s playing against us, so we expect, as we always have no matter who we play, who’s been at that position. There will probably be some double-teams, and D.J.’s got to do a good job of trying to score the basketball but also, if those double-teams come, finding guys who can make shots or plays off of it. Outside of when we played Virginia Tech earlier in the year, when you’re playing Gardner and their ability to step out and shoot it, it’ll be a different thing for him to be able to guard guys outside of the block. He’s got to really do a good job in that area, sit down, and defend. We have challenges on both ends of it, trying to figure out how to score with him against the way they play defense, and he’s got to do a good job on the other end trying to defend those guys.
On the opportunities the month of February presents…
When you look at the whole entire schedule, everybody has a Quad labeled to them. We had two tough games this week against really good teams, and unfortunately if you lose them, it could hurt your NET. I think, when you look at the game tomorrow against a very good Virginia team on their home floor, there’s another Quad I opportunity. You’ve got to look at opportunities now because they’re so important, especially since a few years ago we went to a NET system where everything is based on your Quad I's versus Quad II's, III's, and IV’s. Tomorrow will be another great opportunity for us, and it changes. It depends. By the time you play a team two weeks from now, they could be a Quad I, Quad II or Quad III, and so could we. This will be another great opportunity for us, and we have to try and take advantage of it if we can.