Hubert Davis lists rebounding, ball security as keys to beating Alabama
North Carolina and Alabama face off in a Sweet 16 matchup late on Thursday evening in Los Angeles, and Tar Heels head coach Hubert Davis has zeroed in on a few keys to make the Elite 8. And it’s going to start with taking care of the ball and maximizing possessions.
The Crimson Tide want to run up and down the floor and fire off plenty of 3s in a wide-open game. While the Tar Heels certainly have the talent to score with the best teams, Davis would rather prioritize cleaning up on the boards and not giving Alabama free possessions.
“All year we’ve identified what allows us to have success, whomever we play,” Davis said. “We’ve got to get after it on the defensive end. And all year consistently we’ve been a really good defensive team. We’ve got to rebound the basketball. Prior to Michigan State in our last game, we had out-rebounded our opponent 25 straight games. So we’ve got to get back to that. We’ve got to dominate the boards.”
And in terms of taking care of the ball when on offense, Davis explained that it’s more nuanced than simply just limiting turnovers with passes.
What shots his team ends up taking, Davis said, factors in just as much to taking care of the ball in what could be a high-possession game.
“And then taking care of the basketball on the offensive end,” Davis said. “Really that’s two parts. One, obviously limiting turnovers; but two, our shot selection has to be good. I’ve always felt that your defense is really dictated by how you perform on the offensive end. If you’re making shots, taking good shots, getting to the free-throw line and taking care of the basketball, your opponent’s always going up against your set defense, and that’s good news for us and bad news for whomever we play.”
A North Carolina star is playing with a bit of a chip on his shoulder
The Tar Heels, led by Armando Bacot, are one of four ACC teams to make it to the Sweet 16. That’s the most of any conference, which is surprising to some given the general perception that it was a down year for the ACC.
As Bacot explained, he knew about the perception of the ACC and believes that other teams in the conference did as well, and, because of that, he says that teams definitely played with a chip on their shoulders to get to this point.
“Definitely. You see it every year,” Armando Bacot said. “I think, especially since, like, 2018 when…and all of them left. I feel like the respect for the ACC just in general kind of went down. But you look at every year in the tournament we’ve always got a couple, multiple teams…deep in these rounds.”
“There’s a lot of stuff that goes into it. I think most ACC programs are playing a high-level non-conference schedule too, so I think that really plays a factor. I feel like other conferences might not be as strong or they’re kind of manipulating it in a way some sense.”
The four ACC teams to make it to the Sweet 16 are North Carolina, Duke, NC State, and Clemson. However, Bacot feels that there were even more deserving teams in the conference that were overlooked.
“This year was really crazy because you look at how great NC State has been playing and how great Duke has been playing. Clemson too has been great, but you look at teams like Pitt who’s beaten three or four of those teams that I just named. Also too, UVA, they obviously got out, but this year there were a lot of ACC teams that were deserving that didn’t get a chance to make it in,” Bacot said.
“Hopefully everyone sees after this year how competitive ACC basketball is and how good the teams are.”