Lucas: Basketball Practice Notebook

By Adam Lucas

It's been lost in some of the other Hubert Davis trademarks that took hold during his first season, but one of the most common points of emphasis from the Tar Heel head coach in his first few months on the job was skill development. That's still been obvious during preseason practices before his second season. Even in scrimmage-heavy sessions, there are still significant periods devoted to individual work, with as many as three stations—each run by a Carolina assistant—focusing on a specific area of the game.

And the stations aren't just simple repetition. They come with consequences. After a trio of Tar Heel guards missed layups during a drill focusing on curling around a screener, Davis—who was floating between stations—blew the whistle. "Everyone on the baseline," he said. The Tar Heels then went through a series of down-and-backs in ten seconds or less, with Davis barely pausing for the horn signifying the conclusion of the ten seconds before blowing his whistle to start the next sprint. "If we can't make layups with no defense," he said, "we're going to be in shape."…

Family Matters: Now that he has a class on campus of "his" recruits, it's been interesting to talk to this year's freshmen about Hubert Davis and some of his beliefs that connected with them during the recruiting process.

One Davis tenet that has come up repeatedly: having a staff made up entirely of former Carolina players. It's not a gimmick. It's something that virtually every freshman mentioned as being important to their decision making process.

"The family aspect was very important to me," said Jalen Washington. "All the coaches being former players is a big thing. Having that relationship between former and current players is invaluable to me."

"It makes a huge difference that all our coaches played here," said Seth Trimble. "They have played in front of 21,000 fans in the Smith Center. They've had the pressure of being an athlete at Carolina. They know what it's like to do this, and they've been able to take us under their wings."

Notes: The Tar Heels had officials at practice last week to officiate the scrimmage portions. The referees talked with the team after practice to provide clarification on some of the calls and understand some of the points of emphasis and interpretations for this year…You can tell we're getting closer to gameday—as a reminder, the Tar Heels host an exhibition game on Friday night and open the regular season on Nov. 7 against UNCW—as Davis's intensity nears in-season levels. On Monday, he personally demonstrated how to properly shadow a defender around a screen. "I'm 52 years old!" he told his team. "If I can do it right, you can do it right." The lesson also included a pointed tutorial on the value of properly utilizing a physical box out. But that also means Davis' trademark in-season positivity is nearing a return. After some particularly good ball movement, punctuated by Leaky Black taking the ball to the rim and scoring over a bigger defender, Davis pumped his fist in the air. "That's what I'm talking about!" he shouted…

Black, of course, is much better known for his defense. It's been quite an introduction for freshman Tyler Nickel, who has had the unenviable task of being guarded by Black in numerous practices. "You just don't realize how good he is," Nickel said. "He knows all the angles and the way he closes out is different. It really affects your shot." Nickel seemed almost relieved to finally be at the point of the season when he can regularly see opposing defenders instead of Black…The value of having a veteran team: Late last week, Davis was going over a particular defensive wrinkle for the Tar Heels this year. "We did this a couple different ways last year," he said. "How do you guys feel about doing it this way?" There was general agreement, and the idea became policy.

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Leaky Black

Tyler Nickel

Seth Trimble

Jalen Washington

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