Hubert Davis Catch-all

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Guys I still can't get over this press conference question and answer:

Why did you choose to go to a six-man rotation in the second half?

“Because that was my decision.”


Again, I know being pretty cringe on the mic has always been a part of who HD is. But I'm just astounded by that answer. Whatever HD thinks he is conveying there, all it does is make it sound like he didn't have a plan at all, and doesn't know why he decided to do that other than he just decided it on the spur of the moment.

I would prefer he just answer the damn question. I don't know what he thinks he is gaining by staying mum about a strategic decision after the season is already over. But even if you're not going to give a "real" answer, there are so many ways to deflect/non-answer that question:

"This is the NCAA tournament, 1 and done, and those were the guys our staff trusted to get it done in the second half"

"That was a decision we made at halftime based on how the first half had gone, and we felt it gave us the best chance to win"

"We went all the way to the national title game in 2022 mostly playing six guys. The tournament is different than the regular season and you ride your best players as much as possible."
 
UNCatTech said:
My opinion is because the 19 point lead doesn't matter, it's the final score that matters. If a team builds a very large lead and blows it, that large lead wasn't good enough.

And a perfect example, in my opinion, is the Falcons super bowl loss. Coaching clearly played a role there. Yes I understand it's a different sport. But the coach made decisions in the game last night and he didn't put his team in place to defend a 19 point lead. It's not 100% coaching, it never is, but if the coach has no responsibility, why do we have coaches?
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The final score is all that matters in March.
 
Bigs23 said:
It matters because wins and losses are what matter as proven by the results last night.

Hubert has to own that loss. And ultimately he just may.
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I don't agree. The games where we held on and won after giving up a big lead are an indicator of team issues.

Yes, ultimately it boils down to wins and losses, but the game is 40 minutes and many things happen in the game that demonstrate toughness, basketball IQ, growth, etc. A lot can be gleaned from the time between the tip and the final buzzer.
 
Ddseddse said:
OK, this is a metaphor, so don't take this the wrong way, but...

You work to build a lead on an opponent. After that, what's the first thing you do? You step on thier throat.
After you step on thier thoat, what do you do? You step harder.
After you step harder what do you do? You keep stepping until they stop moving.
After they stop moving what do you do? You keep stepping until the time on the scoreboard says 0.0.

What you don't do is stop and read your press clippings while there's still time on the board.

I mean maybe this isn't just a Hubert problem, becuse I see this in both football and basketball. All I know is that it drives me crazy!

finish him video games GIF
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It's not that easy. The other team is trying to win too. They are going to fight back.
Also basketball is a game of runs, getting big lead comes from a run, which is often followed by the other teams run.
 
Bigs23 said:
No, I don't think he's terrible.
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He’s not terrible, but he’s not very good either. He has shown some growth and will continue to improve.

However, the problem for him (and us) is that most coaches learn and develop at smaller schools before going to bigger schools. He’s being asked to learn how to drive while sitting in an F1 car.
 
rodoheel said:
Guys I still can't get over this press conference question and answer:

Why did you choose to go to a six-man rotation in the second half?

“Because that was my decision.”


Again, I know being pretty cringe on the mic has always been a part of who HD is. But I'm just astounded by that answer. Whatever HD thinks he is conveying there, all it does is make it sound like he didn't have a plan at all, and doesn't know why he decided to do that other than he just decided it on the spur of the moment.

I would prefer he just answer the damn question. I don't know what he thinks he is gaining by staying mum about a strategic decision after the season is already over. But even if you're not going to give a "real" answer, there are so many ways to deflect/non-answer that question:

"This is the NCAA tournament, 1 and done, and those were the guys our staff trusted to get it done in the second half"

"That was a decision we made at halftime based on how the first half had gone, and we felt it gave us the best chance to win"

"We went all the way to the national title game in 2022 mostly playing six guys. The tournament is different than the regular season and you ride your best players as much as possible."
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Yeah that's a cringe answer. I'll try to give him the benefit of the doubt that he's staring into the abyss of his failure at his dream job, but that answer is arrogant and non-responsive. I tried to wait until the end of the year to make my personal determination as I wanted to give Davis a fair assessment. Well now that we are there I think it's pretty clear he's not the guy and he was given ample opportunity to prove that he was.
 
duluoz said:
Luka sucked and his low IQ was infuriating, but it’s hard to believe just how bad Evans was. Kid had no business being on the court and couldn’t wait to get rid of the ball anytime it found him. The fear was all over his face. What a disaster, and an expensive one.
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I think we were always asking for trouble with Evans in trying to get him to play a role much different than one he had played before. It would have been hard enough for a guy that small/light to transition to the ACC from a lower level, but asking him to transition to lead ballhandler as well was just asking too much. Then by midseason his confidence was absolutely shot and he wouldn't even hit open jumpers, the one thing we were pretty sure he could do consistently.

I also suspect that Hubert's emphasis on avoiding turnovers and mistakes contributed to him losing confidence and looking so tentative with the ball. I don't think there's any question that by ACC play he was terrified to actually drive - be barely attempted any 2-point shots in conference play. He did look like he just wanted to get rid of the ball. But as I've said before, I wouldn't be surprised if this becomes a Cade Tyson-type situation where he looks absolutely lost here, then goes somewhere else and thrives in a role better suited to what he can do.
 
Bigs23 said:
No one

No one else was going to stop Hill either. Who'd you want on him?
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How do you know? Hubert never made any adjustments to try to prevent that from happening. Whoever Stevenson was guarding would just screen for Hill, Carolina would switch, and Stevenson would end up on Hill over and over again.
 
He's Not Here said:
He’s not terrible, but he’s not very good either. He has shown some growth and will continue to improve.

However, the problem for him (and us) is that most coaches learn and develop at smaller schools before going to bigger schools. He’s being asked to learn how to drive while sitting in an F1 car.
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He's not had to innovate at all. Most beginner coaches at lower levels have to figure out ways to maximize the little talent they have to get the most out of them. The good ones think outside the box to get the best results they can, and they add that to their repertoire as a coach at the next level.

Hubert doesn't innovate at all. He's being outsmarted over and over during games and his players seem to have lower awareness of in-game situations. Even things like out of bounds reviews. Did you see how often VCU players had to tied their shoes just to help their staff check a call? I bet we have challenged an out of bounds less than 5 times this season and other coaches are doing it at least once per game. They want that possession back.

It's little things like this that Hubert refuses to do to try to be creative that is so frustrating. All the little things add up to stack to help get the win. And the past 5 years we've had very little of it, save for some of the Harrison Ingram and Cormac Ryan team, but I feel like those guys just had a higher bball IQ before getting to UNC.
 
UNCatTech said:
I don't agree. The games where we held on and won after giving up a big lead are an indicator of team issues.

Yes, ultimately it boils down to wins and losses, but the game is 40 minutes and many things happen in the game that demonstrate toughness, basketball IQ, growth, etc. A lot can be gleaned from the time between the tip and the final buzzer.
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You can look at it like that but if they had won last night it would not have mattered.

Do you think they win that game with Wilson playing?
 
lightbluenc said:
He's not had to innovate at all. Most beginner coaches at lower levels have to figure out ways to maximize the little talent they have to get the most out of them. The good ones think outside the box to get the best results they can, and they add that to their repertoire as a coach at the next level.

Hubert doesn't innovate at all. He's being outsmarted over and over during games and his players seem to have lower awareness of in-game situations. Even things like out of bounds reviews. Did you see how often VCU players had to tied their shoes just to help their staff check a call? I bet we have challenged an out of bounds less than 5 times this season and other coaches are doing it at least once per game. They want that possession back.

It's little things like this that Hubert refuses to do to try to be creative that is so frustrating. All the little things add up to stack to help get the win. And the past 5 years we've had very little of it, save for some of the Harrison Ingram and Cormac Ryan team, but I feel like those guys just had a higher bball IQ before getting to UNC.
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That doesn't necessarily make him terrible. It makes him non-innovative. He doesn't have to be terrible to be replaced.
 
rodoheel said:
I think we were always asking for trouble with Evans in trying to get him to play a role much different than one he had played before. It would have been hard enough for a guy that small/light to transition to the ACC from a lower level, but asking him to transition to lead ballhandler as well was just asking too much. Then by midseason his confidence was absolutely shot and he wouldn't even hit open jumpers, the one thing we were pretty sure he could do consistently.

I also suspect that Hubert's emphasis on avoiding turnovers and mistakes contributed to him losing confidence and looking so tentative with the ball. I don't think there's any question that by ACC play he was terrified to actually drive - be barely attempted any 2-point shots in conference play. He did look like he just wanted to get rid of the ball. But as I've said before, I wouldn't be surprised if this becomes a Cade Tyson-type situation where he looks absolutely lost here, then goes somewhere else and thrives in a role better suited to what he can do.
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Sure. But none of this is justification for how bad he was. He has zero excuse for looking like he was about to wet his pants every time the ball found him. That’s on him, and his makeup. Role specifics, coaching… that’s all secondary to the young man’s constitution.

He gladly took the money of course, but he didn’t keep his end of the bargain. He showed no fire and instead shrunk away from his responsibility. At least Cade Tyson tried and looked like he gave a shit, even if the shots didn’t fall. Evans always looked like he’d rather be anywhere else.
 
Bigs23 said:
It's not that easy. The other team is trying to win too. They are going to fight back.
Also basketball is a game of runs, getting big lead comes from a run, which is often followed by the other teams run.
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You are 100% correct. It's almost impossibly hard. But champions do it and pretenders don't. It starts with a mind set. One that come from a cultre that a coach fosters. We lack that culture. That's my point.
 
duluoz said:
He gladly took the money of course, but he didn’t keep his end of the bargain. He showed no fire and instead shrunk away from his responsibility. At least Cade Tyson tried and looked like he gave a shit, even if the shots didn’t fall. Evans always looked like he’d rather be anywhere else.
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I don't really agree with that and always think that trying to psychoanalyze players from the TV, or even the arena seats, is a really bad idea. In any event I saw plenty of times this season when Evans looked like he "gave a shit."
 
I think his best coaching effort this year was the Louisville game, where we clearly had a strategy and changed our approach to fit UL. We executed it pretty darn well, even though we also lost a lead.

We didn't seem to game plan like that for many other teams' personnel and style, and that is also frustrating. So he showed he could do it, but just didn't for a majority of games.
 
superrific said:
And the reason they need him to do too much is too many poor offensive players. Jarin is a poor shooter and doesn't get his shot. Trimble can't shoot either. We don't want Luka handling the ball too much. So Dixon gets too much responsibility -- more than he should at this point in his career.
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If only the head coach and coaching staff had some control over the quality of players they have on the team and their development.
 
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