Why is NC State having 2nd-half meltdowns? Kevin Keatts is still trying to figure it out.
N.C. State coach Kevin Keatts has studied the film.
Since the Wolfpack suffered its second straight ACC loss Saturday, Keatts has had time to explore the reasons behind his team’s second-half meltdowns in consecutive games. The problem goes back more than the last two games.
N.C. State (6-3, 2-2 ACC) was fortunate to pull out 3-point wins over North Carolina and Boston College after allowing the Tar Heels and Eagles to cut into the lead late.
The team wasn’t as lucky at Clemson and at home versus Miami. The Wolfpack led by as many as 7 points with 6 minutes remaining in both games, but turnovers and missed shots led to comeback wins by the Tigers and Hurricanes.
N.C. State, a team that thrived off of forced turnovers in November and December, has become a victim of the turnover bug in the new year. The Wolfpack has a combined 29 turnovers in the last two games. Some of that, Keatts insists, has to do with the parity in the ACC. Clemson is a team ranked in the top 25 and Miami was three buzzer-beaters not going their way from being 3-0 in the league before their game with State on Friday.
The ACC is strong enough to make even the conference’s best teams play out of character at times. But Keatts also knows a lot of the wounds his team has are self-inflicted. That is what concerns him.
“As a guy who likes to force turnovers, certainly I’m not happy with the way that we’re turning the ball over,” Keatts said. “And I wish I could go to one or two guys and say, ‘Hey man, you have to protect the ball,’ but it’s been a collection of a bunch of guys who have turned it over.”
Turnovers a team problem for the Wolfpack
Keatts is spot on. Against Miami, eight different Wolfpack players had at least one turnover. His most experienced player and the guy who has the ball in his hands more than anyone in the half-court, Devon Daniels, had four. At least five players had two, including his primary ball handlers — Braxton Beverly, Cam Hayes and Shakeel Moore. Daniels, Moore and Hayes combined for eight turnovers against Clemson.
It’s turned out to be a team problem, which complicates things more.
“We just have to protect the ball a lot better,” Keatts said. “That’s expected when you’re playing three guys that are freshmen at the guard position.”
Hayes, Moore and Dereon Seabron are three first-year guys Keatts depends on for a lot of the ball handling. But he expects more from his veterans in clutch time.
After the Miami game, senior forward D.J Funderburk blamed the late-game miscues on mental lapses. Funderburk added that sometimes players start to play too fast, or forget a play — something that will lead to a missed assignment on defense or a turnover on offense.
If N.C. State wants to get control of its January schedule before things get out of hand (upcoming games are versus Florida State, Georgia Tech, Virginia and UNC), it’ll start with a Wednesday trip to Tallahassee for a showdown with the Seminoles (5-2, 1-1), a team that likes to pick up full court defensively.
According to Keatts, their issues have come in the half-court setting. It could be a forced entry pass attempt to Funderburk in the paint, or a miscommunication between two guys. Some of that was to be expected early in the year with no exhibition games. But now in the teeth of the ACC schedule, it’s a problem Keatts wants to address sooner than later.
“It’s such a thin line in this league this year with turnovers, or missed free throws or mistakes,” Keatts said. “It can go one other way and we have to get better at those situations.”
Kevin Keatts meets with the Pack veterans
N.C. State took Sunday off, the day after the Miami game.
Monday morning, Keatts took time to meet with each player individually. That’s not out of the norm for Keatts to do that in season. This particular set of meetings was a time for Keatts to sit with his players, young and old, and pinpoint what he needs from them specifically.
Nine games into the season, he also took time to tell each player how he feels like they are playing at this point. He gave them a chance to see what their play looked like on film.
“A lot of time guys see something different than you do,” Keatts said. “And we typically come together with an understanding moving forward.”
Keatts said his team hasn’t lacked confidence, even through close losses. It’s at moments like that Keatts is reminded that he doesn’t have veteran Markell Johnson anymore, relying on freshmen.
“We are playing Shakeel and Cam starters minutes,” Keatts said. “When you have so many guys handling the basketball … I don’t think those guys are nervous, we just haven’t had great ball security.”
NC STATE at FLORIDA STATE
WHEN: 6;30 p.m., Wednesday
WATCH: ACC Network
This story was originally published January 12, 2021 at 2:11 PM with the headline "Why is NC State having 2nd-half meltdowns? Kevin Keatts is still trying to figure it out.."
