Up next in 10
#UNC coach Hubert Davis at ACC weekly Zoom coaches press conference
Jan 13, 2025
The first question is about Ian Jackson.
View Video Transcript
0:00
staying with this guy what have you seen
0:01
from him defensively in the last couple
0:04
of weeks and and how good a defensive
0:05
player do you think he can be once he's
0:07
fully acclimated himself to to investing
0:10
in that end of the game well I mean I
0:12
think he's um obviously getting a lot
0:15
better defensively it's it's always I
0:18
think an adjustment for freshman it's
0:21
just much different defensively going
0:23
from high school to college I mean high
0:26
school it's generally you play defense
0:29
when your man gets the ball in college
0:31
that's just that's just not how it works
0:34
you know in order to be a good defensive
0:36
player you actually have to play defense
0:38
before you play defense to prepare
0:41
yourself for if and when your your man
0:43
gets the ball in um Ian has gotten
0:47
better each day at understanding that
0:49
and doing that and I've told him
0:52
specifically that I think he can be an
0:54
elite uh Defender and that um one of the
0:58
things that I want him to be
1:00
is is a two-way player uh a guy that can
1:04
shut down a guy and a guy from an
1:06
offensive standpoint that can score it
1:08
will and um he's just doing a really
1:12
good job he's getting better every day
1:14
and uh you're exactly right he's he's
1:17
he's improving um dayto day to stay on
1:22
that how much does the fact that the
1:24
last what six games I guess it is he's
1:26
been very prolific offensively for a
1:28
young player does that sort of EAS them
1:30
internally and because of that he can be
1:32
a better defensive player because maybe
1:34
he's a little bit more focused or aware
1:37
on that end of the floor because the
1:38
other part of his game is taking care of
1:40
itself I don't think it has for him has
1:42
anything to do about the offensive end I
1:45
think it has everything to do about who
1:47
he is as a person and and a player and a
1:50
teammate um I've said this to a number
1:54
of people every day every night he sends
1:57
me a text and he says coach Davis that's
2:00
it and then I text back player Jackson
2:03
and then he text us back and he says
2:05
coach what can I get better and what can
2:07
I work on and so you have a you have you
2:10
know really talented player that wants
2:13
to learn and wants to get better and
2:15
wants to grow and so I don't I don't
2:17
think it has anything to do about his
2:19
success on the offensive end I think it
2:21
has everything to do with the type of
2:24
character and the type of kid he is that
2:26
he wants to be good in every area out
2:28
there on the floor thank you appreciate
2:30
that yeah uh go next to Michael Co go
2:33
ahead
2:35
Michael good morning there Hubert uh
2:38
good morning when you look at Cal uh
2:41
coming into the Smith Center on
2:42
Wednesday night what is it about them
2:44
that uh stands out to you in your
2:46
initial scouting of them well I mean you
2:49
know from an offensive standpoint they
2:51
do a really good job of getting to the
2:52
free throw line and and they shoot a
2:54
really good percentage as a team so you
2:57
know just like you know when we played
3:00
NC State you know one of the emphases
3:02
was to be able to defend them and defend
3:05
them without fouling and so that's going
3:06
to be huge for us on Wednesday against
3:09
Cal they're also a great offensive
3:11
rebounding team and so you know we gave
3:14
up 16 offensive rebounds against NC
3:16
State that's just not going to be
3:18
sustainable it's not going to be a
3:20
recipe for um success against Cal
3:24
because even their guards get to the
3:26
offensive glass and so um those are two
3:29
are is defensively that we got to be
3:31
locked in on on Wednesday in order to
3:33
have success against
3:35
Cal thanks Heber uh Rod Baxley go
3:40
ahead cubert what have you seen from
3:44
Seth since his returned to injury did
3:46
start to look more like himself in the
3:48
second half with those uh big steals
3:50
that turned into four points from you
3:51
guys but but what's it like for a player
3:54
to to just be reinserted and try to get
3:57
back in that Groove he found early in
3:59
the season yeah you know it's you
4:01
know you know the two and a half weeks
4:04
that he missed you know um um you you
4:09
just have to find a rhythm the only way
4:11
that you can find a rhythm in basketball
4:13
is actually playing the only way that
4:15
you can get in shape basketball shape is
4:17
playing basketball and um I was really
4:19
happy with uh you know Seth's uh
4:24
activity um especially in the second
4:26
half you were right you know he was able
4:28
to get steals to flex get into the Open
4:31
Court which you know Seth is really
4:33
gifted and really good at and you know
4:38
it just takes time to get back into that
4:40
Rhythm and um I'm just happy that Seth
4:43
is back because he is a huge piece uh of
4:46
our team and um we need them in so many
4:50
different areas um out there on the
4:52
floor and I'm just glad that he's back
4:54
in the
4:56
lineup uh Jeremiah Holloway go ahead
4:59
hey Huber good morning um one thing you
5:02
often or a few things you often talk
5:04
about uh as far as the the keys to
5:06
success for UNC is you know the defense
5:08
rebounding taking care of the ball when
5:10
it comes to defense specifically um last
5:13
couple games holding teams under um 70
5:16
and having to win some of those lower
5:17
scoring games do you feel the team is
5:19
for a lack of a better term finding an
5:22
identity I guess on the defensive side
5:24
of the ball more so recently than
5:26
compared to the start of the year I do I
5:28
think I think I think more so recently
5:31
but there's a lot more gr Room to Grow
5:35
um for example you know I mean we held
5:38
NC State to 22% from the field in the
5:40
first half but in the second half we
5:42
allow them to shoot 60% from the field
5:45
and so it's not only and it's something
5:47
that I've expressed and communicated to
5:49
the team it's it's the next step
5:53
is yeah we can play at a high level
5:55
defensively but can you sustain it can
5:58
you can you can you stay at that level
6:00
and that's something that I think is not
6:04
I think I know is the next step for us
6:06
defensively can we put a full game
6:08
together
6:10
because you know 60% from the field on
6:13
the road against a a really good Inc
6:15
State
6:17
team that's just not going to work every
6:19
night and so we've got to do a better
6:21
job of of sustaining that high level uh
6:25
defensively where we're protecting the
6:27
paint we're defending without fouling
6:29
we're boxing out and limiting teams to
6:31
one shot every possession that's just
6:33
going to be huge for
6:36
us uh your last question will come from
6:38
Shelby Swanson go ahead Shelby good
6:42
morning just we're working on a story um
6:44
at the N right now about uh Drake Powell
6:47
local guy and um I know that you had the
6:49
chance just when you were recruiting him
6:51
to go out and actually see him play at
6:53
Northwood just wanted you to take a
6:55
moment reflect back what was your first
6:56
impression um both meeting him and also
6:58
seeing him there well I mean just an
7:02
incredible kid that uh that you just
7:05
genuinely
7:06
enjoy being around um not just coaching
7:10
but just being around and you know the
7:13
type of family that he comes from is is
7:15
exactly what you want on this team and
7:18
in this program and you know out there
7:21
on the floor just the way that he just
7:23
checks the boxes in so many different
7:25
areas just jumps right out at you and so
7:28
you know the first time time I saw him
7:30
play it was it wasn't one thing it was
7:33
it was everything it was a three it was
7:35
an offensive rebound it was a steal it
7:37
was a block it was running the floor it
7:39
was diving on a loose ball it was and
7:43
not just doing that but having the
7:45
ability to do that at an elite and a
7:47
high level and that's what Drake has
7:50
done for us this year and he'll continue
7:52
to do for the remainder of the season
7:54
but he's exactly the type of person and
7:57
type of player you want in this program
7:59
you want to coach and I'm so glad that
8:01
he's here at
8:04
Carolina Hubert thank you for the time
8:06
appreciate it as always okay thank you
8:08
guys have a good day good
8:11
week all right next up we've got Kevin
8:13
Keats from NC
8:16
State here there he is good morning good
8:19
morning guys uh if you have a question
8:22
for Kevin go ahead use the raise hand
#College Sports
#Sports
#Sports Coaching & Training