Kevin Keatts: “We did a good job up until the last four minutes”
NC State head coach Kevin Keatts met with the media following the Wolfpack's 69-51 loss to Wake Forest Wednesday night.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch Keatts’ press conference.
Opening statement
I thought we did a really good job of staying in the game, especially when you look at our numbers. Our big three, or two of our big three, did not have a great night. Jericole [Hellems] was 3-for-12, Terquavion [Smith] was 3-for-16. We came out wanting to mix some stuff up and kind of throw them off a little bit, make them unbalanced or uncomfortable. We did a good job until the last four minutes; I think when we got to that stretch, it was 58 to 51, don’t know how much time was left in the game but they were going to the free throw line, we knew we had to get stops and we didn’t get stops down the stretch, I don’t think we scored since then. Offensively, we had a tough night. If we don’t have three of three that play well, it’s sometimes hard. When you look at our starters, Jericole goes 3-for-12, Terquavion goes 3-for-16, then Casey Morsell goes 1-for-7. It’s hard to beat a good team when that happens. So, we will go back to the drawing board and figure it out, and try to get better, then move on.
On how Wake Forest defended Terquavion Smith…
I just think he had one of those nights where you don’t make shots. This kid has been a super freshman for us. Unfortunately, he has to carry the team as a freshman, but in league play he has been the guy who has carried us. I just think he didn’t make the shots, it wasn’t that they were different, he’s a tough shot maker, he just didn’t make them.
On Wake Forest’s breakout season…
It’s experience. They’ve only got one guy that started his freshman year. They’ve got four transfers, three of them were somewhere else last year. [Daivien] Williamson played in the system at East Tennessee State. I just think when you look around college basketball and you look around our league, the teams that are older are finding ways to win, with the exception of Duke, but Duke has got so much talent. But what makes [Wake Forest] good is they have done a good job in the transfer portal, finding guys that fit their system. When you go out into the transfer portal sometimes you hit the jackpot, sometimes you don’t. I think they did a good job identifying some guys.
On the biggest issue during the final 16-0 run…
I just think we didn’t make shots, we let it get away from us. After that 16-0 run, we had 51 points at that time. We didn’t make shots, we didn’t move the ball enough. It got away from us. When you watch the game, it was a little closer than that but the end result is what it is.
On Ebenezer Dowuona playing just three minutes in the second half…
He is on a minutes restriction. Honestly, during the game he played too many minutes, he was asking to come out of the game. He was hobbling a little bit, he hasn’t practiced in the last couple of days. He has been on load management. We are just trying to get him to games, because we don’t have any depth. I thought he played well. He ran out of gas and certainly his leg was bothering him.
On the late game fatigue…
I think you can point to that sometimes, but our guys didn’t shoot the ball well in the first half. It’s no secret, if those three guys are not having a good night, it’s going to be a long night for us. We did a good job because I think the zone kept them off balance, we didn’t let the score get away from us. When you look at it, it was 31 to 28 in the first half. We didn’t score much, but neither did they. I think it took them back a little bit, they didn’t score a lot. Once they got going, we didn’t have enough because we didn’t play well to be able to match those guys. So at the end of the day, my teams are never going to win a game scoring 51 points. I thought we did a good job, Wake Forest came into the game averaging about 80 and also getting close to 20 fast break points. We did some good stuff, but our offense wasn’t clicking enough to win a game.
On what players need to do better when teams trap Dereon Seabron…
We have to do a good job of moving the ball. We have got to be able to spread the ball and get it back to him. But our guys weren’t rolling enough, at the rim we didn’t get enough rolls. We came out at the start of the second half and ran a great play. We threw the ball into Jaylon [Gibson] and then he gets a shot block, he’s wide open. What happens is our guards lose a little bit of confidence because those guys are not catching the ball, so it creates some opportunities for bad shots. We don’t have a back to the basket guy, so it makes our guards take a lot of challenged shots because that’s the only way we score the basketball. I thought he did great in the second half. I thought he was in attack mode. I thought they did a good job making sure he wasn’t going to get easy baskets.
On the team’s frustration after the loss…
Well, we have got to take the positives. For 36 minutes it was a good game, and for the last four it wasn’t. It’s a long year, when you get into February, it’s the dog days of basketball. We are a two-semester sport. They’re competitors in the locker room, they don’t like to lose. Obviously, it is a little frustrating, I would be bothered if they weren’t frustrated. We are going to keep on plugging and try to figure it out.
On motivating the team by showing them the standings…
We don’t talk about it. We concentrate on the next game. We talk about how to stack one game on another. Let’s flip it, when you are 11-3, we would talk about winning a conference championship, but I think when you get behind you try to stay away from the negative part of it. I want to be as positive as I can with these guys because I think they need positivity. They are a little bit sensitive, they should be. I don’t want to put extra pressure on them.