Keatts: "Our Guys Fought Extremely Hard"
NC State head coach Kevin Keatts met with the media after the Wolfpack's 86-81 loss to No. 25 Miami.
Opening Statement...
Thought our guys fought extremely hard today. If you’re a fan of Miami or NC State, you saw a tremendous offensive performance from both groups. When you look at it, 86 points from them, and 81 from us, I thought both teams played very well on the offensive end.
I don’t know about Jim Larranaga, and certainly you can ask him, but when your team gives up over 50 percent from the field, and we were able to score over 50 percent against a very good defense, obviously you’ve got a lot of things to work on.
With us, I thought we did a good job offensively. We shared the basketball. When you look at it, we had 22 assists on 31 made field goals. I thought our guys played loose, but we didn’t get stops that we needed to, and certainly we’ll go back, and we’ll clean some of that up, and we’ll become a better basketball team because of it.
On Miami increasing its shooting percentage today...
That’s called good coaching.
They’ve had a few extra days off, and I know Jim has been concerned about his team not shooting the ball or sharing the basketball and give them credit. I thought they came out and did a tremendous job of sharing the basketball.
I don’t know that Miami in the last three games has had 26 assists, and they did today. They passed the ball well, which led to some good shots for them.
On the pick and pop game working effectively...
We’re becoming very good at that, and we’re becoming a threat because of the fact that Omer Yurtseven can step out and make shots from the three-point line, 18 feet and out to the three-point line, but we’re becoming a very good basketball team.
This is, I think, the fourth ranked team that we’ve played. Miami is really good. We had our chances. We had an opportunity. When our guys went down 12 late in the second half, you get a chance to find out a little bit about your guys, and our guys fought and obviously put ourselves in position to win the game.
Tipping his hat off to a better team that beat him the way he wanted them to...
I think back, and when we played early on, we were struggling. We weren’t shooting the ball well, and every team has that game where you say, ‘Man, they’re really shooting the ball from behind the arc.’ When you look at us, it was Jacksonville here. You know, everybody said, ‘This team can’t shoot,’ and we made shots.
Give those guys credit. They stepped up to the line, and they made shots. We did a good job. We short-closed off on a lot of those guys obviously because we knew they weren’t great behind the arc, and they made great shots. I think they made shots because they made an effort to make good passes.
I’ve always said this: if you’re going to be a good shooting team, you’ve got to be a great passing team. When you look at it, the stats don’t lie. They made 26 passes that led to easy baskets.
On Markell Johnson...
He’s coming along. His conditioning is nowhere near where it needs to be. He is still winded. I probably played him too many minutes, and he isn’t where I want him to be, but obviously he was playing pretty well and sharing the basketball. I want him to look for his shot a little more. He is a kid who is happy having 14 assists without scoring.
On what they need to do defensively...
We need to guard the ball. I didn't think we guarded the ball. Scouting reports show that Miami is a good team one-on-one in the paint, and today, we did not guard the ball. As a coach, I told my players I was proud of them and that this was a game we could have won. We just need to guard the ball better.
On the schedule they have played so far...
We are seven games in into ACC play, and I don’t think anyone has played four ranked teams in a seven-game stretch. I’m proud of these guys, and there has been a lot of people saying we weren’t capable of winning the games they have won. I’m happy with this team. I’m excited to watch them play and get better. With that being said, we haven’t had them all on the floor at the same time. I love my group, and we are right there with everyone.
On Allerik Freeman being put in at the end of the game...
We needed scoring, and I felt like Al would get us more offense.
On Abdul-Malik Abu’s lack of playing time...
Foul trouble and honestly he is having a lot of defensive breakdowns, and I’ve told these guys, ‘If you want to play, then you have to do a tremendous job on not having a lot of breakdowns,’ and honestly, that's what it comes down to.