RJ Davis Talks Shooting Improvemets, Defense, Irish & More
CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina point guard RJ Davis met with the media Friday afternoon at the Smith Center, in advance of the Tar Heels’ home game Saturday versus Notre Dame, to discuss his game, some teammates, leadership, the Fighting Irish, and much more.
Carolina is coming off an 88-79 win over Wake Forest at home Wednesday night, while the Irish have lost five of their last six games. UNC is 10-5 overall and 2-2 in the ACC, Notre Dame is 8-7 and 0-4.
The game tips at 11:30 AM and will air on ESPN2.
Above is the video of Davis’ Q&A session, and below are a few notes and pulled quotes from what he had to say:
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*RJ Davis attributes some of his improved and more consistent shooting to his one-injured finger on his right hand healing, but there is more. To note, Davis is 41-for-83 from the field in UNC’s last seven games, which is 49.4 percent, after shooting 38.9 percent up to that point. From the perimeter, he is 14-for-32 (43.8 percent) over the last six games, and up to that point was at 26.2 percent.
“Early in the season, I was bothered with a little finger injury, but now I’m shooting at a high clip I’m normally able to shoot at,” he said, before adding another part of his game that is there. “As far as my rebounding, I know it might be new to you guys, but it’s always been an unwritten part of my game I’ve been doing since I was little.”
*UNC Coach Hubert Davis said Friday his team’s defense over the final 10 minutes of the Wake game was the best they’ve played on that end of the court this season. RJ Davis agrees.
“We saw we could do it the last 10 minutes of that game,” he said. “We were aggressive, we showed some presence, and I feel like we need to carry that over for a full 40 minutes of a game.”
*Carolina lost to Notre Dame in South Bend last season, a game in which the Heels did not play well down the stretch, and drew highly negative comments by Armando Bacot afterward. The tape from that game is useful, however, and the Tar Heels have watched it some prepping for Saturday’s game.
“We watched a couple of clips, and we emphasized how poorly we played last year,” Davis said. “We’re just trying to build off what we did against Wake Forest leading up to Notre Dame, because they’re a good team as well.”
*Carolina came off a season in which it advanced to the national championship game and then entered this year as the No. 1 team in the nation. But the Tar Heels sit at 10-5 overall, 2-2 in the ACC, and dropped out of the AP poll faster than any team in history and remain unranked. Davis has been somewhat surprised by the valleys this team has endured thus far.
“We knew what was expected coming into this year, just the hype around the team and playing against great teams,” he said. “We knew the type of energy that was going to be brought to us because we kind of brought it upon ourselves. And we’re going to play teams that are highly competitive and looking to get after us.
“So, knowing that and we’re going to get everyone’s best shots, we’ve got to be prepared as a team as well.”
A follow-up on being surprised about the valleys: “I definitely wouldn’t say it would be a perfect season, I definitely expected some obstacles and some ups and downs, but I’m shocked looking at the inconsistency,” he said. “Just how much of a veteran team we have, and we’re so talented.
“Back to what I was saying, we’re right there, but why do we have to be right there when we know what we’re capable of?”