Kevin Keatts: "I'm Glad To Get Away With A Good Win"
NC State head coach Kevin Keatts met with the media following the Wolfpack's 65-48 win over Bethune-Cookman at Reynolds Coliseum Thursday evening.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch Keatts’ press conference.
Opening Statement
It was a good game for us, especially in the second half. I told them we were going to play against a scrappy team. Obviously, you’re going to look at their record and say, “They're not very good,” but what I did was I looked at the Seton Hall game where they were up at halftime, and it was a battle all the way through. I'll tell you what got my attention; when you watch the Florida and Texas Southern game, you think about how they played. In today’s college basketball, if you’re not mentally and physically ready to play any game, it looks like anyone can beat you on any given night. I’m glad to get away with a good win. I thought our guys responded in the second half. We did a much better job on [Joe] French in the second half. He had 12 points at halftime and then only two in the second. Terquavion [Smith] is playing better as a freshman. Obviously, I have to live with his mistakes until we get Casey [Morsell] back. I didn't think Dereon [Seabron] or Cam [Hayes] played great, but just like Dereon he still ends up with 16 [points] and 14 [rebounds], so what do I know as a coach?
Did you want to schedule this type of game before traveling to Brooklyn, N.Y. to face No. 1 Purdue?
I wish I could tell you how it was scheduled. Some of these games were scheduled so far ahead, and so I wish I could say, “Hey, I chose to play Bethune-Cookman before these guys.” I don't know what order they came in. I may have had this game scheduled, but I don't know when it was.
Are you glad you had this kind of scrappy battle before going on the road?
I’m just glad we won a game before [playing Purdue]. In this program, we talk about, when we lose a game, we’re sick. We wanted to get well. [After] losing to Louisville, coming back to get the win [gets us] back on the right track.
How important was it to see the three-point shots fall before going to play Purdue?
It was good. The tough thing about this building - this is a great building, an unbelievable place to play - but it’s not really our home venue. I know people are like, “What a great place. It’s on campus.” Before we played today, we practiced in here twice because there’s so much going on. We have to adjust even though this is a great place to play. I love playing here, I think this is an outstanding venue. We don't practice [at Reynolds Coliseum] a lot, so a lot of times it’s almost like playing a neutral court game. For us to get in and make some shots, I thought we found our rhythm early, I would like to make some more, but I thought our guys did a good job of taking good open threes and making some of them.
Has Ernest Ross moved ahead of Jaylon Gibson in the lineup?
He was today, and I think that’s going to be a revolving door. When I went into this when Manny [Bates] went out, I thought it could be one game Jaylon starts, one game Ebe [Dowuona] starts, and Ernest coming along slowly. Ebe’s kind of moved further than everyone else, and now I think, to get the other minutes, it will come down to Ernest or Jaylon.
What do you stress during the timeouts when the team is out of rhythm?
When we are not in a rhythm, I want us to defend. We talk about it all the time. If you want to win a championship, you have to win all types of games. You’ve got to win the ugly games. You’ve got to win the games when you are up 20, down 20, and when things are not going well. Don't let the game get away from you because you are not scoring.
How was Breon Pass’ perimeter defense tonight?
He’s getting better. Where we are at, it’s so tough because I don't know if there’s another ACC team or another team in the country outside of maybe Duke and Kentucky that want to try and get three freshmen into a rotation. Right now, because of Casey [Morsell] being out and Thomas [Allen] not playing great right now, we’re playing three freshmen. We’re trying to get Terquavion [Smith] and Breon minutes and then find a way to get in Ernest Ross. Breon brings a lot to our program. He brings a lot to our team. He’s probably one of our better on-the-ball defenders, and we’ve got to figure out how to get him more minutes to play.