North Carolina
UNC's Hubert Davis ahead of game with NC State: We're desperate too
Hubert Davis speaks to the media ahead of a matchup with NC State.
One. Well, it's been a long time. Um, how would you say they are the first? You know, and, and, well, I wouldn't say, um, DJ Bryant is less in, in involved. I mean, he's, he's just so dominant on the offensive end, his ability to score in the past just causes tremendous problems for any defense. I think probably the biggest difference in NC state now than when we played them earlier in the conference season is they're playing bigger now. They've got a big lineup and so, um, for, for them now, you know, they've, they're athletic, they're long, they're big, it allows them to be really, I think even better defensively, uh, rebounding the basketball, attacking the basket. And so that's probably the biggest difference, but in terms of them, you know, from a defensive standpoint, they, they, you know, they throw a number of different defenses at you to try to create steals or to speed you up and, you know, for us offensively, we can't allow whatever defense they play however they play it to decide and dictate how we play and how efficient we are on the offensive end for you in, in your third year as a coach, I don't think it's any different. I, this is my third year as head coach at March 1st. So I don't, I don't think it's any different at all. It's just a regular season of the AC C and we got an opportunity to play a game at home on Saturday afternoon. So we got a great, good shot. Something. How much do you get a feel for how much you switch in a game like this or not switch or do you scrap the plan? Maybe because they have no, I mean, you can, you, you have a plan and then you also have adjustments and tweaks and alters and changes depending on what guys do out there on the floor. Uh, but you're right, they've got a number of guys that can make plays off the bounce. Um, they have, you know, playmakers, whether it's in the post with burns or, you know, out on the perimeter with, with Horn. And so they do, they have a number of guys that can make plays. And so for us defensively, it's gonna put us in situations where we have to win our individual one on one matchup, be able to contain, keep them out of the paint because once you get into rotations, that's when they really good in terms of attacking closeouts, hitting threes, getting to the free throw line and that's not something that we wanna do defensively, their backs are kind of against the wall right now as far as their tournament resume, how do you kind of get your team ready to, to face a team that might be playing pretty desperate. And next year we're desperate too. Yeah, we're desperate too. We, we, we, we, we're, we're, we're a desperate team too. There's a sense of urgency for us to, to win this game. There's a sense of urgency for us to, to win at home. There's a hunger and thirst with us in terms of our preparation, our practice and our play. And that's something that I communicate and talk to the guys all the time that that hunger and thirst should always be there until the last day that you stop playing basketball. So there both teams will be ready to play, turning down and turning off the noise. It really does, you know, as I said before, you know, I've said that, you know, it comes in two different directions and the hardest one to deal with, which is a surprise to most is handling um the noise of, of praise and prosperity and understanding and realizing what are the, what has allowed you individually and as a team to be successful is all the little details, all the hard work, all the little things that make big things happen. And those are the things that we talk about daily and I hold them accountable of and, and in hopes that um that hunger and thirst never goes away. You said one thing would be, I thought the film session was great. You have to nail down now, you just have to 10% 15% in order to be the team you need to be in. You can be. Well, it, it was, it was reinforcement again about just, you know, the details, the little things that do make, make big things happen and also just things that we have, you know, you know, we've talked about that it's been taught and, and that they're talented enough to do and that we have to do that on a consistent basis. And so, um, as I said before, I was very fortunate that we were able to have a learning experience after a win. And those are things that for us to have success as a team, especially down the stretch. Those are things that you can't do and you talked about entry passes, um press offense execution, making free throws, boxing out. But we also show good things too. And we gave examples of the little things of uh j wit knocking down those two free throws. J wit and Harrison getting offensive rebounds off of free throws and those little things, those execution that allowed us to be successful. So it was a film session of things that we need to improve on. But it's also to reinforce some good things that we were doing as well. Those sessions coach or player is that kind of conversation, never player led. It's always coach l it's always coach led. And uh you know, the film session is and one, you know, I'm a visual learner and I, I think it's good for the guys to, to see, to be reinforced what has been said to them so they can see it on the film um in order for them to learn. And I, I think it's a great tool to be able to move forward. I've always said a mistake is good when you recognize it, admit it, learn from it and grow from it. And so if you could see it out there on the film, that's something that to give you moving forward, not to be able to do it again and even do it even better when you, when you did go back and watch the film here, just you personally, what about R J's night the other night maybe stood out to you that you might not have noticed in the heat of the game when you're trying to claw out a win. Like, you know, there's so much, there was a lot, you know, one of the things that for RJ S, you know, 42 it didn't, it didn't feel like 42 fro from the standpoint of like his shots, they come within the offense, it's just in rhythm, it's not anything out of character. And so just in the rhythm of our offense at halftime, he had 20 some points. And II I didn't realize or really recognize how hot he was until the latter part of the second half. And when, you know, he just took over at the top of the key and his moves and those threes being able to create separation, the crowd going crazy. And for the second time that I've heard this season that the crowd chanting his name, I still didn't know how many points he had until towards the end, I felt like somebody said it's 41 or, or 42 and um we needed every bit of it. But the thing for me is not the point for me is I get to see the behind the scenes. Like I get to see what he does before and after practice, what he does in the summertime, what w you know what he does at midnight when he comes in and gets extra shots and to see that play out the shots that he took and made those are shots that he practices all the time and to be able to have a front row seat to be able to see him do that in a game situation on national TV. That's just, that's just really cool Hubert as magical as that night was for RJ. How much did you not want to see a box score like that? 22 games in a row where you have one player scoring, you know that amount of I'm OK with that. If it's, if, if, if we win, uh Armada will go for 42 tomorrow. I've got no problem with that and if RJ wants to go for 42 again, I have no problem with that. Um You know, as I said before, one of the things that's really good about our team is that it can come from many different parts. You know, RJ can have 42. Armando can, can score a lot and then Cormack can get hot like he did against Virginia. Um Harrison had a big game against NC State the first match up in terms of scoring and rebounding. So I think that's one of the cool things about this team is that there's a number of guys that can have career or big nights. Um Kind of speaking of that list NC State game, last time you guys played them lie. Cade had a pretty solid, like, I guess both point that had 11 6. Um And obviously, you know, he's been start most of this year. We see what he can do, but I guess kind of as the, the years progress, how have you noticed, I guess the progression of his ability to kind of control the game, you know, from the point of, well, I thought, you know, he, he continues to get better. The thing that I love about him is that he, he's getting better at understanding, you know, because he, he's so gifted, but understanding the importance of preparation and practice and just how hard and how well he's practicing, understanding the details and, and, and stepping up defensively, um how comfortable every day he's becoming, he's, you can hear his voice more in the locker room on the bus, in the middle room now. And um that type of growth and him feeling more comfortable uh is really cool to see, but he did have a really good game against NC state, being able to penetrate and find guys. And I thought he also uh did a really nice job defensively as well. Yeah, and I guess when a guy is, you know, being more vocal behind the scene and, you know, seems more comfortable around, uh it seems like, I guess kinda how have you, especially for, you know, a freshman up, a young player, like he is, uh how do you kind of see that just translate it on the court? And like, well, I do, I think, you know, the relationship piece for this team has translated on the court, not just speci uh specifically for Elliott. I, I've said before from the start that for whatever reason this group has enjoyed being together, being a team and because of how connected they are, it is translated out there on the floor in terms of communication and playing together and celebrating your teammates success. And so Elliott is a demonstration of that, but I would say the entire team is a demonstration of that as well. Uh, in the work that step back is on a different level for him this year than it had been previously. How much of that is the work on the step back? But also recognizing, not going to take it into the lane and he drives enough that defendants have to honor the fact he can get in the lane. But learning when the step back is gonna work now, as opposed to you see, maybe you might get in the lane a little too often. Maybe not. Yeah, I mean, the step back is, it's real. It's, and, you know, and it looks like he's driving into the lane and you're right, just his ability to be able to get into the lane and be able to finish. Um, you know, floaters get fouled, get to the free throw line. It's got a really good midrange pull up. And so, you know, that ability to be able to do that makes defenses think that he's doing that to be able to stop on a dime with either foot, either direction and you'd be able to have the balance to be able to go straight up and straight down on a shot from three is, is, is elite. There's very few guys that can do that and he's one of them in the country and he can do it at a very high level and it's something that I've seen him do since high school, you know, he, his, his ability to be able to create shots off the dribble and be able to score coming off of screens is something that makes him a gifted scorer, excuse me, three or four more before we get our follow up on that. Uh go for it. How, how much is making that move a recognition thing? Recognizing. Ok, this is where I can get in the lane as opposed to this is when I can get him to move, I can step back and get it up and look, I think it's both, I think it's understanding the moment who's guarding him and this is an opportunity to be able to use that. And I also think that that's one of his favorite to go to moves, being able to step back either way from that direction, so either direction. So I think it's a combination of both having an awareness of who's guarding him, um, how he's been played and, and also just having the ability to be able to make that shot on a consistent basis. You an nil question, you were at an unusual period you took over as Nil became the rule of the land and your assistant time, they did something very different. Um Kind of what do you when you're now three years in? Is there a, is there a certain impact you point to most that Nils had on the sport, the money that is available and those types of things to play or is the way the recruiting works. Anything that stands out in particular? No, I mean, it's just very different than when I was in school. Um I, I've always been in favor of name image and likeness. I've always felt like our guys should be compensated for their name image and likeness in large part because it's being used in a number of different places and platforms. It's very different than when I was in school. These guys, their names and Jerseys and t-shirts are all over the place and they're bringing you.