Hubert Davis Post-Virginia Tech Quotes

Men's Basketball vs Virginia Tech
1/24/22
UNC: 78 - Virginia Tech: 68
Coach Hubert Davis Postgame Quotes

Q: When it comes to all the missed layups tonight, do you see that as something mental? When you miss one or two in a row then it starts to almost feel like there is a lid on the bucket. Armando said that he thought something was wrong with the rims. I just wanted to get your opinion on that.

Davis: There was nothing wrong with the rims at all, he just missed them. He wanted to assure himself of getting a double-double, so he just put in on the rim and kept getting rebounds, and he did that with 14 points and 19 or 20 rebounds. I'll talk to him tomorrow at practice and say look, what don't you just make the shot and not miss it purposely so you can get a rebound, let's just make the shot. But, I am so proud of Armando. He did a terrific job just establishing us offensively at the beginning of the game. He dominated down low on the post and his presence around the basket just opened up everything for everyone else. I am really proud of not just Armando but the whole team. It was a great win for us.

Q: How much does win embody what you were talking about in terms of toughness? There was a stretch about eight minutes into the second half between made field goals, so it wasn't necessarily pretty, but obviously you came away with the win.

Davis: One of the things that I talked to the team about in the locker room before they came out for the game is that this is going to be a very difficult game. This is going to be hard. One of the things that I've always told them is to find joy in the hardness of achieving all their goals personally and as a team. Before the game I actually gave them a bible verse, James 1:2, and it talks about finding joy in persevering through hard times. And I said, you know, last week was hard. We didn't play well and we didn't play our best basketball. To come back home with just one day of preparation for Virginia Tech, who is an unbelievable, experienced basketball team. To stay with it through ups and downs, turnovers, defensively we had lapses, there was a togetherness about this team that I was very proud of. In the huddle, this was the first time where guys were talking about togetherness, perseverance, and "let's stick together". The communication amongst teammates, the energy was really good in the huddle. When it looked like things were turning, we all stayed together. I was really, really, proud of them tonight.

Q: I don't want to pry too much given the nature of Dawson's absence, but just when did you find out that he wasn't going to be available for tonight's game and what do you expect in terms of his availability the rest of the week. It also looked like you guys might have bowded your heads and said a prayer or something. I was just wondering how unifying his absence might have been for these guys as well.

Davis: We found out today that Dawson would be unavailable because of an illness in his family. Our heart, our prayers, and our thoughts are with Dawson and his family. I love coaching him, he's just an unbelievable kid and comes from an outstanding family, and we really missed him tonight. He's a part of our team. He's a part of our family. I really believe a huge part of our togetherness tonight was to be together as a team in large part for Dawson. I was really proud, our guys are really close, and they're not just teammates, they are friends. They enjoy being around each other not just on the court but in the classroom and in the community going out. We missed Dawson tonight, but he is a part of our family, he's a part of our team, and we can't wait for him to be back out there on the floor with us.

Q: Do you have any idea of what that might be? Do you expect him to be available for Wednesday?

Davis: I have no idea.

Q: With only two points coming from the bench, is there any concern going forward with having to rely on the starters to play as many minutes as they did or have the type of production that they did?

Davis: Well plain and simple we are going to need production on both ends of the floor outside of the starting five. It's just not going to work. I thought Justin gave us some really good minutes defensively and rebounding. He had two big free throws for us in the second half. We need consistent contribution from Kerwin and Puff as well. One of the reasons that I kept the starting line out together is that they were just really good defensively. As I talked to you before, Virginia Tech has a lot of moving parts, and I felt like when we went to the bench, especially in the first half, the effort defensively just went down. I wanted to continue to have that because we got to make shots, but you also got to get stops. There are going to be big time games and moments for Justin, Kerwin, Puff, Dontrez, and D'Marco, we're going to need all of them. Tonight they didn't get a lot of minutes, but they are going to be nice where they play huge minutes and they are going to make big plays and big shots to help us win.

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