North Carolina Basketball Coach Hubert Davis took part in the weekly ACC Coaches’ Conference Call on Monday morning to field questions about his team.

Davis was asked nine questions in a 10-minute span.

The Tar Heels have two road games this week beginning Tuesday night at Pittsburgh and Saturday at Duke. At 13-8 overall and 6-3 in the ACC, with a NET ranking of 40, UNC has reached a critical point in its season.

Above is video of Davis’ Q&A session and below are notes from what he had to say:

*Jalen Washington strongly criticized his own play from the overtime win over Boston College, mostly noting his defense against BC’s bigs and work on the backboards. However, he scored 18 points and was much more assertive around the rim and finishing. Davis was asked about that and if it’s an area of the 6-foot-10 junior’s game that is evolving.

“I do think he was really effective for us and really helped us being able to score around the basket. I always say I want to dominate points in the paint through post and penetration. And his ability to be able to finish around the basket was huge for us to stay in the game against Boston College and ultimately be able to pull out that win.

“So, I was really proud of him from that standpoint. And just the consistency of being able to finish around the basket and be a low post presence for us is just really huge and he came up big for us against Boston College.”

*As a follow-up about Washington, is there an area of his game that has improved that isn’t obvious to most people?

“He can really shoot the basketball. He’s only made one three, that was against Wake Forest towards the end of the game. That’s an area for us offensively that can make us even better having a five that can pick and pop and knock down consistently from three, it just opens up the spacing even more for us to put the ball on the floor to drive to attack.

“So again, he’s only hit one this year but he can really shoot the basketball. And so my hope it that some point this year he can get on a roll shooting the ball from the outside and being able to knock down multiple threes in a game.”

*Seth Trimble played a career-high 43 minutes in the win over BC just several games after returning from a concussion that sidelined him for three games. Trimble scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the win. Davis discussed where Trimble is right now in relation to before the concussion.

“I think rhythm wise he’s a lot closer to where he was prior to him sitting out two-and-a-half weeks. Two-and-a-half weeks is two-and-a-half weeks. It’s not easy just to come back and just get back into the flow.

“Seth is just one of those players that can just have the ability to make an impact in so many different areas. And so, yeah he was able to score for us, especially down the stretch, he can knock down free throws. And for him to get 12 rebounds, he’s just one of those guys that can impact a game in so many different areas, and he was able to do that against Boston College, and without him, we don’t even have a chance to win.”

*Davis started a different five for the BC game with Trimble back among the first five along with Ven-Allen Lubin, and Drake Powell and Washington coming off the bench. Davis has often said starting lineups don’t matter, but that tune appears to have changed some since he now views it not just as a reward for guys playing well, but it’s also about matching up, too.

“That’s what it is. It is. It’s a fluid situation. It’s matchups in regards to starting the game, the rotations. It is a fluid situation. It’s not fluid in some positions but in other positions it is fluid and it’s all determined, really, on the rhythm of us and just the matchups in terms of who we’re playing.

“So, every game I look at it that way. There isn’t going to be a set five. It will be determined by matchups and how guys are playing and rotations. There’s a number of factors that’ll go into who starts the game.”

*Ty Claude played five minutes in the win over BC because Carolina’s bigs got into foul trouble, and he gave the team a lift. His energy, something the rest of the Heels lacked, was obvious and infused the team some during a period in which they were not playing well at all. Davis said Claude gives them that every day in practice.

“That’s just him. He brings that (to) practice, shoot around, he brings that in the locker room, and the guys love being around him, love playing with him, and love teasing him and joking with him because he’s the oldest player on the team. So, a couple of guys call him ‘Grandpa’ and just different stuff like that. That gets him going.

“His instinctive energy and effort is something that this group has needed on a daily basis, and I’m so glad that he’s here this season. And he played really well in the five minutes against Boston College. It was huge minutes for us.”

*Carolina’s growth defensively prior to the BC game had largely gone unnoticed by many in the media and wasn’t mentioned enough in this space. The Heels had clearly shown significant progress. However, that wasn’t at all the case against the Eagles. The Heels were awful and their coach let them know it.

“There weren’t conversations, it was a monologue by me. When you say what kind of issues, it was everything. Ball pressure, half court, out of bounds underneath, in transition, guarding one-on-one, guarding in the post, discipline standing down for shot fakes, boxing out, getting through screens, talking and communicating. There was a departure of all of that against Boston College.

“And I’m not sure why. So, I’m very thankful that we were able to putt it together and down the stretch make the plays that we needed to make in order to win against a Boston College team that played extremely well. And we were very fortunate enough to come away with a win.”

*UNC visits a good Pitt team Tuesday night in a Quad 1 game. The Panthers present many challenges.

“They’re just a really good team. Coach (Jeff) Capel does a great job coaching them. They’re very tough, they’ve very physical. Defensively, they can do a number of things defensively on the ball; they’re really good on the ball.

“A key to them is rebounding. When they rebound well, that puts them in a position to be successful. But from an offensive standpoint, they’ve got a number of guys that can get hot from three. And they’ve got guards that just with the ball, weather it’s one-on-one, pick-and-roll situations, can create shots not only for themselves but for their teammates.

“They’re a really good basketball team. It’s a Pitt team. Skilled, tough, competitive, and that’s what it will be tomorrow night at 9 PM.”