Hubert Davis Post-Boston College Quotes

Hubert Davis Quotes
UNC 58, Boston College 47

Q: Early in the second half after Armando got subbed out, it looked like [trainer] Doug [Halverson] was taking a look at his right hand very briefly, do you know what was happening there?

Coach Davis: I don't, there was nothing wrong with his hand, Armando was fine.

Q: Hey, Hubert, is this just a good old fashioned shooting slump? Or was there anything that you've seen last couple of games that have led to some of the shooting issues?

Coach Davis: I felt like we were a little tired. You know, it's been our third game in five days, and preparation for those games in between. They also are going to class as well. And so I just felt like we were a little tired. But also, Boston College … There's a couple things from Boston College. Number one, they're really good defensively, they're always in passing lanes, they pressure you. And we just, we just didn't handle that pressure, you know, so it was difficult at times to get into our offense. We were dribbling the ball off of our feet, weren't catching the ball in positions where we can do something, too far away from the basket. So you have to compliment Boston College.

And also, they were coming in with a chip on their shoulder. The last time that we played them, they were coming off of a COVID break for the entire team. And I think they had only practiced twice before they were playing us, and we played really well. And one of the things that we told the guys that it will be a different Boston College team, because they're competitive. They always pride themselves on perseverance and being strong and tough. And so we let them know that this was gonna be this type of game. And no, there were parts of the game we just didn't handle it very well.

Q: Kind of on that tail end of talking about the defense, I mean, 16 points in a second half, you know, has to has to bring a smile to your face, right. So I was just curious, when you were doing things, right, and that's been a struggle that this season, what do you feel like, you guys did best defensively?

Coach Davis: Well, I thought what we did best defensively is pressure the ball. That's something that we've talked about the last week is that we have to do a better job pressuring the ball, and that makes teams run their offense a little bit further out. So I thought at times we did that really well. The other thing that we did is we weren't affected by any screens, we got over screens, we got through screens, we got under screens, we didn't allow screens to be an excuse to not be able to guard our guy. Another thing is, is I thought we did a really good job defending the three. You know, they're not a great three-point shooting team, but they have guys that have the ability to shoot the ball from the outside, you know. Zachary shoots over 40% from three-point range, Galloway is a lights-out shooter that can get on a streak and string a number of threes together. And so I thought we did a really good job defending the three in another area is defensively, we did a good job defending without fouling. And so that's something all year that that's been really good for us. It's been difficult for teams to draw fouls on us, they only went to the free throw line eight times. So I think that something positive that you can draw on that can translate now to the rest of the season and for Saturday against NC State.

Q: Coach, I know Armando obviously didn't have kind of a shooting day that he would like to have. But he's been out here now for about 20 minutes, putting up shots after playing 38 minutes in a game. What does that say just about him and kind of his commitment to this team?

Coach Davis: Well, Armando has been great, you know, he's reason why he's having a fantastic year is because he just continues to get better and better. He focuses on his craft every day, he's preparing, he's practicing, and he's playing to the highest level. And since he's gotten back-to-back 29-point games, the attention to Armando has stepped up a number of levels. And so it's a combination of things. Number one, Armando being able to adjust to the to the heightened defensive effort of opposing teams, not allowing him to catch the ball close to the basket and be able to get to a spots. And also for me to do a better job of calling different plays different actions, to try to get him the ball around the basket a little bit easier on the move. And so those are the things that we'll talk about and look at the next couple days in preparation for our game on Saturday, but it doesn't surprise me that he's out there shooting a basketball, and he didn't shoot the ball well, but you know, one of the things is you can always do something to help the team. Something that Armando has done at the highest level, whether it's an ACC or the country, is rebound to basketball. He had seven offensive rebounds, he had 18 rebounds today. So yeah, he didn't shoot the ball really well. But a huge determining factor for us being successful today was because of his energy and his effort on the boards.

Q: I'm just generally wondering your philosophy for the rotation and subbing in. I mean, you had back to back games now with all the starters playing 34 more points. Is it the fact that they're just better players at this time, or what is the reason for not going to your bench more throughout these last two games?

Coach Davis: Well, I was really encouraged by the bench. You know, Kerwin went to the free throw line for the first time this year and made all three free throws and then he was able to hit a three in the first half. There was a situation in the second half, I felt like we missed him in the corner. We were in transition. He was wide open right by our bench and I thought it was a great situation to get him to basketball and be able to score. I was really happy with Kerwin, I thought he also did a really good job defensively as well. And then Puff only played four minutes, but I mean, his energy and his effort was terrific. I mean, he was all over the place getting loose balls, attacking offensive glass and Justin did a good job, the minutes he was in. I don't really focus on the number in terms of the minutes, I focus on the production in what they did out there on the floor, in order to put ourselves our team in a position to win. And I thought Justin, Kerwin and Puff, I was very proud of them.

Q: Caleb [Love] and Leaky [Black] talked about holding Boston College to 16 second half points, something they pride themselves on and a lot about keeping that tenacity when the shots aren't falling. And I know we're about a week out from the next road game but how do you keep that same energy when you leave the Smith Center going forward?

Coach Davis: Yeah, I wish I knew, that would be great. But the way that we played last week on the road, one of the things that I've told the team is that's not you, it was just, it was just two games, it was two games on the road. And so, at the beginning of the year, when we had great road wins against Georgia Tech and College of Charleston at the beginning of the year, everyone was praising us, our poise when we are away from home. And so at the end of the day, we didn't play well, our best last week, and it happened to be away from home, but it's not an indictment on who we are. We're a good basketball team. And we get another opportunity on Saturday at home. And when we have to go away, we have an opportunity to play our best basketball on the road.

Q: You mentioned in your opening that you felt like you guys might be a little tired the next couple of days. I mean, I don't know, have you've tried to break up the routine a little bit? You try to do anything fun, you know, you see how like some NBA games by like, I think the warriors were playing like softball or something in their arena the other night instead of practicing. I mean, like, you try to mix things up at all to keep these guys fresh.

Coach Davis: You know what, I would do that if I had Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. We played we wouldn't even play softball, we just thought it was odd. If I give me give me Steph Curry, we'll play wiffle ball every day, we'll do that. And we do that, you know, tomorrow will be a light day. And oftentimes that we do change things up, because it's a long year and just change up the rhythm a little bit and make things fun. That's actually what we did after we came back from the road. Last week we sat down and spent time together as a team and just laughing and spending time together, I think it really put us into perspective and a good place to start, you know, our three games at home. And so I understand what you're saying and those are things that we would talk about as a staff to find out, in terms of what puts us in a best position to play our best on Saturday. And so I'm not opposed to playing wiffle ball, if that'll prepare us to play great against NC State, we will play wiffle ball.

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