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 say we're a loose team as much as we're a confident team.
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.
I would do whatever I could to help Major Parker. I'd recommend him for another job to anyone. We have all made mistakes in our lives.
I got on them because our thought process going into the game was go inside first and then come back out. We were letting the ball sometimes go on the perimeter with the ball never touching the paint, and I think South Alabama wanted us to do that early in the game.
I have confidence putting Walter and David in the game. I'm not going to not play those guys. They deserve an opportunity to play. They may not always play well, but they're going to play hard.
I don't know about him for next game. It's inside his lip. He's probably going to have to get it stitched up.
I didn't want to give Tennessee a chance to set their defense. Lee got a great look. It just didn't go down.
I don't get into the numbers because you still have to go win that game. There's not much difference in a 1 or a 2 or in a 3 and a 4. Beyond that anything can happen. That's why it's called March Madness.
I don't feel that our program at all is ever an afterthought. I think we have the best of both worlds.
I'd like to start Moss, unless he says he doesn't want to start.
I don't know what the official said. I actually thought it may have grazed the rim, but I didn't have the best view of the play. Mike is a fiery guy. He's a tough competitor.
Obviously, something upset him. Whether it was staged or something -- he seemed genuinely upset about it -- I don't know. He's as fired up and enthusiastic as any player out there.
Obviously as a freshman, without question he was not only one of the best freshmen in the league, but was one of the better players in the league. He's got great size. He can shoot over top of people. He makes every difficult shots.
One of the biggest things to stop is momentum. There are always teams that can get on a roll. Some people say that if you have won 15 games in a row, it's good to take a loss into the (NCAA) tournament. Other people say that if you lose a game, your confidence level is lower, that you are not going into the tournament playing your best. I always say that just because you lose, you can still play well. You can get beat by a better team.