North Carolina
Davis: It's what we needed
Hubert Davis discusses RJ Davis' record night in a 75-71 win over Miami.
It was great for, uh, him to play the way that he did on the national scene. But, um, what he did tonight, I know he, he hadn't scored 42 points, but the type of performance that he had tonight, he's been having all season and he put the team on his back. It wasn't just, uh, his points. I thought he was great defensively, took care of the basketball, distributed a rebound boxed out and, you know, we need, needed every bit of his 42 tonight. He was fantastic. I told him after the game that, uh, I've seen another, a number of performances here at Carolina and also the NBA. Very few have I seen, um, the type of forms that he had tonight? And I was really proud of him. Have you ever seen a box score where a guy has 40 plus and nobody else. Yeah. Yeah, I played 12 years in the NBA and, you know, I played with Dirk Nowitzki and Michael Jordan and, yeah, I've seen that before, but that's what, you know, we, uh, needed tonight. Two other plays that were just as important as the 42 points from um RJ and it's not gonna be um it's not gonna be on Instagram, it's probably not gonna be on the news but the little, you know, I always talk about the discipline and the details, the little things that make big things happen and you know, for J wit to step up and make two free throws for Jay Wit and Harrison to keep the ball alive on free throws in terms of offensive rebounds. Those are the little things that we talk about on a daily basis that make big things happen. And so, um, obviously, and rightfully so RJ should be celebrated for his 42 but just as important were those, those plays that Jay Whitten and Harrison made down the stretch Heber, what do you notice in those last four minutes that kind of allow Miami to get back in there, the turnovers just, you know, whether or not get ball across 10 seconds, uh, uh, throwing lot passes not coming. You know, one of the things late in the game, we always talk about you, um, the last 2 ft of every pass you have to meet, you gotta be strong with the basketball and you have to want the basketball in those situations. And so, um, the best scenario for a coach is this one is fortunate enough to get a win, but also have a lot to talk about. And so I'm looking forward to have off tomorrow, but I'm really looking forward to watching this entire game on Wednesday with the team to see what we can learn and grow from Harrison was saying that some of the mistakes down the stretch, there was nothing that they, nothing that you guys had practiced and it was all he said, you, you thought it would be quick because of that, that you have that very well. Well, I mean, you know, one of the things I always tell them, you know, have you been told, you know, and then have you been taught and are you talented enough to do it? So if you're told and taught and talented enough to do it, then your job and responsibility is to do it at the highest level possible. And so, um, again, you know, this is a great teaching moment. Um And, um, I'm looking forward to uh Wednesday uh learning a lot and growing from this, um, I know a couple of weeks ago when we were in here, you know, we were kind of talking a little bit about, you know, ac C player here type stuff, aren't they even heart, you know, things like that? But I guess in the, in regards you studied, you know, around the league, things like that. What do you think kind of differentiates and kind of separates? Uh, well, I mean, I just, just a number of things, I mean, it's just on and off the court. I mean, you know, when you're wanting to coach somebody. He's, he's the example of what you want. I mean, it's just not on the court. He gets it done in the classroom, he gets it done in the community. He's a great teammate. He's the hardest worker we had shoot around this morning. He was the last guy in the gym. Getting up shots comes to work every day gives his best, his ability to be able to squaw off the bounce and also coming off screens, his ability to distribute and he's just a wonderful player and his commitment to stay here. I mean, he's, you know, with, you know, to be here four years, you know, at a time where there's so much change, you know, his commitment to this team, this program and this community and this university is, is something that should be celebrated. RJ got beat up pretty good at U VA the other day. Knees were cut, elbow cut. What was he one for 14 from the field? Did you have any sort of feeling that this type of response might be coming from him tonight after the getting battered and bruised up there? I mean, he gets battered and bruised every game. Not, you know, I've said this before, you know, you know, how do you react and how do you respond, whether something good or bad happens? And I mean, I knew that RJ would and, and just because he shot one for 14, I don't think RJ had a bad game against Virginia, but I knew that he would respond in terms of his ability to shoot and score and, you know, the first five minutes he was pretty hot and, um, he was just in a really nice rhythm, but it didn't surprise me at all. I knew that he would react and respond this way. Not necessarily knowing he would have 42. But, um, I knew that he would have a huge impact in a big game for us tonight. Did they defend the others different way than they did? No, I mean, you know, they were fronting Armando or three quartering him and the guy on the backside was sitting in the lane. And so, um in those situations, uh skip pass wide open, three on opposite corners, wide open, but also the discipline and details of how to enter the ball in the post can't enter the ball in the post above the free throw line. You have to break the free throw line extended. You never can throw the ball into the post to a big guy leading with a leading pass. It's impossible. The big guys are always fighting to hold their man off. You have to throw it to their hand, you cannot lead them. And so, uh a number of times we were making entry passes above the free throw line, which is a very small chance that that could be um without a turnover and leading up leading the ball into the post to the big guy that just, that just can't work. You have to throw it to him in his hands. And the best, not the only way, but the best way to enter the ball in the post is the mo to pass with two hands. Not one was Miami's three point shooting, especially in the first half. Just a matter of them making shots. Was there something defensively that y'all were doing that, you know, left them open? Yeah, we were leaving them open. I mean, George is one of the best shooters in the country. He has tremendous size and he was in a rhythm to start off the game and didn't feel anything, he didn't feel our defensive presence at all. Um, oir, I don't know, I, I, that has to be the first time he made four threes in a game, but, you know, it is what it is. He's, he's, he's a great player and, you know, after hitting two, we've, you know, we've got to respond and they were able to make, make some threes. And so they're, they're a really good basketball team, even though they were without two of their starters. They went to the final four last year and they've got NBA players on their team and they've got competitors and we knew that it would be, um, a tough game against them. You guys were off for a week and then you played two games in three days and now you're off for a few more days before Saturday against NC State. Do you feel like this is a good sort of simulation of tournament format uh for the coming months? I'm not really thinking about that. I'm just thinking about keeping our eyes straight ahead and focusing on what is real. And before this game, what was real was our preparation and our play against Miami, I mean against Miami. And now um after a day off, our, our focus and our concentration is on NC state this Saturday. Thank you. Thank you.