North Carolina Coach met with the media following the No. 1 Tar Heels’ 89-81 win over Portland on Thursday in the opening round of the Phil Knight invitational in Portland.
Pete Nance led UNC with 28 points while Caleb Love added 23. The pair combined to shoot 18-for-28 from the floor, including 8-for-12 from 3-point range.
All five starters scored in double figures for UNC.
Carolina improved to 5-0 on the season and will face the winner between Iowa-State and Villanova on Friday at 5:30.
Here is the full transcript of what Davis had to say:
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Q: A tougher game than you expected:
DAVIS: “Not at all, not at all. Someone asked me as at halftime, ‘Are you surprised the game is so close?’ And I said, ‘Absolutely not.’ They’re a good basketball team as well. They had seven or eight returning players, they have tremendous experience, they know how to play, they play well together. So no.
“It’s interesting, the position we’re in, people have an expectation of how it’s supposed to look. We’re supposed to be up by 20 at halftime, we’re supposed to win every game by 30. No. We’re supposed to compete hard and continue to improve, and see what kind of team we can become.”
Q: Were you satisfied with the intensity your team played with?
DAVIS: “No. I was satisfied with it at times. I thought in the second half we responded when we needed a rebound we did, when we needed a stop we stopped, when we needed a score we did score. When we needed to make winning plays, we were able to do that, but not at the consistent rate you need to in order to have success.
“That’s the thing I was frustrated with. We were doing things consistently throughout the game that we haven’t worked on in practice. I talked to them after the game, I don’t have any understanding of any of that. I don’t understand why would we do something than what we have drilled and what we have practiced in practice. When you do that, you go off the script.
“It’s not even successful, so I don’t understand that. That’s something that I did address, and we’ll be better tomorrow.”
Q: How often does this off-the-script stuff happen?
DAVIS: “Too much for me. I think one of the most difficult things for anybody, especially for 18, 19-year-old kids, is to handle the noise from the direction of praise. I’ll be honest with you, for me it’s never about the end result, it’s about then preparation, the practice and the process and in your play.
“In order to play for me, you’ve got to have my personality. I’m emotional, I’m ready to fight, I’m ready to compete, I’m ready to get after it. And as a player, if you can’t match that, or you can’t mimic that, or that’s something that’s not part of your personality, it’s going to be very difficult to play for me.”
Q: It’s Thanksgiving and you guys won, but you don’t seem very happy.
DAVIS: “I am happy. I’m very joyful. I’m very joyful. Again, it’s bigger than wins and losses. I want us to consistently compete, and for the first five games, it’s been there for a half, it’s been there for moments, but it hasn’t been there for a full 40 minutes on both ends of the floor.
“So, it’s November, we’ve got to continue to improve and get better, but I’m very thankful.”
Q: Leaky said the team isn’t at the level of focus and energy it needs to be, so is that on the coaching staff, or as a former player, is that on the guys once the game gets going?
DAVIS: “You know my personality, it’s live. Whether it’s in practice, the huddle, the locker room, it’s there. I don’t know how you play this game without passion, without emotion; it’s impossible, I don’t know how you can do it.
“And I don’t think it matters about your personality. One of the things I’ve told them, to be thankful there’s three ways to show thankfulness. One, you can do it verbally. Number two, you can share it. And number three, you can use it.
“So the gift of talent that we have out there on the floor should bring a passion and a joy and emotion because you’re out there competing for North Carolina. I agree with Leaky.
“One of the things I always talk about is you’ve got to have a hunger and a thirst. And I’ve told them a number of times, I am not even close to full. I’ve starving right now. What I want is for there to be a hunger and thirst for us, too. Nobody’s satisfied, nobody’s full.”
Q: They sent help to Armando every time he touched the ball, but he still came up big in the second half. What does that say about him and his ability to take that pressure?
DAVIS: “Because he posted up lower. When he posted up near the 3-point line, you can’t go anywhere. You post up lower and they can’t double-team you. And even if they double-team you, you’ll score or get fouled.
“So, on those occasions Armando did post up low, the double-team wasn’t a factor, because as soon as they came, he was already at the rim. One of the things you have to do is you have to do your work early on both ends of the floor.
“So, from an offensive standpoint, you have to do your work early to catch the ball where you want it to be able to be successful. In those situations, Armando was able to do that, and double-teams weren’t a factor as it was in the first half.”
Q: You said before the season how this team would come out. A year ago, everybody was killing them, this year everybody is kissing their a*s, how do you feel like they’ve taken to that this year?
DAVIS: “I think they’re trying to figure this out. I really do. I think they’ve never in their life had to deal with this. The weight of other people’s expectations; and I’ve addressed it. We have talked about this a lot whether it comes from criticism or comes from praise, it’s still noise, and it is of no benefit to us individually and us as a team.
“‘All you have to work on, and all you have to focus on is us. Let’s just see if we can get a little bit better every day, and let’s commit to the hard work and the practice and preparation and play, and we’ll be more than fine.
“So, it’s very hard. There’s so much noise from the phone, the family, and the friends.”
Q: Does NIL factor into this at all?
DAVIS: “Oh my gosh, no. Not at all. Not at all. The hunger and thirst has been there. I just want it to be more consistent. I’m greedy, I like it for a full 40 minutes. But I wouldn’t want to coach any better team or be a part of any other program than this one. I love these kids. They’re unbelievable, great kids trying to figure stuff out on the national scene.
“And I’m glad they’re going through this. This is going to be great for them this year. It’s going to be great for them outside of basketball moving forward. And I’ve very proud to be in a position to help them and walk alongside them through this process.”
Q: Pete Nance had his best offensive game so far. What did you like about him today?
DAVIS: “He made shots. I like it, I like FGM (field goals made). Pete, I’ve told you this before, I can’t believe he’s with us, especially with where the game is going; versatile bigs that can do a number of things on both ends of the floor. So, to get somebody that is a starter at Northwestern in the Big Ten and his ability to shoot, he can post up and score, he can handle the basketball, he’s a gifted passer.
“Defensively, he can guard guards on the perimeter. He can also guard the post and he can block shots. The thing that I was really happy about Pete today, is I felt like Pete was really aggressive. One of the conversations that I’ve had with him a number of times is, he’s such a nice kid, he wants to fit in, and I try to tell him, ‘the way you fit in is to be a dude. And don’t worry about you’re the new guy on the block. We didn’t recruit you to be a role player. We recruited you to be what you did today.
“‘Let everybody know, you step on people’s shoes and continue to be aggressive.’ And I thought today Pete played, and regardless of him scoring 28 points, that’s the way I want him to play.”
