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
He just needs to let it go. It's really that simple for our team.
He just felt like where he was at physically it was best for Walter to start. I think that takes a kid with unbelievable character, a kid that cares about the team, a kid who has started every single game since he's been here walked into my office and said, 'Coach, Walter needs to start, I need to come off the bench.' . . . I don't know how many sophomores in college would come in and say that.
Maybe it was defective spokes, maybe he needs training wheels, I don't know. I just know he slipped off his bike. ... It was a freak thing that I feel bad about for Lee, but we've got to try to get him back as soon as we can.
If he needs an extra day or two to rest, then we've got to rest him. On the perimeter right now, we need to make sure we have a healthy complement of players.
It's very, very obvious watching him play that he's not as reckless and daring and playing like he's capable of. I don't know if there's a level of uncertainty when he plants or jumps or runs, or if he just feels like the pain is so severe that he just can't do what he needs to do.
It's hard when you lose. We have highly competitive guys. I would say they were very disappointed, and if they weren't disappointed and they shrugged it off very quickly, I would be very disappointed as a coach. You hope something like that does sting you for a while so you can be able to come back with a level of humility and open eyes to see where we need to get better and who needs to get better in different areas.
I'm hoping that has carried over and will continue to carry over. He just needs to let it fly. It's really that simple for that team.
Maybe it was defective spokes, maybe he needs training wheels, I don't know.
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.