Kevin Keatts: "We Have to Get Consistent"
NC State head coach Kevin Keatts met with the media following the Wolfpack's 65-62 loss to California Saturday evening.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch Keatts’ press conference. An abbreviated transcript is provided below.
Opening Statement
Well, from where I sit, this stinks. Obviously now, this is our fourth ACC game in a row by one possession. We actually had six of them. I'm looking back at it. I wrote it down: Florida State in overtime, Notre Dame here by one, the two that we won, and then obviously the four that we lost. We have to get consistent, and the tough thing about it is [to] get mentally and physically tough to finish some of these games. Our biggest issue right now is [that] we may have one guy, two guys, three guys [who] play well versus Virginia and then a couple of guys that don't play well. Then, it flips. You get to Cal… Jayden Taylor may play well then maybe another guy, so what we're trying to do is figure out, “How do we get consistent play from everybody?” As a coach, when you go into the game, you want to know that you can count on certain dudes for, “Hey, maybe this guy's going to be a high-assist game every game. This guy's gonna be a great rebounder every game.” What we're having is a lot of inconsistent play. It's leading to one-point losses. We're fighting. You can pick up any of these box scores, and if you didn't know the score, you'd be like, “They played well enough to win.” We took care of the basketball. We didn't shoot it well from the three at all. I think we made our first three, and then we missed our next nine, but we had some great opportunities. Honestly, it came down to a couple of things. A blow-by at the end, which obviously they ended up taking the lead, and we’ve just got to be a little bit more stingy. Toughness is what we're going to preach, and that's not winning a physical battle. It's like mentally tough. If you miss a shot, that's okay. You’ve got to get back, play some great defense, and not let that affect you as you'll go along throughout the game.
On the team needing one another and Ben Middlebrooks talking about them having/facilitating a will to win...
I’ve said this all season, from day one, from the first time we practiced together: if there’s any team that I’ve ever coached that needs one another, it’s this team. I have to get some of our guys to stop worrying about how many points they score and worry about what’s best for NC State. Once we get on the same page, I think you see so many guys disappointed when a shot doesn't go in, and nature makes you not be effective defensively when you’re not making shots. To your question, I think we got to do a better job of pushing some guys. I need leadership from those guys. I need a guy like Ben. It's good for him to say that, but I want him to express it to his teammates when we’re in practice and on the floor.
On not being able to find a player late in the game to hit a shot...
We talked about that. It's weird. You have to try and go with who’s playing well that day. That’s not surprising. That’s just kind of what our team’s about. With this group, you don’t have that one dynamic scorer at the end of the game. I told the guys we have to get out of the point where we’re trying to figure out how to always score at the end and sometimes figure out how to defend. I thought we got a great look. Breon Pass came off the screen, and obviously today we were one-for-nine from three. I’m searching for who’s going to make a three, and I went with the percentages, and he’s shooting the best percentages, so we got him what I thought was a decent look.
On if there is a number in his head to reach offensively to win consistently...
“I would say, anywhere between 68 and 72, we're usually in good shape. The one-off probably is Virginia Tech where we scored 76, I think it was, and ended up losing the game. We typically win a lot of games when we score 70 or more points.