WATCH: Keatts Previews Georgia Tech Rematch
NC State head coach Kevin Keatts met with the media Thursday ahead of the Wolfpack's road matchup against Georgia Tech Saturday afternoon.
NOTE: Click the video in the player above to watch Keatts’ press conference.
“Both of them [Pat Andree and Manny Bates] will be questionable for the game on Saturday. I don’t have a timetable for when each of them will return. There is a small possibility that they play Saturday. I’m very hopeful. We’re looking beyond Saturday if they can and seeing if they’ll be available for Monday.”
“He is not. I think he’s symptom-free as of either yesterday evening or this morning. He hasn’t practiced with us.”
“Absolutely. We played a great defensive game at Virginia. Going into the game, I told our guys that if we were going to have a chance to win with seven scholarship guys, we had to, number one, not foul, and I thought we had to be a solid defensive team. I thought we did. We did a good job early on scoring, and then late in second half, I thought our defense did a tremendous job. We made some big plays. When I think about late in the game, Jericole [Hellems] hit a big three, and he got a big offensive rebound. Markell [Johnson] hit a big three, and when you look at what C.J. Bryce did, he made a great shot with a pull-up. We did some good things. We were excited. I was happy for our guys. When you’ve got some adversity like we’re having and for guys to go into Virginia and get a good win, I thought that was great for our program.”
“I think so, but you also have to be careful. Each game in the ACC is completely different. We went into Virginia with a different mindset than we’ll go into every other game. It certainly doesn’t hurt if you’re winning. We’ve been fortunate to win three in a row. We just want to continue to build on that.”
“It’s changed. It would typically be the preparation, but with this year’s team, the biggest thing is just the fatigue factor. You don’t have a lot of bodies, so you’ve got to manage all of that stuff and make sure guys are getting proper rest and eating the right way. With us, we’ve got enough older guys that can know how certain teams play, and so it’s not as big of a disadvantage for us to learn a team in a couple of days as it would be in the past, but because we don’t have many bodies, that’s the toughest thing.”
“I know you guys think in advance; we don’t. I’m just locked into Saturday’s game. What you have to do in this situation, because we’ve had a few days to prepare for Georgia Tech, is be careful that you don’t overdo it in practice. The guys are not fresh enough to play the game on Saturday, so we have to have a great balance. Yesterday, most of the stuff that we did was based on us working on ourselves, and we’ll start focusing on Georgia Tech today.”
“I did. Bryan Kersey and I talked, and it wasn’t just about that foul. We talked about a lot of different calls that happened throughout the game. I’ll keep it private. I will tell you that he agreed with some of them, and we disagreed on a couple of them. It was a great, open dialogue. When I call the head of officials, I just want to know what we can do to get better in certain situations so it doesn’t happen moving forward. That’s all it was.”
“Our guys only think past the next 24 hours. They really do. That would be a concerning question five or six years ago, but as I keep coaching and I see guys every year, I’ll be honest with you; our guys just know who we’re playing next because we tell them. They’ll be focused with that.”
“No, and it’s a possibility that we won’t have full capacity this time around. Each game in the ACC is totally different. I know people always say ‘revenge games.’ It doesn’t matter. Their team has changed. Our team has changed. They’re playing really good basketball. If you look at the game last night, they had their opportunity to win at a good Louisville team on the road. It’s a different game than it was before.”
“I think [D.J. Funderburk] is taking care of his body, and I think he’s starting to get in shape. I know that sounds crazy because we played so many games in the non-conference, but he also was a guy that was suspended for a good portion of the summer and couldn’t play the first non-conference games. I think he’s starting to understand his role. He and I talked about it; ‘Look, if you’ve got threes and you’re open and comfortable, take it.’ But he’s starting to pass down those shots and taking better shots. His motor is what’s really helped him get through. He’s playing so hard. He keeps plays alive. He’s playing a lot of four. It’s a little different when Manny’s out because we have to play him at the five. That being said, I thought he was a great five against Virginia. We were able to throw the ball inside and get some easy baskets.”
“They’re good. Their front line doesn’t get a lot of credit, but James Banks is about as good as you can be. [Jose] Alvarado makes them go. They’ve got young players who can score the basketball. They’re a really good basketball team. They’re not playing a lot of guys, but they’re a little bit different than us because they can get away with seven or eight guys because they drop back into a matchup zone or play a little bit more man-to-man. They’re a dangerous basketball team. They’re a good basketball team. They’re fighting just like everybody else. When you look at our league, there are a few teams with five wins, there’s a few with six, and I think Louisville has seven. Then you get down to fours, and there’s some threes. Everybody’s kind of clumped together, and everybody’s trying to get a little separation.”
“No, I just think, a lot of times, guys don’t understand their role and how they fit into a team. When you look at what he’s doing now, he understands where we need him best at: the scoring side, to play great defense, to rebound the basketball, to make some shots around the rim. He’s starting to do those type of things. I really think that, at times, we’re seeing a guy that’s maturing right in front of us.”
“I would say probably D.J. because of that situation. When C.J. was out, D.J. had to play a little bit more. The obvious guy is Devon Daniels. Devon’s playing great. He hasn’t had tremendous offensive games at times, but when you look at what he’s doing defensively, I don’t think he gets a lot of credit for that, but he’s been one of the best on-the-ball defenders that we’ve had, if not the best. He’s played a great role for us. I would say those two guys, out of everybody, have really benefited from it."