Keatts Presser after loss to UNCG :: Bulleted

NC State head coach talks to the media after his Wolfpack fell to UNCG 81-76. Above is the full video and below is the bulleted summary.

• Very disappointed. First time all season that team didn’t follow scouting reports. Wanted to take away 3s and instead gave up 12 of them. Wanted to keep them off the offensive glass, they got 10.
• Told team in locker room that if you want to be a great team you have to understand game plans. Have done well with that all season, but not today. Taking the blame as coach. Didn’t get the message across.
• Came out of the gate well, but lost them in transition and let them make runs.
• Team has been good at defending 3s, but today had communication breakdowns. Usually we can make great adjustments at halftime but today team just didn’t have it.
• Final play was not game planned because of having no timeouts. Al Freeman is a 5th year senior and he took it up on himself to make a play. Would have liked to see a guy penetrate and pitch.
• Omeer played only 14 minutes. Did not think he had good matchups. Lennard had good moments. Adding Malik to the mix changes dynamics of substitutions.
• Levar Batts did not play due to coach’s decision.
• Think Malik added a lift, but chemistry was off with him back.
• Dorn has been playing well as a 4th guard, but moving him back to SF made him less effective. Those 2 guys playing together for the first time in a while. It’s more a chemistry thing.
• Breakdowns on D did not come from UNCG set plays. They came from own lack of communication in transition.
• Offensively, didn’t think anything was missing. Team shot 50% . Thought that there was just too many breakdowns on defesnse. Refuses to blame Markell’s absence for that.
• Credit their defense. Because of their soft 1-2-2 3/4 court press, you only have 17 or 18 seconds to run a play and it takes a while to get into zone offense.
• UNCG big man getting 3rd foul early hurt NC State because it took a big off the court and added a guy who could step out and hit 3s and open the floor up.