Kevin Keatts Q&A: Updates on Dusan Mahorcic, Isaiah Miranda

NC State basketball Kevin Keatts and his squad have a week off after garnering a pair of Quad 1 wins this past week: home vs. Duke on Wednesday and then at Virginia Tech on Saturday. Keatts met with the media via the ACC virtual teleconference on Monday and chatted about a variety of topics.

You can read highlights of the Q&A below.

Obviously the news with Jack [Clark] and not having him indefinitely, the impact you’ve gotten so far from Greg Gantt following that news and how important it’s been for you?

Kevin Keatts: “Well, as you know … it was at the end of the Clemson game Jack had kind of a weird fall, and we didn’t know what to expect from him. And then, obviously, we found out he couldn’t play against Duke.

“[Clark’s] been one of our better players, and he can make shots. He’s been our leading rebounder since Dusan [Mahorcic] went down. But I will say this, Greg Gantt has been tremendous. I never anticipated playing him 30 and then 38 minutes. But what he’s done for our team is he’s played a great role.

“He’s been a solid defender and rebounded the basketball. And he’s the poster child for any guy who’s sitting on the bench, who hasn’t played and has been a little bit injured. And, obviously, when your opportunity is in front of you to take advantage of it. And without him, we wouldn’t have had our two wins that we had last week.”

Do you have an update on Dusan Mahorcic?

Kevin Keatts: “I don’t. He’s getting better, but I have no idea when he’s going to be able to play in a game. I don’t even want to put a timetable on it. I just know he’s one of the hardest working guys I’ve ever had who has been injured. But as far as when he’s going to return I have no idea.”

Can you just speak on just the grit, tenacity and just poise that your team has?

Kevin Keatts: “I said this to my coaches this morning, we have been able to put together three really good halves of basketball, and on the defensive end. … The first and second half in the Duke game, and then the first half of Virginia Tech, I thought we were really solid.

“But we’re getting better. That’s one of the things that we’ve really put a lot of work into. We were a better offensive team earlier in the year than we were defensively. I think our guys have taken on some identity and actually fallen in love with playing some defense.

“And so it’s helped us out a lot, and it’s actually one of the main reasons why we’ve had we had a really good week last week, because our guys bought in on the defensive end.”

You guys have the matchup against the Miami Hurricanes on Saturday for the second time this season. What are some things you want to see from your guys the second time around against the Hurricanes?

Kevin Keatts: “Well, they’re talented. They’re really good. Obviously, the backcourt is really solid. When you look at that game, I thought we had a really, really good first half where we scored the basketball. And late in the game, I thought they hunkered down and played some great defense on us.

“I thought the two guys, and I don’t think they get mentioned, the two guys who really played well against us were [Isaiah] Wong, Wong obviously gets a lot of talk. But [Jordan] Miller was really good. He stepped up and made a lot of big plays against us, and we didn’t do a good job of guarding those guys late in the game.

“But it’s a good team and, look, every game that you play, even though it’s the second time around, believe it or not every game takes its own identity. So, it’ll be to me, it would probably be a completely different game than it was the first time around.”

I just wanted to ask about Isaiah Miranda, how his progression is coming along? And when do you expect to be able to put him in the lineup?

Kevin Keatts: “Yeah, … thanks for the question. I don’t know. He’s getting better. It’s tough. I want you to think about this, for young guys in this league to come in and play as freshmen. But I would like for you to think about a young guy who just came in second semester, and joining a team that had already been playing several games and has been around for a while.

“So, I don’t know when he’s going to play. I couldn’t even promise you that he is going to play. I will say that I do feel like he’s getting better. He came in the door with a couple of little nagging injuries, nothing major, and we’ve addressed those. Then trying to get him in practice to get him as many reps as we can and hopefully, we will have the opportunity to see him play this year.

“But there’s a possibility that he won’t play until next year.”

Casey Morsell‘s shooting percentages overall and beyond the arc have just gone [up] this season. Why is it?

Kevin Keatts: “It’s me. Me and him shoot every day, and I typically beat him. And so he got tired of that. And he just said, ‘I can’t let my old coach beat me.’

“No, to his credit, he has worked extremely hard on his shot. He’s working really hard. He had to adjust … to the way we play compared to the way he left UVa, which obviously is a good program. But we play a lot differently, and I think when you look back at his stats, I think he had decent stats from … the three-point line as a freshman, and then he kind of fell off a little bit.

“But he’s put a lot of work into it. You look at it, he’s running the floor, he’s getting shots in transition, he’s making threes in transition. And so I have to give him all the credit. Our assistant coaches have done a great job, but he’s one of those guys who stays in the gym and really works on his game.

“I thought, we looked back at the Virginia Tech game, even though he’s made shots from the three-point line, I thought one of his most important plays was he was able to drive in there when we were just starting the half when they went on a little run and gave us a little bit more of a comfortable lead. But credit him for adjusting to playing fast and making shots and also working on his game.

Is Morsell an integral part of your defensive improvement that you mentioned earlier?

Kevin Keatts: “Yeah. You know, he really guards the basketball. I would say the two guys, two of the best on-the-ball defenders that we have on our team would be him and Jarkel Joiner. And … Casey doesn’t get a lot of credit. A lot of what he does defensively, he guards the three, guards the four. He can guard all positions.

“But he has been a huge part of our success on the defensive end, especially in the last couple of weeks.”

Looking at DJ Burns, what do you know about DJ now … that you may not have known about him going into the season?

Kevin Keatts: “Well, what I’ve learned is he’s a tremendous fan favorite here at NC State. I told him, against Duke, the guards did all the work early, and they scored. And then he came in and everybody was yelling, ‘DJ, DJ.’

“But scoring transfers to every level, and you saw what he did in the Big South. He could score the basketball. What he’s proving at the Power Five level in the ACC, that he can also score the basketball and, he’s getting better. Tremendous kid. Teammates and everybody loves him.

“One of the things we’re working with him is to continue to get better on the defensive end, but he’s had some big moments for us. We finally have a guy that we can throw the ball in and can get us some baskets. And that’s no knock on our former guys. But he gives us a different dimension, especially on the offensive end.”

I remember when Terquavion Smith was in high school, he would always talk about how excited he was to play in the ACC. It wasn’t like his aspirations were, ‘I’m only going to be here for a little while, and then I’m going to be in the NBA.’ What makes his story unique to you? Something about recruiting him or just how different is he than most of the kids you’ve been around?

Kevin Keatts: “First of all, he committed to me when he was 15 years old. Probably one of the most loyal guys that I’ve ever recruited. He was at that time, he probably was 140 pounds.

“He was a guy who finished his high school career with three state championships in basketball and was very competitive. Barely made anyone’s top 100, and now he’s kind of put himself in a situation where he may be able to provide for his family.

“I say that because he’s one of the stories. A lot of people will tell you that some guys are not big enough, they’re not strong enough. Didn’t have to be five-star guy. The time, and through hard work and his winning attitude, is the reason why he’s put himself in this position.”