Hubert Davis Quote
UNC 58, Boston College 47
Q: At the start of the second half after Armando was substituted, he looked like [trainer] Doug [Halverson] looked very briefly at his right hand, do you know what was going on there?
Coach Davis: I don’t know, there was nothing wrong with his hand, Armando was fine.
Q: Hey, Hubert, is this just a good old fashioned shooting crisis? Or was there something you saw in the last two games that led to some of the shooting issues?
Coach Davis: I felt like we were a bit tired. You know, it was our third game in five days, and the preparation for these games in between. They also go to class. And so I just felt like we were a little tired. But also, Boston College… There are a few Boston College things. Firstly, they are really good defensively, they are always in the passing lanes, they put pressure on you. And we just didn’t handle that pressure, you know, so it was sometimes difficult to get into our attack. We were dribbling the ball from our feet, not catching the ball in positions where we could do something, too far from the basket. So you have to compliment Boston College.
And also, they came with a chip on their shoulder. The last time we faced them they were coming off a COVID break for the whole team. And I think they only trained twice before playing us, and we played very well. And one of the things we’ve told the guys is that it’s going to be a different team from Boston College, because they’re competitive. They always pride themselves on their perseverance and being strong and tough. And so we let them know it was going to be that type of game. And no, there were parts of the game that we just didn’t handle very well.
Q: A bit at the end of talking about defense, I mean, 16 points in the second half, you know, must make you smile, right. So I was just curious, when you were doing things right, and it’s been a struggle this season, how do you feel, you’ve done the best defensively?
Coach Davis: Well, I thought what we did best defensively was press the ball. It’s something we talked about last week, that we need to do a better job of pressuring the ball, and that pushes teams to take their attack a little bit further. So I thought sometimes we did that very well. The other thing we did was we weren’t affected by any screens, we went over screens, we went through screens, we went under screens, we didn’t allow screens to be an excuse for not being able to protect our guy. Another thing is that I think we did a really good job defending all three. You know, they’re not a great three-point shooting team, but they have guys who have the ability to shoot the ball from the outside, you know. Zachary is shooting over 40% from three points, Galloway is an off-light shooter who can streak and chain a number of threes together. And so I think we did a very good job of defending the three in another defensive area, we did a good job of defending flawlessly. And so it’s something all year that’s been really good for us. It was difficult for the teams to foul us, they only went to the free throw line eight times. So I think something positive that you can tap into can translate now for the rest of the season and for Saturday against NC State.
Q: Coach, I know Armando obviously hasn’t had the kind of shooting day he would like to have. But he’s been here for around 20 minutes, hitting shots after playing 38 minutes in a game. What does that say about him and his commitment to this team?
Coach Davis: Well, Armando has been great, you know, the reason he’s having a fantastic year is because he keeps getting better. He focuses on his job every day, he prepares, he trains and he plays at the highest level. And since getting back-to-back 29-point games, the attention on Armando has gone up several levels. And so it’s a combination of things. Number one, Armando being able to adapt to the increased defensive effort of the opposing teams, not allowing him to catch the ball near the basket and being able to get to a spot. And also for me to do a better job calling different plays different actions, to try and get him to get the ball around the basket a little easier on the move. And so those are the things that we’ll be talking about and watching for the next two days in preparation for our game on Saturday, but it doesn’t surprise me that he’s over there shooting a basketball, and he didn’t not shoot the ball Well, but you know, one of the things is you can always do something to help the team. Something Armando has done at the highest level, whether it’s an ACC or the country, is rebounding in basketball. He had seven offensive rebounds, he had 18 rebounds today. So yeah, he didn’t shoot the ball very well. But a huge determining factor for our success today was his energy and effort on the boards.
Q: I’m just wondering what your philosophy is for rotation and substitutions. I mean, you’ve had back-to-back games now with all starters playing 34 more points. Is it the fact that they’re just better players right now, or what’s the reason you’re not going to your bench more throughout these last two games?
Coach Davis: Well, I was really encouraged by the bench. You know, Kerwin went to the free throw line for the first time this year and hit all three free throws and then he managed to hit a three in the first half. There was a situation in the second half, I felt like we were missing in the corner. We were in transition. He was wide open right next to our bench and I thought that was a great situation to get him into the basketball and be able to score. I was really happy with Kerwin, I think he did a really good job defensively as well. And then Puff only played four minutes, but I mean, his energy and effort was tremendous. I mean, he was all over the place losing balls, attacking offensive glass and Justin did a good job, the minutes he was in. I don’t really focus on numbers in terms of minutes, I focus on production in what they did out there on the pitch, in order to put our team in a position to win. And I thought of Justin, Kerwin and Puff, I was very proud of them.
Question: Caleb [Love] and who flees [Black] talked about keeping Boston College to 16 points in the second half, which they’re proud of, and keeping that toughness when the shots don’t fall. And I know we’re about a week away from the next game on the road, but how do you keep the same energy when you leave the Smith Center?
Coach Davis: Yeah, I’d like to know, that would be great. But the way we played last week on the road, one of the things I said to the team was it’s not you, it was just, it was just two games, it was two games on the road. And so, at the start of the year, when we had great road wins against Georgia Tech and College of Charleston at the start of the year, everyone was praising us, our composure when we’re away from home we. And so at the end of the day, we didn’t play well, our best last week, and it happened to be a long way from home, but that’s not an indictment of who we are. . We are a good basketball team. And we have another opportunity on Saturday at home. And when we have to go, we have the opportunity to play our best basketball on the road.
Q: You mentioned in your introduction that you felt like you were going to be a bit tired for the next two days. I mean, I don’t know, did you try to break the routine a bit? You’re trying to do something fun, you know, you see how like some NBA games, I think the Warriors were playing like softball or something in their arena the other night instead of practicing. I mean, like, you try to mix things up to keep these guys fresh.
Coach Davis: You know what, I would do this if I had Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. We played, we wouldn’t even play softball, we just thought it was weird. If I give myself, give me Steph Curry, we’ll play wiffle ball every day, we’ll do that. And we do that, you know, tomorrow will be a light day. And a lot of times we switch things up, because it’s a long year and just change the pace a bit and make it fun. That’s actually what we did after coming back from the road. Last week we sat down and spent time together as a team and just laughing and hanging out together I think that really put us in perspective and a good starting point, you know, our three home games . And so I understand what you’re saying and those are things that we would talk about as staff to find out, in terms of what puts us in a better position to play our best on Saturday. And so I’m not opposed to playing wiffle ball, if it sets us up to play well against NC State, we’ll play wiffle ball.
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