NC State
Kevin Keatts, NC State postgame press conference
NC State head coach Kevin Keatts talked to reporters after the team defeated the Louisville Cardinals 94-85 in the first round of the ACC Tournament.
A couple of things. Um I thought Louisville came out very, very aggressive. Um I thought Kenny made a really great decision, you know, kinda starting four guards and, you know, starting Tyler was, um, it gave them a tremendous advantage. Um I thought they moved the ball like I thought they came out very aggressive. They drove the ball, uh, got to the free throw line. Uh We talked about it at half time. Uh It was a shootout. We, our, our defense wasn't very good and then we talked about making some adjustment guarding the ball. Um You know, when you get a guy like Scott Clark who, who is in the tournament who's playing well, you got really defend him and I thought he had a tremendous game against us and, uh, he played really well. Uh, you know, give Louisville a lot of credit, man. That was a, that was a heck of a battle all the way to the end. And we're fortunate, uh, both team, neither team played in the defense. We just, we happened to score 94 points and, you know, I thought guys stepped up J Taylor had a good game um scored the ball had eight rebounds. I thought Michael was really solid, made baskets when we needed to. And, and um Casey Marcel was really, really good, you know, maybe we should play our, all of our games back here at the DMV because he was really good. So questions Corey Smith with P Bride Kevin. First of all, is there an update on DJ Horn at this time? And then for the players, how much did you guys feel like you needed to step up with him not being on the court today? So, Corey, as you saw, you know, when we practiced yesterday, he shot a little bit and we wanted him to go through, um, you know, kind of our warm ups to see how he felt. Um I wasn't gonna play him unless I knew we absolutely had to have him. Uh, we'll do the same thing, you know, he'll have a round the clock treatment and the great thing about it is we do play a seven o'clock game tomorrow, but he'll still be a game time decision. He's starting to feel better. Um, but, you know, he's not moving well, um, probably should have played him because of our defense wasn't very good. He couldn't guard anybody but certainly nobody else did. So he can play offensively, which is, you know, who he is, but defensively he's not sliding well. So we'll know a little bit more towards game time tomorrow. Brett Friedlander. Saturday road.com for the players, um, at halftime. Did you kind of feel the urgency of your season being on the line and Michael your, your career being on the line? And, and how much did that play into the, uh, he, he's got, you know, he's got another year left, never mind. Sure, you know, that give him credit. Now, he graduated from Stanford in three years. So he's got, he's got a couple of years that COVID year is still there for him. Ok? But either way this is, I mean, it's winter or, or that's it. I mean, what kind of urgency did you kind of feel in the second half? Both of you guys? Yeah, I think, um like, like you're saying it could be our last game this season and we don't want to end it on this note. So we kind of, we were down one, but we all banded together and we had a common message that we have to go out there and just play the right way and do what we do and we know we're playing well, moving the ball and hopefully getting stops that, you know, we can compete and win games and you know, we have that urgency coming out in the second half. Yeah, I agree with him. Uh I would say it was an urgency from the beginning of the game. Honestly, I didn't, I don't ever think we was gonna lose. So we just kept the same faith and just kept competing. Ok. Next question in the front row here. Yeah, Kip Coons per X box view. Uh, Kevin, you got them in the bonus so early or you know, they have seven fouls, tier one I believe. Did it change your strategy at all to take advantage of that in the last 10 or so minutes? Yeah. You know what we, we talked about it halftime, I thought we settled for too many outside shots. And so we wanted the first two minutes of the second half to drive the basketball and I thought it worked for us. Um So we were really, really aggressive. Um That was by design. Uh We felt like we had an advantage, um getting DJ back in the game starting the game plan inside out. I thought we were able to throw the ball to him and get some good shots and I thought Jay drove the ball, Michael did a good job getting into the paint and so it really helped us down the stretch because obviously we got to the free throw line. Uh, next question here. We going from, bro. Yeah, Corey Smith again. Uh What did the performance of, of Casey Morsel mean for this team today? You're asking me or you want Michael to answer that? I mean, Michael, but he can answer that. All right. Um Well, I think it's huge, you know, he's obviously, um one of the leaders on the teams and one of the captains on the team. And when you see a guy playing out there with such passion and playing hard, you just want to follow suit. So, um, I think it was huge that like from the beginning, he had the energy and he was pushing everyone to be the best they could out there and when you have a guy leading like that, you just want to follow. So I think she definitely uh propelled our team forward and helped us get the win. I couldn't have gave a better answer. Coy. All right, Jim. Yes, ma'am, sir. Kevin, that Mike Water from the Syracuse post standard, uh without DJ. How does that affect what you try to do? Especially on offense? And how did you compensate for his absence out there tonight? Well, I mean, he's a, he's a scorer. I mean, the guy can put the ball in the hole, um, one of the best in our league and you know what we've asked is, you know, guys like, um Jay Taylor to step up. I, I've asked Michael to be a little bit more offensive minded. I thought Breon pass came in in the first half and really gave us a big time lift. Uh, but everybody's got to step up when you lose a guy who can score the basketball the way he does. Uh I would have never guessed that we would score 94 points without DJ Horn, but we did. I thought everybody was aggressive, you know, Kish Marcel had a little bit to do with it, but, you know, without him, uh we have to have a little bit more player and ball movement. Uh We're running more plays. Uh He's really the guy that can kind of create for itself, but with everybody else, we're trying to get everybody involved. Ok, Henry o'brien, the Daily Orange uh coach, uh you mentioned your opening statement just about Louisville running the four guard lineup. Syracuse is a pretty guard, heavy lineup as well. Just what did you learn from today? Just going against like a guard, heavy squad? No, I thought, I thought Chinney made a, I don't know if it was maybe, you know, they were starting for man Glenn was maybe it was late. I don't know what it was, but, you know, he hadn't started that lineup the entire year and I thought he did a good job putting his four or five best players on the floor and just getting after it. Um You know, we're prepared to play both ways, you know, typically we switch one through four and then guard ball screens with our five. but we started big tonight uh today. And so obviously, you know, playing a team like Syracuse and you guys seen it, I mean, those guys, they can score from different positions and, you know, we gotta be prepared to guard them. Uh They did a great job at our place and certainly at their place, great game towards the end, at our place, but we just, we didn't finish the game. Ok, gentlemen, with Nicole Mark Marson from MTC media coach, looking at the first two games against Syracuse, what would you like to see in this game that didn't happen in those first two games? And do you feel like one or both teams have changed a lot since the last meeting between you two? Yeah, I thought, you know, the Syracuse games are, are really funny, you know, at, at Syracuse, it's a good game and then, you know, probably six minutes left in the half, we ought to or we just stopped scoring and then when you look at the game at our place, I mean, they came out as red hot as you could come out. I made shots and, um, and then we cut the lead and we did some good things. We, in both games, we trailed because we had five or six minutes stretches where we just didn't play. Well. Um, I don't think either teams playing, um, different than they played before. I just think it's tournament time and everybody knows what's on the line. And so I think everybody's prepared to survive and advance. Ok, funny. You mentioned that Kevin, uh after the Duke game, you, you basically said that all your eggs are now in this tournament's basket here and you one now you got another one coming up tomorrow. What's your message to the team? How do you approach it now to keep them from looking big picture and just what's ahead? Yeah. You know, I, I said this and, and this is a disappointment for our league. It's 11 teams and now I think it's what, nine, maybe that has to win the tournament to go to the NCAA and we're one of those teams. Um We, we'll stay focused, uh, to be honest with you, I guys won't know nor do I who we play after we play Syracuse. I mean, it's, um, you know, we know all we know is we play at seven o'clock against Syracuse and it's a one game tournament and you got to be able to win that one game to be able to advance and, uh, we'll be locked in. We're glad that we do play a seven o'clock game. We got a little time to, to get back to the hotel, get a little rest and, uh, obviously try to prepare the night with a little bit of film and then, you know, do a walk through tomorrow and get ready to play a good Syracuse shape. Ok? K Michael shot in the saber.com with DJ Burns playing some limited minutes with some foul trouble. Talk about what Ben Middlebrooks brings to this team's energy. Um Just talk about how that affects y'all. No, he's, he's um, he's a change of pace from DJ Burns he's a great ball screen coverage guy. Um, he's starting to score with his back to the basket. Uh, the, our, our, our, our team is starting to trust him in a lot of different ways and, you know, he's just a hard nosed dude, he rebounds the basketball and, you know, they are completely different and so we get a chance to play, you know, when I, when I need defense, I'm typically gonna go with Ben. If I need some offense, um, some scoring, I'll go with DJ. But I thought Ben and both mo especially in the first half. I thought Moe did a good job also. Ok, ladies and gentlemen, we have time for one more question. Is there, is there another question in the audience? I can't believe that cl showed up as an old school Louisville beat writer covered it over at NC State for a while back in Louisville didn't wear his bow tie and still never asked the question today. Who's that gentleman here? All right, went ahead. So I ask a question. Thank you, bro. All right. Thank you.