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CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina Coach Hubert Davis met with the media Friday in advance of the Tar Heels’ game at Virginia Tech on Saturday to discuss the Hokies, Justin McKoy’s health, his team’s inconsistency, Thursday’s good practice, if he’s watched The Tournament, and more.
The Tar Heels (18-8, 10-5 ACC) face the Hokies in Cassell Coliseum on Saturday at 4 PM, and will try to bounce back from a perplexing loss at home to Pittsburgh on Wednesday night.
One interesting note that isn’t transcribed here is that Davis said practice Thursday was a 10 on the scale of 1-10, and he was a bit miffed about the fact that the team didn’t have the same spark Wednesday that it had in practice the next day.
In addition, another note not transcribed was Davis’s response to why Dontre Styles, and to a lesser extent D’Marco Dunn, have gotten more playing time of late. Davis essentially said it has been about them understanding the concepts and where to go at what times more than effort or skill.
One final note not transcribed but certainly worth listening to is Davis’ response to being asked if he’s had a chance to watch the documentary “The Tournament” airing on the ACC Network that focuses on the history of the ACC Tournament. Davis said he is “TiVo’ing” the documentary, which drew quite a bit of laughter. He later joked about calling it TiVo, which was a fun exchange.
Above is the full video of Davis’ presser, and below are some notes and pulled quotes from what he had to say:
*Junior forward Justin McKoy was not available for the Tar Heels’ loss to Pitt because of a sore knee. It hasn’t yet been determined if he will play versus the Hokies, but he is practicing Friday, Davis said.
“He’s going to be practicing today (Friday), and depending on practice, my hope is he’s available for tomorrow,” Davis said.
*The Tar Heels beat the Hokies, 78-68, at the Smith Center on Jan. 24, and the battle down low between the tandem of Armando Bacot and Brady Manek versus Justyn Mutts and Keve Aluma was a war. Davis expects it will be a key part of Saturday’s matchup.
“It was a very competitive battle the first time we played them,” he said. “We threw the ball down to the post to Armando and Brady, and they threw the ball down to their big guys, and none of us double-teamed. So, both of us, Virginia Tech and us, have established bigs that can score consistently down low in the paint, and both of our bigs are also excellent passers and willing passers to be able to create shots for their open teammates.
“It was a very competitive matchup the first time that we played them, and it will be another competitive matchup, all around the board, but specifically down on the post tomorrow afternoon.”
*Virginia Tech is second in the nation shooting 40.9 percent from three-point range, and the Hokies are No. 32 in the nation converting 9.5 threes per game. So, they will shoot it and usually make a high percentage from the perimeter.
Beyond them having good shooters, is there something UNC can do with how Tech runs its stuff to prevent so many open looks from occurring?
“Particularly in the halfcourt, their offense has a lot of moving parts,” Davis said. “There’s never a situation defensively that you can take a deep breath and relax. Somebody’s coming off a down screen, flare screen, ball screen, DHO (dribble-handoff), something is happening.
“So, from an offensive standpoint, they have great movement, spacing, and balance. Also from an offensive standpoint, and we pose the same problem, they can score consistently down in the paint. So, it puts you in a choice: Do you go double-team? If you double-team, now you’re leaving three shooters that are shooting over 40 percent from three-point range. Or do you stay at home and allow your post player to be able to play their two bigs by themselves in the post, then they can score consistently and also get fouled?
“And also, their bigs can shoot the ball from the outside. The same thing for us… Having that ability to score around the basket and be able to shoot the ball from the outside, from an offensive standpoint, that’s why they’re very dangerous.”
*The Hokies struggled early in ACC play, opening with a 2-7 league mark, but they have won six consecutive games and have the second-highest NET ranking in the ACC at No. 37. Davis has tremendous respect for Mike Young’s team.
“This is a team that went to the NCAA Tournament last year, and they brought back their main core, in terms of guys that have been successful there,” UNC’s coach said. “Irregardless of their record at the beginning of the ACC regular season, absent of their record when we played them, our respect for them is at an all-time high, they are extremely well coached, they have a terrific team and program.”
