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
believe best country ends event incredible obviously playing side team
I still don't necessarily believe we (are) the best team in the country. When you're playing in an event that's a one-and-done deal, anything can happen. I've been on the side of it where it ends in a heart-breaking manner. And now I've been on the side where it's obviously just an incredible feeling.
happened humbled last stand
I stand up here very, very humbled by what's happened over the last 9, 10 hours.
college great opportunity special tonight
I've been here 10 years and its a special place, an opportunity as great as any in college basketball. But tonight is not about me. It's about these young men.
balance conference country given league leagues opponents outside quality teams time top
I've been in this league a long time and I never feel like the SEC is given its due. If you look around the country right now, there are leagues out there that are very top heavy, but there are not many out there that have the balance that our conference has. If you look at what some of our teams have done to quality opponents outside the league, it's pretty impressive.
against fortunate guys mentality mindset since wall
I've been fortunate since I've been here in that when our back has been against the wall our guys have responded very well. A lot of that has to do with the mindset and mentality of your team.
basketball continue gotten seed win
I've never gotten into any of that stuff. If we win basketball games, our seed will continue to improve. If we don't win basketball games, our seed will not improve.
appear both clear felt good great highly hostile personnel playing programs ranked
They appear to be playing very well. I've always felt like they have good personnel there, and it will be a great environment. As highly ranked as we are going into Knoxville, I think it's pretty clear the way both programs feel about each other. We know it's going to be a hostile environment.
giving jump living pull runners shots
The whole thing with them is, if they pull up on jump shots in the lane, they take runners in the lane, and we are giving two, we are going to live with that. But we were not living with threes.
four games last playing schedule six team works worried worry
The way our schedule works out is probably a little more of a disadvantage for our team because we are playing four of the last six games on the road. That is challenging. The only thing I am worried about right now is Vanderbilt. To me, that is the only game we have, and it's the only thing we need to worry about.
basketball focus full guys last lose people potential reach shame situations
These are the situations our guys need to be in for us to reach our full potential as a basketball team. I think a lot of people will focus on the last play, but you know what, with the way these guys battled, it's a shame to lose that way.
either fortunate games gone
During a tournament, all the games are kind of like this. We were very, very fortunate to win. It could have gone either way.
either fortunate games gone seems
During the tournament, it seems like all the games are like this. We're very, very fortunate to win. It could've gone either way.
advance built deep far flat good honest maybe past run several teams totally tournament
Flat out, the past several years -- to be totally honest -- we weren't good enough to advance. They didn't advance far enough in the tournament because maybe some of the past teams weren't built to make a deep run in the tournament.
good last several totally
Flat-out, the last several years, being totally honest, we weren't good enough to advance.