He was a high 4 star that was at best uneven. With the exception of Duke, he didn't do a whole lot against acc competition, at least not by the counting stats, even when he got minutes.

It was also pretty clear he was benched at times for getting lost in offense or not boxing out, although you could say the whole team had that problem.

Quote :

"I hope we get 3 more years from Kapita. But based on 1 or 2 games, some people want to act like he's a future HOFer, ignoring how lost he would often look on the court."

Agree

[Edited on March 20, 2017 at 4:22 PM. Reason : Tree]

3/20/2017 4:21:01 PM

Quote :

"Gottfried rarely did much in practice in terms of the team and development, most of the time he was recruiting or out and about. "

Also, if he ever caught players practicing free throws, he took their shoes.

3/20/2017 5:21:13 PM

after the first strength and conditioning practice

looks like everyone is accounted for at least

3/20/2017 5:35:02 PM

Any news on assistants?

3/20/2017 5:46:03 PM

No

3/20/2017 5:51:24 PM

he's doing his anya impression

3/20/2017 5:51:33 PM

Where is Smith? Has he even declared yet? Feels like he just disappeared (or some major news managed to slip past me)

3/20/2017 6:34:10 PM

Probably training for the draft

3/20/2017 7:11:42 PM

He's not a student athlete

3/20/2017 7:30:08 PM

Quote :

"Also, if he ever caught players practicing free throws, he took their shoes."

same with defense.

Quote :

"Where is Smith? Has he even declared yet? Feels like he just disappeared (or some major news managed to slip past me)"

he hasn't declared yet, but yeah he's 100% gone. kinda weird he hasn't declared since it's obvious he's gone and obviously isn't participating in KK's presser and first workouts.

3/20/2017 7:45:36 PM

Maybe Keatts first major move will be to bring DSJ out of hiding for one more year.

3/20/2017 10:16:08 PM

Hope he goes. We don't need a primadonna on a team with a new coach.

One player a team does not make.

A coach establishing a program can.

3/20/2017 10:27:13 PM

^You are crazy.

not that DSJ, in any universe, would come back for a year.

3/20/2017 10:59:50 PM

Keatts prob wakes up in cold sweats with the worry that the only nba talent on last years team might come back

OH NOOOOOO

3/20/2017 11:34:31 PM

Had an Old man ECU booster/alum ask me tonight if Keatts was gay.



Keatts said today he wanted to run a few practices with the team to get to know what talent he has to recruit, what talent we already have etc So I assume that's what this practice was about.

Wants staff that can can recruit recruit recruit...he will talk with all current staff this week one at a time to get to know them an for potential hiring as well but unlikely to happen.

[Edited on March 21, 2017 at 12:59 AM. Reason : d]

3/21/2017 12:54:46 AM

man, they'll let anybody in at Legends nowadays

3/21/2017 2:03:07 AM

Quote :

"Hope he goes. We don't need a primadonna on a team with a new coach. One player a team does not make. A coach establishing a program can."

lol. DSJ ain't coming back but it's nothing to do with him being a "primadonna" (there's really no evidence that's the case anyways)

3/21/2017 7:52:17 AM

https://accsports.com/acc-analytics/kevin-keatts-offense-nc-state/

Good article on the style of offense Keats is expecting to bring. An essential read if you want to provide an educated critique of his offense in the future. Otherwise, you'll end up sounding like this moron.

Quote :

" Our pieces never quite fit together and often our offense looked like a bunch of dudes at the Y on a Sunday where you had 1 good player who dominated the ball and 4 dudes who deferred to him for the most part. We played entirely too much iso ball to consistently win in the ACC, wasting guys like TJ Warren, Cat Barber, Trevor Lacey, and DSJ."

3/21/2017 8:05:42 AM

Just reiterating what everyone's saying, but I heard KK on a CLT radio station this AM and was incredibly impressed with how confident he actually is. Obviously I expect him to say the right things, but he seemed to not be faking it. Yet another fantastic interaction with the public.

Abu was brought up, but KK just said he was working on it but didn't show his hand.

3/21/2017 9:25:41 AM

^That assessment was accurate. It's why I'm excited about Keatts.

Gott was notorious for recruiting highly ranked players that didn't end up being good fits in the high-post offense we were supposedly running.

Our off-the-ball movement was shit and we'd get passive and settle for awful shots. I still remember watching the TJ Warren and Marcus Paige scoring duel where the team stood around and watched Warren do everything on offense. Not sure how you could have watched that season and saw anything different than Lewis force-feeding Warren the ball. It's why you had guys like Washington and Painter who would shot the ball every chance they got it, they knew they wouldn't get many shots if they didn't start forcing things.

3/21/2017 9:42:25 AM

yeah that assessment of our O under Gott was pretty accurate i think. Gott always talked about the UCLA high post offense...but in the last couple of seasons we really didn't run anything close to that.

Quote :

"Our off-the-ball movement was shit "

primarily our off the ball movement was just Mav running baseline back and forth over and over again

[Edited on March 21, 2017 at 9:52 AM. Reason : f]

3/21/2017 9:52:05 AM

how are the tolerant folks over at Pack Pride handling this?

do they still think that he "isn't very bright"?

3/21/2017 10:39:35 AM

Quote :

"Good article on the style of offense Keats is expecting to bring. "

Keatts has said he wants to run more of a traditional offense with two post players, but I'm all for the 4 guard lineup. Hope he sticks with that

From the few games I saw, UNCW's offense relied a lot on a highly-skilled big guy (Cacock) running pick-and-rolls and finishing at the rim. Cacock was damn near automatic once he got the ball in the paint. Maybe Keatts gets him to transfer to State for his last two years? (He's a sophomore now IIRC).

I'm not sure if we have a guy who could do what he did. Abu might be that guy, but he has brick hands and doesn't seem to have a great feel for the game. Kapita might also be that guy -- or even Darius Hicks.

3/21/2017 10:46:08 AM

^I'm looking forward to Freeman. He's gotten some size and he has a really good attitude and should also provide some senior leadership.

I'm not sure Keatts would poach any guys from W (current roster or recruits).

3/21/2017 11:23:07 AM

At least one player from UNCW released from LOI(they have 4 signed for next year I think). Will be interesting to see if they follow, but not sure how that all works.

3/21/2017 11:33:46 AM

Our offense was at it's best when we were running the high post offense. We had great distribution of scoring (and subsequent overall success) in the early years when we were running the offense. It wasn't until the last 2 years, when we had dominant scoring point guards, that we moved away from the high post as our primary set. I don't think it's a coincidence that these were our least successful years. I cant knock Gott for adapting his offense based on his personnel, but the results speak for themselves.

And an iso set is a part of nearly every single college program's offense. It's merely a symptom of the limited offensive skills at this level, along with the AAU skill set that all of these players are developed under. I guarantee Keats will run iso plays as well.

3/21/2017 11:40:38 AM

interview coming up on the David Glenn (ugh) show

3/21/2017 1:28:21 PM

I am excited for Shaun Kirk. Hopefully he takes all of Rowan's minutes.

3/21/2017 2:33:04 PM

I had completely forgotten about Freeman. With him coming back, there is sure to be a logjam at the big positions... particularly if Keatts wants to play faster (and presumably smaller). Yurt, Abu, Kapita, Freeman, Hicks. At least 2 of them are getting shorted on minutes and maybe even 3 if we play smaller (probably hicks and at least 1-2 other who is gonna expect big minutes).



[Edited on March 21, 2017 at 2:38 PM. Reason : d]

3/21/2017 2:37:06 PM

Quote :

"I am excited for Shaun Kirk. Hopefully he takes all of Rowan's minutes."

i'm not trying to be down on Kirk...but aside for him throwing down some dunks, he really hasn't shown much to get excited for. hopefully with some coaching that can change. but from the little i've seen, he's got a ways to go

3/21/2017 2:45:45 PM

http://www.gastongazette.com/sports/20170319/sidney-lowe-thinks-kevin-keatts-is-going-to-do-great-job-at-nc-state

3/21/2017 3:05:22 PM

Lowe resigned?

3/21/2017 3:35:00 PM

That Kirk play where he tried to inbound the ball, had it tipped, then caught it while still standing still was pretty demonstrative of his career. When he's on the court he looks like a super athletic guy that has never played organized basketball before.

3/21/2017 3:43:02 PM

Yes, technically he resigned. Richard Walker (the author of that piece) is a State guy, so he isn't gonna pull some "Sendek was fired" misinformation.

3/21/2017 3:45:43 PM

Quote :

"Hope he [DSJ] goes. We don't need a primadonna on a team with a new coach."

His soap box antics made me wonder if he was just a biased hack who was trolling for reactions... but after this, i'm thinking he may just be dumb. But yeah, he gone regardless.

3/21/2017 4:05:41 PM

Quote :

"Lowe resigned?"

He knew he was going to get fired, so he resigned.

3/21/2017 4:18:57 PM

Quote :

"His soap box antics "

To which antics are you referring to?

3/21/2017 4:33:21 PM

http://packinsider.com/2017/03/21/keatts-nearing-hire-james-johnson-first-assistant/

3/21/2017 4:51:16 PM

^^kdogg maybe?

3/21/2017 4:58:30 PM

Oh. Hopefully he is a better assistant than a head coach. Because he was real, real bad at VPI.

3/21/2017 4:58:41 PM

http://packinsider.com/2017/03/21/keatts-offers-2018-pg-elijah-weaver-video/

3/21/2017 6:13:39 PM

Meh. Only had 2 years before the new AD canned him. Don't get me wrong...he did about as bad as you can do....but I think KK wants him for recruiting.

3/21/2017 6:14:34 PM

The only reason Johnson got that job was to try and keep Dorian Finney-Smith and Montrezl Harrell. DFS transferred and Harrell went to Louisville.

3/21/2017 7:14:37 PM

Yeah he is a good assistant hire in terms of recruiting and the fact that he is young...also helps he's known keatts from college and hargrave. Should have the NC/VA area on lock down recruiting wise.

Quote :

"and presumably smaller"

No idea why everyone thinks he prefers small players...he had to do the best with what limited talent he could get at UNCW. He's said he likes size guys that can shoot and play with speed. I think of guys like Brewer, Tayshaun Prince, etc...

That's why I think Yurt7 will do so well in this offense along with Abu slamming it down.

3/21/2017 8:47:49 PM

Quote :

" Should have the NC/VA area on lock down recruiting wise."

Yes agree 100%. After Duke, UNC, Kentucky and Arizona take their pick, we'll lose only like some of the rest of the recruits in NC/VA! LOCKDOWNNNN!

3/21/2017 9:13:42 PM

Quote :

"KK wants him for recruiting."

im fine with this, but if so - can we please get another assistant who can actually coach X&Os?

3/21/2017 10:42:10 PM

I have a feeling he will also be the guy that is to take over just in case, heaven forbid, that anything happen to keatts.


Also been thinking about his coaching tree and his style of play...Billy Donovan had a similar philosophy. Long athletic big men.

^funny, the article i was just reading on top assistants in 2015 listed Lutz.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2218970-ranking-the-10-best-assistant-coaches-in-college-basketball-in-2014-15

[Edited on March 21, 2017 at 11:30 PM. Reason : g]

3/21/2017 11:28:07 PM

Ya he's phenomenal, it was a real coup for the Windy City Bulls to pull him in.

3/22/2017 1:39:39 AM

^

3/22/2017 7:47:10 AM

He had individual drills in the Dail center, and worked out the current position by guards and bigs...

Basically made them take jumpshots and constantly moving in and out of drills, passing, defense too
The equipment managers got a workout for once apparently.

may be signing some late adds to the class as well...currently ranked 13th in the ACC recruiting class.

3/23/2017 1:00:39 AM