North Carolina
Davis: We will learn a lot about ourselves next week
Hubert Davis speaks to the media after a 77-52 win over UC Riverside.
Ok. All right. Let's go first. It was really good. Yes. No, I think it was 17 0 run. And, uh, the stretch was good on both ends of the floor. I thought we were really locked in defensively. We're getting turnovers and steals. We're getting out in transition. We were making the right play, um, in our half court set. You know, one of the things that we talked about, um, is not the ball stopping at good, but going from good to great. And I thought we did a really good job of that. And so, um, the only, um, you know, disappointing part is that, you know, we didn't continue that for the first half. You know, I thought we, you know, that stretch, it would have been great if we, we, we built on that now, we did it in the second half. But, you know, I just talked to them, you know, for our development as a team, you can't take your foot off the gas pedal. And, uh, but it was a really nice stretch and it was fun to watch something. I said that you highly emphasized their defense at halftime, I guess. The first in the second half. So, what was that? No, I mean, that, that message has been there from day one, I've told them as soon as they got off the plane before they got on campus. Like we, we, we've got to be locked in defensively, you know, I just, they're gonna be nights where we're not shooting the ball. Well, but what is sustainable and what can happen every night is playing defense rebounding and taking care of the basketball. And so, um, the way that they responded in the second half defensively for the entire second half, I thought was really special. Um, we took them out of their sets. I thought, uh, uh, we did a really good job, uh, moving our feet and defending without fouling. We did a much better job rebounding. The one thing that I did say that I was disappointed in is we got outrebounded and, you know, that's just a foundation piece for us and it's always been that way for Carolina is rebounding. The basketball being one of the best in the country in defensive rebounding percentage and on the offensive end, attacking offensive glass. So that's an area we definitely have to improve on 34 and five have got to get to the offensive glass and we've got to do a better job of dominating the boards. You, you, you had said in the past that you would play more guys or more guys would get opportunities if they earned it in practice is that's what is that, what's happened so far this year because you're playing, you know, 9, 10 guys early in games. Have they earned those opportunities or you just have comfort with the roster or what's, what's going on there? They've earned it. What did you make of Jalen Washington's performance? Yeah. Uh, you know, he, um, just continues to improve, uh, you know, um, the area that, um, that he's really improved in is on the defensive end. You know, he's moving his feet really well. He, he's a, he's a great talker actually, he's our, you know, best one on one post defender. And, um, um, I just think he's getting better and better from a defensive standpoint offensively, um, doing a better job of, uh, um, catching the ball and being strong in traffic, finishing with traffic. I think that's, that, that adds to his development and then, you know, be able to see tonight, you know, if he's open, he can, you know, having a five man that can actually shoot the ball from the outside. That's a huge benefit for us with Cormack's early struggles so far this season. Is there something mechanical that you can see that's, that's going on with them that's causing the shot to, to, to miss or is it something else? I don't know what his percentages are, but I love Cormack being here. I just, you know, I, I just love coaching him, love him being a part of this team. And this program, um Cormack is a basketball player. He just is, he's not a shooter, he's a basketball player. And so he does many things for us that allow us to be successful out there, his defense, his leadership, his passing, um his energy, his effort, his experience, all those things. And so, um whether he didn't shoot the ball the way he wanted to tonight, that is absolutely zero concern of mine. You mentioned Jay Wash. But Seth also had 11 points off the bench. What can you say about his performance tonight? Yeah. You know, Seth, um, um, it was, it was funny during shoot around, we were going through, um, a couple of our half court sets and he went in and he dunked it and I was like, oh, that's great. That's 510, I said I'd like to see that in the game and so he dunked it. He looked at me and I was like, ok, good. Ok, I won't you do it again? I, it's so funny, you know, like I never could do that if I could jump like him, I would just dunk everything and so like, um, it was nice to see him, uh, be really aggressive on the offensive end. And, uh, but, you know, defensively he's a guy that can guard a number of different positions because of his athleticism and strength. And so being able to switch DH Os and ball screens with him is really no concern because he's could be locked in. Um, you know, one on one defensively. It hadn't been the first time we went to the Outer Banks as a team and we scrimmaged a secret scrimmage against, um, fa U so this, this is actually the third time we've been out of town together. Ok. Coach. Yeah, you're in, you get playing time. So, no, I think we're gonna learn a lot about us next week. You know, it's an opportunity to um compete against some of the better teams in the country. And so, um we're really excited about the opportunity, excited about the challenge we have next week and um we got tomorrow off, but I'm excited about the preparation of practice starting on Sunday, heading out to uh to the Bahamas. You guys are saying that with all the new parts, you see games, games, games, you know, things will come together over time. Well, are you pleased with the all court matching that you've seen for these? I am I, you know, it's one of the things that I always say and actually it was a thought of the day that I got from coach Williams used to do when I was an assistant coach for him. He said, you know, Rome wasn't built in a day but it was worked on every day. And so that's with us, you know, we have um this year's team has new parts and, um, every day we want to take a step forward in building that team and, and getting closer to that finished product, but it's the middle of November. We're gonna continue to grow and get better, but make sure that we're taking steps forward. And I feel like these first three games, we've done stuff on both ends of the floor, whether it was consistent or not, that I think we can take a step forward and be confident and move forward with them. Do you remember the one game that you wore the blue jerseys at home? Yeah, I do. It was uconn. Yeah, I remember everything. I look at uconn. It was the, uh, uh, big 10, I mean, the AC C Big East challenge and, um, I didn't shoot the ball very well. Um, at all, I wasn't very good defensively. I didn't shoot the ball very well. I remember I missed a three and Rick Fox got an offensive rebound dunk. It was a comeback because they were cooking us and, uh, we came back and won and also a little bit differently. They did something because it was the AC C big East. It wasn't like our regular home crowd. So it was like a different crowd and it was loud as Beji in there. It was really cool and I remember us walking in the locker room going, man. This was, this was pretty good. So I do remember how about the other game in the building that it was a doubleheader? It was, I was so locked in. There was, are you serious? It was. We played, we played Seaton Hall in my senior year with somebody. We played them at the metal um, coach Smith, coach Guthridge, coach Doherty and coach Williams were coaching time and that's Carolina basketball. And so with COVID, we kind of got out of it and I just wanted to get, go back to it. I didn't want to have a time, a little active on the sidelines, so I didn't wanna have a tie. But, um, having a sport coat means something to me and it just draws me closer to the history and the foundation of what this place is all about and the coaches that have been head coach before me. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody. Happy Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving. Oh.