Keatts: "Our Guys Are Excited"

NC State head coach Kevin Keatts fielded questions from the media on the ACC's weekly teleconference.

Opening Statement...
I felt we had a very good week. Anytime you can go on the road and get two wins in a week -- I thought we played two really good games against two really good teams on their home floor, starting with Syracuse which was a good game for us. I thought we did a good job playing as a team and being able to pull away at the end and make some shots.

And then the Wake Forest game was kind of similar to Syracuse. I thought our guys really grew up. We were coming off of the previous week where we had lost two in a row and certainly to have the opportunity to bounce back was a good week for us -- especially being on the road. 

Your thoughts on the FBI report from Yahoo and what concerns do you have that it will touch NC State?
Obviously I don’t have many concerns at all about NC State. I have no reason to believe at all that we have anything to do with the FBI or anything else. Obviously I wasn’t here but we don’t have on our end, from a school standpoint or basketball, we don’t have any red flags or concerns at all.

When the story broke I know everybody talked about it. I know it is a black eye for college basketball, and I have said it all along, even though there may be certain individuals that were involved, it doesn’t necessarily make it where all college basketball is bad. 

Certainly I know for our sport everybody will eventually get through it but as far as the article goes, I did read the article. I don’t know how much to take from it or take away from it. I have just concentrated on our program, but we are fine on our end. 

Do you feel like NC State is guarding the ball better since the Virginia Tech game?
Yes I do. I actually do. I think we are a great job of keeping guys in front of us, even though I thought Bryant Crawford had a great game. He did a good job of getting a lot of his shots in transition and he made some tough threes but compared to the way we guarded the ball, on the ball defense the previous week, I thought last week we took a big step forward.

What type of effect did the loss of Markell Johnson have on the team earlier in the season and how has he rebounded since he came back?
When he wasn’t with us it put a lot of pressure on our guards -- the other guards in the program, in particular Al Freeman and Braxton Beverly. Just like any program in the country, if you lose your quarterback or your point guard it is an adjustment. 

It took us a little time to adjust to playing without him. Obviously he is our best passer. He is the guy that gets us into everything. He is one of our best defenders so that stretch was a little tough for us. Certainly we made it out of it and we were able to win some games, but we weren't our best version of ourselves without him in the lineup.

Does the fact other players manned the point guard position during Johnson’s absence then create an advantage when he returned?
I think it gave Braxton Beverly the ability to play more one [point guard]. Obviously he is natural combo guard but it gave him confidence through that period because he was able to step up and play some point guard, and play a little bit more than I wanted him to play.

It certainly gave them a chance to be a little bit more of a facilitator and play a lot more minutes. We did develop a little more chemistry when he was gone and then certainly when he came back we had to get used to playing with him again. 

Overall, I think it has helped us in the long run. 

What does the two games at home this week mean for the players and the program?
It is good. Anytime you can sleep in your own bed as a player and, obviously, go to class and be in a normal routine I think it helps us out a lot. It doesn’t guarantee wins, but it puts you in a better situation than being on the road. 

I know our guys are excited because those two road games last week was quite a travel going all the way to Syracuse and then Wake is a little bit closer for us but anytime you have a chance to play in front of your home crowd and be more comfortable with your situation I think it helps your team.