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#UNC coach Hubert Davis & guards Ian Jackson and RJ Davis after win over UCLA
Dec 21, 2024
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0:01
coach you guys down 16 with 12 and half
0:04
minutes left situation before you come
0:07
back have Clos the deal what was the
0:09
difference in closing a deal tonight as
0:11
opposed to the other the other games
0:13
well I mean I I I don't think it's uh
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well I mean it it's the a big difference
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because you know down the stretch um you
0:22
know we've talked about an experience
0:25
not um doing the little things that make
0:28
big things happen a box out execution a
0:30
loose ball a freee throw uh different
0:33
stuff like that and down the stretch in
0:35
terms of the discipline and details with
0:38
the exception of us fouling and putting
0:40
them on the free throw line I thought we
0:42
were really good on both ends of the
0:44
floor I thought our execution was really
0:46
good uh defensively we gained rebounds
0:49
we took care of the basketball we had 11
0:51
turnovers in the first half only seven
0:52
in the second I always say that and for
0:55
us to be efficient offensively we got to
0:57
live in the paint live at the free throw
0:58
line went to the free throw line 3 five
1:00
times and we outrebounded them and so uh
1:03
down the stretch we got a stop got the
1:06
rebound made the free throws that's
1:08
something that we hadn't done in past
1:10
games and so I was really proud of
1:12
him guys for RJ and Ian obviously it's a
1:15
big win for the team but both you guys
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are home in New York playing in front of
1:19
family and friends just what's it like
1:20
to get this big win here at home and and
1:23
you know what was the like having your
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family and friends out there RJ think it
1:26
first I mean it's great I mean just um
1:29
it's my third time playing in the garden
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and every time I've played here it's
1:32
been electric just from you know the fan
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base and then you have your you know
1:36
family you know kind of front side court
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side and uh just the overall support
1:41
from everyone and I felt like a home
1:43
game um I know for Ian he did he played
1:45
really well um but just to have that
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confidence and support on your back and
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kind of like extra motivation and um
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there's nothing like the garden I've he
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I heard a lot of NBA players say this is
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their favorite Arena to play and just
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because of just the historic um players
2:01
that came through here um but just
2:03
overall the energy I know we made a run
2:05
and uh our fans got to the seats and you
2:08
couldn't even really hear what was on
2:09
the court cuz just that's how loud it
2:11
was so um it's my favorite place to play
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like as a neutral sight game and um just
2:16
want to you know continue playing wild
2:18
and continue keep winning I'm two in one
2:19
here so that's something to brag about
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yeah absolutely um the energy here was
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Elric you know uh felt like a home game
2:26
definitely uh um yeah it was just
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something something place like I never
2:30
played before you know my first time
2:31
playing in the garden uh yeah it was
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just fun man I had so much fun out there
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you always want to play something you
2:37
dreamed up throwing up absolutely
2:39
absolutely uh it's always a place that I
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feel like I wanted to play anywhere in
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New York the bar here uh just one of
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those places where as a kidy growing up
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watching basketball you just want to be
2:48
a part of what's how much is going on in
2:50
this building she is the m and then chip
2:54
behind her RJ in the last minute you ran
2:57
one pisher in the line for one trip
2:59
second time you to tie it or what's
3:02
going through your head and was that a
3:03
moment of redemption yeah cuz I
3:06
shouldn't have missed the uh the first
3:07
free throw um so uh Seth had made a I
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mean I wouldn't have got to the second
3:12
free throw if Seth didn't get that stop
3:14
in the diamond press um that's the
3:15
reason why he won the game he was able
3:17
to uh deflect the ball off of the
3:19
guard's um leg and he was able to get
3:21
another chance so going to the line um
3:25
the next time I was able to kind of just
3:26
free my mind a little bit and just tell
3:28
myself I was going to knock him down and
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I kind of visualized it before I got the
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ball um that was gonna knock it down so
3:33
yeah behind you chip then Adam over
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here coach Davis um Florida's offensive
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rebounds heard you has obviously in the
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game the game the other
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night
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grab it was huge for huge spot like that
3:53
yeah it was it was huge for the team you
3:55
know we were talking in the Huddle and
3:57
um we were up by one after RJ made the
4:00
free throw a little bit over 10 seconds
4:02
to go and uh we talked about um being in
4:06
that situation in the past and for us
4:08
not getting a box out costing us a win
4:11
and that uh all we needed was one stop
4:14
and um I just really proud of them um
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you know for them to be able to get the
4:19
rebound for them to be able to get the
4:20
Stop and to step up in that situation to
4:22
be able to win um UCLA is is a really
4:26
good offensive rebounding team and uh we
4:28
were able to rebound them and um I
4:31
thought that was a huge determining
4:33
factor for us uh winning today Adam on
4:35
the left and on the a wanted to ask RJ
4:38
and in just at the very end when you
4:41
guys the stop I think it's one1 of a
4:43
second left when you're coming back for
4:45
Elliot's free throws or whatever what
4:47
was that moment like it seemed like
4:49
there was a lot of relief that you know
4:51
one of these comebacks finally worked
4:53
out for you guys as you're coming back
4:54
for those free throws what what was that
4:56
like place was up and jumping and you
4:58
know
5:01
yeah um I feel like for us it was just a
5:05
moment where we kind of we kind of got
5:06
got the job done you know it's been
5:08
several games where we've been close and
5:10
we kind of didn't finish it and it's one
5:12
of those games where we got it done you
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know I guess it showed us how how hard
5:16
winning is for me um definitely how hard
5:18
winning is at every level especially at
5:20
this level so to come out here and get
5:23
that final stop in the game want to stop
5:25
uh it was big for us on the L here what
5:28
kind of maturation have you seen in the
5:31
so far this year and how well have you
5:32
played today talk a little bit about
5:33
that well he's still a
5:35
freshman you know but
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um um I'm just really proud of him
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um obviously
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just it's it has nothing to do about
5:48
today um every day after practice he
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always sends me a text and he says coach
5:53
Davis that's it and so I have to call I
5:55
go player
5:56
Jackson and he goes how can can I
5:59
improve what can I do better every day
6:02
he does that and that's the thing uh um
6:06
when you have you're around great kids
6:08
like RJ and Ian and you get to coach
6:10
them and they want to be coached that's
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the
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biggest like that's really enjoyable and
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fun for me and so really happy for both
6:18
of these two you know especially here
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being in New York and it's shocking that
6:22
this is the first time Ian's ever played
6:23
in the garden it was interesting uh at
6:26
pregame meal today I had one of my
6:28
former teammates come to pregame meal
6:30
John Starks and uh talked to them about
6:34
what it means to play in New York and
6:35
play in the garden and um the way that
6:38
they came back the way that they fought
6:41
how resilient they were um reminded me
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of what uh what being a Nick is all
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about and I was really proud of him two
6:50
two right there go ahead uh coach the
6:54
for guard lineup the smaller guard guard
6:56
lineup defense that's something you
6:59
yourself continuing throughout the rest
7:01
of the season yes I mean the uh um the
7:05
lineup change that we made in the second
7:07
half I just felt like they were just
7:08
loading up on RJ and you know Ian got it
7:12
going offensively as well in the first
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half so just having multiple scores out
7:17
there um that I thought would be really
7:19
good for us because it puts teams in a
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situation you want to go big or do you
7:23
want to match up with us and and then
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extending that pressure you know we may
7:29
not have have tremendous size but we do
7:31
have athleticism and so when you pick up
7:33
four qut speeds teams up we can get
7:36
Steals and deflections and we get the
7:37
pace that we
7:40
want coach Tyler V was obviously on his
7:43
way a big game for UCLA got his fourth
7:45
foul came out were you surprised he
7:47
didn't come in back in a little bit
7:48
sooner than he did when the game was on
7:51
no I didn't think he should come back
7:53
in um he's a fantastic player
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um he can defend he can rebound um
8:01
there's not many players in the country
8:02
that can score in a post with that
8:04
patience face up mid-range jump shot and
8:06
knock down to
8:07
three he's one of the better big men
8:10
that I've ever been around as an
8:11
assistant as a head coach it was an
8:12
honor and privilege to coach against him
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and he's a he's a big time player we
8:17
have three minutes and three people
8:18
Jeremiah RL and Emma three minutes make
8:21
it quick for I um obviously we've you
8:24
know kind of asked you several times
8:25
this year and you you always said you're
8:27
you know you've always been confident
8:28
you're always confident player uh I
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guess today specifically what kind of
8:32
allowed you to get into a rhythm you
8:34
know played a lot in that second half
8:35
pretty much almost every minute in the
8:36
second half just what kind of allowed
8:38
you to get into a rhythm and then
8:39
sustain
8:40
it um trusting my teammates um them
8:44
finding me and certain situations
8:46
actions and gave me the ball and just
8:48
allowed me offensive to go out there and
8:49
be myself you know um like I said yeah I
8:52
got a lot of confidence in myself um I
8:55
always had that and but my teammates
8:57
definitely put it over the top today and
8:59
they helped me me and I appreciate them
9:00
for it last two RL and Emma RJ being
9:04
battle tested in these sorts of games
9:05
recently how much did that help you and
9:07
there was was there any anxiety that
9:09
slipped in because of how some of these
9:11
games have G um I think it's been you
9:14
know just our schedule in general from
9:16
the start uh it's been we have had a lot
9:19
of what do you
9:21
mean um we've been battle tested all
9:23
year uh you know this first 12 games
9:25
just feels like we've been in March Of
9:27
Madness games um but that's what it's
9:29
going to be like at the end of the year
9:31
where we're playing against tough teams
9:33
all the way to the wire and um being
9:35
able to execute being able to get an
9:36
extra rebound an extra stop and I think
9:39
that's where we're starting to get the
9:40
hang of a little bit I think coach Davis
9:41
do a good job of kind of just
9:42
emphasizing to us like he said it
9:44
yesterday in shooting round or practice
9:46
that um you're not going to have a
9:47
chance of you know one more because we
9:49
scored on blue and they wanted another
9:50
possession to get a stop but life is not
9:53
always going to move that way you're not
9:54
always going to have another chance to
9:55
get another stop get another win so when
9:58
you live in that moment living and be
10:00
present you got to give it to your all
10:02
and I feel like having these battle test
10:04
of games early on helps us build and you
10:07
know obviously we made some mistakes and
10:09
we lost some games that we should have
10:10
won but I think overall it's helping us
10:13
build into the team I know we can be so
10:15
um yeah last one anxiety no never
10:18
anxiety no last one yeah for um coach
10:21
Davis just talking about the tough
10:22
non-conference schedule you know after
10:24
Florida what conversations you have with
10:26
the team that may have led them to the
10:28
outcome of today
10:30
well I mean you know it's just you know
10:33
I always tell them that the only thing
10:34
that you can control is how do you react
10:36
and how you respond and so after the
10:39
Florida game you know hey let's look at
10:41
it see if there's some things that we
10:43
can learn and grow from and you know
10:46
from the things you know late game
10:48
situations whether it's Florida or you
10:50
know Kansas or Michigan State you know
10:53
how we're going to react and how we're
10:55
going to respond and I felt like they
10:57
reacted and responded you know we were
10:59
down in the second half there was no
11:00
Panic it was not a situation where we
11:02
were trying to make a 16-point play to
11:06
to cut it didn't make it you know tied
11:08
it was just a a possession on possession
11:11
type of approach and then when we got it
11:13
close just understanding how important
11:15
the little details are and um it's
11:18
because we've been in those situations
11:19
against really good competition that
11:21
allowed us to have the confidence to
11:23
come back and then also the experiences
11:25
of what we needed to do to finish it out
11:27
and win perfect time thank you
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