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

UNC is 9-6 overall and 2-1 in the ACC. The Heels are coming off a 74-73 win at Notre Dame. They host SMU and visit NC State this week.

Above is video of Davis’ 10-minute session and below are some notes from what he had to say:

*The first question for Davis was asking for an overall assessment of his team at this point in the season.

“I’ve said in the beginning in regard to our team what is going to allow us to have the most success is our ability to defend, get stops, and rebound the basketball. And also limit turnovers. I go to those three things every day with this team in letting them know and understand how important checking those three boxes are.”

As for SMU…

“From an offensive standpoint, SMU is really gifted in terms of scoring, but we are, too. Not just for SMU, but moving forward for the remainder of the year, everything is going to be tied to how good a defensive team we are, how good a rebounding team we are, and how well do we do taking care of the basketball.”

*The Tar Heels return home to face SMU for a 9 PM tip off. Davis was asked about what stands out about how the Mustangs play.

“They’ve got tremendous size and athleticism. They can score in the post, they’ve got guys that can spray it from three. They’re number one in the ACC in terms of offensive rebounds per game, so when the ball’s up in the air and coming off the rim we’re going to have to box out, we’re gonna have to rebound. That’s going to be a huge determining factor in terms of the outcome of the game.”

*Jalen Washington had 4 turnovers in the Notre Dame game, but he also scored 8 points, had 6 rebounds and blocked 5 shots while being disruptive in other areas defensively. Could this be a momentum game for him?

“Yeah, I do and I hope so because JWash is an important piece to this team and the success of this team. And JWash can shoot the ball from three. He hadn’t made a three all season, and so my hope is that confidence moves even beyond the arc from 3-point range. Because at the five (spot), that’s a weapon that could really help us offensively his ability to consistently make that outside jump shot.

“But I was really proud of him. We want to protect the paint and he protected the basket, and when he didn’t get a block he did a nice job altering shots. And I thought he played really well and was a huge determining on us being able to win.”

*There was a stretch in the game at Notre Dame in which the Heels had a lineup that included Cade Tyson at the three, Jae’Lyn Withers at the four, and Washington/James Brown at the five spot. What does Davis like about the lineup and if it gave the team a different dynamic on the floor?

“Even when we’re big we’re a little small (laughter). That bigger lineup was in large part the matchups in regards to Notre Dame. (Tae) Davis is a bigger four and it would be tougher to go real small against him because of his ability to score around the basket, offensive rebounding, post up.

“So, that’s one of the things I do like about this team is the versatility so that would could go super small with RJ (Davis), Elliot (Cadeau), Ian (Jackson), Seth (Trimble), or we can go bigger with Cade at 6-7, 6-8 at the three, and then having JWith (6-9) at the four. So, that’s the type of versatility that we have that we can change lineups depending on who we’re playing.”

*Seth Trimble has missed the last three games with an upper body injury. So is there an update on him and might be play against SMU?

“He practiced yesterday (Sunday) and he did one full contact drill, but I haven’t spoken with him today and we have practice at 3, so I’ll have more of an update after practice today. But he did practice yesterday.”

*Going back to JWash, he said Saturday about the blocked shots, helping, and even tying up Markus Burton on a play, he said it was a simply matter of rotating better defensively, admitting he struggled at that at Louisville. Is that what it basically is for him is a simple matter of being consistent with the rotations and when to provide help defense to be more of a rim protector?

“I think it’s just growth and in JWash in his game on both ends of the floor in gaining more confidence. It’s his junior year, and this is the first time he’s playing every game. His freshman year, he was only healthy half the year, last year he played behind Armando and Armando gobbled up a lot of the minutes, and this year it’s different.

“There’s a consistency that goes with starting. And it’s not about shots in particularly, it’s the consistency of being in the right spots like you mentioned, talking on defense, taking care of the basketball, blocking and altering shots. All those types of things that I think JWash every day is understanding that and getting better at doing it.”

*A quick follow up, you mentioned talking on defense, I actually heard him from where we were sitting, and I hadn’t heard a lot of talking from you guys. Is that something he did more of Saturday in South Bend?

“Not just him, everybody. I’ve said before, this is the quietest team that I’ve ever been around. And I’ve told them, ‘Guys, I’ve never around a good team, and I’ve never been around a good defensive team that’s quiet.’ And I said, ‘You guys are just going to have to come outside of your personality. But the only way you can play basketball is communicate and talking.’

“And I specifically told the guys after the game and yesterday before practice, it was the most talking that they have done all season. They were talking in the huddle, and I said, ‘Guys, I absolutely love that. That’s what I’ve been preaching and begging for all season. And actually, I want you to do it even more.’ But it was the best talking game communicating all season for us.”