Billy Donovan
Billy Donovan
William John Donovan, Jr.is an American professional basketball coach who is currently the head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association. He previously spent 19 seasons at the University of Florida, where his Florida Gators men's basketball teams won two NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championships in 2006 and 2007. Donovan has more wins than any other coach in the history of the Florida basketball program, and he coached the Gators to more NCAA tournament appearances,...
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth30 May 1965
CityRockville Centre, NY
I wouldn't classify our team with the way we play defense as a shot-blocking team. I think one of the things you always leave yourself vulnerable to, any time you have big people leaving the floor, is offensive rebounding and foul trouble.
They're a great help team. They really rotate to each other. One of the big keys in defense is a lot of times guys are afraid to leave their man and give help because they're worried about the next guy rotating to their man.
I just felt like our guys were playing with blinders on. We weren't taking what the defense was giving us. I don't think our 3-point shots were that bad in the first half.
I thought tonight was going to be about offense. Who could attack each other's defense better.
I thought we played well on the defensive end to only be down at 11 at the half with the way we shot the ball. As well as we played defensively in the first half, we didn't do the things we needed to on the boards and on defense in the second half.
I'm just happy for everybody. I'm very blessed and very thankful for the opportunity to coach these kids. I thought whoever attacked the other team's defense better was going to have the best chance of winning the game.
That takes a kid with unbelievable character. It takes a kid who cares about the team, a kid who wants to win.
Corey was a definite spark for us at the start of the second half. He made a couple baskets to get us going and he did some good things defensively.
It's teams like George Mason that give so many people hope in their lives, just seeing what great things can be accomplished.
You're playing a game right now, living each moment. Play each moment. They peaked and probably played well because of the setbacks we had in February that helped us grow.
That's generally a recipe for disaster, but because we defended the 3-point line that gave us an opportunity.
It's hard to win a road game when it's 42-20 at the free throw line. It really disrupted our flow and made us stagnant in our offense.
I went off pretty good at halftime. It's hard if you're not making shots to get off to a good start. We could have very, very easily have been up 15 or 20 in the first half.
I think the one thing that should be talked about more is our guys' will and passion to win. They've really stayed focused on winning. ... We really didn't get a lot of breaks. We had to grind it out and find a way to win.