CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina Basketball Coach Hubert Davis met with the media Monday afternoon at the Smith Center to field questions about his team and to look ahead to the 10th-ranked Tar Heels’ trip to Hawaii coming up later this week.
UNC is 2-1 and is coming off a 52-point win over American but the Tar Heels will face tougher competition on the islands.
They open against Hawaii in its arena in Honolulu before playing three consecutive days at the Maui Invitational. UNC opens against Dayton and win or lose will play either No. 4 Auburn or No. 5 Iowa State the following day. And on Wednesday, the Heels will face one of UConn, Michigan State, Memphis, or Colorado.
Above is video of Davis’ presser and below are some notes from what he had to say:
Note: Davis said freshmen Ian Jackson and James Brown had a full practice Sunday and are available when the team faces Hawaii on Friday night. Both players missed Friday’s game against American with lower body injuries.
*The Tar Heels will play four games in six days in Hawaii after playing just one game in a 13-day span. Davis said much of this extra practice time has been spent on building good habits and being more consistent in a variety of areas.
*UNC has outrebounded its three opponents thus far, including Kansas (40-39) and then doubled up American (46-23) on the glass. Davis is pleased with the direction his team is headed on the backboards.
“Yes. I’ve been straight forward and direct, we’ve got to be a great rebounding team. We want to dominate the boards, not just defensive rebounding percentage but also on the offensive glass as well. Yes, that was good that we outrebounded Kansas, we outrebounded a bigger team in Elon, and then we were able to dominate the boards against American.
“That’s huge for us. I’ve been straight forward and direct, the number one determining factor in the outcome of the game is rebounding the basketball. So, for us to rebound that way in the direction that we’re going is something that we stress and talk about every day.”
*In particular, freshman wing Drake Powell isn’t afraid to go after the ball. He grabbed 11 boards against the Eagles. He had 4 in 20 minutes at Kansas and 2 in the opener versus Elon. In 63 minutes thus far, Powell has 17 rebounds.
“Fundamentally, he’s sound so he’s always boxing out and he has the athleticism and the length to be able to go get it. And also, the drive to be able to do it. I think he can be one of the best, if not the best, rebounding guard ever in Carolina history once he consistently goes to the offensive glass. I think he can be a great offensive rebounder.”
*Davis was asked about the slow starts in each of the first three games, but quickly replied that they didn’t start slowly at Kansas. UNC actually led 7-2 and it was a 19-18 game 7:15 into the contest before the Jayhawks went on a huge run in building a 20-point lead late in the half.
*Carolina’s coach played in the Maui Invitational during his sophomore season. The Tar Heels beat James Madison on a King Rice buzzer beater, took care of Villanova in the next round and then lost to Missouri in the title game.
Davis told some stories about that trip including one about former assistant coach Bill Guthridge getting the team up at 5 AM one day and having the players ride bikes to the top of a small mountain and then back down. Davis said it was dark when they went up the mountain and “bright” when they came back down.
*In addition, Davis was asked several questions about junior big man Jalen Washington, including his patience waiting for his opportunity, the patience it’s required for that and to work through multiple knee injuries, and about Washington’s game and what else might be coming.
Also, Davis discussed the balance between his team having fun in Hawaii while also playing four important basketball games, some of the things he likes about what his team has done, and his thoughts about playing in events that require teams to play three consecutive days like the Maui Invitational does.
