Kevin Keatts Presser before Penn State :: Bulleted

Kevin Keatts met with the media before NC State faces off against Penn State in the Big Ten/ACC challenge. Here is the cliff notes from that meeting.

• Arizona win was a great win. Guys made shots, got to the free throw line and defended well.
• Thought both losses to UNI and Tennesee were possession games. Against UNI they missed shots and against Tennessee, they left point at the FT line. Both were winnable.
• Was encouraged that his player were very disappointed after two losses. They felt they should have won.
• Abu is progressing. Played well vs. Arizona and got 8 and 8. But was rushing things a bit in the other two games. Teammates told him to settle down.
• Yurtseven is starting to listen. He came over with a big rep and things didn’t go well last year. This year he’s starting to listen, starting to understand scouting reports, starting to feel confident again. That is what Keatts wanted. He’s a good player but could be really, really good. Teammates are starting to trust him on the blocks.
• Vs. UNI Keatts wasn’t mad at shot selection. Maybe a few contested shots, but against a that type of pack-it-in defense, you just have to make some outside shots. They were there, but just didn’t fall.
• This is a good Penn State team, led by Carr (6’5 PG). They have a lot of returning players, are good around the basket and don’t take a ton of 3s. They play good D. Going to have to make shots to be successful.
• Keatts wants to practice at PNC a lot. When you don’t practice at your home arena, sometimes it becomes your away arena. It’s a challenge to figure out how to practice there but they are going to do it as much as they can.
• Yurtseven is gaining confidence day by day. He can be really good and can stretch the D. For him to go to next level he needs to be a better FT shooter. He’s too skilled to be shooting 50% from the line.
• Have 2 guys who they are comfortable throwing the ball down to in Omer and Lennard.
• Keatts not surprised in Lennard’s improvement. Maybe Lennard has been surprised. He hasn’t had a play drawn up for him since he was in HS. He was shocked when Keatts started drawing them up.
• Carr is another tough matchup, like Trier. he’s big. State did a great job switching screens and keeping Trier in check in hte first half, and Trier did a good job of hitting some tough shots in the 2nd half. Carr is a bit different. He likes to take the guards down low and post them up.