CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina Coach Hubert Davis met with the media Monday afternoon at the Smith Center to field questions about his team through their first two games of the season.
Davis was asked about the top-ranked Tar Heels playing with the burden of being No. 1 and the expectations that come with it in a program with UNC’s brand and reach, rebounding issues, about Caleb Love’s maturity, Armando Bacot and Pete Nance learning to play off each other, the freshmen and more.
Above is the video of Davis’ presser and below are some notes and pulled quotes from what he had to say:
Note: UNC hosts Gardner-Webb on Tuesday night and James Madison on Sunday.
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*Pete Nance has scored 13 points total in UNC’s first two games attempting only eight shots from the floor (he’s 3-for-8). Forward Armando Bacot took some responsibility after Friday’s win over College of Charleston for not integrating with Nance sooner. So Davis was asked about this.
“First of all, we’ve only played two games,” Davis said. “He’s been here in our program for (four) months, and because of his play and because of his personality, it feels like as if he’s been here four years… I’m not worried about Pete at all.
“I’m so thankful that he’s a part of this team and a part of this program, and he is a huge, huge piece for us to be the team that we want to become. And I’m glad he’s here at Carolina.”
In other words, Davis isn’t worried. The meshing of these guys takes time, and Davis is confident it will happen.
*A senior, Bacot has had a different frontcourt mate each of his four seasons. So, what are some things Davis can do in practice to facilitate more cohesion between Bacot and Nance, aside from pairing them in practice?
“I think it’s a combination of things,” Davis said. “I think it’s time spent away from the court and having a clear understanding of just getting to know each other. That’s one of the (reasons) I require guys to stop by the office at least three times a week; and we can’t talk basketball because I always tell the guys, ‘I can’t coach you if I don’t know you, and you can’t play for me unless you know me is to spend time together.’
“And that’s the same for our players. I know Armando and Pete spend a lot of time together outside of the court understanding their tendencies and personalities that make it easier to complement each other out there on the floor.”
*Carolina has uncharacteristically been outrebounded by both UNCW and Charleston, which isn’t settling well with Davis. Last year’s team was outrebounded just three times all season: Versus Tennessee at the Mohegan Sun, versus Kentucky in Las Vegas, and at home against Duke. The Tar Heels suffered lopsided losses in each of those contests.
“This is the first time since 2014 that we have been outrebounded by back-to-back nonconference opponents. I think it was Butler and UCLA.
“One of the foundation pieces for Carolina Basketball has always been to rebound the basketball. I think we were No. 2 in the country (last season) in terms of defensive rebounding, so that’s something that has been brought to our attention, and is something that we talk about and we continue to address. And it’s something that’s going to change.”
*Davis played football at Lake Braddock High School in Burke, VA. He was an All-Met wide receiver for the Bruins, as honored by the Washington Post’s area all-star team. In fact, according to an article in the Post from 1988, Davis caught 105 passes for 1,300 yards as a junior and senior.
So, Davis watches every UNC football game and is thrilled the Tar Heels are ranked No. 13 in the nation and heading to the ACC championship game.
“I’m a huge, huge football fan,” Davis said. “I love college football, I love UNC football, I love Coach (Mack) Brown. I’m so proud of him, his staff, his players. I sent him a text this morning and told him how happy I was for him, his staff, and his players.
“One of the things that brings me joy to my heart is seeing kids with smiles on their faces, and after they beat an unbelievable Wake Forest team this past weekend, just watching it on TV and seeing the hugs and the happy tears and the excitement from all of those kids was just really cool.”
Obviously, the Maye family has now had major impacts on UNC football and basketball. Beau Maye is a walk-on for Davis’ team.
“A couple of weeks ago, we practiced at 10 (AM) to make sure we were done with practice – they were at Virginia – at noon,” Davis said. “So we had practice at 10 AM to make sure that we were done with practice so all of us could support the Carolina football team when they were playing at Virginia and so that Beau could watch his brother (Drake).”
