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UNC's Ven-Allen Lubin, Seth Trimble and RJ Davis after the Tar Heels' loss to Stanford
Jan 18, 2025
UNC's Ven-Allen Lubin, Seth Trimble and RJ Davis after the Tar Heels' loss to Stanford
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0:00
what what was the last play supposed to
0:02
work how was that supposed to work uh we
0:05
were just trying to uh get the ball to
0:08
wash you know was send down Streep for
0:11
RJ just to kind of kind of see him like
0:14
a decoy they were trying to look for him
0:15
the ball and just have W seal uh the
0:17
little guard underneath the basket um it
0:20
was just for me to try to get it to him
0:22
so he can get a quick uh quick layup so
0:24
it's always going to be a long pass yeah
0:25
it was going to be a long
0:27
pass but except for that this is your
0:30
best game of the season what what was
0:31
working for you today uh just KN I can
0:34
continue to get better in certain areas
0:36
you know what I'm capable of doing just
0:38
showing that just having the confidence
0:39
and just the belief in myself to know
0:41
what I can do and just continue to move
0:43
forward how hard was it to match up with
0:46
Rena inside I mean the challenges he
0:49
created I mean yeah he's a a 72 you know
0:53
three level score you know that's kind
0:54
of hard to contain and defend um you
0:56
know so I just something that we just
0:59
continue to learn trying to build off of
1:01
uh but definitely you know he he's a
1:03
great player you know just be able to
1:04
shoot the ball the way that he did uh
1:06
just be able to attack and be able to
1:07
hand the ball um that that length is
1:10
pretty much uh it's just hard to to
1:12
guard so I just he a good player when
1:14
you have a big man that takes up so much
1:16
attention like Maxine how difficult is
1:19
it to get those you know weak side El we
1:20
side blocks some guards get into Lane
1:22
when you have to focus so much attention
1:24
on your yeah that is something that we
1:25
just try to emphasize you know when
1:27
those when those uh plays happen you
1:29
know just trying to get the rotation
1:30
right you know to be able to help one
1:31
another and just to trust that you know
1:33
the next man is going to be you know be
1:35
our help um so it's just whatever you
1:37
can do is just do it at a pace that we
1:39
can do you know just to you know disturb
1:41
them um in any way we can and just uh
1:44
you know just try to find ways to do it
1:46
take that last defensive sequence where
1:48
you have Jay BL in the mid-range chumper
1:49
I guess kind of what did you see as a
1:51
play was going on uh I was moving fast
1:54
you know I just saw him you know going
1:55
down the floor I kind of figured that he
1:56
was going to uh take the last shot so we
1:59
was trying to you know contain him you
2:00
know we put our best defender on him
2:02
Seth and he did a pretty great job you
2:03
know be able to contain him keep him off
2:05
you know from going straight to the rim
2:07
uh just a good contest from him he just
2:09
hit the shot so there nothing we can do
2:10
there put on the offensive end with Rena
2:12
I mean when he picking rolls he he came
2:14
in um was help a lot and it made those
2:17
tough mhm yeah I said uh you know it it
2:21
was just tough you know to be able to to
2:22
defend him you know just to be able to
2:24
contain the ball while also being
2:26
mindful of you know the spacing where
2:28
he's located at on the floor um so it's
2:31
just something that we continue to to to
2:33
recognize quickly and just trying to do
2:35
it at a great pace and yeah he only
2:36
scored one field goall last 15 minutes
2:38
in the game and you guys still lost come
2:40
in like you hold on to one field go last
2:42
15 you should be in a good position how
2:44
did it play out how did you guys lose
2:46
this game and were able to shut down
2:47
like that in the last part of the game
2:49
uh I just believe just a little details
2:51
you know that just uh we we committed
2:53
those mistakes um you know that kind of
2:55
led up to points and led up to to bad
2:57
possessions on offensive end um so it
3:00
just kind of uh just those mistakes you
3:02
know that really hurt us and cost us you
3:04
know for to get us into into this
3:06
position right here um but really know
3:08
we I believe that we played hard you
3:10
know I mean we did everything that we
3:11
could and played through the mistakes
3:12
and just give it our all did you I guess
3:15
better in that regard where some place
3:17
you think you could have tightened up
3:18
containing uh they're big we knew
3:21
they're big is was you know first team
3:22
all ACC caliber first round draft B
3:24
caliber type player uh so we knew we
3:26
wanted to contain him but his
3:28
performance wasn't just on the big night
3:30
that was on all of us you know I double
3:33
uh I doubled in but I
3:36
mean I mean defense defense it's it's
3:38
always a team effort so it's not in the
3:40
bigs uh but we definitely want to
3:42
contain him we knew they play they run
3:44
their offense through uh Jaylen Blakes
3:46
wanted to shut him down but we didn't do
3:48
that so I mean we didn't really do
3:50
anything that you know we talked about
3:52
and knew we had to do to win this game
3:54
offensively well I guess defensively for
3:56
them they went into a it seemed like a
3:59
little Zone some sorts at one point do
4:00
you feel like that three you guys you
4:02
didn't turn it over very much but do you
4:04
feel like just Rhythm
4:05
wise I may have it may have but I mean
4:08
we were expecting it we got good looks
4:10
off of it so we can't use that as an
4:12
excuse you know what I'm saying that thr
4:13
our Rhythm off but I mean maybe it did
4:16
some guys but I mean I think we played
4:18
pretty well for me playing well I think
4:20
we played well against it I'm
4:22
sorry the little detail so um that's my
4:26
initial thoughts obviously again like
4:28
you said I mean just very little time to
4:31
think about it really process but what
4:33
were some the little Le maybe down the
4:34
stretch that way um I had turned the
4:37
ball over uh I think like a minute left
4:40
a minute 10 left um we gave up a strong
4:42
side corner three off of uh kind of just
4:45
like a a stand still defensive
4:47
possession right there kind pulled in
4:50
and then uh just like Hy kind defensive
4:55
mistakes um defensive mistakes uh we was
4:58
able to kind of you know get a uh a good
5:01
look was able to kind attack the basket
5:04
late and then get foul the line both fre
5:06
thros and then um they just be the top
5:08
two at the end of the day so you feel
5:10
like you guys took them lightly at all
5:11
today RJ no not at all I mean we knew
5:14
coming into the game that they were
5:15
really great uh team and we don't take
5:17
anyone lightly I just think we weren't
5:21
uh attentive and with our details I
5:24
don't think we we had a lot of like slip
5:26
up plays in the second half and kind of
5:27
just wearing as aggressive um you know
5:30
just from a defense a defense standpoint
5:33
we weren't really into the ball um there
5:34
wasn't as much um communication I think
5:38
that kind of just like LED on to plays
5:39
of plays that they were able to execute
5:42
off of like there were several times you
5:45
guys were in position maybe click into
5:47
another gear and then build up Margin
5:50
and you weren't able to do it did you
5:52
sense that there was a little bit of an
5:54
inability to hit that next gear that you
5:56
guys used for example the other day when
5:58
you're able to go on a 10 two run and
6:00
give yourself a little separation yeah I
6:02
mean I kind of felt it I think we had
6:03
like a three-point lead and um I kind of
6:05
felt the the energy shift the momentum
6:07
shift to our side a little bit and I
6:08
thought we was going to be able to go on
6:09
the run and kind of just extend the lead
6:11
um but it didn't favor us in us today we
6:15
weren't able to kind of just extend off
6:17
that lead I think we were up by three
6:18
maybe four at one point um and it kind
6:21
of felt like this whole second half it
6:22
was just trading baskets for baskets and
6:24
um it came down to the wire of the of
6:27
the game but um we have to go back to
6:29
the draw board and kind of just reflect
6:30
on you know the second half really like
6:33
the last last five minutes because
6:35
that's where uh things got a little bit
6:37
sloppy and our attention to detail
6:39
wasn't there I've talked to you about
6:41
this a lot after Louisville out of um
6:44
had Florida Kansas same kind of thing
6:46
you guys were at
6:48
6661 they go 115 the rest of the way was
6:51
it more of the same why you lost this
6:54
one was the same with those other ones
6:55
or was there something different um I
6:57
think it's kind of the same it just our
6:59
Focus
7:00
detail um that wasn't there especially
7:03
like think sometimes we relax a little
7:05
bit we have a lead we see the score um
7:07
we take our full off gas a little bit or
7:09
we're just not uh it's like it's kind of
7:12
like a delay on defense we're one second
7:14
behind on the communications or we give
7:17
up a strong side three or we're not you
7:19
know we um jumping on pump F like little
7:22
plays like that kind of just lead into
7:23
big lead for the opposing teams and um
7:25
we know we're capable of being better
7:28
and not making those mistakes got to do
7:30
on a consistent basis is that happening
7:31
again is there a sense of anger is there
7:33
a sense of frustration how do you
7:35
personally process it given what you've
7:37
been through here and this is something
7:39
that maybe thought was gone but crep
7:41
back up today
7:43
um I feel like we were trending in the
7:46
right direction right I mean I would say
7:48
like know my frustration level is kind
7:50
of just uh because I know we're so
7:53
talented so capable of uh many big
7:55
things I things think our discipline and
7:58
our detail is like one area that we have
8:00
to consens uh keep sharpen um because I
8:05
think at times we show glimpses of it
8:06
and at times we show stretches of it but
8:09
it has to be at a consistency base
8:10
especially at this level because it
8:11
could be anyone's game like you saw
8:13
tonight um and basketball's a game of
8:14
runs and the game is never over till the
8:16
clock hit zero so um that's just
8:18
something that we have to kind of just
8:19
instill in our brains forward is it kind
8:21
of like human nature because people say
8:23
well how do you have be attention to
8:24
detail is that kind of like human nature
8:26
I guess uh I would say human nature but
8:28
I just don't think
8:30
our our Focus level you know being there
8:33
right you know sometimes um you kind of
8:36
just lose lose sight of like and kind of
8:38
just L yourself into the game a little
8:39
bit and um you're not really practicing
8:42
using your principles that you do on a
8:44
daily basis I think sometimes we could
8:46
get away from that but we got to stay on
8:47
that path because that's what was
8:49
working for us these past couple of
8:51
games so um and just got to look back in
8:53
the dra watch film tomorrow practice and
8:55
then get ready for Tuesday how how tough
8:56
did Rena make the pick and rolles he
8:58
seemed like he was coming on those and
9:00
really disrupting those for you who say
9:03
again R coming in on the pick and rolls
9:05
and helping he was kind of in a drop
9:07
coverage I felt like we was able to I
9:09
mean we worked on it all week uh just to
9:12
the way he played kind of sometimes he
9:14
was back sometimes up to touch um but I
9:17
think we did a good job of kind of just
9:18
finding our either ourselves for the
9:21
game or find our big man and I think um
9:25
that prepared Us in today's game so I
9:26
don't really think it was too much of a
9:28
challenge or difficult because we
9:29
practice it all week did you say
9:31
anything uh just to keep he set up after
9:33
a tough shooting night oh yeah I mean
9:36
it's I mean not going to have every
9:37
perfect game in the world I mean this
9:39
basketball happens and um is a prolific
9:42
scorer and he's been playing well all
9:44
season so just tell him to keep his head
9:46
up uh stay stay in the moment like one
9:49
bad game does it Define you um and um
9:51
he's going to be pretty he's going to be
9:52
he's going to be fine cuz he's a
9:54
confident kid he's he's a scorer so um
9:57
you know I'm not too worried about you
9:58
know
9:59
his b off shoo night a lot of great
10:01
players have offshoot he'll be good you
10:04
know you all put together you know like
10:06
a 40-minute game as you all said you
10:08
know the other night shocking that it
10:11
came down to this uh today yeah I mean
10:14
it's tough especially when you kind of
10:16
just I mean it's kind of an ugly game in
10:18
terms of like our second half especially
10:20
kind of just back and forth trading
10:22
baskets a little bit and we were able to
10:24
execute our offensive play that we drew
10:26
up um for ex SE to get uh a foul then
10:30
you know kind of just made a tough shot
10:31
at the end so um but I don't think that
10:35
tough shot you know makes up the game
10:37
there's a lot of plays that we didn't
10:39
execute well especially offensively and
10:41
defensively that led to that play you've
10:44
gone over to winst Salem before in your
10:46
career here so what's it going to take
10:48
uh what's the mindset going to be for
10:50
the next couple days here you know
10:52
preparing for w for us I it's going to
10:54
take all 15 gods of us it's just W for
10:57
us is a really good team it's a tough
10:58
environment to play there
10:59
um and we have to go with a mindset of
11:02
just you know winning on the road is
11:03
hard and playing in those type
11:05
environments is hard but you have to go
11:07
with a mindset like you know just being
11:08
gritty and doing whatever it takes to
11:10
win uh and um that's where I'm going to
11:12
preach them all week because W for is a
11:14
really good team and um I'm looking
11:16
forward to a really good game so uh we
11:18
just got to you know look back on this
11:20
game see what we did right see what we
11:21
did wrong and then use that as a way to
11:23
get better for Tuesday night for for
11:25
most of the game particularly your
11:26
scoring and distributing it seemed like
11:28
you were in as much of an offensive
11:30
Groove as you've been in recent games um
11:33
is that how you saw that and what worked
11:35
well for you um I think I was just kind
11:37
of just in a a rhythm and I didn't I
11:40
wasn't thinking too much I feel like
11:42
sometimes I've been as a recent kind of
11:44
just overthinking everything while I'm
11:46
on the court um whether whether I should
11:48
shoot whether I should pass and kind of
11:49
just that's taking away the flow of my
11:51
actual game because now I'm overthinking
11:52
every single play and I think tonight I
11:55
kind of just let my mind um just be free
11:57
and kind of just go out there and just
11:59
uh play like I know how to play and I
12:01
just basically just did what the game
12:03
called for that was open shooting open
12:05
shots finding my teammates which I think
12:06
are did good job of um and kind of just
12:09
you know playing free I think I do that
12:10
today and the last play was me to ghetto
12:12
J wash is that right yeah it was kind of
12:14
just like a back screen um and then just
12:16
live a little over the top um to wash
12:18
and then kind of just finish around the
12:20
rim so yeah RJ sorry if you this already
12:23
but you guys had the fivepoint lead I
12:24
think it was 61 66 um you know later in
12:27
that second half what do you think was
12:28
the the difference that kind of kick
12:30
guys from know I probably say we just
12:32
kind of just took our foot off the gas a
12:34
little bit we weren't um our attention
12:37
to detail wasn't there and that allowed
12:39
Stanford to kind of just get into a
12:41
rhythm and make their run and there was
12:43
a couple times it was kind of just uh
12:45
exchanging baskets for baskets and um it
12:48
just wasn't like any any force on the
12:50
defensive end that usually this there um
12:53
and obviously like you know little plays
12:56
lead up to big plays like that like T
12:59
step back shot that he made but there
13:01
was a lot of plays in between I say like
13:02
the last two minutes that we were
13:03
capable of making um that we just didn't
13:05
do tonight how disappointing is that
13:08
that didn't happen on the defens stretch
13:11
considering the urgency here I mean it's
13:14
I mean it's disappointing because you
13:16
know we're we've been on the stretch of
13:18
you know playing really good defense and
13:21
um our approach into the games have been
13:24
a lot better our communication has been
13:25
a lot better and for it to kind of just
13:27
kind of just take a step back a little
13:29
bit tonight um it's a little bit
13:32
disappointing but I know we could get
13:33
back to that we just got to understand
13:35
that you know we got to take one game at
13:37
a time but understand we got to take it
13:38
like each game matters and that's like
13:41
the big thing so I guess the message
13:42
here is don't let one loss become two or
13:45
three yeah just don't let it like hinder
13:47
over into the other games right we still
13:48
got a lot of games left still got a lot
13:49
of games to play so um regroup this is
13:52
tough one to kind of just sit back and
13:57
uh understand that like we have for
13:59
taking one game at a time he got Tuesday
14:00
night to get better opportunity to get
14:02
better against a really good weight for
14:04
his team and then you know we'll go to
14:06
the next game so um obviously it sucks
14:09
to lose tonight and but understand that
14:11
we got another game in two three days so
14:13
we got to regroup up you guys talk about
14:14
them went into that zone at one point in
14:16
the second half do you feel that threw
14:18
you guys off the Rhythm at all um I know
14:20
you did get some open looks from that
14:22
but did you feel that kind OFW off the
14:23
Rhythm I mean yeah I mean it just I
14:26
think sometimes it went from man to Zone
14:28
and then Zone back to man was kind of
14:29
just a a lethargic way um defensively
14:33
but it was effective for them I know I
14:35
turned the ball over say like a minute
14:36
15 seconds left um so that was on me but
14:40
uh we got kind do a better job of
14:42
um noticing what defenses they're in but
14:45
getting good shots I think we we had a
14:47
lot of good shots around the perimeter
14:48
was able to drive the gaps um just
14:51
sometimes shots didn't fall but uh it
14:53
was really the defensive end that got
14:55
for do you guys talk about the net
14:57
rankings and obviously this is a quad
14:59
three game and how damaging losing a
15:01
game like this is well how I try to tell
15:04
them and like obviously I'm not you know
15:07
really too informed on like the quads
15:10
and the Nets but I do like to know I
15:11
know the net rings in terms of that um
15:14
so I kind of just told him like we need
15:15
every game like in terms of kind of just
15:18
staying on our path and putting
15:20
ourselves in a good position for March
15:22
and just take kind of just taking one
15:23
game at a time um because I know what it
15:26
looks like I've been there my junior
15:27
year where I didn't make it at all so so
15:29
um and I kind of want to avoid that
15:31
again so kind of just understand our
15:32
sense of urgency but just taking one
15:34
game at a time like you're not going to
15:35
win all I don't know how many games you
15:37
have left like all 12 games in one day
15:40
um so just understand that there's sense
15:42
of urgency but um sense of focus as be
15:45
probably
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