North Carolina Basketball Coach Hubert Davis met with the media Monday morning for the weekly ACC Coaches’ conference call to field some questions about his team.

The Tar Heels have dropped consecutive games, three of their last four and are coming off an 87-70 loss at Duke.

UNC is 13-10 overall and 6-5 in the ACC.

Here is what Davis had to say:

Q: Drake Powell had some success scoring in the second half at Duke while playing the three spot. Would Davis like to play him at the three more?

DAVIS: “I thought he played really well against Duke. In terms of like the three and the four. The biggest difference really is from a defensive standpoint in terms of who you’re defending. But other than that, since I became head coach I’ve been pretty much a positionless coach.

“I mean, Harrison (Ingram) was out on the perimeter and shot threes and came off of ball screens and posted up went to the offensive glass and rebounded. He did all that, and so there’s no distinction of three you’re out on the perimeter for and four you’re in the post on the block.

“And in terms of giving guys numbers, it’s just for organization standpoints of, ‘I need you in this spot at the beginning of the play and I need you in this spot at the end of the play. So, whether somebody is at the one the two the three and the four, I recruit, I coach, and I play basketball players that can make plays all over the court.”

Q: What do you think allowed him to get more looks in the second half?

DAVIS: “You’re right he was more aggressive and that’s what I really liked about it, and that’s what we need consistently for him to be aggressive because he has an ability to create his own shot, he ahs an ability to get to the basket, he’s an excellent passer, he knows how to make the right play.

“And when he’s aggressive, that really helps us out as a team and is something that I communicated to him after the game and will continue to communicate with him about him being aggressive on the offensive end is really good news for us.”

Q: You guys have the week off before facing Pitt on Saturday. What does the week off look like for you guys as far as practicing and recovery? And do you think that the week off is coming at a good time for this team after some difficult losses?

DAVIS: “Yeah, I think it’s coming at the perfect time. It’s a time to give us to regroup, we get practice and work on us as opposed to preparing for a game midweek. Get some guys healthy in terms of some bumps and bruises.

“I think mentally, we needed a break. We’ll practice this week and will have a day off in the middle of the week. And I just think it comes at a perfect time for us to regroup as a team and refocus on the things that we need to do in order to get better and for the outcomes to be better, and I just really believe it came at a perfect time to get this week without a mid-week game.”

Q: Your comments about being optimistic about your team and its future, what specifically do you like about this team that you see a positive path forward as far as NCAA Tournament and that kind of thing?

DAVIS: “I was communicating that I love coaching this team and I love coaching these kids. They come every day to bring their best, it’s a group that really enjoys being together, it’s a group that really enjoys being a team. I love coaching them. I don’t know what else to say other than I like these kids. I love them.”

Q: With a week between games, what kinds of things are you hoping to tweak and change with this group to get them where you want them to be on the court?

DAVIS: “This is what our team has been consistently inconsistent in the details on both ends of the floor. That’s what we’ve been, and I’ve been clear and direct in regards to little things that I’m talking about. It’s shot selection, turnovers the last two games have scored 41 points off of our turnovers. That’s just not gonna work, that’s not sustainable.

“Defensively, defending without fouling, boxing out. Those are things that can be fixed and those are things that we’ve talked about and those are things that we have to fix moving forward.”

Q: Regarding the turnovers, do you think defenses are picking up on patterns that you guys are playing?

DAVIS: “No. One of the things that I say all the time is in many different ways is making the easy play, simple works, routine plays routinely, make routine plays routinely. And I think our turnovers are a result of not making the easy play, trying to hit the home run. And those are things that we have to do like in regards to one-handed passes; those are the things that we’ve got to do.

“We’ve got to make simple, sound, fundamental plays. And when we don’t, that is a result our turnovers and those are things that we have to address and have get better at right now.”

Q: When you and the staff get together this week will you harken back to 2022 when in late January you were 12-6 and 4-3 (ACC) and struggling and ended up in the national championship game?

DAVIS: “I won’t communicate that with the team because the only person on (that) team was RJ. But I do communicate with the team on irregardless of where we are now and people’s opinions, this team still has a chance to achieve and experience everything that this team wants to achieve and experience.

“We have nine more regular season games left. We have that. We have the ACC Tournament. And it’s all under our control in terms of us playing the best that we can be. Obviously we made the run to the national championship game my first year (and) we still have an opportunity to turn this season around and we need to focus on becoming the best team that we can possibly become. And at the end of the day, live with the results.”