Hubert Davis: 'Perfect Time' for Open Week as UNC Prepares for Wake Forest

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — With plenty of time to review the footage from UNC’s loss to SMU last Saturday, Hubert Davis was bleak when he described the emotion within the film room this week. 

“It wasn’t laughing on Monday,” Davis said on Friday, laughing himself. “This group, this generation, needs to see it. And so just being able to see where we’ve been good, where we’ve got to get better, was huge for us.” 

Prior to No. 17 North Carolina’s game against Wake Forest on Saturday (6 pm, ACC Network), Davis met with local reporters inside the Smith Center to answer lingering questions from the loss and preview the Tar Heels’ upcoming matchup with the Demon Deacons. 

Watch Davis’ Friday afternoon press conference in the video below and scroll to read excerpts…

Takeaways from reviewing the film since SMU?

Hubert: “Obviously, disappointed defensively… It was just a number of things. I mean, it was on transition, one-on-one, not boxing out at times, not talking and communicating the right way, discipline, shot fake, stay down, putting guys at the free throw line. And so I was really excited about this week not having a midweek game, to actually have practice. To practice on us, as opposed to preparing for Wake Forest until the latter part of the week. So I felt like it was a perfect time not to have a midweek game, to be able to get to practice and start doing fundamentally the things that have allowed us all year to be a pretty good defensive team.”

How does Wake Forest challenge what you worked on this week?

“It does. I mean, they’ve got great ball and player movement, athleticism, size, skilled players that are really good at coming off different types of actions — whether it’s ball screens, D.H.O.s, wide pins, flares, or being able to get into the lane. Once they penetrate, get into the lane, a lot of movement off the ball, where it takes a lot of communication.”

Juke Harris has had quite the breakout year for Wake Forest. What do you see from him on film, and how do you plan to limit him offensively? 

“He’s obviously really talented. He’s got good size. I think he’s a four-level scorer. He can shoot from three, mid-range, can get to the bucket, get fouled, get to the free-throw line. Good offensive rebounder, very aggressive. And in regard to those sets that you talk about, they move him around. Whether it’s ball screen isolations, flares, wide pins, there’s something always coming for him.”

“So he’s been in a nice rhythm offensively. And that’s our job, not just for him, for Wake Forest, from an offensive standpoint, not to feel like in any rhythm against us tomorrow.” 

With UNC on the brink of its 500th win in the Smith Center, how much does this building mean to you? 

“When I look at the Smith Center, it’s not just about the experiences as a player, as a coach. This is home plate for me. I mean, the most significant things that have happened in my life have been because of this place. So it’s not just basketball. This is where I fell in love with my wife, we got married, where I became a Christian, where we bought our first house after I retired from the NBA, we decided to raise our kids here, and so the Smith Center is home plate for all of that.”

“So when I come into this building, yeah, I think about a number of different experiences on the court, as a player, as a coach, but I can also automatically every day that I come into work, I can remember every conversation that I had with Coach Smith, Coach Guthridge and Coach Williams in every room in this place.”

Have you gameplanned ways for Caleb Wilson to get more touches, especially late in games when UNC needs scoring? 

“Obviously, we want the ball in his hands, and for as much as possible. Again, defenses every game, in regards to the attention that he’s getting, it’s been a lot, and rightfully so, and so we definitely want the ball in his hands, and we can’t go long stretches without him touching or the ball going through him. Even if he doesn’t score, the attention that he draws, it opens up opportunities for his teammates, and that’s something that we have to continue to improve and grow from.”