Hubert Davis Catch-all

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Does anyone still want to make the case that Hubert showed great strides as a coach?

His complete lack of bench usage in the second half (4 starters played every second of 2H) and switch-happy defensive strategy were inexplicable tonight. I still don't think he's going to get fired but there is no way anyone really has confidence that he's becoming an elite coach.
I’ve always had issues with his use of the bench and rotations. His inability to figure out how to do that totally had our guys gassed down the stretch.
 
Last five years in order, now:

2022: 8 seed, title game
2023: missed tourney
2024: 1 seed, S16
2025: 11 seed, lost 1st round
2026: 6 seed, lost 1st round

2022 was great but we now have 3 NCAAT wins in 4 years since then, and one of those was in the play-in game. The regular season results aren't good enough. The tourney results aren't good enough. Losing Caleb this year sucked but the overall results just aren't good enough.

I don't think we're going to fire him but I do not have any confidence that HD is the guy is the right guy to lead our program. And I find it hard to believe there are very many UNC fans who have that confidence.
 
Last five years in order, now:

2022: 8 seed, title game
2023: missed tourney
2024: 1 seed, S16
2025: 11 seed, lost 1st round
2026: 6 seed, lost 1st round

2022 was great but we now have 3 NCAAT wins in 4 years since then, and one of those was in the play-in game. The regular season results aren't good enough. The tourney results aren't good enough. Losing Caleb this year sucked but the overall results just aren't good enough.

I don't think we're going to fire him but I do not have any confidence that HD is the guy is the right guy to lead our program. And I find it hard to believe there are very many UNC fans who have that confidence.
2022 was a good run at the end of the season. Still, Hubert has the biggest comeback loss in the tournament history. And that run was mainly because of Manek's play and Caleb Love shooting out of his mind. He never made shots like he did during the run again. 2024 was the best overall season, but they still lost to a lower seed in the Sweet 16. The rest are just mediocre to bad.
 
Last five years in order, now:

2022: 8 seed, title game
2023: missed tourney
2024: 1 seed, S16
2025: 11 seed, lost 1st round
2026: 6 seed, lost 1st round

2022 was great but we now have 3 NCAAT wins in 4 years since then, and one of those was in the play-in game. The regular season results aren't good enough. The tourney results aren't good enough. Losing Caleb this year sucked but the overall results just aren't good enough.

I don't think we're going to fire him but I do not have any confidence that HD is the guy is the right guy to lead our program. And I find it hard to believe there are very many UNC fans who have that confidence.
Yeah, I don’t think he gets fired, so we reset and do this all again next year.
 
Let loose the dogs. It’s time to light the fires under Coach Davis.

I’ve said before, the BOG is loaded with Trumpers and NC State homers. They will burn down the UNC house. Starting with the DES Center and the “DEI hire” (their terminology, not mine).

Losing the last three games - even given the injuries - may just give them the cover they need to fire Hubert, and pretend it’s not a DEI thing… but we know it is.
I’m as cynical about the people running the university as anyone, but if Hubert does get fired I really don’t think his race will be a factor. The go ahead for a decision like that probably comes from different power brokers anyway. Clowns like Roberts and Pryer might be able to hijack football decisions, but I think basketball is more insulated than that.
 
Did anybody hear his speech on selection Sunday? He started talking about TWO GAMES in Greenville! Then he mentioned the 2 games after that… bad mojo Coach…. You never mention, much less focus on anything other than the very next game before you, and ONLY THE NEXT GAME!

As soon as I heard him say that crap, I knew the jig was up. Totally bad karma. Bad juju. That right there alone was the straw that broke the camels back in my mind. Right then and there, I realized Hubert is not the right one to Coach UNC.
 
His inability to figure out how to do that totally had our guys gassed down the stretch.
Yep. Trimble and Veesaar both missed bunnies that they usually make that both would've led to 3 point plays. They may've missed their ft's (which they did anyway), but still would've banked 4 points...
 
Yeah, I don’t think he gets fired, so we reset and do this all again next year.
Man, I just can't see how this doesnt end with a coaching change *this* offseason. This is such an untenable situation now, IMO. A collapse of this magnitude in a major NCAAT upset on national TV has to completely change the calculus for the PTBs at UNC. It's not just this loss in a vacuum is humiliting. It is, but of far greater significance it's the perfect microcosm of every single solitary issue plaguing this program. They may not want to, but the PTBs at UNC are going to have no choice after this one (IMO) or we are FUBAR because there is no coming back from this collapse.
 
All of that is his fault. Opposing guards have torched us all year, and he never figured out how to stop a player on a hot streak. And our free throw shooting has sucked all year, and we've never improved.

Every ounce of this is on Hubert because he's bad at coaching basketball.
That is a symptom of Hubert’s decision not to retain Steve Robinson when he took over so he could have a complete staff of UNC alums. 18 years at UNC and damn near 30 sitting next to Roy wasn’t “in the family” enough for Hubert. Or maybe he didn’t want a more experienced assistant with head coaching experience looking over his shoulder. I don’t know.

Robinson was the guy who coached the Tar Heel guards all those years. Ask Raymond Felton or Ty Lawson or Kendall Marshall if Steve Robinson helped them be better guards.
 
Yeah, I don’t think he gets fired, so we reset and do this all again next year.
If that happens, we’re going to go 28-8, make the Sweet 16, which will all be good enough to keep him at least one more year where we will once again miss the tournament or lose in the first round.
 
All of that is his fault. Opposing guards have torched us all year, and he never figured out how to stop a player on a hot streak. And our free throw shooting has sucked all year, and we've never improved.

Every ounce of this is on Hubert because he's bad at coaching basketball.
FT shooting is on the players.
 
Coach doesn’t measure up but the higher-ups are at a whole other level of awful. I hate what has become of our alma mater. It’s been decades of decline and now it’s just a disgrace to its history. 😔
 
I've generally avoided direct discussions about Hubert's future for a bit, but even with Caleb being out this was a very disappointing end to the season - losing to VCU after being up by 19 is just hard to defend, especially after the close loss to Clemson in the ACC tournament where we fell way behind and played horribly before making a comeback that fell short. Sometimes there are games that just define a coach's tenure, and this one may come to define Hubert's tenure at UNC. If he wasn't on a hot seat before he most certainly is now, and I'm now leaning towards the view that next season will be his last, and probably should be at this point - there's just been too many games like this. And I hate it because I supported him and wanted like hell for him to succeed, but it's just getting harder and harder with losses like these to say that something isn't wrong or off with his coaching. Roy had his moments in close games, but nothing like this, and Coach Smith was a master at game preparation and end-of-game situations.

ETA: And I'm not arguing for him to be retained for another season anymore, I'm just saying that I don't think he'll be let go by the PTB this year.
 
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That is a symptom of Hubert’s decision not to retain Steve Robinson when he took over so he could have a complete staff of UNC alums. 18 years at UNC and damn near 30 sitting next to Roy wasn’t “in the family” enough for Hubert. Or maybe he didn’t want a more experienced assistant with head coaching experience looking over his shoulder. I don’t know.

Robinson was the guy who coached the Tar Heel guards all those years. Ask Raymond Felton or Ty Lawson or Kendall Marshall if Steve Robinson helped them be better guards.
Forgot about that. You are correct. Totally bad move at the outset.
He’s had his 5 years. Time to move on.
 
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