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Hubert Davis press conference ahead of Wake Forest home game on Saturday #UNC
Jan 9, 2026
Hubert Davis press conference ahead of Wake Forest home game on Saturday #UNC
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0:00
How did you spend the day since the game
0:02
and what what kind of were your
0:04
takeaways from film since that game?
0:06
Yeah. Um
0:09
uh you know just obviously you know um
0:14
disappointed defensively. Um,
0:17
you know, as I said, you know, going
0:19
into the SMU game, uh, physical
0:21
percentage-wise, points allowed, we were
0:23
one in ACC. And, you know, allowing the
0:27
team to shoot 70% and a half, 60 for the
0:30
game. Um,
0:36
you know, obviously it wasn't good and
0:38
it was just a number of things. I mean,
0:40
it was a um you know, transition one-
0:44
on-one, not boxing out, um at times, uh
0:49
not talking and communicating the right
0:51
way, um discipline, shot fake, stay
0:55
down, putting guys at the free throw
0:57
line. And so, um, I was really excited
1:00
about this week not having a midweek
1:02
game to actually have practice to
1:06
practice on us as opposed to preparing
1:08
for Wake Forest until the latter part of
1:11
the week. And so, um, I felt like it was
1:14
a perfect time not to have a midweek
1:16
game to be able to get to practice and
1:17
start doing, um, fundamentally just the,
1:21
um, the things that have allowed us all
1:24
year to be a pretty good defensive team.
1:26
Did you sense guys being receptive to
1:28
that message?
1:29
Yeah, 100%. I mean, these these kids are
1:32
great and
1:34
um
1:36
we're all on the same page. We knew I
1:38
mean I I've I've been clear for us to be
1:42
successful, number one is defense,
1:44
number two is rebounding, and number
1:45
three is taking care of the basketball.
1:47
Now, we've been doing a really good job
1:49
of taking care of the basketball, but
1:51
the defense and rebounding is something
1:53
that, you know, it's just one and two on
1:55
the list or 1 A, one B,
1:57
especially when it comes to defending
1:59
furthering the drives. How much does
2:00
Wake Forest with the way they play sort
2:02
of challenge what you guys worked on
2:04
this week?
2:04
It does. I mean, they've got great uh
2:06
ball and player movement. Um
2:09
athleticism, size, um um skilled players
2:13
that um are really good at uh coming off
2:18
different types of actions, whether it's
2:19
ball screens, DHOs's, wide pins, flares,
2:23
being able to get into the lane. Uh once
2:25
they penetrate, get into the lane, a lot
2:27
of movement off the ball where it takes
2:29
a lot of communication. And so, um, you
2:34
know, Coach Forbes is fantastic coach
2:36
and, um, um, offensively,
2:39
um, um, we've got to be locked in
2:42
tomorrow.
2:43
Two games you guys played with for us.
2:45
Last year, Jim Harris wasn't much of a
2:47
factor. This year, he's kind of had
2:48
quite the breakout season for even. How
2:52
what have you seen from him on film? How
2:54
do you kind of limit him offensively?
2:56
Yeah, I mean, he's, you know, obviously
2:58
really talented. He's got good size. Um,
3:01
I think he's, you know, he's a fourlevel
3:02
scorer. He can shoot from three
3:04
mid-range. He can get to the bucket, get
3:06
fouled, get to the free throw line. Good
3:08
offensive rebounder, very aggressive.
3:11
And, uh, in regards to those sets that
3:13
you talk about, they, you know, move him
3:15
around and, you know, whether it's ball
3:18
screen isolations, flares, wide pins,
3:22
that, um, something is always coming for
3:25
him. And so, um, he's been in a nice
3:29
rhythm offensively and so that's our job
3:32
to not just for him, for Wake Forest,
3:35
um, from an offensive standpoint, not to
3:37
feel like they're in any rhythm against
3:39
us tomorrow.
3:40
The second half in Dallas on Saturday,
3:42
you guys tinker with the lineup a little
3:43
bit, moving stuff, you know, more on the
3:44
ball and Jared out to the wing. Are you
3:46
guys expecting, can we expect any
3:48
changes tomorrow in the lineup? maybe
3:49
see more of that or
3:51
No, you know, again, you know, for like,
3:54
you know, guys with the quote unquote
3:56
ball in their hands. I I I like multiple
3:59
playmakers out there on the floor. I'm
4:01
not a This is our point guard. Um I want
4:03
a number of guys that can handle the
4:06
ball, make plays, shoot, score, uh
4:09
penetrate, distribute,
4:11
um get us into our offense. And so we
4:14
have a number of guys that have the
4:16
ability to do that. um which includes,
4:19
you know, Caleb and Henry that have the
4:22
skill and ability to be able to do that.
4:24
And so that's that's something that
4:25
we'll continue to do tomorrow.
4:27
You It seemed like one of the silver
4:28
linings from the SMU game was that
4:30
Dearan found a shot a little bit, scored
4:32
16 points. Could you sense a difference
4:34
in him this week, just more confidence
4:36
coming off that performance?
4:38
No, I mean, he's always confident. Um,
4:40
and I've been, you know, I've talked
4:43
about,
4:45
uh, how pleased I am with with Jiren
4:49
because I mean, he's just a great kid to
4:52
coach. Um, unbelievable in the locker
4:54
room and awesome teammate and his
4:58
versatility. He does so many things for
4:59
us like against SMU making those type of
5:02
shots, but he does so much stuff that
5:04
are not on a stat sheet. I mean, he just
5:06
he's like our connector on both ends of
5:09
the floor and um it was nice to see him
5:12
get into a rhythm uh from the perimeter
5:15
and I think he's a really good, you
5:17
know, three-point shooter. And for us, I
5:19
I'm really looking forward to when us as
5:22
a team consistently,
5:24
um especially with the attention that
5:26
Henry and Caleb get that we can uh be
5:28
more consistent from shooting from
5:30
three.
5:30
Hubert, bigger picture here. You were a
5:32
player here, an assistant coach here,
5:34
the head coach here. As you as this
5:36
building is on the brink of experiencing
5:38
the 500 win mark, how much of this place
5:41
is a part of who you are?
5:44
Well, um, how much it completely
5:48
I mean, you know, when I look at the
5:50
Smith Center, it's not just about
5:52
experiences as a player, as a coach.
5:55
This is
5:56
home plate for me of
6:01
you know as I you know I think I've told
6:02
you guys this before. I mean the most
6:05
significant things that have happened in
6:07
my life has been because of this place.
6:10
So it's not just basketball. This is you
6:12
know where I fell in love with my wife.
6:14
We got married where I became a
6:16
Christian. Where I you know we bought
6:19
our first house. After I retired from
6:21
the NBA we decided to raise our kids
6:24
here. And so the the Smith Center is
6:29
home plate for all of that. And so when
6:32
I come into this building, yeah, I think
6:34
about a number of different experiences
6:37
on the court as a player, as a coach,
6:39
but I can also automatically every day
6:41
that I come into work, I can remember
6:43
every conversation that I had with Coach
6:44
Smith, Coach Gunthers, and Coach
6:46
Williams in every room in this place.
6:48
And so I think my comments are pretty
6:52
much consistent with any former player.
6:54
And so that's just the way I feel about
6:56
this place.
6:57
Yeah, but I'm not asking if he's going
6:59
to be in the rotation or anything like
7:00
that, but I'm just kind of curious about
7:01
Isaiah Dennis, where he is in his
7:03
process. I know he's banged up a little
7:05
bit in the fall. What have you seen from
7:07
him and where is he coming along as far
7:08
as maybe what your thoughts and plans
7:11
were initially for? Yeah, I mean Isaiah
7:14
uh obviously was injured um for half of
7:17
the year, latter part of um his high
7:20
school uh senior season and then uh
7:23
reinjured it uh his finger in the summer
7:25
and really didn't get cleared fully
7:29
until the year started. And so, um, he's
7:33
done just a really nice job of, you
7:35
know, um, I don't want to say catchup,
7:38
but just, um, getting all the concepts
7:41
on both ends of the floor. Um, he's a
7:44
versatile player where he can play a
7:45
number of different positions.
7:47
Defensively, he's got, you know, good
7:49
size and quickness. And um I feel like
7:53
every day in practice he's getting more
7:56
and more comfortable
7:59
at where he was in terms of confidence
8:02
in his game prior to when he got injured
8:05
before his um senior year of high
8:07
school.
8:08
Going back on on Noah's question, um
8:10
there's obviously been a lot of
8:11
discussion and discourse about the
8:13
future of this place and just wondering,
8:14
have you been you've been kept in the
8:16
know and involved in the conversations
8:17
for what may be down the line with the
8:19
Smith Center? I've had conversations
8:20
with it, but you know, one of the things
8:22
that I always
8:25
say to you guys, say to the to the team
8:27
is keep your eyes straight ahead and and
8:30
um and focus on the things that are
8:32
real. And the things that are real are
8:35
those 16 guys in this locker room this
8:37
season and coaching this team and trying
8:40
to see how good uh this year's team can
8:43
become. Hubert, going back to the the
8:45
film sessions this week, what were some
8:47
of those live bold moments with your
8:49
guys? And what is the feedback like? Is
8:51
it give and take? Is it just your voice?
8:53
What is what is it like in there with
8:55
them?
8:55
You said laughable moments.
8:56
No, no, light bulb.
8:58
Oh, light bulb. Oh, no.
9:01
No, it wasn't laughable.
9:05
Except right now.
9:07
This one is
9:10
I wasn't laughing
9:12
on Monday.
9:15
No, I mean we, you know,
9:20
I think I've said this to you guys like
9:23
this group, this generation needs to see
9:25
it. And so just being able to see
9:30
where
9:33
we've been good, we've got to get
9:34
better,
9:36
um was huge for us on Monday and
9:42
we basically watched the entire game and
9:46
just talked about, you know, what
9:48
allowed us to do some of the things that
9:50
we did and how we can't, you know, get
9:54
there again. And so I love watching
9:56
film. I'm a visual learner. I mean,
9:59
somebody can tell me something, I
10:00
definitely can remember it. But if I see
10:02
it, I remember it for the rest of my
10:03
life. And so watching film is really
10:05
huge for me. And it was really great
10:08
also to be able to have individual
10:10
meetings with each one of the players as
10:12
well after the film session to just kind
10:14
of one-on-one just talk about things and
10:17
get their get their perspective. During
10:19
the film, I didn't really want their
10:21
perspective. It was mine. And so it was
10:25
it was nice to have those meetings,
10:26
those follow-up meetings, just to be
10:28
able to continue to have that
10:29
communication.
10:31
Hubert, if you could like arrange it on
10:32
a ven diagram of the problems from the
10:34
loss of Michigan State and the problems
10:36
from the loss of SMU, what were some of
10:38
the ones that were that were in common
10:40
from this
10:40
defense? I don't know what we what
10:43
Michigan State shot from the field 50
10:47
plus. I mean, it's, you know, um,
10:52
it it, you know, was defense. It it
10:54
really was. I I just, you know, there
10:56
are going to be times where you make
10:57
shots and miss shots. I mean, I didn't
11:00
think we executed very well. I didn't
11:03
think, you know, I felt like from an
11:04
offensive standpoint against SMU, things
11:06
were difficult and hard and we still
11:08
scored 83 points.
11:10
Um, it just goes back to, you know,
11:13
defending and rebounding. That's
11:14
something that just has to show up
11:16
whether it's at home row, neutral sight,
11:18
and um and give SMU credit. They're a
11:21
fantastic basketball team and uh they
11:23
were deserving of last week, but um from
11:26
a defensive standpoint, you know, we
11:28
just we just got to continue to grow and
11:30
get better.
11:30
Heard something else that was common in
11:32
both games and I asked you about it
11:33
Monday on the conference call was Caleb
11:34
went home long stretches about scoring
11:36
and I asked you about getting in more
11:37
touches. You said everybody's got to get
11:39
touches. Is there a way when you've got
11:40
a guy with his talent and maybe you can
11:42
run some special stuff for him just to
11:44
get him going to get him a look when
11:46
he's going through a period where he's
11:47
not?
11:48
Yeah, I mean obviously we want the ball
11:50
in his hands and you know for you know
11:54
as much as possible. Um again, you know,
11:57
defenses every game in regards to the
12:01
attention that he's getting. It's it's
12:02
it's been a lot and rightfully so. And
12:05
so, um,
12:08
we definitely want the ball in his hands
12:10
and, uh, we can't go long stretches
12:12
without him touching or the ball going
12:14
through him. Even if he doesn't score,
12:17
the attention that he draws, it it it it
12:20
opens up opportunities for his
12:22
teammates, and that's something that we
12:24
have to continue to improve and and grow
12:26
from. To
12:26
follow up on that very quickly, did they
12:28
give him a lot more body before he got
12:30
touches than they did? Uh they were
12:32
physical with him and Henry. And I mean
12:35
honestly that's probably the scouting
12:38
report against us is to be extremely
12:40
physical with us. If you want to talk
12:42
about a common denominator, Michigan
12:44
State was very physical with us as well.
12:46
And so not just when they get the ball,
12:48
it's just off ball actions cutting
12:50
through the lane. I remember one play we
12:53
ran for Henry in the first half to get
12:55
him on the block and he was crossing
12:57
through the lane and got chucked like
12:59
twice. And you know those are things
13:03
that uh teams are doing um one to try to
13:07
keep the ball out of the hands of Caleb
13:08
and Henry but also um make them catch
13:11
the ball a little bit further out and
13:13
wear them down throughout the game. And
13:14
so those are things that we're learning
13:16
and adjusting and and and growing on.
13:19
Looking a little bit ahead, you've got
13:20
your first trip to California to play
13:22
Stanford and Cal. What are some
13:24
challenges of a trip like that? And have
13:26
you had any conversations with Courtney
13:27
Bangard after her team went two and0
13:29
last year doing that trip?
13:31
No, I mean you know we travel so much. I
13:34
mean, we're all over the place. And so,
13:36
um, you know, traveling over to the West
13:39
Coast is something that, you know, these
13:42
guys are already accustomed to, um, when
13:45
they're in high school, whether it's AU
13:47
and playing all over the country. And
13:49
for us, we had an exhibition game in
13:51
Utah, then I we hadn't traveled as much
13:53
this year as opposed to last year going
13:55
out to Hawaii and and Maui. But um you
13:59
know our guys are accustomed to that and
14:02
they understand the challenge of uh
14:05
being on the road whether it's in
14:06
California or going to SMU and going to
14:08
Texas and so uh we'll be prepared and
14:11
but uh the thing on our mind now is to
14:14
see if we can play a really good game
14:16
against a good Wake Forest team.
14:18
Time for a couple more.
14:20
Back to uh Caleb and Henry. How are you
14:23
seeing them respond to those different
14:27
schemes and physicality on the court,
14:29
you know, when they're trying to get in
14:30
the lane and score, but also get a
14:32
little bit of frustration when they get
14:33
to it.
14:34
Yeah, I mean it's it's you know, it's an
14:36
adjustment for them and it's something
14:38
that uh you know, consistently we work
14:41
on in practice. you know, the opposing
14:43
team tries to play the part of the
14:46
opposing team, you know, in in regards
14:48
to how physical um teams have been
14:51
against us and particularly Henry and
14:54
Caleb. And it's something that, you
14:57
know, as I said before, even if it's not
14:59
an opportunity for them to score, but to
15:01
get two on the ball so that we can
15:03
create a a a really good look or shot
15:06
for a teammate. The cool thing about
15:09
Henry and Caleb, they're so unselfish. I
15:12
mean, it's not it's nowhere anything
15:15
about them. It's always been about this
15:17
team and this program and uh they're
15:20
good passers. They're willing passers.
15:22
Um their ability to get the ball out of
15:24
a double team in tight situations is
15:26
real and so um they're getting better
15:29
and better with that every day.
15:31
Anybody else?
15:33
All right. Thanks everybody. Thank you.
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