Hubert Davis, UNC players talk win over SMU

UNC head coach Hubert Davis along with select players spoke about the 82-67 win over SMU Tuesday night in Chapel Hill. Here’s some of what they had to say with the media.

UNC Head Coach Hubert Davis

On the defense… “I thought we did a really good job defending the post. We double teamed the post. We worked on that in the last couple days of practice, and I thought we executed that really well. I thought we also did a really good job staying with their shooters.”

On the communication…“The last couple of practices we’ve had good communication. In the locker room before the game, on the court, in the huddle, guys holding each other accountable, making sure everybody was on the same page in terms of what we are defensively and what play we’re running on the offensive end.”

On a hard foul on Ian Jackson… “My reaction was my reaction that I have with my three kids. I just want to protect them and make sure they’re ok. I’m thankful Ian was able to pop back up and knock down those two free throws.”

On Drake Powell being aggressive… “I want everyone to be aggressive and I want everyone to take the open shot when they’re open. The shots that Drake took are the shots I see him work on all the time. I want him to be able to have the confidence to step up and knock them down.”

On RJ Davis’ shot… “The best critic of anyone’s shot is yourself. It doesn’t come from anyone else. The person who knew my shot the best was me. So, I knew when I was making shots. I knew when I was missing and why I was missing. The same goes for RJ. He’s in more of a rhythm now and knocking down shots. And that’s the way I like it.”

UNC guard RJ Davis

On his “quiet” 26 points… “Yeah I think I just did a good job of taking what the defense gave me tonight. I was hitting my open shots, I was more efficient tonight.And you know, I did a lot of good things, other than scoring. I was able to kind of penetrate and kick into the new playing zone, find open shooters and stuff like that. So it was really just more about just kind of just playing my game, not trying to overdo anything. So I think I did it.”

On the defensive effort of today’s game… “I think we did a good job defensively all 40 minutes. I think for the last five minutes we kind of took our foot off the gas for a little bit. But I think overall, from a collective standpoint, I really like the way we played together, we shared the basketball, we [were] going from good to great shots. It was getting good stops defensively, and that was allowing us to get a transition bucket. So I do believe we took a step forward consciously building from the Notre Dame game, and then tonight’s game, because SMU was a good team, but I think we just came ready to play today.” 

On how the team found their “formula”… “We did a good job of just sharing the wealth today, moving the ball from good to great shots, and I think I’m really proud of our defense. We [were] communicating, talking on switches, we had a low man today, we had gaps, so overall, our communication on the defensive end was great, and that allowed us to go big in the first and second half. So what stood out for me tonight was our defense, and we’re gonna need more of that moving forward.”

UNC forward Drake Powell

On whether or not they have discovered the “formula” they needed this season… “Not yet. I thought [the crowd] was able to see a little sprinkle of it tonight, but we just want to continue to grow as a team.”

On how comfortable he is getting with his shots… “My coaches keep telling me to be aggressive and to just let the game come to me. It felt great, and [I was thinking], ‘Just to keep shooting.'”

On the key things that were successfully implemented defensively… “We definitely wanted to shut down their green-light shooters: number 33 and 3… Their point guard number 2 was pretty good, and we just wanted to limit them.”

On how they kept them off their average offensive-rebounding numbers… “That was the emphasis in our practices and in the film room. We just wanted to make sure we were the team that hit first… whether that was an elbow, a forearm, or even a head, we wanted to make sure that we made contact first.”

UNC forward Ven-Allen Lubin

On general improvement over the past two games… “Just preparation for practice. Just to pay attention to what’s important to us, just really trying to prepare ourselves on the offensive side and defensive side, to really get us mentally prepared, physically prepared, of what to come. Really just to go out there and just play our hardest and play our best like we did.”

On better first half efficiency over the past two games… “I honestly think it was on the defensive end. I mean, just the way that we talk, the way that we fly around, and the way that we trust each other to have each other’s back, you know, I think we did better rebounding as well…giving the opponents one chance at the rim. I think that’s what really helped us.”

On an increase in energy level tonight.. “[Starts with] our chemistry, you know, on and off the court. The way we kind of bond together, and really just trying to show on the court, because off the court, I feel like we get along pretty well. We talk, we have conversations, and so we try to bring it out onto the floor and just to see if it can really help us. And it really did.”

UNC guard Ian Jackson

On contributing beyond scoring… “Just understanding that there’s more to basketball than scoring. And I do more on the court than score the basketball, the shots will fall in the first half, but it happens. You know, shots go in, shots don’t. Do something else on the floor, and get back winning.”

On the team’s defensive performance… “I think on the defensive end, we did a great job. Towards the end, we felt like we lost both the gas a little bit, and they scored on us and they made some shots, but I feel like as a team, we did a great job on defense. We communicated, we understood our assignments and we got stops.”

On the preparation for the zone defense… “Film doesn’t lie, so we’ve watched them, and we understood that the middle of the zone was a weak spot, and every time we got there, we should attack it, and that’s what we did.”