Tough to praise a Tar Heel, but...

[dkbaseball]

Hubert Davis is a terrific analyst, IMO. Very admirable career as a player too. Coming out of high school he was a marginal prospect, with a good chance never to start at UNC, but ended up as a senior with, what, the best single season scoring average by anybody to play for Dean Smith? Then, was it 15 years or so in the NBA? I also think he has great comedic timing in the little ESPN spoof ads, playing off of Bilas and Tim Tebow.

[cspan37421]

He is good. Another former nemesis I've found to be very knowledgable is Greg Anthony.

I like Bilas too, at least when he's in his "cub reporter" mode. I think he catches a bit of grief from some of us Crazies since sometimes frank assessments hit a raw nerve. I haven't heard him do color or play-by-play and I see that it is a recent source of great criticism directed at him. I've not found him to go too far in praising the other team or pointing out Duke's deficiencies, but then again, I've not heard every sportscast he's made.

[freedevil]

We probably ought to edit the title of this thread. I hate UNC as much as the next guy, but I don't want this board to ever look anything like TDD in terms of maturity.

As for Hubert, I find him sort of boring. Just my opinion.

[WiJoe]

I don't think he adds much. His laugh is over the top. He doesn't add much to the the studio show or game day. He's also not very accurate. In other words, perfect for the four-letter network. I've posted this at other sites: I'm happy to have DirecTV. I can watch a lot of games on the family of Fox Sports Nets. I don't have to turn down the sound, and don't have to put up with the ESPN attitude.

[Classof06]

Davis is pretty good. His analysis is usually on-point and he does a good job of talking about a lot of different schools, not just the same 4 everyone's been talking about all year. Most of all, I think he meshes well with Jay Bilas and Digger Phelps. There are many, many ESPN personalities worse than Hubert Davis.

That being said, his laugh on the air is a little bit over the top. That's actually pretty funny someone else pointed that out, I thought it was just me.

[hc5duke]

I dunno, I lost some respect for him when he placed us 11th last week, when no one else had us lower than 7. We'll see if we break through his top 10 this week.

[HK Dukie]

I agree with Schrute over there. After seeing his inexplicably low ranking of Duke in the Power 16 last week I figured he can't get over his own bias.

So I will sink to his level. He sucks.

[elvis14]

Can we get this post moved over to Inside Carolina? Or at least to some board that talks about announcers and not basketball?

9F <-- try to remember that!

[gw67]

I saw Hubert play high school basketball for Lake Braddock in Northern Virginia and I played against his dad in an adult league many years ago when I could run and jump(?). He was a good high school player against so-so competition and I believe that he was recruited by Dean because he was Walter Davis’ nephew. Like many low rated prospects, Hubert did not play much as a freshman but Dean gave him a chance as a soph and he blossomed as a player, eventually, averaging over 21ppg as a senior. Hubert was not particularly quick nor a great jumper but he was fundamentally strong and a good shooter. He was one of those players who one would not think would make the pros but, as dkbaseball correctly pointed out, he played in the NBA for many years. I like him as a studio commentator.

gw67

[Olympic Fan]

I think Davis has a nice personality on camera, but I don't think he brings a lot of insight to his job. He's the master of the obvious ... and he does wrestle with his Carolina bias a bit.

Just last Saturday, he's gushing about Tyler Hansbrough as the best player in college basketball. No problem there -- like him or hate him, Hansbrough is a valid candidate for NPOY. But what shook me was Davis' reasoning -- it was not that Hansbrough was a great offensive player and a solid rebounder (which he is), but in Davis' words, "it's because he's the best player in the country at both ends of the court."

Now, you have to see the world through Carolina Blue eyes to rave about Hansbrough's defense (I haven't even heard Ol' Roy go there). And if you watched James Gist and Bombale Osby score at will against the Heels inside last Saturday (and constantly beat him down the court), you got a taste of Hansbrough's defensive limitations. Again, not a knock on Hansbrough -- JJ Redick wasn't Billy King at the defensive end, but he was the legit NPOY.

But I question a national "analyst" who knows so little about the game (or is so biased that he can't see clearly) to make such a fundamentally flawed claim.

[Indoor66]

I saw Hubert play high school basketball for Lake Braddock in Northern Virginia and I played against his dad in an adult league many years ago when I could run and jump(?). He was a good high school player against so-so competition and I believe that he was recruited by Dean because he was Walter Davis’ nephew. Like many low rated prospects, Hubert did not play much as a freshman but Dean gave him a chance as a soph and he blossomed as a player, eventually, averaging over 21ppg as a senior. Hubert was not particularly quick nor a great jumper but he was fundamentally strong and a good shooter. He was one of those players who one would not think would make the pros but, as dkbaseball correctly pointed out, he played in the NBA for many years. I like him as a studio commentator.

gw67

I find him to have a sanctimony about him that does not allow me to ever forget that he is a tar heel born, a tar heel breed, and when he dies he will be a tar heel dead! For that reason I don't place him in my favorites, though he is far above the usual panderers I hear on ESPN.

[dkbaseball]

I think Davis has a nice personality on camera, but I don't think he brings a lot of insight to his job. He's the master of the obvious ... and he does wrestle with his Carolina bias a bit.

Just last Saturday, he's gushing about Tyler Hansbrough as the best player in college basketball. No problem there -- like him or hate him, Hansbrough is a valid candidate for NPOY. But what shook me was Davis' reasoning -- it was not that Hansbrough was a great offensive player and a solid rebounder (which he is), but in Davis' words, "it's because he's the best player in the country at both ends of the court."

Now, you have to see the world through Carolina Blue eyes to rave about Hansbrough's defense (I haven't even heard Ol' Roy go there). And if you watched James Gist and Bombale Osby score at will against the Heels inside last Saturday (and constantly beat him down the court), you got a taste of Hansbrough's defensive limitations. Again, not a knock on Hansbrough -- JJ Redick wasn't Billy King at the defensive end, but he was the legit NPOY.

But I question a national "analyst" who knows so little about the game (or is so biased that he can't see clearly) to make such a fundamentally flawed claim.

He was very critical of Carolina's defense yesterday, and offered high praise for Duke. Said VPI has no chance against Duke in Blacksburg.

I also saw him play for Lake Braddock and was very underwhelmed.

[Devils8780]

Davis was pretty funny in that ESPN Gameday promo with Tim Tebow this past weekend. I agree, he does very well as an analyst.

[Olympic Fan]

He was very critical of Carolina's defense yesterday, and offered high praise for Duke. Said VPI has no chance against Duke in Blacksburg.

VPI has "no chance" against Duke at home?

This is what passes for informed analysis in your eyes?

Come on. It's one thing to talk about reasons why Duke is a tough matchup for Virginia Tech, but to suggest the Hokies can't win a game in front of a roaring crowd at home??? After Maryland wins at Carolina, shouldn't a professional analyst understand that nothing is certain in this day and age?

It's also great bulletin board material for the Hokies ... which could be more evidence of Davis' UNC bias.

Dean Smith loved stuff like this -- one of John Feinstein's favorite Dean Smith stories is about how in 1979 Smith called Art Chansky, the UNC grad who was editor of the Durham Morning Herald, and suggested he write a column saying UNC had "no chance" to beat No. 1 Duke in Durham -- then Smith used the column to fire up his players and pulled off the upset.

Now Seth Greenberg can go to his players and point out how ESPN thinks they have "no chance" against Duke. Great. Thanks for the praise, Hubert.

[dkbaseball]

VPI has "no chance" against Duke at home?

This is what passes for informed analysis in your eyes?

Come on. It's one thing to talk about reasons why Duke is a tough matchup for Virginia Tech, but to suggest the Hokies can't win a game in front of a roaring crowd at home??? After Maryland wins at Carolina, shouldn't a professional analyst understand that nothing is certain in this day and age?

It's also great bulletin board material for the Hokies ... which could be more evidence of Davis' UNC bias.

Dean Smith loved stuff like this -- one of John Feinstein's favorite Dean Smith stories is about how in 1979 Smith called Art Chansky, the UNC grad who was editor of the Durham Morning Herald, and suggested he write a column saying UNC had "no chance" to beat No. 1 Duke in Durham -- then Smith used the column to fire up his players and pulled off the upset.

Now Seth Greenberg can go to his players and point out how ESPN thinks they have "no chance" against Duke. Great. Thanks for the praise, Hubert.

The scales begin to fall from my eyes. I'll be casting a jaundiced eye on his commentary from now on. But didn't Duke win 27-20 in Durham in 1979?

[johnb]

I like our high ranking and am really enjoying the season, but I don't think I'd rank us #3, at least until we beat a top 10 team.

[Indoor66]

I like our high ranking and am really enjoying the season, but I don't think I'd rank us #3, at least until we beat a top 10 team.

Why not? They ranked the Heels #1 when they hadn't beaten anyone!

[gw67]

I personally agree with Hubert's assessment of the Hokies chances against Duke at home. Neither Sagarin nor Pomeroy think much of their chances either. They predict Duke by 10-11 points. Tech will be without their best inside player and they have a freshmen backcourt. If the game was at CIS, I expect that these youngsters would be turnover machines. In Blacksburg, a 10-11 point victory seems about right.

gw67

[Olympic Fan]

The scales begin to fall from my eyes. I'll be casting a jaundiced eye on his commentary from now on. But didn't Duke win 27-20 in Durham in 1979?

Sorry ... I got the year wrong ... think it was 1980 -- it was definitely before a January matchup in Cameron. And BTW, the 1979 score was 47-40 (after Duke led 7-0 at the half).

As for the Sagarin and Pomeroy predictions -- there's a big difference between saying Duke should be a 10-11 point favorite and saying they have "no chance"

[EarlJam]

I agree with Schrute over there. After seeing his inexplicably low ranking of Duke in the Power 16 last week I figured he can't get over his own bias.

So I will sink to his level. He sucks.

Hubert Davis. May he burn in Hell.

-EarlJam