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#UNC coach Hubert Davis press conference ahead of Friday's game at No. 1 Kansas
Nov 6, 2024
#UNC coach Hubert Davis press conference ahead of Friday's game at No. 1 Kansas
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0:00
you started a home and home with Arizona
0:02
you guys have played one before with Den
0:04
zaga seems like a lot of the games that
0:06
are marquee home and homes maybe harder
0:08
to schedule I don't know if that's the
0:10
way but this is something you guys were
0:11
doing like what what do you kind of see
0:13
the value of doing something like this
0:15
and the value of these games in college
0:18
basketball well I mean I think it's you
0:20
know really good to play against you
0:23
know having this level of competition on
0:25
the road is always good for us I thought
0:29
uh the exhibition game playing at
0:31
Memphis was good for us BR Johnson C
0:34
Smith here at home obviously the game
0:36
against Elon really prepared us in a
0:38
number of different ways and going to
0:41
Kansas and playing there and you know
0:45
and also added you know the history of
0:47
these two programs the history of these
0:49
two programs playing each other I played
0:52
against Kansas in the final 4
0:54
91 obviously uh played in the NCAA
0:58
tournament uh first year 2012 2013
1:02
Kansas City um they played him in the
1:05
national championship game coach schmith
1:08
the relationship there and coach
1:10
Williams the relationships there and so
1:13
it's it's going to be a fun atmosphere
1:16
and really privileged to be able to
1:18
compete against Kansas on Friday how
1:20
important do you think that is like for
1:22
the sport to have Marquee Brands
1:24
actually playing at at the other gyms as
1:27
opposed to just totally neutral Court
1:29
things it seems like a lot of things are
1:31
now with college basketball yeah I you
1:33
know nothing against neutral courts but
1:36
I I like playing on each other's home
1:37
floor it kind of reminds me of you know
1:40
the ACC when I was here where you know
1:44
you played everybody twice they come at
1:46
your place you get to go to their place
1:48
and um those are games that you remember
1:52
for the rest of your life whether you're
1:53
a player a coach Eber what have your
1:55
conversations been like in the past your
1:57
meetings with Coach self uh I'm sure
1:59
you've seen on the recruiting Trail and
2:01
events like that what is your
2:03
relationship with him yeah it's a very
2:05
good relationship with him but you know
2:07
it started when I was working for ESPN
2:09
you know one of the cool things of the
2:11
seven years I was working for ESPN is I
2:14
got to go to a number of different sh
2:15
rounds practices and games and be around
2:17
different coaches and programs and you
2:20
know I was able to spend a lot of time
2:22
with him and watching him Coach how he
2:24
prepares the team and then our history
2:27
obviously playing in the national
2:28
championship game and an unbelievable
2:30
person obviously he's a Hall of Fame
2:33
coach but uh he's an incredible person
2:36
and somebody that um that I enjoy
2:40
competing against but also enjoy the
2:42
relationship that we have assuming
2:44
during your ESPN time you've been in
2:46
Allen Fieldhouse for some games what is
2:48
what is unique about that and is there a
2:51
way to prepare for it you guys you guys
2:52
go a Duke every year so I'm sure it's
2:54
just a little big bigger version of that
2:56
it's different um you know Kansas
3:00
Fieldhouse has its own unique um
3:03
atmosphere that none of our guys have
3:05
seen before I have um it'll be fun for
3:08
us uh it's something to to be able to
3:11
play on the road to play in that
3:12
atmosphere to be able to
3:14
execute um
3:17
against one of the better teams in the
3:19
country
3:21
and you know I know that myself I am and
3:25
the rest of our players are really
3:26
looking forward to the challenge on
3:27
Friday just stay on the the the history
3:30
between these two coach Smith coming
3:32
from Kansas and then Roy of course
3:34
spending time there Larry Brown coached
3:35
them to a championship these two schools
3:37
are intertwined so much meeting in the
3:39
NCA tournament and kind of helping
3:42
exchanging people in the programs what
3:44
is the the dynamic between these two
3:47
that makes these two together more
3:48
unique than any other fabl programs well
3:51
I think you know you know the things
3:53
that you stated you know basically
3:55
answered your question you know just of
3:59
um
4:00
you know you know the unique
4:02
relationships of you know coach Smith
4:04
and coach Williams and Coach Brown and
4:06
and the Legacy that they have left um at
4:09
both places both institutions is rare
4:13
and unique and you know the success of
4:16
both of these
4:18
programs they go connected to coach smth
4:20
coach Williams and Coach Brown and to be
4:23
able to have both of us in a regular
4:26
season game to play on um North Carolina
4:30
ever gone toen field one time one time
4:32
1960 okay wasn't alive
4:36
then Dean was 29 coach Smith's third and
4:40
final year as an assistant became the
4:42
head coach yep I just think it's pretty
4:44
cool and
4:46
um I don't know how else to say that
4:49
we're really excited about the
4:50
opportunity to compete against them
4:52
Heber we we talked the other night after
4:54
the Elon game about their size and um
4:57
dealing with that navigating that moving
5:00
forward out of that into Kansas on
5:02
Friday night size that's where I'm going
5:05
with it uh you know
5:07
like how do you think maybe just for
5:10
this group in particular your group that
5:13
going against Elon and what they had can
5:16
better inform them or help them maybe
5:19
deal with what you're going to see
5:20
Friday night um you know
5:24
there's in terms of you know the size
5:27
and the height you know obviously there
5:29
was a difference in Elon and there'll be
5:31
you know Kansas you know possesses
5:34
tremendous size the size that I'm really
5:36
talking about is the size of your
5:41
heart so doesn't matter if you're 74 93
5:48
52 I'm going to box you out it just is
5:51
what it is I'm gonna beat you down the
5:53
floor I'm going to set the screen I'm
5:55
going to get open I'm going to make the
5:56
shot
5:58
so it's the size of the heart and so
6:04
that's the thing that we talk about as a
6:05
team every day is uh the size and the
6:09
toughness of our heart um size of
6:12
opponent really doesn't mean very much
6:13
to me it's a will and a want to an
6:16
attitude a desire uh to compete on every
6:19
play on both ends of the four just to
6:21
follow up on that did you think there
6:22
were moments against Elon the other
6:24
night where you can specific ones where
6:26
you can take and learn from I think
6:28
Jaylen Withers talked about trying get
6:29
the 74 guy further away from the the cup
6:32
to be able to attack it you know what I
6:33
mean like did you think there were
6:35
certain instances that you've been able
6:36
to point to maybe this week yeah I do I
6:39
think I mean obviously you know 74
6:44
74
6:47
but again not allowing that to become a
6:51
factor you can still take a ball strong
6:53
to the basket you can still as you
6:56
attack the basket attack the basket with
6:58
an intent
7:00
on scoring and dunking as opposed to
7:02
trying to draw a foul and those are
7:03
things that I think we learned from
7:05
against Elon and trying to uh dominate
7:08
points in the pain because that's
7:09
something that's huge for us you know we
7:11
only went to the free throw line 16
7:13
times that's just not going to work for
7:14
us you know over the last three years
7:16
we've made a living at uh living in the
7:18
paint living at the free throw line and
7:21
we've done it through post penetration
7:23
offensive Rebound in so um we're going
7:26
to have to do it again this year to be
7:27
efficient on offensive 're be able to
7:29
make 13 threes every game hbert was um
7:33
talking to RJ the other day and he was
7:35
saying that you've really talked a lot
7:37
to The Bigs about like when you go up
7:39
like going up to dunk and and really
7:40
being I guess aggressive I tell that to
7:42
everybody yeah um I had their type of
7:45
athleticism I didn't have that so I had
7:47
to shoot the floater or the mid-range
7:48
jump
7:50
shot they're athletic and every time
7:53
that you get into the
7:54
lane I think you should dunk
7:57
it I just think it's important have you
7:59
seen those guys kind of embrace that you
8:02
know there's there's more lobs in games
8:04
now and you know obviously you have that
8:06
athletic successful lobs and
8:08
unsuccessful lobs true I'm not very
8:10
happy with the unsuccessful lobs and the
8:13
double lob at the end of the game
8:15
resulted in a turnover and the lob that
8:18
went into the stands and and the lob
8:20
that hit the basket and ricocheted
8:23
luckily to one of our players but the
8:25
lobs that are completed successfully I
8:28
like that kind of stuff I you know again
8:30
we we
8:32
um it is important for us to dominate
8:35
points in a paint and I think we have
8:37
the personnel and the athleticism to
8:39
really put a lot of pressure on the rim
8:41
with our penetration and that's
8:43
something that we stress every day you
8:44
were this this program has a history of
8:46
point guards thinking like Kendall
8:48
Marshall and and
8:51
and who have not shot well as freshman
8:54
but got better as they went along how
8:57
much did you Marcus Paige having been
9:00
through that and being a guide for for
9:03
Elliott help him in his offseason work
9:06
and gaining confidence that yes you can
9:09
become a better shooter well I mean
9:10
Marcus has been just a huge benefit not
9:13
just for Elliott but for all the players
9:16
I mean when you've had
9:18
somebody that has been there and done it
9:21
at a high level not only on the court
9:23
but off the court in the classroom
9:24
having that type of example especially
9:27
you know with Marcus being closer to
9:30
their age he just has a really unique
9:33
way of being able to communicate and the
9:35
relationship between himself and the
9:38
players is is awesome and they listen to
9:42
him and and how much did Elliot getting
9:44
off to a good start how much did that
9:46
help validate his confidence that the
9:48
work that he put in in the off season
9:50
was going to pay on I think it helped I
9:52
really did I thought it helped uh um
9:55
helped his confidence he knocked down
9:57
three threes but um it's been more than
10:00
that you know with Elliott you know he's
10:02
you know his he's taken on a leadership
10:05
role that has been huge for us um he
10:09
settles us out there on the floor um
10:11
he's getting everybody organized uh his
10:14
presence in the locker room um it was
10:17
great last year but just the maturity of
10:19
having one more extra year you could
10:21
just see the growth in him and it's uh
10:23
been a huge benefit for our team thus
10:25
far you know that K brought in several
10:28
transfers one you're really familiar
10:30
with and Griffin H five three-pointers
10:32
against you guys for Alabama last year
10:35
what kind of challenges does he present
10:36
to you uh specifically Griffin yeah yeah
10:40
I mean he can really shoot he's got
10:41
great length he's
10:43
6667 um you know he's really good in
10:46
transition uh but he's not just a
10:48
shooter he can put the ball on the floor
10:50
he can attack he can finish at the
10:52
basket mid-range game get to the free
10:54
throw line he's he's he's a heck of a
10:57
basketball player and so obviously uh he
11:01
had success against us in the NCAA
11:04
tournament he'll continue to do that at
11:06
Kansas and he's one of the many guys on
11:09
their roster that uh from a defensive
11:11
standpoint we have to stay close to and
11:14
take away those uh open looks for
11:16
three-point range you guys faced Hunter
11:17
Dickinson a couple times when he was at
11:19
Michigan having watched the film with
11:21
him at Kansas how is he a different
11:23
player there or is he well I probably
11:28
the the the biggest difference in this
11:30
game he's he's a guy that one he's an
11:32
excellent Defender um he can block and
11:35
Alto shots uh rebound runs the floor
11:38
extremely well for a big um obviously he
11:41
can finish around the basket he's a
11:42
fantastic passer out of the post so he
11:45
can do that he can handle it so they
11:47
have him in Chicago Action where he
11:48
catches the ball at the on the perimeter
11:51
and be able to make plays um probably
11:54
the the biggest area where he just
11:56
continues to improve is his ability to
11:58
shoot the ball from outside you know as
12:00
a freshman I don't know how many threes
12:02
that he made but you know he's his
12:04
ability to be able to pick and pop and
12:07
stretch and be able to shoot from three
12:09
as a factor is something that we're
12:11
going to have to cont with on Friday of
12:13
the times that you uh coached against
12:16
Kansas seing Kansas in practice when you
12:18
were ESPN what would you say is sort of
12:20
the trademark of a coach self coached
12:22
Kansas J Hawks team well from an
12:25
offensive standpoint just the pace in
12:27
which they TR you know transition from
12:28
def offense it's it's real and it's
12:31
elite even after a made basket they do a
12:34
terrific job at advaning the ball up the
12:36
floor all Five Guys running they do an
12:39
excellent job of pitching the ball ahead
12:41
which makes you actually faster in
12:43
transition and um defensively uh they
12:46
pick up full court you know dead ball
12:49
full court situations timeouts free
12:51
throws um you know they pick up full
12:54
court and uh put tremendous pressure on
12:57
the ball and trying to take you out of
13:00
your offense and that's something that
13:01
coach self has done ever since that I've
13:04
seen him Coach keber because the last
13:07
time y all played them was the national
13:08
championship game did you all ever watch
13:11
the film from that game I mean the
13:13
season was over and then you have a new
13:14
group the next year I mean I know every
13:17
game you would do a film review did did
13:19
you do a film review on that game I I
13:21
watch it every
13:23
year multiple times so I've I've watched
13:28
it a lot
13:29
and um wish we could have gotten one
13:32
more extra
13:34
rebound so yes then yes you were going
13:38
off of that in the last few days with
13:40
the film sessions what has been your
13:42
main takeaways as it relates to what you
13:44
learned from Elon and then going into
13:46
Kansas yeah um you know
13:49
for I would say um from an offensive
13:53
standpoint you know just being able to
13:55
be better in terms of uh finishing um we
14:00
missed you know 15 layups and dunks just
14:03
around the rim and you know you just
14:05
can't do that you know that's a said
14:07
before offensively it's important for us
14:09
to be able to dominate points in the
14:11
paint through post of penetration I felt
14:13
like we got there and we just weren't
14:16
able to finish whether it was a lack of
14:19
concentration or being affected by their
14:22
size that's no excuse we've got to do a
14:24
better job of finishing around the
14:26
basket and then just uh transition
14:29
defense um you know I I I think in large
14:33
part the transition defense that's
14:36
something that we have to continue to
14:37
improve on you know in the Memphis game
14:40
it was because of turnovers I think
14:42
against Elon it was because of shot
14:44
selection and so we just got to do a
14:45
better job of taking the shots that we
14:48
all want because when you do that you've
14:50
got offensive boards but you also got
14:51
defensive balance and it puts us in a
14:53
better position to be able to defend
14:55
what issues did you see on the half
14:56
court defense our half court defense
14:59
um I thought was was really good um you
15:02
know I thought we did a good job of
15:04
protecting the paint we've got to do a
15:06
better job locating Elon and the same
15:09
thing against Kansas is you know Elon
15:12
had 13 threes and uh their better
15:14
shooters were the ones that that made
15:16
the threes and so obviously that's
15:18
something that we've got to do a better
15:19
job against
15:21
Kansas time for a couple more have you
15:24
talked to Roy at all about his
15:26
experience coaching at Kansas and just
15:28
what that you know the transition from
15:30
there to here and what all of that meant
15:32
to him I have talked to him about it um
15:35
not recently but you know we've talked a
15:38
lot about you know the transition from
15:41
from Kansas here we've talked about you
15:44
know the transition from being here and
15:46
going to Kansas and um I really enjoyed
15:50
you know hearing stories and and and
15:53
memories and experiences that he has
15:55
gone through his time at Kansas and also
15:58
here in the transition going back and
16:00
forth was there any advice that he gave
16:02
you no just
16:05
stories and stories that were meant for
16:09
him and for me do you remember your
16:11
reaction to him first saying no about
16:14
coming back and then then ultimately
16:17
returning because that both of them were
16:18
huge stories when when he did it as a
16:21
play stories yeah there were huge
16:23
stories but I was that was during my NBA
16:25
career and so I mean I knew that it was
16:28
a consideration of him being able to
16:30
come back um but I knew that um he had
16:33
built such an unbelievable program at
16:35
Kansas as well and so obviously it was
16:39
great having coach Williams here but I
16:40
can understand them wanted him to stay
16:42
at Kansas the first time as well when ke
16:45
when he went the when Roy went the first
16:47
time when you were a player you were one
16:49
of his recruits if I'm not mistaken he
16:52
left me that's why he hired me cuz he
16:53
owed me
16:55
one okay no question all right but
16:58
that's that's what I'm saying like do
16:59
did he ever come to you and say like hey
17:01
you know I'm I'm going to have to get
17:03
out of here and take the Kansas job did
17:05
you all ever have a teenage Hubert
17:07
conversation with younger Roy about
17:09
going to going out there to take the job
17:11
no I really appreciate coach Williams
17:13
you know one of the things
17:14
that
17:17
um you always have to have somebody to
17:20
advocate for you and give you an
17:21
opportunity a chance and I've talked
17:23
that great LM that coach was the one
17:25
that gave me a chance and an
17:27
opportunity but
17:29
coach Williams did also in a number of
17:33
different ways he was the one that
17:34
advocated for me to get an offer from
17:38
coach smth um the other part is I got to
17:41
play for coach Williams in 1991 I played
17:44
for the world University team it was uh
17:47
himself and PJ Le Car lisso we won a
17:49
gold medal over Sheffield England so I
17:51
got to play for coach Williams and then
17:53
he gave me the chance and opportunity to
17:55
be a part of his staff and um being ass
17:59
coach for him greatest coach that I've
18:01
ever been around for nine years and then
18:04
gave me a chance and opportunity to be
18:06
the head coach here and so there's a
18:08
special place I'm not here without coach
18:10
Williams um and that goes all the way
18:13
back to I'm not here as a player right
18:15
and as a student without coach Williams
18:17
yeah he's
18:19
been he's been advocating for you for 36
18:22
years basically yes three different
18:25
stops that's pretty cool that's that's
18:27
more than cool yeah that's
18:30
awesome thank you coach thanks every