Keatts: 'I Want Our Guys To Learn From This'
NC State had No. 8 Florida State on the ropes Saturday, but couldn't land the finishing blow in dropping a 61-61 decision to the Seminoles.
It was a frustrating game in many respects for the Wolfpack, especially because of a disparity in fouls that sent FSU to the free throw line 16 more times than it did. Afterward, State coach Kevin Keatts vented some of that frustration in his postgame press conference.
Here is what he had to say:
"The difference in the game, when you look at it, is that we lost by (six) and they made more free throws than we took. And that's tough, because when you playing against another team that will pick you up fullcourt typically like we do and you play the entire time and there's a disparity in free throws, I didn't like it. I wasn't happy with that part of it.
"I'll be honest with you, I told our guys we'll move on, we'll get better. We played two of the top teams and we played them down to the wire. I want our guys to learn from this, learn from your great win versus Duke and learn from your six-point loss to Florida State. Then we have to figure out where we go from here, but we've done some good things in this stretch. I live the way we've played and we've got to have a short-term memory and move on."
Keatts was hit with his first technical of the season in the game, so naturally that was the first thing he was asked about. Here's his explanation:
"We committed (16) fouls in the second half and they committed five, and we both were playing the same type of basketball. I feel like on our drives, we didn’t get the same whistle, I’m going to fight for my guys every time and I just didn't think we got the same calls that they got.
"I’m not accusing anybody of cheating. I'm not doing that. But the bottom line is I had two guys foul out of the game. With our short roster, I don’t know that Florida State’s ever played a game where they played an entire half and didn't have but five fouls. And a couple of them were at the end when the score was a little lopsided.
That being said, I do not want to take away what Coach Hamilton has done there. They're very good. It’s a good basketball team. He’s built a great program there and they’re doing a good job. But I wasn’t happy."
The disparity in fouls also had a direct result on Florida State's ability to score off the offensive glass, another subject about which Keatts wasn't happy:
"I thought they did a good job, but if you look at it they had 15 offensive rebounds and we had 11. But it's hard for us to get offensive rebounds when our best rebounder is on the bench with 16 minutes to go. D.J. Funderburk is one of the better offensive rebounders in our league and he's just sitting there. It's a big difference."
Keatts downplayed FSU's switch to a zone defense early in the second half, even though it coincided with a 14-5 run that helped turn the game in the Seminoles' favor ...
"I do not think it bothered us. They stayed in it for a little bit, but we made some shots. If it was that effective, they would have stayed in it for the remainder of the game. We did not come out and score in the second half like I'd like. But to be honest with you, we never really got into a flow of the game.
"The first half was very similar to the second half. Both of them was a defensive battle. It's funny, look at the stat sheet. It's identical -- percentage-wise, stops. There's one thing that's a big difference, 29 and 13 (free throw attempts). So you lose a six-point game and you wonder if the free throws were even, what would it be?"
Even with the disparity in free throws, FSU didn't shoot them well. Keatts was asked if he was frustrated by the fact that his team wasn't able to take advantage of the Seminoles' late misses to get back into the game:
"I don't think it was frustrating, they are a really good defensive team. A lot of time, everybody thinks that when a team at the end of the game misses their free throws, automatically you're going to make your shots. You still have to make shots and we just didn't.
If you look at it, Markell Johnson and C.J. Bryce did not have a great percentage shooting night, so obviously we're going to struggle when that happens. We're not able to win a game when those guys don't particularly play well and we don't get to the line."
Finally, Keatts was asked to assess the performance of Jericole Hellems, who played one of his better recent games with 14 points, seven rebounds and a steal:
"I thought he played well. I thought he played with a lot of energy. I thought he did some good stuff. I was happy with his play. I'm happy with my guys. They bust their butt. This has been a brutal stretch for us. We've had three road games and then we've had to come back home and play against two of the best teams in our league, two of the best teams in the country. I'm happy with where we're at. We just have to fix the little things."
