Kevin Keatts Post Game Press Conference After Exhibition vs. Lees-McRae: BULLETED

NC State Men’s Basketball Head Coach Kevin Keatts met with the media in his postgame press conference, after the Wolfpack defeated Lees-McRae 107-59 in an exhibition game. You can watch it here, or check out a BULLETED breakdown below.

• We did some really good things tonight.
  • 1 of the things that was really good is that we had 22 assists on 40 field goals.
    • I don’t think that all of last year we had 22 in a game.
    • We shared the ball and we played with great energy.
• Guys like Jarkel Joiner did a great job setting the tone on a defensive end.
• We were able to play a lot of guys and see different combinations.
• We had 4 games leading up to when we played tonight and I’m counting the 2 games in the Bahamas and the scrimmage and I am proud of our guys.
• I will look at the tape and see what we need to clean up.
• Our guys will be off tomorrow and ready to see Austin Peay on Monday.
• We had 25 [deflections] at the half and I didn’t find out after the game.
  • 40 is our goal and we are trying to get 20 per half.
  • We were +5 at the start of the 2nd half, and I am going to guess and say 42 [deflections for the game].
• You look at Terquavion Smith and 1 of the things that I wanted him to become, was more of a 2-way player.
  • He leads us with steals with 4
• Jarkel Joiner can really dog the basketball and turn his guy over.
• Being able to be play in the rotation of 9-10 guys can help us wear teams down.
• It was great [watching Ernest Ross and Greg Gantt play together].
  • I didn’t play Gregg in the scrimmage because I wanted him to get an extra few days in before I put him out there.
  • It shows that Ernest and Gregg have the ability to switch 1 through 5 and play different positions.
  • It shows that we can be good with all the players we have. I was proud.
• When any coach plays exhibitions you are crossing your fingers that nobody gets hurt and we accomplished that.
• I wanted to go out and find some experienced guys.
  • When you look at us last year, our 4 guards were Freshman and Sophomores.
  • At our Center position, 2 guys had to play who really did not play as Freshmen, so they really were Freshmen even though they were Sophomores by the books.
  • We went out to try to get older guys and try to surround Terquavion Smith with some older guys.
• I like our team. I like our energy, versatility, and experience.
• The 1 thing that we ask from every player, even through recruiting, is 100% buy-in.
  • We are in a new age of basketball where there is always going to be a lot of transfers and we have to be selective with the guys that we bring in.
  • I am looking for guys that will play for NC State. If we can play for NC State, we will be fine.
• When you look at it, because of the way we play there will be a lot of shots to go around.
  • We got 79 shots tonight and it’s enough for everybody to be successful if you share the ball and play together.
• Give a lot of credit to Jarkel.
  • Here you are talking about a guy who has transferred from the SEC and he has kind of taken Terquavion under his wing as an older guy and embraced him and is excited about playing with him.
  • They feed off of each other.
    • You should see them in practice everyday. They are really excited about it.
    • They compete against each other in practice sometimes.
    • But, when they are on the same team, they just love playing together. I think that has helped our team.
    • Both of them are very unselfish.
      • I want to say in our scrimmage Terquavion led us in assists.
      • He had 6 in that one, you look at tonight he had 7.
      • Jarkel had 5 assists and then 6 tonight.
      • Those guys, we are seeing a path where they know they can score the basketball, but in order for us to be successful we have to get other people involved.
• It was great to be able to throw the ball into DJ Burns to get some baskets.
• Obviously, we are going to play a lot bigger teams where they are going to play more post guys, but I just wanted to see a sample size of Dusan Mahorcic, but also DJ where we can score the ball inside.
  • We didn’t have that dimension last year.
    • I feel like we were more perimeter than anything.
  • But those 2 guys [Dusan and DJ] are very unselfish.
• I think every team is [worried about rebounding], unless you’ve got that 1 dominant rebounder and most teams don’t.
  • There’s a few teams that have that 1 dominant rebounder.
  • I think you have to rebound by committee now because more of basketball has become more positionless.
  • People are more all over the place doing different stuff.
  • We will be a committee rebounding team.
  • Jack Clark has been our best rebounder so far in the 4 games.
    • What did he have tonight…9… and he didn’t play like Jack Clark has played, which is a good sign for us.
    • He has been our leading rebounder.
    • Then we have got guys who get 6, guys who get 4, and guys who get 3.
    • Similar to the way we were last year, I thought we were a really good offensive rebounding team (last season).
      • Where we want to show improvement is on the defensive end.
• You know he [KJ Keatts] is the smallest guy on our team…I wish I looked like him at times…but I think the and-1 finish…he will be talking about that.
  • But now, his younger brother, Kaden, won’t think it is impressive.
    • He will be like, “it was a weak move” or something like that.
  • I was proud. I was happy. I am happy for all of our guys.
  • Alex Nunnally goes in and bangs a 3 that sends us over 100.
  • Then you see KJ driving. It was a great moment for a Dad.
• I don’t have to say anything to Chase Graham about his layup.
  • The team is killing him right now just so you know.
  • He tried to tell them he was euro-stepping, but I don’t know. I never thought he got to that part of it.