Hubert Davis explains what makes North Carolina good on defense

North Carolina started 8-0 in ACC play and rode a nine-game winning streak into its game at Florida State, with their defense taking center stage as the impotence behind such a hot streak.

Aside from the ridiculous Houston defense, North Carolina has posted the best defensive efficiency numbers in the country since Dec. 17. They’re holding opponents to 22% shooting from 3, 42% from 2, and are posting elite rebounding numbers as well.

This week, head coach Hubert Davis addressed his team’s excellent defensive play and what sparked such improvement on that end of the floor compared to his past teams.

“Well, one, I think the commitment to how important it is for our success,” he said. “You know, I talked to them at great length about, you know, there needs to be a commitment in terms of defense and rebounding to put ourselves in a position to be successful, and so, it’s really on the players, their commitment to how important it is to our success.”

With that commitment, plus the athletic ability of the UNC roster, Davis has his best defensive unit by far.

“Then, you know, with our ability defensively, we’ve got a number of guys we can play. We’re versatile defensively. We can play a number of different positions that I think really helps us.”

Rebounding isn’t always mentioned as part of defense, but Hubert Davis certainly believes strong presence on the glass is an important part of that end of the court.

“And then our rebounding. You mentioned about our defense, our rebounding has improved as well. I think it’s nine straight games that we’ve out-rebounded an opponent, so we’re limiting teams to one shot every possession. We’re protecting the paint, but we’re also doing two things: we’re protecting the paint but we’re also contesting the three as well.”

The best part? His players are loving the defensive intensity.

“(Armando Bacot) just a couple days ago said, ‘coach, this is the most fun that I’ve ever had playing defense, like, I’m really liking this. I’m getting energized to get stops.'”

When guys are as engaged on defense as Bacot, Davis also notes that they’re communicating more often, which is a crucial aspect of the Heels’ defensive system.

“I think that’s a good thing with communication. You hear a lot of from coaches about: guys have got to talk. Whether it’s screens, etc. The communication element has to be there.”