Hubert Davis explains leaving players in longer during good stretches: 'The rope is determined by the player'

Hubert Davis doesn’t want to mess with the rope or momentum, or whatever you want to call it. North Carolina defeated Florida State Monday 96-85 and didn’t mind leaving in certain players for longer stretches.

As long as they’re playing well, why not? The Tar Heels had six players in double figures in the win Monday, improving to 19-11 on the season.

Davis had an intriguing analysis on the situation when he was asked about giving players longer leashes.

“So many players ask, ‘what’s my rope in?’ In terms of you leaving me out on the court, and the rope is not determined by me,” Davis said. “The rope is determined by the player and your play. And if you’re playing well, and if a group is playing well, I’ll keep them out there on the floor, because I like what we see. And I thought Cade and other guys out there played strong, played confident, and I was really happy with their performance.”

With that comes other players staying on Davis’ bench for longer periods. But, they’re ready to go once their number is called.

“They’re getting better,” Davis said. “That’s what a team is, you just have different strengths and different parts and different games, and you bring them all together. You use them in this game, and use them in this situation, and guys step up here. And like I said, again, we can go through every guy on that stat sheet, and I can name plays in which they helped us be successful tonight. And that’s the thing that I feel really good about, is that everybody in that locker room has a huge smile on their face.”

Since losing to Clemson, whether it’s giving his players longer leashes or something else, North Carolina has won four straight.

“I think we’ve come far,” Davis said. “There’s a lot more room for improvement. I don’t think we’re anywhere close to where we could be, and I’ve told them that. But the response after we lost to Clemson has been really good. After we lost the Monday game (to Clemson) and we had that week just to practice on us, it really helped us. Going into Syracuse and being able to win there on the road, and win two games at home against great opponents, and then come here. 

“The thing right now that I’m most proud of is this, this group has stayed the course, and they’ve stayed connected when very easily they could not have and that’s a testament to them. They’ve been able to stay the course and stay connected when things aren’t going so well, to get us to now where we’re playing better.”