Kevin Keatts: "I Like The Way We're Playing"

For the second game in a row, there was a lot to like for NC State men’s basketball.  This time it was an 86-51 win over North Florida on Friday night at Reynolds Coliseum. 

The Wolfpack had four players -- Jericole Hellems, Cam Hayes, DJ Funderburk, and Manny Bates – finish in double figures. NC State head coach Kevin Keatts spoke to the media following the win, and here’s a full breakdown of everything he had to say:

Opening statement...

I thought we got better. What I wanted is could we put together a couple halves where I thought we played extremely hard. I think we did. In these first couple of games, the good thing is we’ve been able to show our depth, but I’ve also been able to get our young guys some playing time. I saw a couple guys get better over the last couple of days. 

I’m a little shocked that none of you guys congratulated Manny Bates on his career high with two assists, and his career low with one foul. Some guys did some really good stuff. I thought Jericole got going and made some shots. I thought Devon Daniels, even though he wasn’t the hot man tonight, I thought he played great, made some good passes. Cam Hayes had a really good game as a young fellow, having six assists and no turnovers. 

It was good for us, because we had a chance in this tournament to play against a team who played a Princeton offense, we played against a little zone, some different types of stuff that we’ll see in our league. 

What have you seen from Cam Hayes in these first two games?

I’ve been tough on him. Sometimes I ask myself, should I be tough on him because he’s a freshman? But I need him and Shakeel Moore to grow up, and even the other guys, but of anybody Cam and Shakeel both have to play. He’s getting better. He’s handling it. He’s not sensitive, as a lot of the freshmen would be when you jump on them. He’s moving on to the next play.

There was a stretch in the game where he kind of took the game over and made some great plays. That says a lot about him. But he’s maturing in front of us, he’s going to be a really good basketball player. I’ve taken it slow with him. Because he’s played well in practice, he’s had the opportunity where I could have started him, but I’ve also wanted him to see how the game flows before I put him in the game.

He had a much better game with his shooting than he did on Wednesday. What do you think the reason for that was? 

I think the first game was his first game. Unfortunately, we didn’t have scrimmages or exhibition games. When you look around the country, most of these freshmen have struggled. There’s some guys who have played well, but that was his first college game. It’s not the college game that he dreamed of, also. He’s thinking about running out at PNC Arena with 20,000 people, so that’s an adjustment. And then taking the fact that he’s young and getting used to everything, but I think he’s settled in, and the great thing about these guys on this team is when they don’t play well, because they’re such competitors, they want to come back and play well. I thought Cam did the same thing, and Jericole also. 

What has your team done well on the defensive side of the floor for the last two games to force so many turnovers? 

We’re playing with great energy and passion. On Wednesday, we had 54 deflections in the game, we try to get 40 per game. Guys are playing really, really hard. I’m basing their minutes on how hard they play on the defensive end, not how many shots you make. I think that’s helped. We’re doing a better job communicating, we’re doing a better job talking. Not that we’re not making mistakes, but I think our guys are playing together on the defensive end as a unit. 

How much does your personnel help with that? 

I think the personnel means a lot. There’s versatility. There’s a lot of guys that can switch. The only guys that we probably won’t switch all year are probably Manny and [Ebenezer Dowuona]. And those guys are capable of sitting down and guarding guys. But the majority of the roster can guard the 1-4, and that makes it tough on teams because you really don’t get a screening advantage. 

Is the defense ahead of the offense?

It’s hard for me to say that, because I think we’ve scored 95 and 86 points. And I think some programs would love to have that on the first two games they play. I think our offense is doing fine because we have some older guys. I think when the younger guys come in the game, the offense doesn’t flow as well, so they may be behind a little bit, but I think our veterans are doing a good job.

You started Jericole Hellems over Devon Daniels.  What was the thought process with not starting Daniels?

I think Devon was 30 seconds late for film. That’s not the culture that we’ve got here. Everybody’s held to the same accountability. If you can have 40, you’re going to be early. That’s just the way I’ve always been. I’m maybe exaggerating the 30 seconds, maybe it was a minute or minute and a half. But I made the decision because Jericole worked hard but Devon was a little late for film. 

Two games scheduled, two games played. Do you feel like that’s a victory in itself?

I want to thank everybody that had a hand in pulling this off. I put our folks in a tough situation with COVID asking them to run an MTE over Thanksgiving break. Our women played on Wednesday. There was a game before our game, and then we played, took a day off and obviously played again. All of those guys did a tremendous job, their staff and so many people that did a tremendous job of making this thing happen. I really want to shout those folks out, because without them, this doesn’t happen. 

I’m glad that we got a chance to play two games. I’m fortunate that we got a chance to play two games. When you look around college basketball, there are games being cancelled every day. So we’re grateful, and we’re praying that we get a chance to play again on Monday. It means so much just to even have the opportunity to play. I’m still gun shy. I’m always waiting for that phone call to say that the season’s over, because I’m still stuck at March 11. Anytime someone calls me, even when my boss Boo Corrigan calls me, maybe to wish me good luck, I’m saying is he calling me to tell me the season’s over because of what’s going on with COVID. So I’m blessed. We’re just grateful for the opportunity.

How much better does it make the offense for Cam Hayes to run the floor and Braxton Beverly to play off the ball?

You’ve got to love Braxton Beverly, because right now he’s playing like a veteran guy. He’s kind of grooming guys like Cam Hayes. He’s playing where we need him to play. If I need him to play the point because he’s really good with the basketball, if I need him to play off the ball, he’s been that guy. He’s helped guys like Cam Hayes grow where we can get a couple games under their belt, and moving forward, you can see those two guys being able to play together because of Braxton Beverly. But I’m happy with where Cam’s at. I’m excited about him. He’s done a good job. He’s taken great coaching. He’s gotten better. He stays in the gym. And he’s going to be a really good basketball player for us.

After two games, what have you seen from your team, and what type of growth would you like to see? 

I like the way we’re playing as a unit. I like the way we’ve shared the basketball. We’ve played two games and we’ve got 35 assists in the last two games. We didn’t turn the ball over today. I liked the fact that we had 15 assists in the first game, but we had 13 turnovers. We offensive rebounded today. I thought that was a tremendous thing. We got better. I’m going to go back and watch the tape, and of course even though we won by 35, you know I’m going to find a couple things that we’ve got to get better at. And that’s what we’re going to do in the next couple of days.