Kevin Keatts: "We Did Our Job On The Defensive End"

NC State head coach Kevin Keatts met with the media following the Wolfpack's 65-57 win over Texas Southern Sunday evening.

NOTE: Click the video in the player above to watch Keatts’ press conference.

Opening Statement

Where do I start? Let’s start with this. I thought our team found a way to win the game when the offense wasn’t necessarily clicking. When you look at what we did on the defensive end, we’re very proud of our guys for holding their team to 30 percent. I thought we did our job on the defensive end, and when you have so many new pieces, what happens a lot of times is, when your offense is not going, you struggle in other areas, but we continued to defend. What I wasn’t happy with at halftime was that we gave up 13 offensive rebounds. That being said, [Texas Southern] is the best offensive rebounding team we’ve played in a long time. If you don’t believe me, check the stats, and watch the Washington game. They had 29 offensive rebounds, and that scared me to death. I thought we did a tremendous job in the second half limiting those guys to five. This is a tough team. I told everybody when we played Colgate, ‘This is a tough team.’ A lot of times, as people or fans look at the team, they’ll say, ‘Wow, they should be killing them.’ Colgate had a great win on the road last night against Syracuse by 15. Texas Southern will compete for their championship in their league. They’re older. They know how to play. Their coach does a good job. It’s a good win for us. It’s a good, early win that we can build on, and we can get better in some areas.

The players said you had an animated halftime speech. What can you repeat from that speech that we can print?

I don’t curse. My hands hurt though. I can tell you that. I was disappointed. I don’t want anyone to be tougher than us. I don’t want any coaching staff to be tougher than mine, and I don’t want any team to be coached tougher than my players. I thought we got pushed around, and we didn’t make the physical block-outs or finish our possessions. In a really nice, polite way that my mom would be proud if she read this, I just said we need to get tougher, and I thought we did in the second half.

Is there anything you can do to circumvent the lack of size and experience in the frontcourt with Manny Bates out for the season that can help improve rebounding, or is that something you have to live with?

I can’t bring another seven-footer in. The NCAA won’t let me get another scholarship right now to bring somebody in. We have to get better with what we have. To our young guys’ defense, we tried Ebe [Dowuona], we tried Jaylon Gibson, and Ernest [Ross] is trying to work his way into the mix, but we lost a heck of a player. We lost probably the best defensive player in the country, I know in the ACC. He was a great offensive player. He was developing into a great player. I told you he was stepping out to make 18-footers and three-pointers, and he was. That being said, it’s my job to try and figure out how to help these other guys get better. Our guards have got to be better to help our young guys get better. They’ll get better as we play. They’ve already come a long way in a short amount of time. We miss Manny, but I don’t want to disrespect our young guys who’re going to get better and are going to help us win a lot of games. We’ve been able to win some tough games early without Manny, and I want to continue to get better in that area.

Seeing Bates in street clothes and with Jericole Hellems fouling out with 15 minutes to go, is it encouraging to see the underclassmen and newcomers win the game for you?

It’s not encouraging to me. I looked over and thought, ‘What is going on?’ No, I thought our guys stepped up. We have so many new faces. With D.J. Funderburk and Braxton Beverly gone, Manny out, and Jericole, all of those guys played big-time minutes for us last year. You look on the court, and we stretched it out with the guys that we had, and I thought it was good. We went small. I played [Dereon] Seabron as a big guard, as a power forward, and he did a good job. It was very encouraging.

Seabron didn’t want to brag about his weight room numbers, but how have you seen him morph from a high-school point guard to a double-digit rebounder and a guy who can finish through contact?

He doesn’t have weight room numbers. Let’s give him credit. He’s another kid that’s come through this program that’s developed into a really good basketball player. I can always point to Jericole, D.J. Funderburk, Devon Daniels, and C.J. Bryce, but he’s the next line of guys that got an opportunity last year and took advantage of it, and now he’s playing really good basketball. I don’t know if there’s another sophomore in our conference that’s playing better than him. A lot of it is because he has confidence in the weight room. His numbers aren’t going to jump off the chart. Last year, he would drive the ball and create shots at the rim. Now, he’s going through contact which is good for us.

Are you glad Cam Hayes didn’t settle for jump shots today?

Cam and I go back and forth. What we go back and forth on is whether it’s a better shot to play off two feet or one leg. I’m almost there where I’ve got him out of that one-leg fall-away. He took that shot about 12 times last year. Guess how many he made? One. Now, it’s different. He played for a lot minutes. He had some problems in the last couple of games because he was cramping up. He finished the game and made big shots for us. He did a good job. As a point guard, I’ve got a couple of things I can go back and get onto him for. He was 1-for-4 from the free-throw line, so we’ll work on that.

A lot of players who’d get redshirted and get limited playing time would enter the transfer portal and try somewhere else. What does it say about Seabron that he’s put in the work and taking advantage of the opportunity now?

Last year, if you remember, he was a huge part of the team when Devon went down. We were 4-8 [in ACC play]. I’ve never been in a situation where my team was 4-8 in this league, and we found a way to win five consecutive road games. He was a big part of that. When you look at it, he had two great games last year that gave you a little glimpse of how he was going to be this year: at Notre Dame and at Wake Forest. From that point on, he’s been that guy. Now, he’s even stepped up and taken a few threes. He’s putting in a lot of work. He believes in NC State. His opportunity is here. With the transfer portal, at any moment, any kid can leave any program, but I think he saw his development that he’s got here at NC State.

What can Hellems learn from tonight after missing the final 15 minutes of the game?

Don’t worry about it. He and I will have a bunch of conversations. I can go a lot of ways with that, but basically, I don’t want him talking to the referees. Now, should it happen the way it happened? Probably not, but I don’t want him talking to the referees. I’m the only one that should be talking to the referees.

You said in the offseason that, when you signed Breon Pass, you wanted to bring in his football toughness. You also said today at halftime that you wanted the team to get tougher. Was that why he got running later in the second half?

I’ve got to find him more minutes. He didn’t have the greatest week in practice, but he brings toughness to our team. We forget that we’re playing three legitimate freshmen that were all in high school last year. I don’t know there’s anybody in our league that’s playing three guys that were in high school last year. Terquavion [Smith] is one, Ernest is coming along, and there’s Breon. He does bring toughness to us. He’s going to be good as he gets comfortable. This is the first time that he’s been 100 percent a basketball player. He was probably playing in his state championship this time last year in football. As he gets comfortable with our system and becoming a full-time basketball player, he’s going to help us a lot.

Do you have an update on Greg Gantt and how close he might be to returning?

I don’t. He’s coming along. I don’t want to put a time on it. I have no idea when he’s going to play. It’s not fair for me to say that he’s going to play in two weeks, three weeks, or first semester. I will tell you he’s getting better.