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
defensive guys shoot shut
I was a defensive stopper. I shut guys down. I didn't shoot much.
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.
believe enjoying group guys heart playing together
I think we've got a different group of kids. I believe in my heart that all those guys will be back. They're having too much fun, they're enjoying playing together too much.
concern dealing draining guys
It is an emotional, draining year. And that's always a concern for you as a coach, especially when you are dealing with guys who go through it for the first time.
agree five forest game games grind guys learn miami minutes people rather score ways win winning won
I think sometimes when you win people think you're not challenged, but I don't necessarily agree with that. (Wake Forest and Syracuse) were won by five points, then we went to Miami and with two minutes to go in the game the score was tied. Sometimes people think if you win, it's been all easy. I think our guys have had to grind out games and find ways to win some games. I'd rather learn through winning than losing.
causing giving good guys imagine losing needed shore taught three
Our guys needed to be taught why we were losing, what was causing them to lose. I wanted them to see this is what we're giving up, and we're losing in overtime, we're losing by two or three points. Imagine if we shore this up, how good we can be.
basketball best college deal enjoy focus guys handle pinnacle position regular
Our guys have to be able to handle that pressure. There are a lot of distractions. There is a lot of tugging and a lot of things you have to deal with that are different from the regular season. I want them to enjoy where they are at because it is the pinnacle of college basketball to get to this point. At the same time, you have to keep the focus there and put yourself in position to play the best basketball.
guys hard tried work
Our guys have really tried to work hard at it.
far good guys humility job keeping level trying
Our guys have done a pretty good job so far of keeping a level of humility and trying to get better each day.
good guys knew lack line prepared respect tonight
Our guys were prepared and knew Sheldon was a good 3-point shooter. But I think there was a lack of respect for the 3-point line tonight by our guys.
conference game good guys playing points score starters team tennessee
Our starters didn't play a lot of minutes, and it was good to see us score as many points as we did with those guys not playing. For our team right now, playing this midweek game before getting back into the (Southeastern) conference at Tennessee (Saturday) was good for us.
bench came good guys late main
Our bench really did some good things, some encouraging things. That really kind of sparked our main guys when they came back in there late in the first half.
blocked blocks came committed game good guys miami moving playing post shooting shots
Our blocks in the Miami game came the right way. They came with our big guys playing good post defense, moving their feet. When someone from Miami committed to shooting the basketball, most of our blocked shots were on the ball.
bench chance college guys kids program prove rather sitting taking valuable year
I still feel like the kids in our program could get a whole lot better and could improve. And I think another year in college for those guys, or two, would prove to be valuable to them, rather than someone taking a chance or an opportunity, and those guys sitting on the bench and not having a chance to develop.