North Carolina
Davis: Over the last week, week and a half there's been some slippage
Hubert Davis talks about UNC making an effort to emphasize attention to detail ahead of a matchup at Miami.
After the clenching game that you weren't happy with the practices leading up to it, how have the practices since then been in preparation for Miami? Much better? You know, II I just, you know, the energy, um the enthusiasm, the attention to detail. Um the talking has been back to normal in terms of just communication on both ends of the floor. So I've been happy with the practices leading up, um to Miami. And do you have any update on that? Um He's continuing to improve then, uh, it's gonna be a game time, game, time decision, but every day is getting better coach on with Elliott. He's, he's sort of struggling with his shot a little bit. He's struggling, sort of learning the ropes with the foul calls and all. How has Marcus really played a role and helping him work through whatever struggles or confident, confidence issues he could be having? Well, I don't think he has any confidence issues. Um but, you know, having, you know, somebody Marcus um on staff is so beneficial to not only Elliott but every player in the locker room, you know, not only having somebody that knows the game and has a way to be able to communicate it, but somebody that relatively, you know, recently was here in terms of being able to relate and also playing the same position. And so I, I, you know, having Marcus here, I think has been so valuable, not only for Elliot, but, but for all of our players. And, um, you know, I just love the way that Elliott just continues to improve. Um, there's always a learning curve as freshmen. I don't care how talented you are and the more people do scouting reports on you and, and tendencies, those are things that you have to continue to improve on and, and understand and grow and just a commitment of Elliott every day, a practice trying to get better and better. It just been fun to watch him, but fun to be around and fun to coach. How would you assess the defensive effort of your team, the last three games to winning streak? No, I, you know, I, you know, from a defensive standpoint, I, I, you know, I don't think it has been as, as, as, as good as it was during the win streak. I, I feel like we've had halves of good defense but consistently, you know, the consistency in terms of just a little, you know, details of boxing out, uh, uh, you know, defending without fouling those things, you know, over the last week, week and a half, there's been some slippage in that. And that's something that we've talked about is, is, is diving back into um the preparation, uh the process in terms of our practice and our preparation of getting back to the small little details, the simple things that you have to do on the defensive end that has allowed us to be successful this year. I think it's uh I would never say it's effort. I, I just, you know, everybody makes a mistake. I, I, I've told there's no perfect person so there's no perfect coach and there's no perfect player and we just always, you know, tell the guys and I got this from coach Smith, you know, a mistake is good when you recognize it, admit it, learn from it and grow from it and that's something that, that our guys are doing and, and they're gonna grow from it and then you're talking about the things that you were like in like in a, when you, when you are in that, you know, just, you know, just going through 50 no offense and we miss a layup, you know, or five on oh offense and there's a turnover and, you know, I say this to all the time, no defense, you know, no turnovers, no miss layups. And so, um, just that type of sharpness that, that, um I look at and that I think is required in order, um, to be at your best when there's a game and there's someone defending you in terms of defense and just reviewing, what are some of those, um, you know, simple things that you talked about that you guys, well, again, it's, it's, it's, it's all the, you know, one of the things I always tell the guys is to make routine plays routinely, um, you know, and those little simple discipline and details. Uh, um, and I met you before, you know, like a Miss box out, uh, a fouling, uh, you know, putting them on the free throw, defending, you know, and, and, and, and, um, getting them into the penalty, um, not going hard enough on a, on a loose ball and out of bounds and they get the ball and just, um, little things like that. It's not any one big thing. It's just little small important details that not just down the stretch, just accumulate over the course of a game that just needs to be tightened up and needs to get better. We get hard Hubert to keep the defensive level and the rebounding level things that take that effort, you know, consistently night in night out is that a challenge to kind of have them bring that every night? No, I, I think that's a job and requirement that, you know, that's our job and our responsibility. Uh, you know, one of the things that I always tell the guys is your job and your responsibility is always to show up to work and to not only show up to work, but be the best that you can be. I'm sure you guys take that same approach as you get up and go to work as well. And so for them, you know, they have other responsibilities. They have to be the best that they can be in the classroom and also in the community. But whatever you do, do it to the best of your ability and, and let the results speak for itself. How unique is Miami and the fact that they shoot it so well from deep, but they're also as good as anybody on the glass. Well, I mean, they, you know, they're a very talented basketball team, uh, you know, tremendous athleticism. Uh, you're right, they can shoot the ball from three. They like to, you know, play fast pace and like to get out in transition mostly off of turnovers. Uh, but they can score around the basket as well. You know, with their athleticism, they can tack the basket through post and, and also penetration and they're a good basketball team, you know, they're coming off, uh a final four berth and, um, it'll be another competitive AC C game on the road and, you know, that's something that, that we've done all season and we're looking forward to the challenge. Virginia human nature would say, oh, ok, we can go out there and just beat him. So will you tell you guys to kind of not to fall into that trap. No, our guys aren't thinking that at all. I don't, I don't know what I didn't, you know, I don't know what Miami and Virginia's game has anything to do with our game with Miami. You know, it's two good basketball teams, uh, in the second half of the AC C season that are, um, trying to improve, trying to get better and trying to win a game and compete. And so, um, our mindset has been squarely on our preparation and our practice and making sure that we can play our best game uh tomorrow afternoon of any team. And how are they so successful in defending without? Well, they, you know, they have good individual defenders that uh do a great job of winning their one on one individual matchups. And, um, and, you know, team defensively, they're, they're, they're equally as well as good. So, um but for us, we lead the AC C in terms of free throw attempts. And so that is gonna be a key for us. Tomorrow is to be able to attack the basket through post penetration, offensive, rebounding and generate those points um at the free throw line because that's been a big, big key for us offensively this season. He's struggling. Do you have conversation with him about that? Do you want to take off the hear about? Yeah, I don't, I don't uh uh talk to Cormack or any player, uh you know, when you say struggling th those are your words that are not, not my words. I don't look at a particular player and say someone is struggling based on one part of many things that they do in their game, um may not be doing it as well. And so there's so much that Cormack brings to this team, um his defense, his rebounding, his, his, his passing, his leadership, um his energy and his effort alongside his ability to be able to shoot the basketball. So, um for not just him, for any player, if one part of their game is not, um where it usually is. Um There's so much that each one of the players brings to the table that allows us to continue to be successful. He's a really good free here. I think he was 10 for 10 at the line, the two games before that. Do you like the shots he's getting? And how much maybe is there something he can do to maybe attack more to get to the line as opposed to three point shot? I do. No, I, I think, um I, I do like the shots that he's taking. I think he's getting good, looks good shots and in the flow of our offense, whether it's in transition or half court situation. Um You know, I, I filter it. There's, I can't tell you how many times that I didn't feel like I was shooting the ball well, and one of the things that I always did was that heightened me one, to do other things even at a higher level, whether it's, you know, defending, uh loose balls, energy and effort plays rebounding. And also you, as you mentioned, getting to the free throw line, that, that's a huge uh bonus to find ways to be able to tack the basset, get to the free throw line. And for whatever reason, when you see that ball go in at the free throw line, it kind of gives you a little bit of rhythm. And, um, um, that helped me in terms of, uh, from an offensive standpoint, but I love the shots that Cormack is taking and I have no concerns at all about, uh, shot selection or missed shots. I, I love coaching him and I, I'm so glad he's here at, at North Carolina practice. Like the play is kind of like an obvious cliche, but there's been a couple of times this year where it's correlated directly. Like I've heard players say before a big game, they practice well and then before a bad game, they did practice well. Is that something particular about the makeup of the? No, I, that's your character characterization of this team. I, I, I've, you know, I've been a number of teams and as a, as a player and as a, as a coach and, uh, I've had bad practices and played a great game and had fantastic practices and didn't play well at all and I've seen teams do that as a coach. And so, um, um, I think it's important in, in terms of the preparation and in, in the, in the practice, uh, to be at a high level, in terms of attention to detail and in hopes that you can play your best game. And, um, that's what we're hoping for, uh, tomorrow afternoon. Just wanna check in, um, after we to the LA CH with five T. Is he doing any better or is he gonna live? Yeah, he was able to see a dentist and, uh, his smile is it, it was still beautiful. It's, it's back to beautiful now and, and, um, his teeth look great. He's, he's, he's eating solid food now. No more, no more milkshakes and smoothies. And so he's, um, he's all back to 100% in recent games. Uh, teams have been putting extra attention on origin really being physical against him. What does he have to do to count that? What's the team have to do to c, well, always, you know, you know, as a player, as you continue to improve, like defenses, you're right, defenses do adjust to you and, and defenses have adjusted to him in terms of being more physical. Um, you know, their team defense is more geared towards, you know, not even letting them catch the ball. And so those are things that, you know, I think it's two things. One RJ in terms of um, tweaking, pivoting, altering some of the things that he has to do in order to make sure that, you know, he gets the ball and is able to get the shots that he wants. But also, you know, we've got to help him out as well. You know, we've got set, we've got to set better screens for him, tweak pivot some of our plays in order to get him in spots where he can be effective because for us to be successful RJ, um has to be a big time player. And um he's had an unbelievable season and he's gonna continue to have that. The remainder of the season has been consistent, the garbage man type plays, but he's been effective with the ball over the post, making post moves over both shoulders the last couple of games. What do you attribute that to? Is he just more aggressive? Is there some finality going on with him here? And finally his last, I think it's a combination of things. Um I think, I think one and, and you're talking about the adjustment that you have to make as a player, I think Armando made adjustments um because they were playing him, you know, differently, you know, they were, every time he touched the ball in the post, they were doubling the post, um you know, on, on ball screens, they were staying with him and allowing us still to be able to get to the rim so they were sticking to him. And so he had to make an adjustment in terms of, you know, not just his energy and effort, but just attention to detail in terms of getting the ball where he wanted to go. But also, again, like there's two parts, you know, we've tweaked and pivoted some things that we've done to get him the ball in situations where he can be effective uh before um another defender can come down. And so I think it's a couple of things, but I, I've always felt like there's, there's an urgency with him because this is it and that um this being his last year that he wants to end his career here with something special that he can remember for the rest of his life. Thank you, everybody. I also would like to say thank you for respectfully and professionally asking questions one at a time.