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CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina Coach Hubert Davis met with the media Friday afternoon in advance of the Tar Heels’ game Saturday at Wake Forest.
Among the things Davis discussed were about Anthony Harris, about whom UNC announced Friday is unavailable for the remainder of the season, his message to the team after the loss at Miami, leadership on his team, their struggles forcing turnovers and Davis’ few on forcing turnovers, on having to play five games in 11 days, and more.
Above is the full video of Davis’ presser and below is the complete transcript of what he had to say:
Q: With the news of Anthony Harris being out for the remainder of the season, who do you see stepping in and getting some of is minutes, perhaps one of the freshmen or Kerwin Walton?
DAVIS: “I don’t know. It could be a game-to-game feel. That being said, D’Marco (Dunn) and Dontrez (Styles) and Puff (Johnson) and Justin (McKoy) have the opportunity to step up and play more minutes. And the way they have practiced and the way they have prepared I feel very confident of them being able to play well out there on the floor.
“But I do want to say, I love Ant (Harris). And I love coaching him, and I love being around him every day. I love him being a part of this team and a part of this program and a part of this university. I love Ant.”
Q: Alondes Williams for Wake Forest is an All-America candidate this year, what re the strengths of this game?
DAVIS: “His ability to make plays, not only to help himself, but to help his teammates. That’s a pretty good, significant stat to have, to have the combination of being the leading scorer in the ACC as well as leading the ACC in assists. His ability to score and his ability to know when to pass and make his teammates better it just jumps right out at you when watching him on film. He’s having a terrific season and he’s fun to watch.”
Q: Armando went down late at Miami the other night and you said he could potentially have gone back in if the game was different, wondering how he’s been the past couple of days and if you expect him a full go for Saturday?
DAVIS: “Yeah. He’ll practice today and he’ll be a full go on Saturday.”
Q: You mentioned the 30-day challenge you gave them a few weeks ago, but the different messages you’ve had to give them after Tennessee or after Kentucky or the other night after Miami, does the message change or the delivery change to try and get through to them that cannot happen again?
DAVIS: “Well, I don’t think the message has to change, I would think the opposite, it has to stay consistent. The things we talk about we talk about every day. And you have to talk about it every day and you have to do it every day for it to become a habit.
“And so, the conversations that I’ve had with the players in response to the way that we played against Miami earlier this week has been really good, really encouraging. I love our guys. They’re such a joy to be around every day, and I’m just filled with thankfulness that I get to be their coach. And I get to help them, I get to encourage them, I get to coach them, I get to support them, I get to get on them and push them to be the best that they can be.
“I couldn’t ask for a better group of guys to be in the locker room with. And because this is an area we want to improve on, it doesn’t mean that you have to be perfect. They’re just kids. They’re 19, 19-year-old kids. I’ve got three kids, one of them is 19 years old and he’s great, but he’s not perfect every day. Just shows up every day and be the best that he can be.
“And so, that’s what our players are doing. They showed up at practice yesterday and we had a great practice. They’ll show up today and will have a great practice. And we’ll show up at Wake Forest tomorrow at 8 o’clock, and we’ll be there.”
Q: Coach, you talked about the leadership issues after the loss to Miami, why do you think your team is having leadership issues given everything you just said that you enjoy being around them so much and that they are this great group of guys?
DAVIS: “I’ve never said there were leadership issues, those are not my words. I never said that. Of the conversations that I’ve had with a number of players over the last couple of days was talking to them, encouraging them, empowering them that leadership comes in different forms. Some can be vocal leaders, some can be effort leaders, some can be leaders in terms of preparation and in practice.
“There are all different types of forms, and one of the things that we’ve talked about over the last couple of days is just encouraging them to be leaders within their personality, and that everybody has gifts and talents, and they can bring something to the table that is a benefit to the group, to the team. And those conversations have been genuine, they’ve been really good and really helpful for me to hear, for them to hear, for us to understand where both of us are coming from. And it’s just been a lot of fun having that dialogue over the last couple of days.
“But we don’t have leadership issues, I’ve never used that language.”
Q: Your team ranks at the bottom of the ACC in terms of turnovers forced, why do you think that is, and what do you guys need to do a little bit better of to improve those numbers moving forward?
DAVIS: “We would have to get more steals (laughter). That’s how we would get turnovers forced. I don’t particularly look at that stat, that stat doesn’t really have very much significance to me. A stat that has significance to me is taking care of the basketball, and at times we’ve struggled at turning the ball over.
“That’s a stat that we talk about and that I pay attention to. But there’s also a stat that we do really good job of defensive rebounding, and there’s another stat we do a really good job of defending without fouling. So, it’s not a stat that I focus on too much that we’re low in turnover rate.
Follow-Up Q: Roy was big on wanting to force turnovers to create transition opportunities, you’re not necessarily in that same belief?
DAVIS: “I’ve never said that is not my belief. I’ve never told you guys what my belief is, or my beliefs are. I’ve never said that my belief is I don’t believe in forcing turnovers. I just said I don’t focus on that stat.”
Follow-Up Q: Okay, what do you focus on in terms of creating those opportunities?
DAVIS: “There’s different ways to score. If you score and they score and you score and they score, how can you get more opportunities to score? Well, there’s other areas. One, you’ve got to get to the free throw line – I think we do a really good job of creating fouls and getting to the free throw line. That’s why we always stress attack the basket and post penetration, because you rarely get fouled shooting outside jump shots.
“Another way you get opportunities to score is attacking the offensive glass. That’s why, even though compared to last year we don’t get to the offensive glass or (are) successful as we were last year, our three, four, and five can consistently go to the offensive glass.
“Another way is to create turnovers, and that’s an area where we could create more turnovers and get more opportunities to score.
“And so, those are things that we’ve talked about and those are things that we’ve practiced, and my hope is that we will continue to get better at all three of those areas to give us more opportunities to score.”
Q: It’s four games in eight days starting tomorrow and it’s five games in 1 days if you throw in Louisville in there for February 1st. it’s a busy stretch for you guys. Does having played in the NBA and gone through a lot of stretches like this help you prepare the team for this?
DAVIS: “I don’t think so. It is what it is. We’ve got four games in eight days. The guys know we have four games in eight days, and I think they would rather play a game than practice. So, I think it’s a good thing.
“It’s a good thing that we get an opportunity to play, and whether we play four games in eight days or five games in 11 days, it’s an opportunity to play. I’m excited about it, and all of our players are just as excited as well.”
Q: You mentioned how helpful those conversations you’ve had with the players the last few days have been for them and for yourself. In what way were they most helpful?
DAVIS: “It’s conversations that consistently are ongoing every day every week. This wasn’t an isolated or a new experience where we had conversations with the players. They stop by the office all the time. We always spend time off the court together. We’re always talking. And I’ve actually said this before, is that I can’t coach them unless I know them, and they can’t play for me unless they know me. And the only way that I can get to know them and that they can get to know me is that we have to spend a lot of time together.
“So, we spend a ton of time together. Me referencing the conversations over the past two days, what I’ve enjoyed is communication. I really like that. The best way to communicate is face to face. And I really enjoy having those conversations with the players. Not just the past two days, but the last – my entire coaching career, even as an assistant.
“It’s one of the best parts of my job in getting to know these players and them getting to know me. So, that’s just a part that I really enjoy. I love hanging out and talking to the guys. It was nothing specific in regards to the last couple of days and how the game went against Miami earlier this week.”
