Hubert Davis defends positionless approach amid UNC point guard questions

Hubert Davis has spent a good part of the last three days answering the same question, and by Monday night, he was ready to explain why he doesn’t particularly like the premise.

North Carolina’s head coach met with the media Monday morning and addressed his decision to use Seth Trimble as a primary ball handler for long stretches of Saturday’s 97-83 loss at SMU. The move came as the Mustangs applied extended pressure and disrupted UNC’s guards.

Davis made it clear at multiple times Monday he does not frame the conversation in traditional positional terms.

“I’m not a point guard, shooting guard, small forward type of coach,” Davis said Monday night during his weekly radio show at Top of the Hill Restaurant & Brewery. “I don’t believe in that… that’s just how this generation communicates. That’s not the way I grew up. You were a basketball player. You were a guard or you were a big.”

Davis learned lessons over the years

Davis said his philosophy is rooted in his own playing career — particularly lessons learned in the NBA — as well as his experience as an assistant coach at UNC. He recalled a few anecdotes on Monday night to back up his point.

The first came in his time with the New York Knicks. After Pat Riley left New York for Miami, Davis said incoming coach Don Nelson told him bluntly that his role would be limited.

Well, that’s putting it lightly.

“In my first conversation with him, he was like, ‘You’re never going to play,’” Davis said. “And I said, ‘Hold up a second here. I’m your starter.’ And he was like, ‘No, the only thing you can do is shoot. You’re a one-dimensional player, and I need somebody out there that can check a number of different boxes.’”

Davis said the exchange was uncomfortable, but necessary.

“I’m so thankful that he told me what I needed to hear as opposed to what I wanted to hear,” he said. “I started working on my game, and the last four or five years in the NBA, I was playing point guard. It was a huge benefit to be able to be a two-way player and somebody that could do a number of different things.”

Davis also pointed to the 2015-16 season under Roy Williams as further validation of his thinking, when Marcus Paige, Joel Berry II and Nate Britt shared ball-handling duties.

“All of them were quote-unquote point guards,” Davis said. “When I saw Marcus and Joel Berry work together, I was like, that’s exactly what I like. Both of them fed off each other.”

Making a move with Trimble

That experience shapes how Davis evaluates his roster now at UNC. Against SMU, with Colorado State transfer Kyan Evans and freshman Derek Dixon struggling to consistently initiate the offense, Davis said he leaned on Trimble’s ability to attack off the dribble. While Trimble grew up playing point guard, it marked the first extended action at the point for the senior guard this season.

On Monday, Davis declined to label the move a positional change.

“Yes, Seth was handling the basketball,” Davis said. “But we have a number of playmakers. We have Luka [Bogavac]. Henri [Veesaar] can handle the basketball. He’s coming off ball screens… Caleb [Wilson] as well.”

North Carolina has recorded 20 or more assists in three of its last four games and has five players averaging at least two assists per contest. The Tar Heels rank top 50 nationally in assists and, per KenPom, top 30 nationally in assist percentage — an indicator of how often made baskets are coming off passes rather than isolation play.

Davis said the balance has helped limit turnovers, particularly against teams that rely on pressure defense like SMU and Florida State.

“When you have one ball handler, that’s when things get in trouble,” Davis said Monday night. “We have multiple guys that can bring up the basketball and get into the offense — that’s good news for us.”

UNC finished with 21 assists against SMU, but Davis said he felt like the team could’ve had 30.

“We missed some opportunities to make the extra pass,” Davis said.

After Saturday’s loss Trimble also acknowledged areas where he could improve, particularly against SMU’s physical perimeter defense.

“I could have been more aggressive in starting the offense… I’ll just learn from it,” he said.

While the point guard questions have been looming for the Tar Heels, Davis emphasized that it is only one piece of a larger picture. SMU shot 60% for the game and over 70% in the second half, which Davis called inexcusable.

North Carolina has a week off to reinforce its defensive principles and continue to tinker with its backcourt rotation before moving deeper into ACC play. Wake Forest, which visits Chapel Hill on Saturday, ranks top 25 nationally in forcing turnovers (defensive turnover percentage) and generating steals (steal percentage).

Davis remains committed to a collective approach on offense — both against the Demon Deacons and for the foreseeable future.

“I love multiple playmakers out there on the floor,” Davis said during a Monday morning Zoom call. “I don’t determine, this guy’s the point guard, this guy’s a two guard… I want basketball players that can handle the basketball.”