University of North Carolina Athletics
Hubert Davis
Photo by: ANTHONY SORBELLINI
UNC-Pitt Postgame Quotes
February 1, 2023 | Men's Basketball
UNC Head Coach Hubert Davis:
Pitt taking Armando Bacot out of the game:
Davis: "I thought they did a really good job with being physical with him early. I thought at the beginning of the game, I think Armando was waiting for the double team, and the double team was not coming. One of the things we told him was like just go, just score. It's not coming and if it does come, we've practiced and prepared for that. We will give you outlets. We know how to attack. At the end of the day, they just did a really good job defensively against Armando."
Most frustrating part of the game:
Davis: "The number one thing in regard to our team, the whole year, is the discipline and the details. It is tightening the screws on the little things that allow you to be successful out there on the floor. Staying on script, doing things we have practiced, doing things that we have drilled and stayed on top of at practice and shoot around and consistently doing those things. We were not disciplined enough to win the game. We were not physical enough to win the game."
Rough shooting night for RJ Davis:
"I felt like a number of his looks were wide open. And those are shots over the last two, two-and-a-half months, and really over his career, that he's made. He missed two free throws, and he's statistically the best free throw shooter in the conference. Sometimes you don't shoot the ball well. I wish tonight wasn't one of those nights, but it was."
UNC Forward Pete Nance:
On Pitt's physicality:
"I think it was definitely a battle. We expected that out of Pitt. We knew that they're a physical team, that's something that they hang their hat on. So, yeah, it was definitely a physical one tonight."
Q: "You just kind of looked like you got into a pretty good offensive rhythm tonight. I mean, is this what you can provide to this team when you're working at your best offensively?"
"Yeah, trying to. You know, just being aggressive is definitely something I've been trying to think about and talking to Coach [Hubert] Davis about and stuff like that. So, yeah, I think just, you know, trying to help the team in any way I can. And, you know, I think scoring is something I can definitely pick it up on."
Armando Bacot:
Q: "What do you think it's gonna take? It seems like it's been very few games where you, Caleb, and RJ have all shot well at the same time."
"We really all haven't put together a good game where we all play really good, but I don't know I guess we just gonna have to figure it out. We've got a big game on Saturday, so we just gotta be ready, man, it's a long season."
Q: "After something like this, does this kind of heighten the focus going in (against Duke on Saturday)?"
"I think the focus was there. I mean, our preparation was good. I just think, like you said, me and RJ, we didn't play really good. And me especially. If I don't come to play we won't win."
Q: "They made it a focus to be physical anytime you touched the ball. Is that what you've seen throughout the year or is this the most physical you've had to deal with?"
"No, I don't want to make any excuses for myself. I just played bad. Like I said, me being one of the leaders on the team, I gotta play good. We can't afford for me not to play good because then that ruins everything else, every other thing."
Caleb Love:
Q: "What happened on the last play?"
"I feel like kinda I got fouled, but that's basketball and they didn't call it."
Q: "How do you move on?"
"We should've won that game. We play another one on Saturday. We can't hang our heads."
Q: "Do games against Pitt feel more physical?"
"It's a physical game. That's who they are. That's who we are. It got chippy a little bit, but that's a part of the game."
Jeff Capel:
On Federiko Federiko's defense tonight…
"I thought it was terrific. [Armando] Bacot is one of the best players in the country, certainly one of the best big guys. I thought he did an outstanding job of pushing him off the block and contesting his shots. I thought Federiko did an outstanding job."
On UNC's final offensive possession…
"It was a little bit different and something we had not seen. I thought they were going to run the play they ran against Ohio State. That is the one we were anticipating. We knew we wanted to make the ball come back and try to keep it away from going to the basket and put a bigger guy on the ball. (Love) got a decent look at it. He was hot today and fortunately for us we were able to get a piece of it."
On Pittsburgh's last offensive possession…
"We wanted to get the switch and Davis on him (Burton). When we saw the initial matchup when we came out, initially we talked about trying to split that screen and once we saw who RJ (Davis) was on, we wanted to set it and try to force a switch and try to get downhill from there."
Pitt taking Armando Bacot out of the game:
Davis: "I thought they did a really good job with being physical with him early. I thought at the beginning of the game, I think Armando was waiting for the double team, and the double team was not coming. One of the things we told him was like just go, just score. It's not coming and if it does come, we've practiced and prepared for that. We will give you outlets. We know how to attack. At the end of the day, they just did a really good job defensively against Armando."
Most frustrating part of the game:
Davis: "The number one thing in regard to our team, the whole year, is the discipline and the details. It is tightening the screws on the little things that allow you to be successful out there on the floor. Staying on script, doing things we have practiced, doing things that we have drilled and stayed on top of at practice and shoot around and consistently doing those things. We were not disciplined enough to win the game. We were not physical enough to win the game."
Rough shooting night for RJ Davis:
"I felt like a number of his looks were wide open. And those are shots over the last two, two-and-a-half months, and really over his career, that he's made. He missed two free throws, and he's statistically the best free throw shooter in the conference. Sometimes you don't shoot the ball well. I wish tonight wasn't one of those nights, but it was."
UNC Forward Pete Nance:
On Pitt's physicality:
"I think it was definitely a battle. We expected that out of Pitt. We knew that they're a physical team, that's something that they hang their hat on. So, yeah, it was definitely a physical one tonight."
Q: "You just kind of looked like you got into a pretty good offensive rhythm tonight. I mean, is this what you can provide to this team when you're working at your best offensively?"
"Yeah, trying to. You know, just being aggressive is definitely something I've been trying to think about and talking to Coach [Hubert] Davis about and stuff like that. So, yeah, I think just, you know, trying to help the team in any way I can. And, you know, I think scoring is something I can definitely pick it up on."
Armando Bacot:
Q: "What do you think it's gonna take? It seems like it's been very few games where you, Caleb, and RJ have all shot well at the same time."
"We really all haven't put together a good game where we all play really good, but I don't know I guess we just gonna have to figure it out. We've got a big game on Saturday, so we just gotta be ready, man, it's a long season."
Q: "After something like this, does this kind of heighten the focus going in (against Duke on Saturday)?"
"I think the focus was there. I mean, our preparation was good. I just think, like you said, me and RJ, we didn't play really good. And me especially. If I don't come to play we won't win."
Q: "They made it a focus to be physical anytime you touched the ball. Is that what you've seen throughout the year or is this the most physical you've had to deal with?"
"No, I don't want to make any excuses for myself. I just played bad. Like I said, me being one of the leaders on the team, I gotta play good. We can't afford for me not to play good because then that ruins everything else, every other thing."
Caleb Love:
Q: "What happened on the last play?"
"I feel like kinda I got fouled, but that's basketball and they didn't call it."
Q: "How do you move on?"
"We should've won that game. We play another one on Saturday. We can't hang our heads."
Q: "Do games against Pitt feel more physical?"
"It's a physical game. That's who they are. That's who we are. It got chippy a little bit, but that's a part of the game."
Jeff Capel:
On Federiko Federiko's defense tonight…
"I thought it was terrific. [Armando] Bacot is one of the best players in the country, certainly one of the best big guys. I thought he did an outstanding job of pushing him off the block and contesting his shots. I thought Federiko did an outstanding job."
On UNC's final offensive possession…
"It was a little bit different and something we had not seen. I thought they were going to run the play they ran against Ohio State. That is the one we were anticipating. We knew we wanted to make the ball come back and try to keep it away from going to the basket and put a bigger guy on the ball. (Love) got a decent look at it. He was hot today and fortunately for us we were able to get a piece of it."
On Pittsburgh's last offensive possession…
"We wanted to get the switch and Davis on him (Burton). When we saw the initial matchup when we came out, initially we talked about trying to split that screen and once we saw who RJ (Davis) was on, we wanted to set it and try to force a switch and try to get downhill from there."
Players Mentioned
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