Analysis: NC State exposed its weaknesses in its worst loss under coach Kevin Keatts
Many coaches would want their team to forget a game like N.C. State’s 105-73 loss at Florida State on Wednesday. They wouldn’t show the video clips for review. They wouldn’t reference it because they don’t want it affecting their confidence.
N.C. State coach Kevin Keatts is taking the opposite approach concerning the worst loss of his four-year tenure in Raleigh.
“I want them to remember the loss, we’re all going to take ownership and we understand that we got to do some soul-searching,” Keatts said in his postgame video conference. “We got to get better in certain situations. I certainly don’t want those guys to forget what happened tonight.”
What happened was a good team who hadn’t played in two weeks took out all their frustrations on the Wolfpack. The Seminoles (6-2, 2-1 ACC) had three games postponed while the program paused activities due to positive COVID-19 tests.
It was like they found a basket to practice shooting despite having to spend a lot of time away from their basketball practice facility. The Seminoles shot 70.7 percent from the field against the Pack, which is the third-most allowed in program history.
It was more than just FSU having a hot shooting night. The loss to the Noles did what close losses to Clemson and Miami covered up. It exposed the Pack’s vulnerable frontcourt, especially when their press is not effective.
Wolfpack not sharp on defense
N.C. State wasn’t very sharp defensively against FSU, which could partly be attributed to not having leading shot blocker Manny Bates. But it wasn’t that simple either. NCSU defenders seemed to be a step slow with their rotations or be totally out of position to contest shots.
Take Thomas Allen’s 3-pointer in the first half as an example. As the Pack tried to set up the press, Jericole Hellems paused when Devon Daniels defended the in-bounds passer. That brief moment kept Hellems a step behind FSU guard Anthony Polite and he quickly advanced the ball before dishing to M.J. Walker for a 3-pointer.
The miscommunication between Hellems and Daniels on who should be where is a microcosm of what is ailing the Wolfpack. It’s those kind of details that have hurt the most during their three game losing streak.
“The first thing that we talked about, like as a team in the locker room, is we can’t put our head down about it, we can’t hide from it,” said Daniels, who had 14 points. “We can’t look away, this is us. This is a reflection of us as a group. We got to get in the gym. We got to become tougher, we can’t take days off in practice. We have to play with more urgency, but this is on us.”
The loss was N.C. State’s third consecutive and kept it winless in three road games this season. The Pack returns home for Georgia Tech on Saturday, but then have back-to-back road games at Virginia and North Carolina.
‘We have to get healthy’
There aren’t any easy fixes. Keatts said that senior guard Braxton Beverly was still hobbled by the ankle injury that kept him out of the loss at Clemson. Sophomore forward Manny Bates, who previously injured a knee against Boston College, missed the FSU loss due to an injured left ankle.
“We have to get healthy, we’re not playing with our full roster right now,” Keatts said. “And certainly with an injured Braxton Beverly and not having Manny Bates it changes us a little bit.”
It changes them a lot, mainly by making them a much younger team. Beverly averaged 26.8 minutes per game before his injury, but hasn’t played 20 minutes since. With him out of the lineup it puts a lot of responsibility on freshmen Cam Hayes and Shakeel Moore.
When D.J. Funderburk gets into foul trouble, as he did in the first half against Florida State, and with Bates out, they have to go with freshman forward Jaylon Gibson. That’s potentially three freshman on the floor during a pandemic season that hasn’t been too kind to rookies.
Keatts has tried to keep the team focused on what still can be accomplished. N.C. State started off last season 2-3 in the ACC and still won 10 games. In Keatts’ first season they were 2-3 and finished 11-7. Daniels added that getting back to winning was a matter of the Pack being held accountable for a loss like Wednesday’s to FSU.
“We can learn learn a lot from this game,” Daniels said. “Now we can really change the way we’re going during this season right now if we just look at it, face-to-face and make a change.”
This story was originally published January 14, 2021 at 2:30 PM with the headline "Analysis: NC State exposed its weaknesses in its worst loss under coach Kevin Keatts."