Kevin Keatts on Syracuse: "Their Zone Is So Good"

NC State head coach Kevin Keatts met with the media to discuss the upcoming game against Syracuse.

NOTE: Click the video above to watch the interview.

How good was it to get that win on Saturday?
It was good, for several reasons.

Obviously we had dropped three in a row, which you never want to do that, but the other part of it was just having a chance to win on the road.

In any conference a road win is good, but in the ACC, a road win is golden.

Our guys were excited... we could say let's go get some ice cream again. It was important to us.

How big is it to be coming off a game where you hit a season high in three-pointers and have confidence in the three-point shot going into a game against a team like Syracuse?
Well, it's good, but it won't make a difference.  Every game is independent of each other.

I am excited of the way we shot the basketball... making 14 threes.  I thought it was the first game that we finally got Markell, Braxton, and C.J. on the same page where I thought all of those guys played well.

D.J. Funderburk is doing a great job of giving us energy and just to see the ball go in the hole, it was a good thing.  

We hope it carries over to tomorrow night.

How do you get them through that three-game losing streak?
It was tough, but we stayed positive... it’s the ACC.  That’s what you expect.

I'm no different than any other coach in this conference; at some part of their schedule you’re gonna have these types of games and we went through it.

What did you do last year at Syracuse to win that game?
We had great player and ball movement.  I thought we shared the basketball... we did different things.

At times I was able to put Markell in the middle of the zone to make some plays. If I think back to it, Markell Johnson played well and Sam Hunt came off the bench and made some amazing shots... Braxton Beverly.  We had some guys who really shot the basketball.

You got to try to get some defensive rebounds and get out in transition before they set the zone up, but they're a good team. He does a great job with his zone.

More on Syracuse’s zone...
The big difference in Syracuse is that you know, going into the game, that they’re going to play zone 99.9 percent of the time.  Most teams you play may give you zone... for instance going into the Pittsburgh game we knew we’d see a good dose of zone, but I didn’t know how much.

In this game you can prepare for it but they are so good at it because they spend so much time on it.

Do you spend any extra time on it?
We do. 

Yesterday we spent a lot of time on it, today we’ll spend a lot of time on it, and try to get some shots up against the zone in shootaround.

Their zone is so good and you can’t simulate their zone in practice... you hope you put your guys in right spots, but we’ll have to make shots.

Have you tried multiple guys in the middle of the zone?
Yes, we’ve tried two or three different people in the middle of the zone.

Last year Markell was really, really good.  Torin Dorn can shoot that shot, but he’s not the best passer there, so you have to figure out who can make plays and make some shots there.

When you go to putting your point guard in the middle of the zone, now it’s who can I put on the wing?  You can’t give them the same look every time. If you give them the same look they become comfortable with what you’re doing.

Where are you at health-wise?
We’re okay. We may be without Blake Harris.  He has a touch of the flu. I’ll find out later today if he can play or not. I’d anticipate that he won’t because he just got diagnosed yesterday.

At this juncture of the season, what do you want the most moving forward?
We’ve played 11 games and what I’m looking for is I don’t want us to beat ourselves anymore. We have to do a better job of comprehending scouting reports, not putting people on the foul line as much... obviously understanding what we have to do to be successful.

Every conference game counts the same, but this feels like a big game.
The way I look at it, and we were just talking about it in the office, but it’s a big game because it’s the next game. They are ranked and 8-3 in the league, but it’s the next game for us.

What is the process like working with a guy like Blake Harris who hasn’t played a lot? How do you keep him from getting discouraged?
We try to take on the attitude that it’s about NC State and not about any individual.

I tell these guys that we don’t have the guy who can score 25 points every night, so everyone’s moment is coming.

Eric Lockett had times where he didn’t play in games and never came with a bad attitude, had a business approach, and now he’s one of our best leaders on the floor and the locker room,

That’s what we’ve preached to everybody.

More on Markell Johnson’s progress...
Well, I hope he's moving forward. I thought that was his best game against Pittsburgh and not because he scored the basketball. I thought he was in better shape. I thought he made plays.

It's the first time this year, I believe that he's had at least eight assists and that was great.  I thought he did a little bit of everything in the game. He played defense, he got in transition, and he made some shots.

We saw some of that before his injury and hopefully he continues to get better.