#UNC coach Hubert Davis after the Tar Heels' senior night loss to Duke
Mar 9, 2025
#UNC coach Hubert Davis after the Tar Heels' senior night loss to Duke
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0:00
you took RJ out early in the second half
0:03
said he had crabs game kind of flipped
0:05
at that point he got four five six I
0:07
think it just didn't seem like you guys
0:09
gained anything offensively after that
0:11
point what did you think yeah I thought
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um I think we were up
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six um wanted to give RJ a break I just
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you know
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he was given a lot of effort out there
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and I wanted to give him a break and he
0:27
needed one um and during that stretch um
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I I felt like
0:34
offensively
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um just couldn't get to the basket I
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felt like we took some quick jump shots
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and um long shots led to Long rebounds
0:47
and they were able to get out in
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transition but I thought I agree with
0:50
you I thought that was a key stretch we
0:53
were up by six about a time RJ and um
0:58
got back into the game um um I think we
1:00
were tied or down by two and so um that
1:04
was a very important stretch in the
1:05
second half H can you can you speak to
1:07
just the margin of error in this game I
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mean I felt like defensive intensity
1:11
from your team was really impressive yet
1:13
any of the Little laps all of a sudden D
1:15
was back in the
1:17
Le well no I I thought um our energy our
1:22
effort was was on point um I felt like
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defensively our pressure especially on
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the ball
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um either sped them up or created
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turnovers and we forced them into 14
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turnovers um just wasn't able to sustain
1:37
that uh Midway through the second half
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towards the end of the game
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um kept going back you know I think in
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the first half Duke was up was it 13 or
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15 and then we caught back up and then
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we took the lead and then they caught
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back up and it was just a really um high
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energy um um competitive game out there
2:02
I guess what was the you know to go off
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that the challenge of you know
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containing D from a I guess from you
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guys for from a defensive standpoint you
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know as you know you know shots may not
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going on your end and do kind of get
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some that they do what's the challenge
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of it against containing them and kind
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of quing their their running well I felt
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like um you know I I I I thought Malik
2:21
Brown was a huge key um I thought um him
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defensively he's their best defensive
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big I know they have others that can
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block and alter shots but his ability
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to guard on a perimeter guarding a post
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defend without fouling get Steals and
2:42
deflections is at an elite level so I
2:45
think them getting him back in the
2:48
lineup really helped and then I think
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prior to today he had only hit two
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threes and he hit two threes today and
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so that hurt too and so I I felt like
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how many minutes he played you know
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almost 16 minutes I thought those were
3:05
really impactful um for them what would
3:08
you say in your opinion are the keys to
3:11
not allowing this loss to stop positive
3:15
momentum that you all have built over
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the second half of the conference season
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here to to not let it you know sort of
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steer you the wrong way going into
3:23
Charlotte yeah you know after uh in the
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locker room and and this is the same
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message that I've given before you know
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you really
3:30
only
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have you're only in control of really
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two things how do you react and how you
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respond I've been proud of how this
3:39
group this team has reacted and
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responded all year specifically over the
3:44
last month them staying connected and
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staying the course
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and I don't think that's going to change
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at all um you know we'll regroup and be
3:57
ready to go in our preparation our
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practice and our play will be on point
4:01
on Wednesday when we play any missed
4:04
opportunities at all trying to go at
4:06
flag in the second half and get a fourth
4:07
foul on him or hit easy basket if was
4:10
point to back on no we weren't
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specifically trying to get a fourth foul
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on him we
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were for us to be successful we have to
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attack the paint and try to dominate
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points in the paint through post
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penetration offense of rebounding um we
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didn't do as good a job offensive
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rebounding today when we got into the
4:29
lane um that's where we generate uh
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drawing Defenders then being able to
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pass it out and shoot wide open threes
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we weren't able to do that that's
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something over the last month that I
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think we've been really good at and it's
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contributed to us shooting the ball
4:43
really well from
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three they're long they're athletic and
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I think that really bothered us and
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they're long and athletic and not just
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one or two positions at all five and I
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felt like their length and their
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physicality at times wore us down in the
4:59
second half and as a result we really
5:01
struggled offensively how much was
5:02
heightening the physical piece of it
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part of the game plan today versus the
5:07
first meeting well it was definitely an
5:09
emphasis um of pressuring the ball and
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um I thought we did a really good job of
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that um whomever had the ball I felt
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like we were in their space and um
5:22
making it tough on them to connect the
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dots in regards to how they're trying to
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execute on the offensive end and as I
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said before I think that helped us
5:31
resulting in turning them over 14 uh
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times today and so I thought that was
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good that was something that we talked
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about and it was an emphasis going into
5:39
this game to pass more to pass point you
5:43
guys did draw three fouls on Cooper and
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once he had that third one you guys took
5:46
off I think it was a 10 two run to end
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at the first half going into halftime
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were you more satisfied with the way you
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guys defended him and tried to sort of
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limit his effectivess yeah I do I I
5:55
thought I mean he's
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you know there's a good chance he's
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going to be player of the year I mean
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he's he's an elite player and I I
6:08
thought
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defensively we guarded him well in in
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regards to making his catches and and
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making his points tough and I thought we
6:19
did a really good job of that well we
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kept him off the free throw line
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um and so yeah I thought we did I
6:30
thought we did a good job against him
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but you know it's it's more than just
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Cooper that's why they're a good
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basketball team because they've got a
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number of parts that step up and
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consistently make good
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plays anybody
6:43
else going into the what's your guys'
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motivation you know go going into the
6:49
ACC tournament because as your your
6:51
player said um in post game interviews
6:54
you guys are perfectly capable of making
6:56
a Deep Run and getting deeper into March
6:59
well the motivation is always there I
7:02
mean if you don't have motivation for
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having an opportunity to compete and
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play then um I just don't think
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you should be playing um the opportunity
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to uh play in the ACC tournament is
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um is a great opportunity and uh we're
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excited about the challenge of going up
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to Charlotte and um competing and doing
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the best that we can last one Adam hbert
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will you approach the ACC tournament
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like you have to win the whole thing to
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get in the NCA tournament will that be
7:36
the mindset no I you know I you guys
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know me I don't look at like I've never
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looked at it that way I I
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think I think it's most important to
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focus on what is real and what is real
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is the game in front of you and we play
7:52
on Wednesday and our job and our
7:54
responsibility is whomever we play to be
7:57
prepared to play our best game on
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Wednesday and if we play well enough and
8:02
we get to play on Thursday then our
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preparation will be focused on on that I
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think you control what you can control
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and what we can control is is our play
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and our preparation uh for next week on
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Wednesday in ACC tournament thanks coach
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thanks everybody
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