NEW ORLEANS — Hubert Davis has a smile that comes easily, the kind that's contagious, and in moments here on Thursday it was difficult for him to hide it. Perhaps he didn't want to. North Carolina is in the Final Four in his first year as Roy Williams' successor, and there's good reason for Davis, who went through the fire in recent months only to emerge from the other side, to be happy.
At times on the night of his first game as head coach, though, he was not happy. Not with the effort. Not with the rebounding. Not with the screen-setting or the charge-taking or anything else. It was halftime and he was yelling and animated. His tie bounced around in front of him, back when more coaches wore ties, and he emphasized his words with finger-pointing and hand-waving.
This was not the stoic Davis, the one the cameras catch when he might be sitting on the UNC bench, looking thoughtful or unemotional. This was the Davis that few people ever saw aside from his players, the one that couldn't stand a lack of effort or intensity; couldn't stand the idea of one of his guys not caring as much about UNC basketball as he does.
