Kevin Keatts: "Today Wasn't Our Day"
NC State head coach Kevin Keatts met with the media following the Wolfpack's home loss to Clemson.
NOTE: Click the video above to watch the press conference.
Opening Statement...
”Give Clemson a lot of credit, I thought they played really well today, us on the other hand I didn't think it was one of our days. What I talked about with the team was a couple of things. Wake Forest first half I didn't think we did a great job of defending. We outscored those guys. We had 52 points at the half but gave up 46. I thought we did an awful job defending against Clemson. Giving up 54 points in the first half. We fought. That is not a surprise to anyone about this team.We are going to fight. You put yourself in a really tough hole when you give up that many points in the first half, so disappointed. This team has been really good all year long, we’ve had a couple games where I didnt think we defended. One of them was tonight. The other thing is we didn't have the same pop we normally have. When you can't rely on your defense to get stops, we did a better job in the second half scoring the basketball, in the first half we didn't. Obviously, it was just an uphill battle front that point on. The fortunate thing is we have been on the other end of it and played well, we were able to score and defend. Today wasn't our day and we have to get better. As a coach that is completely on me, I'll have them ready to lay and get better defensively. We will take the next step that we need to.”
On why they didn't have the pop today...
“Well it's so hard when you are playing catch up and are behind. We have never been behind at that deficit. We didn't defend and the game got away from us. I thought we had moments where we chipped away in the second half. We would make a 5, 6-0 run and we would still be down by a lot. Psychologically it bothers you a little bit. I’m not worried about our guys. It's a tough game
for us. We can figure out how to learn from this and we can move on.”
On defense in first half...
“We haven't guarded. A part of this is the two teams that we played in the first half have shot the hell out of the basketball and really shot it well. We haven't done a good job at defending. You look at these guys, they came out and shot the ball really well. They shot the ball and Wake shot the ball really well. Obviously, it put us in a deficit. We have been one of the best 3-point defending teams in the conference. The last two games the guys have really shot the basketball, especially in the first half.”
On moving forward defensively...
“We have to be selfish. We talk about making a miss. The best way to get guys from scoring the basketball is not to let them have the basketball, especially when guys have a hot hand. You look at Brevin Galloway, he was really hot coming out of the stretch. It seemed like everybody on their team made a three and put us in a tough situation. We have done a really good job, this particular team, defending the three point line. It hasn't happened the way I want it to, especially against Wake and Clemson.”
On Clemson’s defense...
“Well, I think they gap you, they do a good job. When you are playing a Clemson team, you have to be able to create a shot for someone else. It is hard because we have two guards that can really break you down and they can really score the basketball, but you have to be a willing passer. It is only a second pass you’ve got because they sit in gaps and you may only have a second to make that pass, so you know only one or two dribbles. If you dribble more than that you are playing against three or four guys in the gaps. If you don't spray the ball right away then you don't get shots, if you do you’ll get shots. IIts tough with guys like those two guys because they really break you down and get into the paint and create for themselves.”
On shape the team is in...
“We have had a great year. If I didn't declare we were going to win a national championship after we played well early this year too, I am never going to declare that the season is over. It's a tough game. I don't like it. They don't like it. I am glad they feel that way but we have to move past it and figure it out. One thing I will say about this team is that we haven't gotten too high or too low. We have to look at the game for what they are. Clemson was better than us today, they were better than us.”
On the ‘sluggishness’ that has appeared on defense...
“I don’t think it has anything to do with our energy. When we face really good shooters we call them ‘green’, and we haven’t defended ‘greens’ in the right way. The three-point line has become a great weapon and when you don’t defend the three-point line it really puts a lot of pressure on you and we just haven’t done that. I think we ended up giving up 12 [threes] against Wake and they made ten [threes] tonight, most of them in the first half. In the second second half we’ve done a really good job. It’s not an effort thing, I don’t worry about effort with these guys because these guys have played great and we’ve won 22 games and 12 conference games. So it hasn’t had anything to do with effort. It’s just been a couple of nights where we didn’t defend the three-point line the way we should have.”
On Clemson’s performance today...
“I thought Clemson was clicking on both ends of the floor. I thought they were great. This team hasn’t been a team that gives up 96 points. Clemson hasn’t been the team to score 96 points. I think it was their night, they made shots, and a lot of the time when you make shots, everything goes well for you. Offensively, if you’re making shots, your defense becomes a little better. I think it was one of those days, they saw a big rim, they made shots, early on we didn’t establish ourselves defensively. I think that led to confidence and they made more shots, and that obviously didn’t work out for us.”
On if defensive struggles translate to a lack of opportunities on offense...
“For us, yes, because we create opportunities off our defense. We do a good job because we’re a great steals team, we’re a great deflection team, when we’re not creating opportunities we can get stagnant on the offensive end. I told the guys that we hold each other accountable for everything that we do, and we have to get back to holding each other accountable defensively. It’s been really two halves, it’s been the Wake Forest first half and this half where we didn’t come out playing well defensively.”
On what the team has learned from Jarkel Joiner...
“Jarkel [Joiner] is a warrior. He’s a great person and a great human being. He’s a better person and human being than he is a basketball player and we know what type of basketball player he is. He’s the ultimate competitor, I’m so glad that he decided to come to our program and join us.
He’s forever a part of the NC State family even though you only get him for one year. He’s meant so much to us not just as a coaching staff but to Wolfpack Nation and the guys in the locker room. We’re gonna miss him. I miss all my kids, I love them all, but what that young man has been able to bring to our program has really injected some energy on both ends of the floor and a positive mindset.”
On DJ Burns not participating in Senior Day...
“We took the approach of if you were not graduating from NC State and you had a year of eligibility left you were not gonna go through with Senior Night. Dusan [Mahorcic] didn’t want to go through Senior Night, so he’s the only one that obviously we didn’t go through even though he hasn’t graduated. Obviously we’re talking about whether he’s out of eligibility but we’ll see what happens with his injury.”
On Jack Clark’s injury status...
“There was a moment that there was a possibility for Jack [Clark] to play today and I got a text this morning from our trainer that he wouldn’t be able to go and it was so close to gametime that I didn’t have time to have a conversation about what’s the deal or the hold up. I know it’s nothing major, but he took a nasty fall and was really sore. I don’t know when he’s gonna return. I don’t know when he’s gonna come back. It could be two days, it could be three days, it could be a week.”
On how he feels about NC State’s chances in the ACC Tournament...
“I will say this, our fans have been really good. Give our players credit. At the beginning of the year it was very slow. We can say pandemic, we could say lack of winning from last year. I think you have to look at this team and the personality of this team, they’ve completely turned everybody around. We went from not having a lot of people, and we weren’t the only team in the country that doesn’t. Let’s make sure we understand that we’re still top four or five in the conference in attendance. A lot of people will make a big deal about it but check the numbers and see, we’ve still got more than ten or 11 other teams in the league. That being said, this team earned it. Our play earned it, their personalities earned it. I want to thank those who took the time, maybe early to look at it, and didn’t turn their back and said these guys are different, they’re a good basketball team. They showed up and they showed up in a big way. The [North] Carolina game was probably the loudest that I’ve heard it here. As far as Greensboro, I don’t know. We’re gonna turn our conversation to Duke on Tuesday and we’ll try to figure out what’s the deal. Because we don’t play on Saturday, we’ve got to wait and figure out where we’re gonna be seeded since other teams will play on Saturday. You’re more than welcome to ask me that question in about a week or so, I just don’t have an answer for that.”