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#UNC coach Hubert Davis press conference ahead of Saturday's home game against No. 4 #Duke
Feb 5, 2026
#UNC coach Hubert Davis press conference ahead of Saturday's home game against No. 4 #Duke
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0:00
Obviously you uh
0:01
you calling me a throwback. Crazy, man.
0:04
We're gonna start off that way.
0:06
Well, you're not gonna like this. You
0:08
know this rivalry as well as anyone.
0:09
Obviously haven't played it in as many
0:11
times coaching it. Assistant coach, head
0:13
coach. Um
0:14
you know, Caleb was saying you've
0:16
tried in in passing a few of your
0:18
stories to the players this week to get
0:19
them to understand how real and serious
0:22
this is. Are there any in particular
0:23
that have resonated? Do you get a sense
0:25
that they're starting to understand what
0:27
this game means? No, I mean the main
0:29
thing the the the the main thing that
0:31
I've tried to communicate to the guys is
0:34
is like our preparation, our process,
0:38
the way that we practice and the way
0:40
that we play is no different.
0:43
The only difference is, you know, the
0:46
circus is coming to town. Other than
0:49
that, this is this is another game for
0:53
us to compete, another opportunity for
0:56
us uh to grow as a team. And
1:01
leading up to a game, there's absolutely
1:03
nothing different. And so trying to get
1:05
the guys to understand that the things
1:08
that we've done for the 22 games prior
1:11
to this are the same things that we're
1:13
doing this week, next week, and the
1:15
remainder of the season. You were as a
1:18
dad. I don't know if you ever took your
1:19
kids to the circus since you used that
1:20
reference.
1:21
I did. I have.
1:22
I've been to the circus. I've taken my
1:24
kids to the circus. I've seen the
1:26
circus.
1:26
It's different. They going out to
1:27
dinner, going out to doing whatever, go
1:28
out to the park or whatever. So, you
1:30
said the circus is coming down. So,
1:31
there is something different about this.
1:33
So,
1:33
yeah.
1:34
Do you you just kind of gauge how they
1:37
are and building up to this or do you
1:39
allow Seth to maybe take over with a lot
1:41
of talking since he's been through it a
1:43
lot and you just kind of pick your
1:45
opportunities to kind of say something
1:46
that's a little different because the
1:48
circus is coming down.
1:49
Yeah. I mean, you know, I I you guys
1:52
have been here when I've referenced that
1:54
Bible verse and trying to get them to
1:55
understand that, you know, keep your
1:57
eyes straight ahead and ignore all
1:59
sideshow distractions. also believe that
2:02
um it also has to be playerled as well.
2:05
So in regards to Seth communicating to
2:08
the guys about our practice, about our
2:10
process, about our preparation and how
2:13
we play that nothing changes that has to
2:17
come from the players as well. Um but
2:21
also
2:22
playing here at North Carolina, you
2:25
know, there's a form of our circus
2:27
always here
2:29
and so it's nothing different. You know,
2:31
we've
2:35
it's just another game.
2:38
Caleb said that you you know I've been
2:40
talking about the games that you played
2:41
in against Duke and he says normally you
2:43
tell him you can only remember the
2:44
emotions that you feel and things like
2:46
that but he said in listening to you
2:48
it's pretty obvious you can recount
2:49
almost every second of of all those he
2:51
said 11 games played against Duke. What
2:54
is it that I know you're trying to keep
2:55
everything the same leading up to it but
2:56
what is it about having played in the
2:58
games that sticks with you maybe more
3:00
than than some other games? Well, I
3:02
mean, obviously having the experience of
3:04
playing in the game, um,
3:09
I have more experience in it, seeing it
3:10
from different angles, you know, as a
3:14
player, as an assistant coach, and as a
3:15
head coach.
3:17
Honestly, the more of the conversation
3:20
that I've had with the team has been
3:23
about
3:25
where we are now
3:28
in the season. you know, with nine games
3:32
remaining in the ACC
3:34
regular season and how fast this has
3:36
gone and that
3:43
it is required of us to compete and to
3:47
play at our highest level right now. And
3:49
so it's it's it's it's most of the
3:52
conversation has been about that about
3:55
it's February and it's um and our and
3:59
our time together as a group as a team
4:02
and to cherish every moment and
4:05
work as hard as we can.
4:07
Do you remember the Duke games more than
4:09
you remember the other games you played
4:10
in or
4:10
I remember every game now. I don't
4:13
remember like the score but I remember
4:16
every game. every NBA game, every
4:21
college game, every high school game. I
4:22
remember everything.
4:24
Triple just told us that um he was very
4:27
excited, I guess, for your pregame
4:28
speech. He said he feels like you'll
4:29
have something special cooked up for
4:31
Saturday. Um
4:33
he said what?
4:34
He said that he feels like you're going
4:35
to have something special like cooked up
4:36
prepared for Saturday.
4:40
I don't cook anything up.
4:44
Yeah.
4:45
No, I mean I don't cook anything up. I
4:47
you know whatever is on my heart I share
4:48
with the team and
4:50
it's not um a sign of like motivation
4:53
and get them going. I mean if you can't
4:55
put on that uniform and be in that
4:57
locker and run out of that tunnel and
4:58
play on that floor and you need me to to
5:00
what do you say? Cook cook them up, you
5:03
know, then then there's a problem here.
5:06
Um I have nothing cooked up for Saturday
5:10
other than to be here.
5:11
There's a meme of you and a chef at a
5:13
circus somewhere going
5:14
That's fine. That's fine. That's fine.
5:16
Tell me where I can find the meme. I
5:18
don't know where you're from. Okay.
5:21
I guess going off that with so many new
5:23
faces to to Chavo this year. How would
5:25
you gauge that you you know the new guys
5:27
like you know Henry and and JP and Luca
5:29
their understanding of what's about to
5:31
go down on Saturday?
5:32
Yeah. I mean, again, like, you know, I
5:34
feel like our guys have a clear
5:36
understanding of that
5:38
because in some sense there
5:42
there's a lot that goes to being and
5:44
playing here,
5:45
you know,
5:47
you know, the games against Kansas, on
5:49
the road against Kentucky, Virginia,
5:51
everywhere we go. And so our guys
5:53
understand that, you know, with every
5:57
step, every move, the spotlight is on
5:59
them. And it comes with,
6:02
you know, criticism, critique, praise on
6:06
every step. And I think our guys
6:08
understand that.
6:10
Talk about the matchup a little bit.
6:12
I've covered, too. You see Cameron
6:14
Boozer play. You double team him. He's
6:16
so good at passing out of it. You don't
6:18
double team him. He's a huge monster.
6:20
So like,
6:21
thank you.
6:23
I know you don't want to get
6:24
I feel very encouraged.
6:26
What do you do? Like
6:27
maybe I do need to cook him. cook
6:29
something up on Saturday. Okay.
6:31
How do you approach that?
6:33
Well, again, obviously,
6:37
uh, Cameron is an amazing player, and
6:40
you're right. You know, he's, you know,
6:42
his ability to be able to score in many
6:45
different ways. You know, obviously
6:47
around the basket, getting foul, get to
6:49
the free throw line, threes, he's an
6:50
excellent passer. Um,
6:53
so he's one of the best basketball
6:55
players in the country. Um, but I I will
6:58
say this, it's not just him. There's a
7:00
reason why that they're what is they're
7:02
21 and one. There there's a reason
7:04
because they're they're a really good
7:06
basketball team and extremely well
7:08
coached and they've got a number of
7:10
pieces that uh play at extremely high
7:13
level. And so it's not a matchup between
7:16
one person, it's a matchup against Duke
7:19
and uh we're very excited about the
7:21
challenge. Hubert, when it comes to to
7:23
Duke's roster, they have they've had a
7:24
lot of different players year over year
7:26
as well, but the more times you face
7:28
John Sh, what have you come to expect
7:30
from any one of his teams?
7:32
Well, I mean, he's um a terrific coach.
7:35
Um you his teams are really sound uh
7:39
disciplined uh defensively.
7:41
Um on the offensive end, they share the
7:43
basketball. They take care of the
7:45
basketball. They have the ability to be
7:46
able to score in the paint and also be
7:49
able to shoot from three. And so
7:51
irregardless of the personnel, um,
7:55
you know, it's it's it's a team that,
7:58
um, plays both sides of the floor at a
8:00
high level and, um, can score in many
8:03
different ways.
8:04
What does this rivalry mean to you on a
8:06
personal level?
8:09
On a personal level?
8:11
Yeah. Like what, you know, you played in
8:12
it, coached in it, you know, do you have
8:14
any, I guess, any moments that stand
8:16
out?
8:19
Um,
8:23
yeah, I I'm more thankful and
8:26
appreciative
8:29
of having been a part of this program.
8:34
You know, with me, someone growing up
8:36
always wanted to be here and to be a
8:40
part of this place and to go to school
8:41
here and to think it actually happened.
8:45
Um, I think about the thankfulness
8:49
that I got to raise my three kids here.
8:52
I think about the thankfulness of
8:56
my wife and I getting married here.
9:00
Me becoming a Christian here
9:03
and the thankfulness of being able to
9:05
serve at this university as an assistant
9:08
coach and as a head coach. That's where
9:12
that's where I'm at. I'm just thankful
9:14
for all the experiences that I've had
9:16
from this place. on the just personnel
9:19
between the two teams. Um, and Marcus
9:21
Paige was speaking on the radio show
9:23
last night. He said it's almost kind of
9:24
like a chess match, you know, between
9:25
the coaching staff. Just how do you move
9:27
around different matchups potentially?
9:29
What are some of the decisions or
9:31
discussions that you guys are having?
9:33
Let me give you the scouting report,
9:36
but
9:36
this is what we're going to do to
9:37
Cameron.
9:39
You guys have so many options this year.
9:42
Just what goes into maybe some of those
9:44
hard kind of matchup decisions? Well, I
9:46
think those are things that, you know,
9:48
you could try to before a game script
9:50
things out. I mean, you know, those are
9:52
things that happen during a game. You
9:55
know, obviously for us, you know, from
9:56
an offensive standpoint, we want to play
9:58
a tremendous pace. You know, it we're
10:01
from an offensive standpoint really good
10:03
when we're out in transition and um but
10:06
that comes from getting stops, that
10:07
comes from rebounding, and that allows
10:09
us to get out in transition. So, that's
10:11
going to be huge for us. um whatever
10:14
puts us in a position to be able to get
10:16
stops defensively and to be able to
10:17
rebound, that's going to be huge for us.
10:20
We know that we want to attack the
10:21
offensive glass and get multiple
10:23
chances, multiple opportunities, and I
10:26
don't think it's a secret that yeah, we
10:28
want to shoot the ball well from three,
10:30
but you know, we like to get the ball to
10:31
Caleb and Henry. And so those are just
10:34
things that,
10:39
you know, we've played 22 games. You
10:42
know,
10:43
we've established a way that we want to
10:45
play and that way that we want to play
10:49
on both ends of the floor. Um, probably
10:53
that's the chess match is being able to
10:55
do what you've done throughout the year
10:57
consistently. Well,
10:58
you guys incredibly efficient
11:01
offensively. How has screening played a
11:03
role in that? And how have you seen that
11:05
evolve and grow throughout the season?
11:06
Yeah, it's gotten better, but it's not
11:08
where we needed to be. I mean, it just
11:10
our at the beginning of the year, our
11:12
screens struggled, but it's just huge
11:15
for us, you know, to be able to get an
11:18
advantage for our guards getting
11:20
downhill for Caleb and Henry, Jiren,
11:24
Zaden, whether it's rolling or popping,
11:26
being able to get space. And so like we
11:30
every day we talk about setting solid
11:32
and legal screens. It's it's just a huge
11:35
part of our offense. And so it's really
11:38
big for us and it's something that we
11:40
talk about. It's something that we
11:41
practice every day. Um something that we
11:44
teach every day and it'll be a huge
11:46
factor for us on Saturday.
11:47
You said something.
11:49
Go ahead. You can.
11:49
Yeah. How does it raise emphasis knowing
11:51
Duke very sticky defensively? They like
11:53
to pressure the ball and stay to
11:55
whatever man they're on. How does that
11:57
raise the emphasis and importance of
11:58
those screens?
11:59
Yeah, I mean they, you know, obviously
12:01
they're uh very physical defensively.
12:03
They like to get over ball screens and
12:06
um they'll change up their ball screen
12:07
coverage off the ball. They're um just
12:10
as physical getting through screens. And
12:12
so, you know, for us to be able to
12:15
execute offensively and get the shots
12:17
and generate the shots that we want,
12:20
you know, the only way we can do that is
12:23
is screen really well. And as I said
12:25
before, it's something that we spend a
12:26
great we spend a lot of time on uh
12:29
teaching, talking, watching film,
12:32
practicing technique because um it's
12:35
been beneficial for us when when we're
12:37
able to do it at a high level.
12:38
You would ask Seth something similar.
12:40
You talk about blocking out the noise
12:42
previously in in these type of matchups.
12:44
You had an experience bunch. What type
12:46
of positives do you see in maybe a brand
12:49
new team and how do you kind of try to
12:50
keep them focused and keep the noise
12:53
out? Well,
12:54
yeah. I mean, one of the things not talk
12:56
about it very much, you know. I mean, I
12:58
I think
13:01
if I continue to talk about it, then
13:03
that's bringing the noise to them. You
13:05
know, I
13:07
the one thing that I've said to them is
13:09
this is no different week than the weeks
13:11
prior and the week weeks after is is our
13:14
preparation process, the way that we
13:17
prepare and play is going to be the
13:19
same. um and the manner in which we do
13:21
things that we've done all year. And
13:24
those are the only things that I've I've
13:26
I've talked about at great length. The
13:28
thing that I have talked about a great
13:30
length is where we are in the season and
13:32
how much I've enjoyed coaching this team
13:34
and that um you know, we only have a
13:39
certain number of games left in the
13:40
regular season and and a certain number
13:43
of games here at home. And I think about
13:46
Seth and I think about Elijah. is uh is
13:49
there anything this Duke team does
13:51
specifically well that you've kind of
13:52
seen and like
13:53
Yeah, they do a lot of things really
13:55
well. They uh um obviously from a
13:58
defensive standpoint um they've got
14:00
great length, versatility, size,
14:02
physicality. Uh very tough to get to the
14:05
basket. Um they do a nice job of
14:08
defending without fouling. Um they don't
14:10
turn the ball over very much so they're
14:12
not in transition defense. So, you know,
14:14
a lot of times you're going up against a
14:15
set defense. Um, from an offensive
14:18
standpoint, obviously, it's nice to have
14:20
someone like like Cameron who can uh not
14:23
only get shots anytime he wants to, but
14:25
be able to create shots, but just like I
14:27
said, they've got a number of talented
14:29
players that um can make plays off the
14:33
dribble, can shoot from three, get
14:34
fouled, get to the free throw line, and
14:36
they're very unselfish team. um the ball
14:39
doesn't stick.5 mentality and um it's
14:42
why they're one of the leaders in terms
14:44
of assisting our in our conference.
14:46
Last one though, you were you were once
14:47
a part of the circus that covered this
14:49
game with ESPN and everything.
14:51
That's why I don't.
14:53
Well, what is it like? I'm curious just
14:55
having that experience too and now being
14:56
the head coach in this game. I know you
14:58
have so much experience in this game,
14:59
but how does that help that experience
15:01
of being a part of the circus that now
15:02
you try to sort of tune out?
15:04
You know, honestly, you know, it's
15:05
interesting. And I think being a part of
15:07
the circus for 7 years uh prepared me
15:10
for here,
15:12
you know, and uh being a part of that
15:15
and being in front of the camera and
15:17
having to um do a ton of public
15:21
speaking. It's interesting. Why would I?
15:24
It was something that I never thought
15:26
that I would do. Uh when I was in
15:28
elementary uh school, middle school,
15:30
high school, I was in speech therapy
15:32
class. um struggled with my
15:34
pronunciation, stuttered all the time,
15:37
couldn't stand and still don't like
15:39
public speaking at all. And so to find
15:41
myself that have worked seven years with
15:43
ESPN and feel comfortable in front of a
15:45
camera, um I don't know and think about
15:49
why why those seven years and maybe it
15:53
put me in a position to feel comfortable
15:54
around you guys.
15:56
Thank you everybody.
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