Keatts Presser after Charleston Southern Win :: Bulleted

Keatts met with the media following NC State’s 78-56 win over Charleston Southern. Here is a snapshot of what he had to say:

Opening comments…

• Interesting game, but a game the team needed to have.
• Guys were letting defense suffer because they weren’t playing well on offense.
• Team was not sharp out of the gate
• Thank God team found Sam Hunt and he knocked down shots in first half
• Thought we played well on defense, only gave up 21 points in the first half
• Good Stat: Past two games, turned over both teams more time than they had made FGs.
• Encouraged that team found a way to win when offense was not clicking.
• Good job finishing the game.
• Happy with the win, but time to get back in the gym and figure out what went wrong and how to fix it.

On how 3s help stretch the floor…

• The current group is doing a great job of spacing the floor and finding open guys.
• This is the first time team had more turnovers than assists, but still had 13 assists on 25 made FGs. A good ratio.
• Al Freeman passed on some open shots early. Not sure if someone got to him and told him to put it on the floor more?
• Making 3s helps offense most right now

On whether this team will be able to shoot it well consistently…

• Like’s teams ability to make shots.
• Thinks Al Freeman, Hunt are great shot makers. Markell and Batts getting better.
• The more work the team puts in and if they continue to play at their pace, they will become a very good shooting team.

On how helpful is it to have a bunch of games back to back this early in the season…

• Didn’t realize it at first. Games are coming really quickly, but it’s good for the team.
• Told team if they are going to win a championship they are going to have to be able to be able to play back to back games at high level.
• No excuses about how many games we play in a row. They are scheduled and we have to play them.
• Lots of great things to take from this game, but a lot to work on. But will take 2-0.

On what have you seen from Markell over the first 2 games…

• Didn’t think Markell was Markell in this game.
• Sure he almost had a triple-double but he didn’t take care of the ball. 7 turnovers.
• Can’t ignore the points and assists in back to back games, but he wasn’t sharp in this one.
• Don’t know why, but sometimes it happens. Everything else was good.

On if there is any difference between practice and learning in game (in terms of style of play/energy)…

• No, that was more Charleston Southern than us.
• Thought they came out with a great game plan to slow down pace
• When you looked at CSU’s opener vs Davidson you think “Thats not a good team” but Davidson made 23 3s against them.
• Davidson was a buzz-saw that night. CSU wasn’t bad.
• CSU did good job of not trying to run with us, but trying to control pace of play.

On if there is an Abu update?

• Now sure at the moment.
• Going back to Dr. early this week and won’t have an update until then.
• Sometimes you don’t realize you don’t have leading scorer from last year on the floor.
• Getting Abu back adds another dimension to the team, but it’s important for others to get minutes while he’s out.

On winning and not scoring near 100

• Excited about this team. Told them they are getting better and just because they are a transition team doens’t mean they’ll have nights like this. (scoring in the 70s)
• If you are going to win a championship you have to learn how to win all types of games.

On the feeling coming out of week one 2-0…

• Feel good but looking for improvement.
• Take one game at a time.
• Half the country is 1-0 and half is 0-1. After tonight some going to be 2-0, 1-1 or 0-2.
• Would rather be 2-0.