What Hubert Davis said as UNC’s defensive struggles continue

North Carolina head coach Hubert Davis spoke to the media after UNC’s 84-78 loss to Cal on Saturday.

The Tar Heels defensive woes were on full display once again as UNC allowed the Bears to shoot 50% from the field (29-for-58) and a blistering 62.5% from 3-point range (10-for-16). It marked the fourth straight game the Tar Heels have surrendered at least 40% from beyond the arc. Since the start of ACC play, opponents have hit 72 3-pointers against UNC, an average of 14.4 per game.

The showing looked even worse in context. Cal had shot just 37% from the floor and 22% from 3 in a 71-55 loss to Duke earlier in the week and came in near the bottom of the ACC at 38.2% overall, 26.8% from 3 and 44.2% in effective field goal percentage. Yet John Camden, Dai Dai Ames and Justin Pippen combined for 58 points on 55.5% shooting and 58.8% from deep.

Free throws were another problem for Carolina. The Tar Heels hit just 60.7% at the line compared to Cal’s 75%, a critical edge for the ACC’s best free throw shooting team in a two-possession game.

The rebounding numbers were officially even at 34, but Cal won the key areas, owning an 18-10 advantage in second-chance points and a 26-24 edge on the defensive glass.

Derek Dixon powered UNC’s late rally from 20 points down, scoring nine of his 14 points in the second half on 3-of-5 shooting from 3 and adding two assists, but the comeback fell short.

Hubert, what was the key in you guys making that push late? What were you getting to work for you that wasn't working for you earlier?

I think there was a sense of urgency that wasn't there first 20, 25 minutes.There were still mistakes that were made on both ends of the floor, but it was done with an urgency with an effort that allowed us to get back into the game.

A good part of that was with the press and they mentioned something about how they were surprised at Caleb's length and activity in that press. Is that something you might consider flashing a little bit more when you guys are going through some of the spells like you did in the first half to maybe just shake things up a little bit?

Yeah, I mean I would respectfully, I mean we've been doing that all year, after not after makes just made free throws but just like consistently for several multiple possessions regardless. It did help us today and it did help us today.

You could explain maybe some of the defensive adjustments that you guys made in the second half. Obviously there's the press but also like a kind of top block. I know you talked about doing blue and Stanford but just some of the adjustments you made to help switch it up.

No, I mean I felt like, you know, as I mentioned before like the urgency was much better in the second half. We were disciplined from a point of defending without putting them on the free throw line, they're third in the country in free throw shooting.

We didn't give up very many offensive rebounds as opposed to at the beginning of the game. We were able to get some steals and deflections. We finished our possessions with a box out rebound and allowed us to get out in transition. And so those are things that have been consistent of what we want to do for an entire game and we just didn't do it today.

What was the thought process behind going with Derek in the starting lineup and what did you make of him in his first career start today?

Yeah, I mean I don't make big deals out of starting lineups.I felt like it would be good for us to get some different rotations out there on the floor. Zayden played some extended minutes. Obviously, Jaydon has gotten extended minutes. And I thought overall Derek did a good job.

Is there anything from Cal's offensive plan that was a surprise or they did better than you expected?

No. No. We knew Lee (Dort) is their best offensive rebounder and he started the game off with three straight offensive rebounds. We knew from an offensive standpoint there's a lot of movement.

One of the things that I consistently said to the team is there's no time to be able to take a deep breath. Something's coming whether it's a down screen, flare, stagger, duck in.Our readiness to be able to guard their actions wasn't there at the beginning of the game and in large part for the first period. Everything that they did we were prepared for and we knew what was coming.

Cal came in as one of the worst rebounding teams in the league, yet they had as many as you did. What was the difference there?

I've said to you guys it's been three things. It's defense, rebounding, 1A, 1B, and taking care of the basketball. I always believe rebounding is the number one determining factor of the outcome of a game.

We had a 30 percent offensive rebounding percentage. That's nowhere close to the goal that we have every game for the entire year. Our lack of ability to dominate the boards was also a huge factor in the outcome of the game.

Was it about them being more physical?

I think there's a physicality about rebounding but ultimately it's about a will and a want to, whether it's defensive rebounding or trying to get a second chance opportunity on the offensive end.

You keep talking about urgency on defense. What can you do as a coach and what is your level of concern that you're not seeing it yet?

Just continue to repeat it, continue to drill it, continue to coach it, and continue to hold guys accountable towards it. Throughout the year everybody goes through some bumps, whether it's at the beginning of the year, middle of the year, you hope it's not at the end of the year.

These are some bumps that we went through this week in three of the last four games and we're going to have to respond and fight back. We have an opportunity to do this. I love these kids. We've got an unbelievable great team to coach. I love being around them and we'll figure it out.

You've given up 70 made threes in the first five ACC games. How much of that is a bump and how fixable is it?

I thought we did a better job of it today, especially in the second half. They had two guys that had never made a three and hit two threes on us. You look at the threes, but I look at the source,  where it's coming from.

The urgency and closeouts, the rotations. It's not the end result. It's why teams have been shooting it at a high percentage.Those types of things have to consistently get better.

You crawled back into the game but went nearly four minutes without a field goal late. What do you credit that to?

Well, we had opportunities. You talk about field goals. I think in those situations, we also missed free throws. And so, you know, we had opportunities to be able to score and we just didn't.

We had advantages on the break and came away with nothing. And so, we had the opportunities. We just didn't capitalize on it as much as we needed to.

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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC Basketball: What Hubert Davis said after loss at Cal