Kevin Keatts and NC State basketball are here for the long con

Turns out it doesn’t have to be pretty so long as it works. NC State is 4-4 in the ACC despite having zero perimeter game, despite having no go-to guy, even considering Omer Yurtseven’s emergence as a damn good player.

Yurtseven has really been great, but he isn’t the sole reason for State’s modest success up to this point; when the other guys remember him, he’s been a difference-maker, but a good post player is limited to that recognition. Elsewhere there have been significant struggles for a team that wants to be perimeter-oriented but lacks the talent.

This season has been a push-and-pull struggle with an uncertain identity at the center and the results have been mixed, but this seems to be working out okay anyhow. I don’t know exactly how it’s working, but it’s working, and you might fairly object here about the terrible inconsistency of the offense.

You might also be a little confused about how happy Kevin Keatts sounded after the win at Pittsburgh. Keatts was almost euphoric after that win, like he got away with a rather significant theft and he had no business having a conversation of that sort and who knew his team could even do that.

This is the slow burn, this is the long con, and you may need a nod and a wink to understand just how far ahead of schedule NC State is right now. State has already matched its ACC win total from a year ago, and this is after facing an incredibly difficult early schedule.

It helps if you don’t realize that, or rather, that nobody else manages to see what’s going on. This is a protracted argument, and it has no immediate resolution, but with that said, I mean, look at where we are. I’d give you all ice cream if I could.