KEVIN KEATTS: “I’m excited about the future”
NC State head coach Kevin Keatts met with the media following the Wolfpack’s 84-74 loss to UNC Saturday afternoon.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch the press conference.
Opening statement
I'll start off by thanking everybody who came out for Jericole [Hellems] and Thomas Allen and Manny Bates. It means a lot when you think about guys who have been in your program. And Jericole is a unicorn; and what I mean by that is very rarely will you see, from now on, guys who start as a freshman and then finish as a senior. With the transfer portal, or at this level guys who can go professional right away and will try to go a little bit early. So I want to thank everybody that came up for those guys, it means a lot to them [and] it means a lot to me. The other thing is, you know, putting on games during a pandemic is one of the hardest things that you can do. And so, I'm greeted by a lot of people when I walk into this building: police officers, folks who've been here for a long time. And they all have put a smile on their face no matter what is going on in their life, and I'm very appreciative of those folks. Because you don’t know how good you’ve got it until you get to hear somebody else's story. And so I want to thank those folks for allowing us. We're fortunate we did not miss one game in this building this year during a pandemic, and we're very fortunate to have that. So I want to thank those folks.
The game, I thought we got off to another slow start. I thought our guys fought. When you look at the difference in the game, we had no answer for Armando Bacot. He was great. And that's nothing against Jaylon Gibson or Ebe Dowuona, because I think both of those guys tried extremely hard. But we had no answer at all. I thought we did a good job on the other guys, we did what we supposed to do as far as guarding those guys. But when [Bacot] has 28 and 18, and then five blocks, I don't know how we can win a game that way. I thought we left a lot of easy baskets on the rim. We had some shots early on would have been a different outcome if we made them. We drove them and we didn't finish around the basket. my guys fought, and that's all you can ask for. I talked to our young kids about a guy like Bacot, who came in the league and has gotten better every year that he's been here. If you want to be inspired by someone, be inspired by guys who are still in the league are still working on getting better. So congratulations to him and and like I said we didn’t have an answer for him tonight.
On if Dereon Seabron gets hesitant when he’s missing layups…
I don’t know. What's weird about him is he's got great numbers, and he's had a really, really good year for us, but he really hasn't had two great halves. That's always been an issue for us. I've been on him about a half and then he played one game, I was on him and I think he had 17 points in a half. I thought oh here we go, he’s a guy who’s gonna go off for 40. And then he had three in the next half. I don't think he shied away from it, I just think he left a lot of easy ones on the rim and showed that we needed those. You know, when Jericole, Terquavion [Smith] and Dereon don’t play well, we don't put ourselves in a position to win, even when other guys have good nights. Like, I was so proud of Breon [Pass], it might not show up on the stat sheet but I thought he played with great defense and hustle. Then finally Cam Hayes had a game where he made some shots. So those guys were really good coming home, but those three need to have a good game for us.
On how big it was for Cam Hayes to hit some shots heading into the last week…
I think it's big. He's been missing a lot of shots, you know, Cam played a lot of minutes. We still believe in him. But I also believe this: If Manny Bates played this year, I think Cam Hayes is a better player. Reason being is because we can throw the ball into someone and then so many tough shots, and he’s not a tough shot maker. When you see a guy like Terquavion who takes and makes tough shots. I think one of the guys who has really been hurt by Manny's absence and DJ Funderburk’s absence is more Cam Hayes than anyone. But it was good to see the ball go in the hole for him.
On Manny Bates participating in senior day…
Well, it’s a good one. We went back and forth. He's graduating and he wanted to go through senior day with Jericole. They came in, they've been [very] close. We didn't give him a framed jersey on purpose, because he’s still got eligibility. So if you look at it, everybody else got a framed jersey. Even Thomas and Jericole could use it if they wanted to, the covid year. But they're not, not right now anyway. I wouldn’t read too much into it. I knew the first time, I said alright, we’re gonna let him go do senior, everybody is gonna say ‘Aw man, that's not a good sign.’ It's really nothing. It's [that] we had a great communication, we talked about it. I decided that, ‘Hey, it's okay and it's good for him to go through it.’ He wanted to go through with his brother who has been here from day one.
On if he’s talked with Bates about what his plans are for next year…
No, I have not. And I won't until the end of the season. I wanted him, first of all, to concentrate on his rehab and get back into a good mindset. And once the season's over, we'll sit down and we'll have a bunch of conversations. And to be honest with you, we'll figure out what is the best situation for him and figure it out from there. But I have not had a conversation.
On how he feels about the program and where it’s headed…
I love where the program is at. I mean, our guys are fighting. If you follow basketball and you just look around college basketball, you take the best center off of any team and they're gonna struggle. Same thing happened to Clemson, even though they found a way to win the day against Wake [Forest]. Same thing happened to Florida State, same thing is going to happen to Syracuse. I hate injuries, I hate them. But on every team there’s one guy that you can’t afford to get hurt, and on our team that’s Manny Bates. But when you look at the foundation that we’re building and the guys who are playing. Think about this, Ernest Ross is a top 50-75 guy who is gonna be really good and we saw a glimpse, Greg Gantt who you guys haven’t seen has now lost about 20 pounds and is playing great. You add Manny back, which we’ll talk about that, and then you have Terquavion Smith and Breon [Pass], and then Casey Morsell and Cam Hayes, it’s a pretty doggone good team. I do feel like that we would have been anywhere from a top-25 to top-30 program with Manny Bates, but unfortunately we don’t have him. So, I’m excited about the future.
On how to build some momentum heading into the ACC Tournament…
We’re probably gonna be one of those teams that you don’t want to play against because they’ve got nothing to lose. We’re that team. When you look at the four wins that we have in the conference, it’s weird because they’ve been by double digits; we have played well. And in three of them, it’s been on the road. So we’re focused, we’re gonna finish this last week of regular season and we’re gonna go to Brooklyn to see what can happen.
On why he thinks the team has played better on the road this season…
If you go back to the last couple years, we’ve probably had more road wins than anybody in the entire conference. We finished last year with five straight road wins. I don’t know. I try to figure out how to simulate being on the road at home, and that hasn’t worked.
On if he’s being positive with the media but isn’t being positive behind the scenes…
Well, I disagree with you. Because it is fighting when you don't make shots. When you look at halftime, we had taken 31 shots, they had taken 25. And it wasn't that they didn't fight, if you go back and watch the tape, man, we missed like four or five layups that would have made a difference. And so, Joe, I hope you notice about me by now, I'm not fake. So I’m not going to give you one side of me and then give you another side, I just don't roll like that. I’m very positive with my guys because I love them and I love everything that they bring to the table. There's nothing that they can do to make me turn on them because of the way that they show up everyday and everyday in practice.
On if he’s selling guys on continuity…
I'm not selling anybody on anything. I'm selling them with the opportunity to play. Like I don't have to sell, I got eight guys I can play and then Ernest is not playing, Greg's not playing but they get the opportunity. So playing time sells a lot of that stuff. At the end of the year, we will have a bunch of conversations, as we do every year, and it may be, ‘Hey, this may not be the place for you.’ You guys know this, the transfer portal in about a week will be booming. Not because of Power Five, because we [technically] got a week to go, but in mid-majors, there are going to be so many guys in the transfer portal. But I would never put pressure on guys right now to figure out what they want to do. I want them to stay locked in and finish our job here to end the season. And obviously, have a chance to go to Brooklyn, but continuity is big. But you also want to keep the right group of guys. And if you keep the right core of guys, I think you'll be fine.
On Bacot’s big game...
We couldn’t stop Bacot. We had to make a difference. Even if we trapped him, we were late on traps a lot. Puff Johnson was able to make some 3-pointers on that wing, and that happened to be on our five-man side. We tried different stuff. He was good tonight. He was a legitimate low-post scorer who did everything. That’s what hurts my feelings, when you see guys like Mark Williams and Armando Bacot be so great because that’s my guy. That’s Manny Bates. He blocks shots. He can do that. I don’t have him. If you want to know where I’m frustrated, that’s part of it. I cannot be mad at EB Dowuona and Jaylon Gibson, man. Those guys have given me everything they have. They’re just not ready to play.
On if there’s things he wishes he would have done different this season...
Yeah, don’t practice. I’m not trying to be funny. Just show up for games because obviously we’re having injuries. I know with the media everyone says ‘ahh, you can’t say it,’ but we’ve had injuries. With Devon Daniels, we had an injury. With Manny Bates, we have an injury. With Ernest Ross, we have an injury. Greg Gantt had surgery. I don’t know anybody in the country who could withstand that with the guys we had, especially in our front court. And I’m joking. I know you know I’m joking. But there’s nothing I could do different. We tried. We had our opportunities. You go back to the beginning of the year, we played so good against a Purdue team, and maybe confidence becomes better if we win that game. But as far as how we work and compete every day and if we do the right things every day, we’re doing the right things.
Closing remarks
Everybody listen. You have a job to do. You guys do it well. It’s not usual for a coach to tell you, but thanks for covering us. I appreciate all you guys do. I wish I was winning and we were winning because it would maybe be funner for you. Or maybe not. Maybe it is the way it is. But thanks for covering us, and I appreciate you guys. I’ll see everybody in Brooklyn.