Jeff Capel says NC State is a ‘desperate team.’ Does Kevin Keatts agree?
The gray sky and endless rain that has planted a flag over Raleigh the last few days might as well park on top of the N.C. State men’s basketball program.
Gloom and doom has plagued the Wolfpack program in the new year, and N.C. State (8-9, 4-8 ACC), once looking at a promising season after a 6-1 start, finds itself 12th in the ACC standings — not a good view, especially in a down year for the league.
The only hope for the Wolfpack to play any postseason basketball would be for Kevin Keatts’ team to catch fire late in the regular season and win the ACC Tournament next month in Greensboro. Of course, there is precedent in program history for doing so, but N.C. State can’t wait until next month to get its mojo going. A turnaround could start 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at Pittsburgh.
The Panthers might be a welcomed sight for N.C. State. Traditionally, the Pack has done well against the Panthers (9-7, 5-6), who sit one game ahead of N.C. State in the ACC standings.The Pack is riding a 10-game winning streak over the Panthers, but this is a Wolfpack team hurting without its best player and emotional leader (Devon Daniels) and a squad that suddenly has a tendency to be careless with the basketball (39 turnovers last two games).
Pitt head coach Jeff Capel, who played and has spent most of his coaching career in the ACC, won’t be fooled by N.C. State’s sudden decline in play or their record.
“N.C. State’s a good team,” Capel said Monday. “And they’ve struggled a little bit trying to regain their identity without Daniels. We know we’re going to get a desperate team that’s good, that’s talented, that’s older, that’s played together and they’ve had success against us.”
The Panthers’ last win over the Wolfpack came Jan. 4, 2014. Pitt has only defeated the Wolfpack twice in 19 all-time matchups. History says success awaits N.C. State on Wednesday afternoon in the Steel City, depending on which team shows up.
During its 2021 slide (State is 2-8 since the new year), the Pack has struggled with turnovers. No one has been able to replace Daniels on and off the court, and Keatts hasn’t gotten a lot from his young backcourt of Cam Hayes and Shakeel Moore. His most experienced player — Braxton Beverly — is dealing with hip and back injuries again, and the twin towers experiment of Manny Bates and D.J. Funderburk has been grounded for most of the 2020-21 season. But does Keatts agree with Capel’s assessment that the team is desperate?
“I think every team in this league is desperate now, because, number one, you’re trying to figure out if you can obviously get into the NCAA tournament,” Keatts said. “You’re trying to figure out how well your team can play from one game to the other. This time of the year I think everybody is so in some type of desperation.”
If the NCAA tournament started today, most experts have only five ACC teams making the field. There will be an NIT this season, and the Wolfpack will have to finish the regular season strong to be considered. Winning the ACC tournament in Greensboro — if there is an ACC tournament — will be their longshot at getting to the Big Dance for the second time under Keatts.
IMPROVEMENT IN GUYS
If N.C. State hopes to extend its season beyond Greensboro, a lot has to change.
Keatts has harped on the fact he needs his players to take better care of the basketball. Only one player, Thomas Allen, had a positive assist-to-turnover ratio, but even the junior guard turned the ball over twice. Hayes, Moore and Beverly, the primary ball handlers, combined for nine turnovers.
Where Capel expects the Wolfpack to attack, though, is in the paint. He admitted his team has struggled defending the post the last five games and feels like that’s the strength of the Pack.
“Last game they started a big lineup, both of their bigs together,” Capel said about Bates and Funderburk starting against Duke.
It was only the third time this season Keatts started Bates and Funderburk together.
If Keatts trots out the duo together to open the game, perhaps it will be an effort to contain Pitt’s Justin Champagnie, who leads the conference in scoring (18.8 ppg) and rebounding (10.7). Keatts considers the 6-6 sophomore a matchup problem for his team.
“He can score the ball inside and out,” Keatts said about Champagnie. “You know it’s unbelievable how he’s rebounding the basketball. I don’t care who you are, if you had a game where you get 20 rebounds, you were pretty good.”
Keatts felt like the two toughest matchups in the conference for his team are Duke’s Matthew Hurt, who scored 24 points Saturday versus the Pack, and Champagnie.
“He’s become a three-level scorer,” Keatts said.
Capel is concerned about his team taking care of the basketball, coming off a game where they turned it over 18 times, knowing that the Pack leads the conference in forcing turnovers. If Keatts can get his guys to finally value the basketball more, the late-season turnaround could start Wednesday.
“We like to be the one that’s turning people over, not the one who’s getting turned over,” Keatts said. ”So we got to figure that out, and we’ll keep working with our guys and obviously, you know, talk about the importance of ball security and everything else.”
NC STATE at Pittsburgh
▪ WHEN: 4:30 p.m., Wednesday
▪ WATCH: ACC Network
