CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina Coach Hubert Davis met with the media Friday afternoon in advance of Saturday’s game versus Clemson at the Smith Center to field a variety of questions about his team.
The Tar Heels have dropped three consecutive games and are coming off a loss at Wake Forest in which they trailed by 26 points in the second half. Afterward, the team had a 37-minute meeting before anyone was available to the media.
Davis was asked multiple questions about that, how the team has responded since then, team on-court chemistry, frustration, and to give a scouting report on the Tigers.
UNC is 15-9 overall and 7-6 in the ACC, while Clemson is 18-6 overall and 10-3 in the ACC. The Tigers are tied for first place in the league.
Above is video of Davis’ presser, and below are some notes and pulled quotes from what he had to say:
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*Regarding the 37-minute meeting after the game in Winston-Salem, Davis said the team has responded well. It must be noted they did not practice Wednesday but were back at it Thursday. Friday’s practice was slated following the presser.
“Their response has been the same since I’ve been head coach,” Davis said. “One of the things that I always tell them is that in life you are going to get knocked down, and that includes basketball. And so, when, not if, when you get knocked down, you have a choice of either whining or complaining and pointing fingers and making excuses, or you can get back up and competitively fight.
“And this group, over the two years that I’ve been head coach, has consistently done that. The last couple of days, specifically yesterday in practice… in terms of execution, in terms of basketball, practice was good. I felt like the energy, the effort, the enthusiasm, the togetherness, the closeness was really good as well.”
*Davis has said from day one when he took the job that he talks with the players about “blocking out the noise,” referring to social media, friends, family, and so on, be it praise or criticism. The noise, however, has heated up of late, with one storyline taking on way too much a life of its own, and largely inaccurately portrayed, and the other narrative regarding the team’s struggles.
Carolina’s coach stayed the course with what he has said all along, not giving any recognition to the escalation of social media criticism of his team and the other stuff.
“I talk to them about that every day,” Davis said. “My communication with them, in terms of focusing on what is real and what is right, is our preparation and our practice and our play. And anything outside of those three is of no benefit to us.
“Those are conversations in the two years that I’ve been head coach, I have had with players pretty much every day. That message has always been consistent.”
*Following the loss at Wake, and the 37-minute meeting afterward, in which Armando Bacot was the only player to address the team, the senior forward gave them a mandate that anyone not interesting in grinding for one another not show up to Thursday’s practice. Davis wasn’t specifically asked if all 18 players were at practice, and there’s no reason to suspect there were any no-shows, but he was asked more about how the team has responded, particularly if he’s seen anything different from them.
“I didn’t really compare the practice to anything else other than I thought it was a really good practice,” Davis said. “Our practices leading up to Wake Forest were really good. I was really pleased with them.
“So, can we have another good practice today, and can both multiple practices translate tomorrow against Clemson at 2 PM. That’s my hope, that’s my expectation.”
*The players were clearly frustrated after the game Tuesday, as was Davis. It was one of the more direct postgame pressers he’s given in two years as Carolina’s coach. So, a few days later, where is his frustration level with this team?
“I wouldn’t characterize it as frustrating,” Davis said. “Even though things don’t go the way that you want them to go, I can’t be frustrated with them. I enjoy coaching them, I enjoy being around them, I enjoy the process of growing with them. So, linking frustration to this team, I just can’t do. I’ve never been there with them and I never will.”
*Staying on the long meeting Tuesday and vibe inside the program, Davis was asked if he’s ever done this much “soul searching” before, noting that’s how it came off in the postgame presser at Wake. Davis said there’s nothing to read into the long meeting or anything from how he was afterward. They have long meetings all the time.
“I don’t see it different than any other time,” Davis said. “We spent more time in the locker room than we normally would have, or normally have, but there have been a number of examples whether it’s after practice, before practice, after a game, before a game, on an off day, that we’ve had really great discussions on our team, and how can we maximize the most out of this year’s team.
“I know it was after a game, but that’s something that I feel like we’ve done all year long.”
*Some of the Tar Heels said after the game Tuesday they are having chemistry issues. The understanding here was they were speaking about on-court stuff, not the off-the-court noise. Now, Davis doesn’t speak to what players or people have said when he didn’t directly heard it, so the question was posed if he’s seen any in sync issues the last few games.
“I’ll answer that two ways,” Davis replied. “One, I have not noticed that at all. I have not noticed that. And two, and another thing that, and I’ve talked to you guys before, not just here but in general, one of the things that I really like to stay away from is I like to comment on stuff that I’m involved in, and I like to comment on stuff that I personally have heard.
“I think it’s negligent on my part to comment and react to something that somebody said that I don’t know that they said it. I wasn’t there.”
It was noted that the question was more his take on them being out of sync. Davis understood and said the players want to win as much as him.
“If they were satisfied and content, then we would have a problem,” he said. “But they want to win, they want to be good, they want to be the best that they can be, and I love that trait from them.”
