Kevin Keatts: "We Made Adjustments And Bounced Back"
NC State head coach Kevin Keatts met with the media via Zoom following the Wolfpack's 69-50 win over Campbell Saturday afternoon.
NOTE: Click the video in the player above to watch Keatts’ press conference.
Opening statement
“I thought our guys did a tremendous job in the second half. We didn’t have the pop offensively, and so when you look at it, if you told me that I could hold every team in the first half to 28 points, I would take it. The difference is we didn’t play well offensively in the first half. We got it going in the second half. We did a tremendous job. Our team’s a little tired right now. It’s been a long week. We’ve travelled, mentally and physically, and with the short amount of guys that we have on our team, I’ve challenged those guys. When you look at the Saint Louis game, I had five guys play over 30-something minutes. Our guys are a little bit tired, but they found their energy. I thought we did a tremendous job. When you look at their two leading scorers, those guys came in averaging 42 percent of their scoring, and we held them to 14 points together. I’m excited that we could play the way we did in the second half. I’m happy with the way we did in the second half. I’m excited for Manny Bates. I envy him because I don’t have a record like that where I’m one of three guys to get to 100 [career blocks] that quickly. I don’t even have a record in assists or scoring or anything else. He’s my hero today.”
What was the message at halftime?
“The halftime was very entertaining. I’ve still got strong vocal cords; I’ll just say that. We talked about the things we weren’t doing. I didn’t think we played hard enough. I didn’t think we disrupted their offense. Even though I was happy with the way our defense played, we didn’t create enough opportunities for ourselves off our defense to get some easy baskets. We weren’t aggressive enough. We settled for things. We talked about it. I pointed out a couple of guys who weren’t playing well up to their capabilities, and they came out and responded in the second half.”
What can playing with a short roster teach a team right now in a season where nobody knows what’s going to happen?
“Well, for every kid that wants to play 30 minutes a game right now, it’s a great opportunity here at NC State. That’s what we have. You learn a lesson in every game that you play. We didn’t have a good second half at Saint Louis, and we didn’t play a really good first half here, but we were able to make adjustments and bounce back. This is so much great experience for these guys because of the fact that they’re playing so many minutes, and then we’re getting some of these guys who normally may not play as much some opportunities to get in the game. We’re learning a lot from these situations, and I’m happy with our guys who are playing. They’re playing their butts off with the short amount of players to my availability, and I’m excited for them. I’m happy for them. I’m glad that we’re playing games. People are like, ‘Man, why are you playing games?’ Well, these kids want to play, so as long as they tell me they want to play, then I’m going to play games.”
How tough was it to go to Saint Louis and take that loss then end the week on a high note with the win here over Campbell before you start conference play?
“When you look around college basketball, it’s so weird how people view things. Some people say you should play every game no matter if your team has COVID or not, and then when you go play the game, some people say, ‘Well, why did you play the game?’ I don’t think you can have it both ways. In our situation, my kids wanted to play. The guys who were available to play wanted the opportunity to play, and I’m glad we went to Saint Louis. That’s a good basketball team. We’re going to learn from that game. I could easily say, ‘If I had everybody, it could have been a different outcome.’ We don’t know that, but I’m excited that our guys played the way we played. We got great experience from that. If we don’t play the Saint Louis game, maybe we don’t play as well as we did in the second half this time because we’re learning how to fight. It’s still early in the year. We haven’t played a lot of basketball. Most teams that come off a break because of COVID are very flat. Just look at our league in general. Look at our league, and realize guys who take so much time off are flat. I think the only team that’s looked great after taking so much time off is Gonzaga. Everybody else has struggled a little bit.”
How much has Bates’ development as an offensive player make him more of a focal point?
“We have worked hard as a staff and Manny as a player to get to this point. We’re not fortunate to have McDonald’s All-Americans right now, so we have to take kids in our program, and we promise them that they’re going to have an opportunity to get better. We promise them that they’re going to have an opportunity to play. When we recruit guys, we give them those opportunities. We say, ‘We will get you better, and as you move along in years, you’ll develop into a really good basketball player, not that you’re not good when you come here.’ Manny’s a prime example of what the program’s about. He’s a guy who didn’t play as a freshman because of surgery, got better as a redshirt freshman, showed flashes and was great on the defensive end, and now he’s becoming where our guys are looking to throw him the ball offensively. That’s a testament to Manny in how hard he’s worked and my coaching staff for helping develop him.”
Has Bates’ role changed this year?
“I don’t want you to write that Manny is an offensive player because we want him to get to 200 blocks. We take pride in adding to guys’ games. If you don’t shoot it well, we want to work on your shooting. If you’re not a really good post scorer, we want to help you become better in that area. That’s part of who we are, trying to make sure we get our guys better every year.”
What was the team doing better on the boards this afternoon?
“We went to the glass, and we fought, and we fight. My [first key] was rebound, and my second key was rebound, and my third key was toughness rebound. We did that, and that’s what we had to concentrate on. Give those guys credit from game to game, when you don’t do something well, to be able to come back out and rebound the basketball. That’s one of the things that we wanted to do. It was a big emphasis. You should have seen the smiles on guys’ faces, guys like Thomas Allen who never gets a rebound or Braxton Beverly who’s now getting a couple of rebounds or [Shakeel Moore] who got five rebounds. Those guys were excited, and I told them, ‘Rebounding is a good thing.’ I think that they believe that they can rebound the basketball.”
What did you think Jericole Hellems did differently that made the difference this afternoon?
“I thought he played and mixed his game up. Jericole is a good player when he just doesn’t settle for one thing. When you look at him tonight, he got to the free-throw line four times which means he made aggressive plays. He took three three-pointers; he didn’t settle and just take a bunch of threes. I think, the other night, he was 2-for-9. He was 7-for-12, had 19 points, and he had five assists. He and I talked after the Saint Louis game about what his concentration should be. The concentration is coming in to make winning plays, and when you make winning plays, everything else will happen for you. Hopefully, he’ll see that in the way he played tonight.”
What does the status of D.J. Funderburk and Cam Hayes look like with ACC play coming up?
“I don’t know. I’ll be really honest with you once again. This stuff is out of my control, and that’s the way it should be. We want to make sure that our guys are safe. They will be cleared when they’re clear. I couldn’t tell you when they’re going to play again, but I will tell you our main focus is the safety and welfare of our kids. We’re always going to do that, and I’m never going to put them on the floor unless I feel like they’re 110 percent ready to play, and that’s going to come from the medical department.”
What was it like being back at PNC Arena for the first game since March with no fans?
“It was weird. I don’t know how else to explain it. This is a great venue. Of course Reynolds Coliseum is a great venue, but when you’ve got a venue that holds close to 22,000, and we don’t have many fans, it’s different. One day, hopefully in the near future as we continue to get vaccines and everybody continues to wash their hands and wear their masks, we’re hopeful that possibly, at the end of the year before our season’s over, maybe we can get more fans at every venue that we play in. I would.be lying if I didn’t tell you it was weird. It’s funny when you walk into the building. There’s no traffic, so you don’t have to leave early. You can leave, and you can come right to the game. When you walk into the game, you’re so used to seeing the great people who work here, and I love those folks because they lay it on the line every night and every day we play a game and don’t get credit for it. I don’t get to fist bump them because so many people are laid off or furloughed because we don’t have fans. I feel sorry for them. It’s tough on everybody, and I don’t take for granted that we get to play, I get to go to work, and I get to coach my team, but so many people are not having the opportunity to work. Look, we’re the basketball team, and we play in this building, but so many people make this building work for us. I’m going to pray for them that they’re doing well financially. I’m going to pray for them that their families are safe. I feel sorry that they don’t have the opportunity to get a chance to work. It’s weird, but we’re blessed to play games here."