Keatts: 'We Found a Way to Win When We Weren't Playing Good Basketball'

Here's what NC Stae basketball coach Kevin Keats had to say at his postgame press conference following Saturday's 77-73 win against Pittsburgh

NC State basketball coach Kevin Keatts wasn't always impressed with the way his team played on Saturday in its 77-74 win against Pittsburgh at PNC Arena. But he sure liked the resolve the Wolfpack showed in gritting out a victory that keeps its NCAA tournament hopes alive.

Here's what Keatts had to say about his team's performance at his postgame press conference:

“I thought it was a great team win for us, for several reasons. I loved the way Manny Bates played. I thought his play when Markell Johnson hit him diving down the lane and he finished with his left hand was one of the biggest plays of the game. He had 13 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks. But we found a way to win a game when we were not playing very good basketball.

"I thought the last five, six minutes of the game is when we started to play. I can always be an NC State fan right now and say the 12 o'clock start was the reason we woke up about 1:30 and started playing. But I will leave that to one of you guys (in the media) to write that up. I am excited. It was a great win. We lost two games in a row, so to come back and get a good home win was very good for us.”

 Keatts wasn't aware that sophomore forward Jericole Hellems had such a major impact on the game until he checked the scoresheet afterward.

“You're right, man. He played well. I didn't realize he was 6 for 6 and 2 for 2 from three. It was big. I was yelling at him because he gave up a three in the corner on the other end. Then I guess he shoved it in my face and knocked a three down on this end. Cole has been great His energy has been really good. He has had a couple good days of practice and I was glad he made those shots."

Keatts said he issued a challenge to his team during a timeout with about 7 1/2 minutes left ... and he liked the way it responded:

“I just told them that we had to play, there's a lot on the line. I thought at that point (Pitt was) playing with a lot more energy than we were playing. We needed to get some big stops. We needed go get big rebounds. I thought we were playing tight for awhile. 

"That's why it's always dangerous when you talk to a team about how important a game is, because everybody in that locker room can't handle that. I thought our guys loosend up and finished the game, made free throws down the stretch and everything.”

With State approaching the 19th and 20th ACC games under the league's new scheduling format, Keatts was asked how the Wolfpack is holding up physically:

“I think we’re getting better physically. Pat (Andree) is still not there where I want him to be, but he’s available if we need him. We have to do a lot better with our ball security. If you look at us, I think we’ve been careless with the basketball lately 

"This is a time of the year when you look around at college basketball and no one is shooting the ball well because it’s been a long year. I think every team has been going at it since summer school and most teams don’t have legs. So we've got to figure out how to drive the basketball a little more and settle for threes. I thought that kind of was when the game changed around, when we stopped settling for threes."

Keatts was asked about the importance of the three-point play Bates made with one second left in the half to cut a four-point Pitt lead down to one. He ended up giving a testimonial on the progress the redshirt freshman has made this season:

“That kid played really good basketball and I want you to think about one thing, he’s a freshman and has gotten better. If he starts scoring the ball offensively then he could be a really good basketball player for NC State. We all know him as a very good defensive player, but that play was also huge for us. He rebounded the basketball, he was everywhere. Every time they drove, they were looking for him because he was trying to block all of the shots.”

Keatts said that the play of Bates and Hellems was the difference for State on a day in which some of its top players weren't their best ...

“When you look at Markell (Johnson), C.J. Bryce and Devon Daniels, I didn't think those guys played well at all offensively. But it's great when you have a sophomore in Jericole Hellems and a freshman in Manny Bates and then some other guys that are contributing every now and then. I say that, (but) I thought C.J. and Devon Daniels were both tremendous on the defensive end. They were able to take out some of their better players. You need that this time of the year. It's not going to be your day or night every game and that's what we're trying to make sure everybody understands that we stay together. We need to win as a team."

Keatts was asked about his team's hot shooting early in the game and what the Wolfpack did to turn things around defensively late:

"What was up with that? They were 3 for 4 (from three in the first half). We scouted those guys and they were coming in shooting about 27 to 27% from three. A lot of it was the way we played them. We short closed everybody and they raised up and made shots. Luckily in the second half, they didn't.

"Our guys got a little antsy, because on the scouting report we told them we're not running anybody off the line, except for one of their guys. And when they started making some shots, we started running them off the line and they got some pullups and then some drives to the basket. I don't know what it was, but they shot the ball better than we thought coming in."

A reporter then apolgized for ruining Keatts' day by mentioning that the Wolfpack's next game is at Duke. But Keatts was in to good a day to have his day spoiled:

“Why would that ruin my day? 

"It’s tough. I think we've had three Saturday-Monday turnarounds and that's the toughest one. But it's a good team on their home floor. And they're really good, one of the best teams in the country. In the NCAA they'll either be a one or two seed, so obviously it's a big challenge for us. It's a quick turnaround and it's a very good team that we're playing."

As important as the game at Cameron Indoor Stadium will be for State's NCAA tournament chances, Keatts said he's wary of talking to his players about the potential consequences:

"I’m trying to figure that out. So I'm like the dad with a teenage son that you don’t really want to have that tough conversation with because you’re like 'should I have the conversation now or should I wait?' It’s tough. I always tiptoe around. Do I tell them how important it is or do I say that's not important, it’s just another game and we need to win it.

"There's a fine line trying to figure out when to tell them. I did a few days ago, because I was mad at them. I said 'this game is important and we have to have it.' I thought it worked against me because at halftime, I was questioning myself whether I should have told them or not."

Finally, Keatts returned to the subject of the career performance of Manny Bates:

“I was wondering why he took that jump shot (a miss midway through the second half). I was really mad at him. I was like 'why did you take that jump shot?' He did some good things today, but he did two things that gave me a chance to coach him about. He took that jump shot early in the first half and then he got a great rebound and instead of kicking it out at the end of the game, he tried to go up and he lost it. But that is what freshmen do. What I told him is that you get a big rebound, you've got to know the time and score when he needs to score. You've got to make sure you pass the ball out so that doesn't happen. 

 "He's going to be a good player for us. My coaches have done a tremendous job in developing him, especially (assistants) James Johnson and Roy Roberson. If he gets confidence on the offensive end, he could be really dangerous.”