North Carolina
Hubert Davis after NC State loss: Very confident and hopeful we will continue to get better
UNC Head Coach Hubert Davis speaks to the media after his team's 77-69 loss to NC State.
Well, you've got to compliment him, you know, he, you know, stepped up in the second half and had 20 points and um he just got into a really nice rhythm. Uh not just being able to attack the basket, I felt like he hit some really tough shots contested to step back threes and you know, at the end of the day, your big time players have to step up. I think the shots that he took in, the shots that he made in the second half, I feel like we had the same, if not better shots and ours didn't go in. And so um you know, in the second half, we had a six point lead a little bit under 10 minutes to go, we had three straight possessions where we could have extended that lead, we missed the layup, had two turnovers that allowed them to catch up and tie the game or take a one point game. And you know, we just didn't play well down the stretch, guys have finished, not close. Mhm. Well, you know, I don't I don't necessarily just focus on the last, you know, part of the game, the last six minutes, uh you know, when I'm referencing in terms of like, you know, like the little, you know, that mean a lot the discipline in the details. I'm talking about the entire game. So like in the first half, you know, one of the things consistently that we've done really well this year is limit teams, one shot, every possession, but we gave them um offensive rebounds in the first half. We talked about taking care of the basketball and the first matchup. We only had seven turnovers against them, which is huge. Um, we turned the ball over the first half, we ended up with 13. So every time I felt like we turned the ball over, it was like a pick six. So any time that we have a recipe of more turnovers than assists, that's just hasn't been good news for us. And so I don't, um, yeah, down the stretch, we didn't play well enough to win, but I felt like throughout the course of the game we could have done the important little things that could have put us in a position to not just be down one at half time and not just be up six with a little bit more nine minutes to go in the game. You've always said that you want your team to respond and get back up after being knocked down. But how do you change the message when totally not working at its maximum? Because the results are, well, I disagree with you. I don't, I disagree with you from the standpoint that it's not working. I do. Um, sometimes it doesn't come when you want it where you want it, how you want it in a manner in which you wanted at the time that you wanted. Um, that's life. And so what the key is, is to understand and to continue to get back up and continue to fight. That's what Carolina has always been about. That's what this team has always been about and um it's not even a choice. That's the only direction that you can go. And so just because you don't get what you want right when you want it right, when you think you should have it, that that doesn't stop you from doing the good things to put yourself in a position to be successful. And so um, I disagree from the standpoint, I know where you're coming from, but I disagree that it's not working. We don't know if it's not working. You gotta keep getting back up and keep trying. It's not working when you quit. Yeah. For the most part where you were you satisfied with shot selections that you guys got like once it got tied at 60 and that kind of, I did, I need to look back at it. You know, I know that um, I know that we had some good looks from the guards, um from the outside. I know that we were attacking the basket and um trying to score, trying to get contact, trying to get to the free throw line. I felt like, you know, in terms of execution, we got the ball to the guys that we wanted to get the ball to um, but we just didn't make the shots and when we missed they came down and they got the shots that they wanted and they made them Coach, you're talking earlier how you guys had 13 Of course one of your own. Yeah you know we tried to you know on dead ball situations full court. You know we picked up full court and you know got into our press and tried to create some steals and deflections and turnovers. You know one of the things for N. C. State they have multiple ball handlers. So if you take it away from one there's you know two or three other guys that can handle the basketball and get their team into their offense. So You know we definitely tried you know to get some extra possessions. There's a number of ways to get extra shots. You know you can get obviously get steals um offensive rebounds. So that's you know one of the things that we talked about and we got you know we got 18 offensive rebounds. Um But we only scored 15 points off those offensive rebounds. So if you want to count getting steals and deflections you can put it under getting second chance opportunities for an offensive rebound and also getting to the free throw line. And we did you know we just you know we missed six free throws which is close to our average. But I felt like we got we got opportunities more opportunities on the offensive glass but we just weren't able to generate anything in terms of steals and deflections in the full court When you leave out of here it's 6, 4 games left in the regular season. Is the feeling there, that time is running out well. No, no, not at all. Um you know, after the game, I told the team that, you know, I've been there before, you know, being in the N. B. A. And you know, been in situations where um, you feel like your back is against the wall and I told them that there's a long season ahead of us and that we didn't play well enough here to win. But I was really proud of the effort from all the guys that played and I was really proud of them and that we have to continue to stay the course and continue to compete and continue to fight. And I'm very hopeful and confident that um, the things that we're talking about and the things that we're working on, it is going to result in something positive in terms of wins. I just, I just do. Um, you know, it says in uh, I think hebrews 11 1 faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you don't see. That's what I have in this team. I have a faith that I'm being sure of what I hope for and certain what I don't see. And so that's what I feel about this team and I am, even though I'm disappointed that we didn't win tonight and that we have four games left in the regular season. I'm very confident and very hopeful and very proud of the group of guys that I coach and that that will continue to get better and mhm, good things will happen to this team. Yeah. You know, um well, you can't block out all the noise. You can, I wouldn't say that. You can't, I think you can. Um nothing. Okay. You know, you guys stated it, we have four games left in the regular season. So um other than that, there really isn't any other noise other than we play Notre dame in Virginia and florida state and Duke. And so um got a great opportunity to play against some unbelievable teams. And as I said before, I'm hopeful and confident and excited about the challenge.