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NC State Basketball

Kevin Keatts: "We Didn't Make Enough Shots"

March 7, 2019
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NC State head coach Kevin Keatts met with the media following the Wolfpack's 63-61 loss to Georgia Tech.

Opening Statement:
Give Georgia Tech a lot of credit. I thought they made some plays down the stretch that we didn’t. Going into this game, I was a little concerned because I thought we weren’t practicing well. In particular, I thought in practice we didn’t shoot the ball well. We didn’t do a great job in practice guarding stuff. We had to go over it several times.

It’s unfortunate because we had an opportunity here and obviously came up short. We need to figure out how to go on the road and play Boston College at their place.

On Alvarado’s last sequence:
We were in man-to-man and onto them with six seconds to go. It’s hard because we didn’t want to foul, and we know he’s a good free throw shooter. We wanted to make him catch it the other way, and he got a running start and was able to push the ball. It’s unfortunate when you give a good guard six seconds. That’s plenty of time to get down the floor. On the other side of it, we had the advantage at Clemson. I thought he did a great job of getting the ball up the floor and made a play. Player made a play.

On 9 PM games:
I don’t see it as an issue. We travel on the road and play 7 PM or 9 PM games and get back at 12 AM or 1 AM and still go to class. It’s hard to tell. Both teams played 9 PM games, and it’s no different. A lot of people will make something like we don’t shoot the ball well, or you don’t get into PNC enough, or the visiting teams get in one day and come in a shoot. 9 PM games, 12 PM games, that’s more of an excuse. If I had the choice, I would play a 7 PM weekend or weekday game. If I had my choice, I would never play a noon Saturday game, but unfortunately we don’t control that.

On NCAA Tournament seeding:
I always think it is a one game situation. Certainly, we have to look at it when we finish. I think it is hard to tell. I don’t know who lost today because I try not to follow it that much. I know everybody talks about bubbles and no bubbles, but I think we will be able to get a clear picture after we play Boston College on the road, and then obviously when we play in the ACC Tournament. I don’t know. I don’t think anybody knows because of the new system of the Net Rankings, so it can go totally different then any selection before.

We are still a young team. Most teams have more than three guys returning. What happens with us is even though we have played a lot of games, with so many new pieces, this team is still searching for a leader. There is no consistency as who is the best defender or best offensive guy, but sometimes that shows up.

Give Markell Johnson credit. At the end of the game, he completely took the game over. I thought it really hurt us when DJ Funderburk fouled out of the game. I really like my team, but we just came up short.

When you look at the night, we can’t have a night where CJ Bryce and Braxton Beverly shoot for a combined 1-16, especially when the team is playing a zone. Usually they shoot the ball a lot better than that and when those two guys aren’t making plays for us, it is going to be a long night for us.

We didn’t make enough shots. I thought we got some looks but we just weren’t sharp enough. It’s not just me struggling with inconsistency.

I think every coach in the country is going through this time of year. I love my guys. I think my guys have worked hard. It is unfortunate that we lost the game, and I say we, I don’t say them. CJ Bryce and Braxton Beverly didn’t lose the game.

As a team, I can think of 10 to 15 plays that lost the game leading up to it. We were lucky to be in the game. I thought Torin hit a great shot that gave us the chance to win the game. I don’t think we were sharp for whatever reason the last couple of days.  We didn’t make shots in practice.

Typically, I am one of those guys that gauges practice and the games and see where the similarities are. We came over here and practiced over here also. We just didn’t make shots, and it carried over to the game.

On DJ Funderburk in the first half versus the second half:
I don’t think he got shots through our offense in the first half. He was just tremendous at offensive rebounding, so most of his shots came off of offensive rebounds. Every shot that he made was an offensive rebound. He got some shots in the first half where he missed a three and a jump shot, but he was so aggressive getting to the offensive glass, which is where his shots came from.

On Torin Dorn’s career:
I feel really bad for him because you like to win on senior, and what a great ending it would have been if he had hit that three and they didn’t make a shot at the end. I feel bad. We are talking about a great kid that plays extremely hard. In the last four or five years he has played for five different coaches. He accepts his responsibilities and has thrived in my system. I wish there were more kids like him. You never hear anything about him off the court. He has already graduated and is working on his Master’s degree. He allows us to play small because of the way he can rebound the basketball.

On Georgia Tech’s defense:
I thought it was effective because we settled for some threes instead of driving it. We knew coming in that we would be able to get some shots from the short corner, which we got, but we just didn’t make them. And then I thought some guys that I thought we needed to drive the ball a little bit more were settling for three point shots.

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Kevin Keatts: "We Didn't Make Enough Shots"

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