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North Carolina Coach Hubert Davis took part in the weekly ACC Conference Call on Monday morning to field several questions about his team and season.
The Tar Heels are coming off a 77-69 loss at NC State on Sunday, which was UNC’s fifth loss in its last six games, and also dropped them to 16-11 overall and 8-8 in the ACC.
Davis was asked about his team’s morale, the outside noise, freshman forward Jalen Washington’s playing time, and more.
UNC next plays at Notre Dame on Wednesday night, and finishes out the regular season at home versus Virginia, at Florida State, and at home against Duke.
Above is the video of Davis’ 10-minute Q&A session, and below is the transcript of a couple of questions THI asked Davis about Washington:
Jalen Washington did not play Sunday at NC State, though he said after the game he was healthy and could have played. In fact, Washington has played a combined 32 minutes since UNC’s win at Louisville on January 14.
In that game, Washington played 19 minutes, as Armando Bacot was coming off an injury suffered early in the loss at Virginia a few days earlier. At UVA, Washington played 27 minutes scoring 13 points and grabbing six rebounds.
So, he played 48 minutes that week, and 50 for the rest of the season. It should be noted Washington’s season debut was December 10 versus Georgia Tech in Carolina’s tenth game of the campaign. He missed the first nine coming back from a knee injury suffered in the summer of 2021.
So, THI asked Davis a series of questions Monday morning about what Washington must do to get more playing time? Here is that exchange:
THI: What must Jalen Washington do to be more a part of the rotation and increase his playing time?
DAVIS: “Just in regards to everybody on the team, I give everybody opportunities, that’s the type of coach I am,. I give guys opportunities to play. I don’t guarantee when, where, how in the manner which those opportunities will come, but it’s on the player when you’re number is called to be ready.
“Every time Jalen’s number has been called, he’s been ready and he’s done a terrific job out there on the floor.”
THI: More specifically, are there a couple of things you would like to see from him that would elevate his minutes?
DAVIS: “What do you mean specifics?"
THI: Specifics in his game. Maybe there’s something defensively, or he needs to get stronger, some things along those lines?
DAVIS: “He’s got an unbelievable stroke and ability to score in the post, and he can shoot the ball from the outside. I know he hasn’t made a three this year, but he can stretch it beyond the arc. Defensively, I think he’s improving every day in terms of how to guard the five position and how to guard that hybrid four position where those guys are more perimeter-based, and resemble more of a perimeter player as opposed to a traditional power forward.”
Washington has played 98 minutes this season, averaging 2.9 points and 1.3 rebounds per contest. He is He is 16-for-33 from the field (48.5 percent), including 0-for-6 from the perimeter.
