In the days leading up to Saturday’s Final Four in New Orleans, it seems the whole world can’t get enough of the Carolina-Duke rivalry.
The whole world, that is, except for Hubert Davis.
“Even though that is a story, and that’s relevant, it doesn’t help us on the floor,” he said Tuesday.
It’s a similar talking point to almost exactly a month ago when, before Carolina traveled to Cameron Indoor Stadium for Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final home game, Davis referenced a favorite Bible verse and told his team to “ignore all sideshow distractions.”
Still, the first-year head coach has told his players to not be afraid to take in all the pomp and circumstance attached to a Final Four. On Friday, New Orleans will host a Fan Fest for all four teams, as well as open practices in the Superdome for fans to attend.
“When we go out and practice on Friday and there’s 30,000 [fans] at our practice, those are the things that I talk about,” Davis said. “Not from a standpoint of pressure, but out of thankfulness and appreciation and joy for where you are, and the hard work that you have put [in], and I want them to enjoy it.”
Davis’ mindset rubbed off on sophomore guard R.J. Davis, who after acknowledging the team is enjoying where they are, called the weekend in New Orleans “a business trip.”
“We’re not going down there just to have fun,” he said. “We’re going down there to take care of business.”
Armando Bacot, though, couldn’t help himself.
“I think it’s just an amazing storyline,” he said of Carolina and Duke’s first-ever NCAA Tournament meeting. “And then also the [Krzyzewski] Farewell Tour, too. Us meeting at this time, and especially after beating them in Cameron, it just makes for the perfect story. I think it’ll definitely be one of the biggest college games of all-time.”
The game will be the culmination of an up-and-down journey for the Tar Heels under Hubert Davis, one which began 365 days ago when Roy Williams announced his retirement from coaching. In one of his first acts as head coach, Davis placed a picture of the New Orleans Superdome, where the Final Four games are being played this weekend, in each players’ locker. It was not only a callback to a move Dean Smith pulled before the 1992-93 season, but a genuine vote of confidence in the team.
“At the beginning of the year, I felt like we had a chance,” Davis said.
“For him to have that confidence in us, and actually believe in us early in the year, it’s actually crazy,” said R.J. Davis. “It’s something that I’ll definitely remember forever.”
According to Bacot, not only did Hubert Davis show each player that picture of the Superdome, he told families to go ahead and make hotel and flight plans to New Orleans for the first weekend in April.
“He was dead serious, too,” Bacot said. “When he said it at first, I’d be lying if I thought automatically we would go there. But once we all got together and I saw our team, I knew we had the talent.”
But when it comes to talent, perhaps no team in the country matches up as well with Carolina as do the Duke Blue Devils. Featuring as many as four players who are projected to be early picks in this summer’s NBA Draft, Krzyzewski’s team seems to have found a rhythm which had escaped it toward the end of the regular season.
“They’ve been playing really great, just inspired basketball,” said Bacot. “Mark [Williams], he’s been great. Paolo [Banchero], too, has been great. And Jeremy Roach, that’s the Jeremy Roach I played with in high school.”
It’s fair to say both teams have seen their stocks go up since the last meeting on March 5. Duke has even shifted its starting lineup during the NCAA Tournament, promoting Roach back to a starter and moving Trevor Keels into the sixth-man role. The Blue Devils will likely use the same starting five as they did during the first game between the two teams in Chapel Hill, which Duke won decisively. If that is making Carolina fans nervous, they can rest assured that their head coach isn’t feeling the same way.
“There’s no anxiety,” Davis said. “There’s no conversations to be had with the players other than what’s most important to us. And the most important thing to us is how we’re gonna prepare this week, how we’re gonna practice and how we’re gonna play. Everything else is insignificant.”
In this week of all weeks, it may be a good thing that Davis is famously non-existent on social media. After all, since this is a “business trip” for the team, needless sideshow distractions would be entirely inappropriate.
Featured image via Todd Melet
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