Kevin Keatts: "This One Will Pay Off in March"
NC State head coach Kevin Keatts met with the media following the Wolfpack's 72-49 win over Colgate Monday evening.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch Keatts’ press conference.
Opening statement
Give our guys a lot of credit; I thought we were locked in defensively. We hadn't held a team under 50 points since 2021, and I thought our guys came out with a lot of energy and did some really good things. It's a game that you can see your team growing in. This is a team that we played that has been to four NCAA Tournaments and won their conference. This one may not seem as big right now, but it'll pay off in March. It's one of those things, but I thought our guys were completely locked in. Ben [Middlebrooks] had three great days of practice leading to this where he just played with tremendous energy, and it's always good to see you get rewarded on game day for how you practice: 19 points, nine-for-nine from the free throw line, five-for-eight [from the floor]. Also, I thought he started our defense with the deflection at the top of the key and then steal on the other end. I'm happy with where we are. This team is getting better per game and per practice, and that's good. We haven't taken a step back, and I really like that part about us.
On Marcus Hill’s performance…
It was really good to me to see Marcus get back to his groove and play his game. A lot of times when you transfer here, you always trying to overthink. We just say, “Hey, just simplify the game in your mind and just play." That was the Marcus Hill that we recruited: the guy that can get to the rack, the guy that can get to the free-throw line. I thought he did a really good job. I thought he got the stuff going by rebounding the ball; he had two really good, strong offensive rebounds and stick-backs.
On the points in the paint...
We're a paint-touch team right now, and that's our identity. We want to drive the ball and kick, or we want to throw the ball inside. I love our center position. Between Ben and Brandon [Huntley-Hatfield], with their averages at both rebounds and points, I think we're doing a really good job. Our guys are willing passers. We're getting better in that area. We’ve still got to grow in some areas, but I really like the things that are happening with our team.
If he’s concerned about the team’s three-point shooting...
No, I'm not. If we were taking 30 or 25, I would be concerned. You only get concerned with three-point shooting if you're jacking them and not making them. We’re taking 13 or 14, and we're not putting up a lot. I'm okay with it if I'm scoring 72 to 80 points a game and we're just doing it the way we are. We’re starting to get our identity. We'll be able to make some shots which obviously who we are, but I like what we have.
On where he wants the team to grow before facing Power Five competition...
I just want us to stay connected. It was a process for us last year, and you guys saw what the end result was when a team is connected. You just don't know when they're going to click. Every day in this modern era of basketball, where you're recruiting, is getting better. You want small wins and see guys getting better, see guys high fiving each other, see guys having a good time. The growth is the biggest thing. We've got the talent, but it's not always the talented team that wins. It's the team that comes together in this era, and I just want our guys to continue to grow.
On the emphasis on defensive rebounding…
We wanted to rebound the basketball. I didn't feel like, last week, we finished possessions with rebounds. We're a running team. This team is can get out and go, and what we talked about is, “If you don't rebound defensively, we can't run.” You've got to trick them a little bit. “You want some easy baskets? You’ve got to rebound the ball." I thought we did a really good job rebounding and got out in transition.
On holding Colgate to six points in transition after the Raiders scored 22 against Syracuse...
They're good. Listen, [Matt Langel] has done a great job with their program. Like, I want you to think about this, and you guys can do the research: I don't know a lot of teams that have gone to four straight NCAA tournaments, and they had to do it by winning their tournament. They have to be able to do it at the end — you guys want to talk about culture — the guy's build a hell of a culture and all that other stuff. A lot of teams will not schedule a team like Colgate. When I was at Wilmington, and we became really, really good, I had a hard time getting anybody to buy us my second and third year. Everybody wanted to play us my first year, and then our second and third where we won 26 and 29 games and back-to-back tournaments, nobody would schedule us. When Colgate was available, it was a game that I wanted to have because I've been on the other side of it, but it also helps us to play against a really good mid-major team.
On Trey Parker…
Trey had an MRI, and it came back negative, but he's incredibly sore. He took a nasty fall, and so it's gonna be day-by-day. Ish [Diouf] is the same situation, and his [injury] was in practice with his elbow. Both of those guys will be day-by-day; I have no idea when they're coming back. We’re just trying to treat them, but it's nothing, I hope, that will keep them off for a long time. They’ve got some deep bone bruises, as I would call it.
On Breon Pass’ impact off the bench…
Our bench scoring has been incredible, and Breon is a big part of that. The first game of the year, he came out and had 14 [points]. The second game of the year, I thought he was trying to get 25, and I said, “Hold on, big fella. You know, you let the game come to you in the first game, and so now you're searching.” It happens, but I'm just happy to see an older guy who's been in the program, who have seen us win — and he's been a part of it — now be able to get out there and be a big contributor to us. I thought he did some really good things tonight, and he's only going to continue to get better. The more he gets a chance to practice and play, I think he'll impact the game for us.
On the improvements he wants to see on offense…
If you've got one negative, I hate turnovers. We had nine assists and 12 turnovers, and that's the one negative that I don't like. I think we would have scored a few more baskets had we had some more assists. We had nine assists on 24 made baskets. I want to get to assists on 40% of our main shots. If you said, “Hey, what can you nitpick about?" I'll say those eight points could have come somewhere else, but I'm happy. When you scoring 80 points in college, it's tough. Realistically, 77 is pretty much where everybody's going to be, and some guys will be in the 60s. We played so well early that it didn’t bother me. I do want to clean up the fact that we had more turnovers than assists and not many. I go in the game trying to say, "I can live with 10 turnovers or less because of the way we play." We had two too many.
On winning the turnover battle…
It's great. It's crazy though. Colgate takes care of the basketball. If you look at them coming in, they had maybe five or six turnovers, and we were able to turn them over 16 times. The one thing you’ve got to respect about them is they move the ball. Let’s look at this stat: they had 14 assists on 21 made field goals. That’s pretty good. The turnover battle is important to us. That's one of the things that I measure to see how we're winning that battle because of the way we play. The other thing we talked about is getting to the free-throw line, being a tougher paint-touch team. We won the free-throw line, 26-5. I look at the game within the game and the little stuff that impacts the game without the scoring part of it, and we won three or four of them other than the nine assists.
On Dontrez Styles’ rebounding…
You guys can fact check me possibly, but I think he averaged six or seven rebounds a game at Georgetown, so we knew he could rebound. I want to get him into a little bit more space where he's making more shots. He's a better three-point shooter than he's shown, but he did raise up and make the one at the top of the key. We knew what we were getting with him: a nice, physical guard, a big guard that can score and rebound the basketball. I'm a little shocked because, if you told me before the season who's going to lead us in rebounding, I would have said maybe Brandon, and I would say maybe Ben because both of them are great career rebounders, but Dontrez is in there. That'll be a challenge I'll put in front of everybody to see who's going to lead us in rebounding this year. I know a lot of people having concerns about whether this team could rebound, but we've got three or four guys that can go in there, and when you get games like when Marcus has five, and then last game, I think Trey Parker had five, and then [Jayden Taylor] is rebounding basketball, we're going to be fine. Last year, rebounding was Mo Diarra, and he rebounded everything, so it took care of itself. With this group, I think we have so many guys that can rebound.