KEATTS: "[UNCG] Plays With A Lot Of Confidence"
NC State head coach Kevin Keatts met with the media ahead of the Wolfpack’s matchup against UNCG.
NOTE: Click the video in the player above to watch Keatts’ press conference.
“It’s funny because, obviously, our kids and everybody around the country are here because we need them to graduate. They’re student-athletes. It’s tough. If you’re playing well, you want to continue to play. Obviously, you have to take a long week off because you’re not playing. If you’re not playing well, you need that week to get better in some areas. With us, it’s been a good week for us. Even though I do think we’re playing good basketball because we’re only playing eight guys in a game, we needed the week to be able to get some guys some rest. We needed the week for some guys to study and take care of their academics. We’ve tried to break the week up. The first couple of days, we got some shots up, and toward the end of this week, we started working toward UNCG. It’s been more early in the week trying to work on ourselves and getting better in some areas that I thought we needed to work on.”
“He hasn’t practiced. I will see him this morning. I was on the road recruiting yesterday, and I haven’t seen him since two days ago. He has not practiced so far.”
“It’ll probably be a game-time decision. I’ve got to make sure with our doctors and trainers that he’s fully healthy to be able to go. He’s got to feel good about it, but I also have to feel good about it. I haven’t seen him practice since the incident happened.”
“It’s probably going to be a seven-man rotation. The promising thing is Danny Dixon was able to go a couple of days ago and was able give us something in practice. If there’s a chance that Jericole doesn’t play, then hopefully we can get something out of Danny which will give us the ability to play D.J. a little bit at the power forward spot.”
“Early in the week, he had a low-grade concussion. From what the trainers and doctors have said, he’s passed a couple of tests for the concussion. As far as his back goes, it was great news. There were no fractures. He had a couple of compound fractures that were from an injury that he had years ago. As far as this, we were blessed that he didn’t fracture anything in his back.”
“It worked out that way, and it’s good to have the opportunity to be able to play on that court because we will play the ACC Tournament. This whole series with UNCG was scheduled a long time before I got here, but we were able to have this game, instead of playing it last year, because we were going to play in Greensboro for the ACC Tournament.”
“He’s done a good job. When you look at UNCG, I give those guys a lot of credit. They’ve stuck with their coach for years when he first started, and as he’s built the program, he’s done a tremendous job. They’ve gotten great wins over the years. This year, they’ve got a great win when you look when they went to Georgetown and beat Georgetown at Georgetown. The Kansas game was a really great game all the way up until the end. They’ve been on the road and won against really good mid-major teams. He’s done a tremendous job. It’s a great game for us because we have the chance to go on the road and play against a very good mid-major team. We’ll get a chance to find out what we need to work on, and I like the game. It’s a game that will be looked upon as a very good game when it talks about our non-conference games.”
“I want to correct you: I do care about that, but the players don’t. I go back to this. They don’t know anything about it. They don’t remember the game. I do remember the game. As you go back and watch the game, you remember more and more about the game. I didn’t realize that when we were about to play them, Markell Johnson didn’t play in the game. To their credit, they came on the road and got a very good road win. It just shows what type of team they are. The tables have turned a little bit. Instead of them coming to PNC and playing us, we’ve got to go to their place. It’s a good basketball team. They’re a team that plays with a lot of confidence. They’re a team that has some veteran guys. Dickey’s a tremendous shot-blocker on the other end, and Isaiah Miller’s a very good player overall. They’ve added some good pieces. They shoot the basketball from four different positions. They take a lot of threes, and they do a tremendous job of mixing defenses up with a 1-2-2 press back to a man-to-man and sometimes zone. They’ve done a really good job, and it’s a really good game. It’s similar games when you think about their league and how it’s become better with East Tennessee State, Furman, and Wofford. We’re excited about it.”
“I think he changes them a little bit, but it’s tough because what they’ve done is inserted some shooters into there. I don’t think they’ve changed what they do, and in some respects, they may be a little bit more dangerous even though he’s played well. He’s more of a guy that can do a little bit of everything. They’ve added another shooter to the bunch. What makes those guys tough is their belief and ability to shoot the basketball, and they’re never out of it. They have a style of play on the defensive end that will keep them in the game. They slow you down with their press, and so they only have to defend you for 17-20 seconds, and if you get a little careless with the ball, they’ll get steals off of it.”
“I learned that Georgetown has to take care of the basketball. I thought it was a good game for Georgetown, and I thought they did a tremendous job of running the game and securing the basketball. As the game went along, I thought their guards tried to dribble through the press, and they committed some turnovers."