Kevin Keatts: "Defense Is Really Keeping Us In Every Game"

NC State head coach Kevin Keatts met with the media after the Wolfpack's home loss to SMU.

NOTE: Click the video above to watch the interview.

Opening statement…

We did some really good things tonight. I think it was the most turnovers we've forced in an ACC game, and maybe even the most steals that we had this entire year. When you look at it, we got 64 shots today or 52. We made 15 points from the free throw line. We got 16 points from fast breaks, 31 points. And here's the key to the game. We're not shooting the ball well at all. I thought we had some really good looks. And for whatever reason, we're not making those. And so our guys are fighting their butts off defensively. Defense is really keeping us in every game that we have. And obviously when you hold a team to 63 points, you have a chance to win. And the unfortunate thing is we scored 57. Offensively, we're not making shots. And we've  got some great looks. And they're just obviously not going down. So the good thing, the message to the guys is keep on fighting. Don't let your defense suffer. Eventually, as we keep working and putting the work in, we think our offense will catch up with our defense as far as making shots. And if that happens, then we're going to be okay. But we've got to figure out how to score the basketball. And like I said, I thought we had some great looks. So, questions? 
 

Does the confidence get shaken a little bit? Because historically you have a roster of guys that are mid-30s, three-point shooters. But, 4-23 is not what you would want.

Yeah, I just, it gets – you get a little tighter when you start missing shots. And then I start thinking it's impressive. Like it's so much pressure on our defense to perform. And it's hard because you're playing so hard on the defensive end. And then obviously offensively you're a little bit worn down and don't – you're not able to make shots. And like I said, I thought we had some great looks. I did. Like, when you look at this, I got a couple guys, one for five, one for six, one for five, one for three. And I thought they all had great looks.
 

Coach, you had a non-point guard lineup with Hill running the point. What are your thoughts on that lineup? They made a run, actually, when you put them in there. And is that something maybe you can do more in the future? 

Because we're not making shots, we wanted to try to put our best defensive team in there at one point. And I thought that was a very good defensive team that we had on the floor that was able to get stops. We wanted a little bit more size. And it was – that combination played well together. So that's something that we'll continue to look at. 
 

Coach, in the last seven and a half minutes of the first half, you took 11 jumpers and one shot from the interior. And during that time, Sesame went on an 18-4 run. Was that a deliberate shot selection on your part? Or is that just how it felt? 

No, it's not so much that. We don't have – you know, Brandon and both Ben are not traditional back-to-the-basket guys. I mean, they would much rather face you up than – as a matter of fact, the baskets that they scored were face-up jump shots. And so not deliberately. And we're not alone in that. It's majority of college basketball don't have back-to-the-basket guys. Most of the post guys are pick-and-pop situation. And so that's not deliberate. It's just those were the shots that we got.
 

It felt like, during that stretch, they were settling a little bit because of their zone. Do you agree, disagree? 

No, I disagree. I thought we had some good shots. In the zone, we got the ball in the middle. I thought we had – think about the wide-open shots that we had in the middle. I thought Dontrez had like three or four shots in the middle. We swung it around. We screened the zone. I thought we got some shots. I don't think we settled. I think if you go back and look at the game, you're going to be like, man, they got some really good looks. And I thought we did. I thought throughout the game we may have forced two or three shots. But more than likely, most of the time, I thought we took really good shots. 
 

In the second half, Kevin, you felt like a big part of the turnaround was Paul and the energy that he brought. He even got like his lip bloodied at one point by a rebound. What did you see from him? And, was it kind of a culmination of what you saw over this past week for Paul? 

Yeah, I thought not only Paul, that group that was in there, I thought they had great energy. But Paul had a great week. And, kind of one of them old men, here we come week. He hadn't had that yet. And he had a great week. We were able to slow things down. I think all three of the freshmen, you know, we were working extra with them to try to bring them up to speed. But he really shot the ball very well this week. And, we wanted to give him an opportunity. And I thought his energy was great. I thought he played hard. And I thought he did some really good things for him. And so we hope this is a launching pad for him to continue to get better. 
 

Coach, these four losses have all been close. So you're kind of walking a tightrope here in one, that you're in a bad streak, but at the same time, you're not miles away from winning any of those games. How do you handle that? And you've got a short turnaround, obviously, with Duke. But how do you handle that moving forward in terms of saying, hey, there are positives we can build on, but we just have to find that way to close? 

Yeah, that's what I talked about. Like, I don't know that anybody – I shouldn't say anybody, but we're defending. And so you've got to pull that part out of it. Like, we have really made teams, really made things tough on teams. But, we talk about, hey, don't let your defense suffer because your offense is not playing well. And so now, obviously we've got to look at the positive. There are negatives. The negative is you lose the game. The positives are, you know, you're getting everything that you want out of your defense. And you've got to stay the course and understand, like, everybody in the program is frustrated. But the great thing about it is not a frustration because we're not playing hard. That's a different issue. Our issue is that we're not scoring enough basketball, enough points to win these games. Like, you guys have covered ACC basketball for a long time. There's a magical number that you get to to win an ACC game, and you ain't going to – we ain't winning many at 57. I remember last year, I think we won one game at 57, and that may be at Notre Dame, and that was somehow a double overtime or overtime game. So you take that and you look at it and say, hey, we're right there. And if we can figure out how to get over the hump and score some shots and make some shots, then we're there. It's tough because we're putting a lot of pressure on our defense, and our defense is standing up. But on the other hand, we're not making enough shots. 
 

How tough is this quick turnaround? And also the fact that you got to bring it to you on a Monday? 

Very tough. I mean, if you win the game or lose the game, it's going to be a quick turnaround. I mean, it's – and the turnaround is becoming tougher when they're on the road. But it's a tough turnaround. 
 

And then conversely, sir, being a click away from winning these games, what is missing to get that quite over the hump? 

I just think we got to see the ball going to the hole. I just – I think it's –  we've had – you think about our season. We've had some games where we made ten threes, and we had some games where we made one. And then, somewhere in between. So we got to make shots. Like in college basketball, you have to be able to make shots, and we're just not making shots. And I love our guys, and they're working their ass off, and it's not one person that I'm going to say, hey, I wish he was shooting it better. I just wish we were shooting it better as a group. 
 

You dressed up today? 

I'm sorry? 
 

I said you dressed up today. 

I just want something different. I just wore polos for two years, and I woke up saying I want to wear something different. Nothing to it. 
 

You guys are entering a six-game stretch starting today against quad one and quad two teams. What's your message to the team entering that stretch? 

Worry about the next game. We can't afford to look – I learned this early in my career here at NC State. Don't prepare your team for, you know, the next six games. You got to prepare them for the next game. Like we came into this game prepared for SMU, and obviously we'll turn the page tomorrow, and we got to prepare for Duke. But, like, they don't know what's going on at 6 o'clock tonight opposed to me saying six games down the road. We're going to walk into, obviously, the next game.