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
credit dealing floor kid last opportunity room spent time weight year
Last year at this point, I was in the film room dealing with a kid who wasn't getting the opportunity to play like he wanted to. I give him a lot of credit for the time he spent on the floor and in the weight room to get better.
bit emotion felt floor great guys hard learned physical played side talking team understand unfinished
I felt like our team learned a lot today. I think our guys understand a little bit more how hard you've got to compete, and I'm talking about physically. Our guys play with great emotion and energy, but there's also a physical side they've got to learn. They are an unfinished product, but they really try. We played aggressively, we got up and down the floor and we played our style.
anyone extreme floor great john luxury next playing prepare problem score taking tough underrated
He's a problem for anyone because he can rebound, he can score because of their great spacing and he's a very underrated passer out of the post. John (Thompson) has the luxury of playing him and going big or taking him off the floor and going quick. They can go from one extreme to the next because of their balance, so it makes them tough to prepare for.
andre both felt floor good improved likes looks major offensive team teams tennessee though
It's early, but it looks as though Tennessee is a very good offensive team. I've always felt like they've had talent. Major Wingate and Andre Patterson are improved offensive players. They are a team that likes to play in transition, like us. Both teams are going to get up and down the floor and do what they like to do.
floor phase team win
They like to go up and down the floor and we like to go up and down the floor. The team that executes that phase better is the team that will win the game.
cares character kid takes wants
That takes a kid with unbelievable character. It takes a kid who cares about the team, a kid who wants to win.
corey couple definite good second spark start
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.
george great hope mason people seeing teams
It's teams like George Mason that give so many people hope in their lives, just seeing what great things can be accomplished.
february game helped living peaked played playing setbacks
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.
defended disaster gave generally line recipe
That's generally a recipe for disaster, but because we defended the 3-point line that gave us an opportunity.
disrupted flow free game hard road stagnant throw win
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.
easily good hard shots
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.
focused grind passion stayed talked
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.
arkansas basketball both chance college game great half hard kids played plays second teams win
The second half was a back-and-forth basketball game. Give Arkansas credit. They made some plays and their kids played hard and I thought it was a great college basketball game that both teams had a chance to win at times.