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
felt gave half offensive outside rebounds score second tried
We tried to make them score outside their offense. We gave up 10 offensive rebounds in the first half, but in the second half I felt like their frontcourt was fatigued.
assist bench enjoyment gave grab players rebound seen time wanting
The thing that gave me the most enjoyment on the bench is that I've never seen so many players at one time wanting to see him do it, wanting to see him grab a rebound or get an assist or score. I've never seen anything like that.
gave great hard played possibly proud
They played great tonight, they really did. I was proud of how hard they played and competed. They gave me everything I could possibly ask.
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.
environment faced gave great played possibly proud road team toughest
We played great tonight, we really did. They gave me everything I could possibly want. I am really proud of the way our team responded here. This was the toughest road environment we faced all season.
fact focus gave half hold line percent shot
The big focus for us was the three-point line. I think we were able to hold them without a three-point shot for the first 35 minutes. We shot 34 percent in the first half, but the fact that we shot 40 percent from three-point line in the first half gave us a five-point lead.
excited foremost gave great love people piece regional starting
I've got to give back to so many people who gave to me, first and foremost starting with my dad. I would want to give him a piece of the net. He would love that. I gave him a piece at the regional final. That would be great for him. I know he's excited to be in this environment.
defensive guys shoot shut
I was a defensive stopper. I shut guys down. I didn't shoot much.
bit concerned course several throughout throwing
I was a little bit concerned just because he was throwing up, and it was several times throughout the course of the night. He didn't get very much sleep.
almost coaching college hard highest junior level people stay time
It is so hard when you have departures all the time to stay at the highest level. It's almost like coaching junior college now, and people want to level to stay up high.
board field half left percent points second shooting shot three turned
I thought we left a lot of points on the board in the first half, because we had 11 turnovers and we were shooting 52 or 53 percent from the field. Second half we only turned it over three times and we shot 52 percent from the field and that's why we had a 52-point half.
good
I thought we had some good looks, some good plays.
bang burden came eight follow good half lee night obviously player release run second shots
I thought the release by one of them there in the second half at the end of the game, his follow through did not look good on it and it came up short. Lee was in here (Sunday) night getting shots up. I've obviously got to be intelligent here because I've got a player burden in Brewer and we're down to eight scholarship guys. It's not like every day Lee can run and bang and go up and down the floor.
created dribble five four gotten guys job missed open south team three
I thought there were times (against South Carolina) when guys created off the dribble and didn't find him. I thought he should have gotten up 10 or 11 shots. There was three or four or five times when our guys missed him. Our team has got to do a better job of recognizing when he's open and getting him the basketball.