Hubert Davis on UNC's Defense: 'Not Even Close to Where it Needs to Be'

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina beat Wake Forest on Saturday night at the Smith Center, 87-84, in a game that multiple times seemed headed for a blowout, but ultimately came down to the final minute. Thus, as the program celebrated the building’s 500th win, Hubert Davis’ postgame press conference did not have a celebratory feel.

UNC’s head coach returned multiple times postgame to the topic of defense. Watch what he said about it below and scroll down for a transcript for those comments.

What did you see from your team in its switching defense tonight?

Hubert Davis: “… in regards to our defense, there’s a number of things over the last couple of games that just have to get better. The first thing is just guarding the ball — pressure on the ball, whether it was off of ball screens, just allowing Wake Forest to get into the middle where they could make plays or throw it out for three. In the first half, I felt like our defense struggled transition-wise, even after made baskets, not getting picked up.

“After SMU and then having a week of talking, addressing and watching where we need to get better defensively, at times it looked where I wanted it to be, but not even close to where it needs to be moving forward.”

Is that what you saw during that stretch Wake Forest cut the 15-point lead down to one?

“No, you know what I saw? I saw that — and I’ve said this is going to be our growth, for us as a team — it’s not getting to that level, but it’s staying at that level. There were a number of times where we were up 12-15, points. And in those situations, you’ve got to get a stop score, stop, and before you know it, it’s 19 or 20. In every one of those situations, we never took a step forward. We took our foot off the gas pedal on both ends of the floor. Take nothing away, against good teams like Wake Forest, they’re going to keep coming back, and as talented as players as they are, that’s why you’re in a tight game.”

You were asked yesterday about some of the lineups and we saw tonight you continue to tweak the rotation. What are the biggest things you’re looking for overall from that perimeter group?

“Not just specifically for the perimeter group, I’ve been clear, consistency in areas. Before the game, I told them, this has got to be our personality. This is no other road or route. This is who we have to be. We have to be a consistent, good defensive team. It just is what it is. There’s no way around it.

“We have to be a very good rebounding team. Our number one way to score is in transition. So after a make, miss or turnover, we have to run because the numbers show that we’re most efficient in transition early in the offense. We have to execute. We’ve got to be in the right spots, we’ve got to set the right screens, we’ve got to come off at the right time — we have to execute.

“And then the last thing is, you have to take care of the basketball. And for the most part, all year, we’ve done a really good job of that tonight. I think we had 14 turnovers — that just can’t happen. So those five things have to be our identity, our personality, for us to be the best team that we possibly be. And there’s no other road. There’s no other route.”

What did you see that happened in those last 10 minutes to allow the lead to fritter away?

“Yeah, again, back to sustaining that level that allowed us to get the lead. It all started on the defensive end. We’re getting stops. We’re getting out in transition. That always leads to good offense for us, but that’s a part of our growth is we’ll get to that level, but can we sustain it? And can we sustain it for an entire game, and in those times where we’re up 15 — and this has been consistent throughout the year, where we’ve had big leads, and then we’ve sacrificed, whether it’s attention to detail, effort, the little things, box out, defending without fouling, mixing up defensive coverages, shot selection, turnovers, those are the things that allow teams to get back. And that’s something that we’ve got to work on.”