What Hubert Davis said after UNC's win over Florida State in ACC opener

Head coach Hubert Davis spoke to the media after No. 12 North Carolina defeated Florida State 79-66 at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill in the Tar Heels’ ACC opener.

North Carolina improved to 13-1, its best start since 2008-09, and opened ACC play 1-0. It was UNC’s 499th win in the Smith Center (499-90, including 258-71 in ACC play), meaning the game against Wake Forest on Jan. 10 could be the 500th victory at the Dean Dome.

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Florida State dropped to 7-7 overall and 0-1 in ACC play. The Seminoles remain winless against opponents outside Quad 4.

What follows is the full transcript of Davis’ postgame news conference.

In the second half, Caleb Wilson chased down that offensive rebound that led to Henri Veesaar’s dunk during your big run. How much do plays like that swing momentum, fire up your guys and get the crowd going?

Yeah, I thought we got off to a good start in the second half. You know, we talked about the things that we were doing in the first half that we needed to improve. I felt like in the first half there was maybe a four- or five-minute stretch that I thought we were playing well. Other than that, it just didn't have any rhythm from an offensive standpoint.

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Their pressure and intensity on the defensive end was more than our will and want to on the offensive end, and so we were struggling getting any type of rhythm offensively. And then, you know, Caleb making those plays. I thought also another big play was the first play out of the second half, because going into halftime Henri only had one shot, had zero points, and I felt like that one got him going and into the game. So I thought those were a huge couple plays that really were good for us in the second half.

Coach, it seemed like the lineup with Kyan (Evans), Derek (Dixon), and Jonathan (Powell) in the backcourt really sparked that run in the second half. What do you like about how those three guys complement each other and what they did to give you guys that run?

Yeah, you know, one of the things against Florida State that is really good defensively, they get a lot of steals, deflections, they've got length, versatility, athleticism. And so in order to run any type of offense, you need multiple ball handlers, guys that can make plays, get us into our offense.

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And so, you know, when you had multiple guys out there that could do that, that helped us offensively get into our sets, get to our spots and be able to get the shots that we wanted.

Staying on that very quickly — Kyan had five. Had to be pretty good to see him have several of those fall tonight.

Yeah. You know, I mean, he's a really good shooter. And, you know, my conversations with him are those are good shots, and I want him to continue to take it. I want him to be confident in his shot, and I felt like he was.

And even, you know, in the second half there were a couple where he missed, and then he came out, and he came right back in and knocked down a couple. So, you know, we always talk about how do you react and how do you respond, and the way that he responded out there was huge for us.

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You were just talking with Caleb about a lot of the film study that he did over the break. It sounds like at least he was telling us he went back and watched all the games. Is that some sort of break homework assignment, and if not, what does that say about his work?

No, it is. You know, one of the things that we talk about is having a professional mindset. And, you know, it's not what do you do to put yourself in a position to be successful — it's not just what you do in a game. It's what you do at practice, what do you do before and after practice, how do you take care of your body, what kind of film study do you do.

And Caleb is somebody that I've never seen a freshman do this on his own. I mean, he gets the tapes. He probably already has tape of SMU and probably has already watched games of them. I mean, he's just always in a position of listening and learning. And when you have that type of person that is that talented, that's pretty good.

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You were talking about the attention that Henri  and Caleb kind of garner in the paint there. Slow starts have been a bit of a trend this season. How did you see the transition from the first to the second half offensively?

Well, I mean, they're going to have a lot of attention. And also Florida State does a really good job of disguising what kind of defense that they're in. They play man, they play zone, they'll trap three-quarter court, full court, they'll switch, they'll blue it — which means trap it — they'll do a number of different things.

And so I felt like it took us time to find a rhythm of what they were doing compared to what we needed to do out there on the floor. Also, they change defensively when they have their big guys in. They play ball screens differently than when they go small with Wiggins  at the five. And so just being able to get used to that, understand it and handle it, I felt like we got better and better throughout the game.

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Speaking about Henry and Caleb on the floor at the same time — you've coached a lot of basketball and played a lot of basketball — how much of a weapon is that becoming, and how much does it unlock what you do?

It's a huge weapon. I mean, it is on both ends of the floor. Defensively, we have the ability to switch, where they can guard guards out on the perimeter. Their length is real. I think somebody asked me a question earlier today in regards to our field goal percentage defense. And, I referenced that when I played, like the number one thing that I struggled the most is going up with guys with length. And we have length. Not just those two, but, you know, Jaren at the three, our positional length, Luka, Jonathan Powell — but those two specifically defensively and being able to get rebounds.

And then on the offensive end, it's not just your scoring. It's the versatility around the rim, on the perimeter. You have your 6-10 quote-unquote four man have six assists. They're playmakers. We ran that ball-screen action with the five and the four — ran it against Ohio State and ran it again tonight. Ball screens with your four and five, man, it's pretty unique, and those guys are able to handle it.

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You guys so far this season have been playing at a relatively slower pace, and Florida State comes in playing at a really fast pace. You had 11 points off turnovers and 20 fast-break points. Is that something you're trying to unlock?

One hundred percent. With Seth back, one hundred percent. I feel like our best way to score is at primary break, which is the first six or seven seconds of a possession. But it all starts defensively and rebounding the basketball.

If we can do that, we can get out and run. Obviously with Seth back, his ability to get out in transition — you talk about the effect that Caleb has — the effect that Seth has when he's out on the break just pulls guys along, and everybody's running and trying to get involved. And so it's a huge emphasis for us offensively. It's something that we've got to get better at and continue to improve and be consistent the remainder of the season. n

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Florida State ranks among the national leaders in three-point attempts and makes per game. How did you feel like you handled that defensively?

Yeah, I mean, we knew they were going to shoot a lot of threes. A couple things we talked about were not over-helping, because I think sometimes they would get into the lane to generate a three as opposed to trying to score around the rim, which would be difficult against our length.

There were times I felt like we over-helped, which opened up threes. And then the threes off offensive rebounds — those are the ones that really hurt you. When you feel like you've got a stop and you don't get it, they were able to kick it out for a three. When you go up against a team that has multiple guys that can make multiple threes in a game, it's really scary. And it's a really good team and extremely well coached.

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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: What Hubert Davis said after UNC’s ACC opening win vs. Florida State