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 didn't think our guards did a very good job of blocking out. There were a couple of key situations in the game where our guards didn't even attempts to block out.
I didn't feel like the game was over. They made some 3s to cut it to 12 and we had to make some free throws.
I didn't feel comfortable leaving him in there, but it had never been done before at Florida. If it had been done three or four times, I probably would have taken him out. Our players really wanted to see him do it.
I didn't know if we had enough experience.
He took responsibility. He wasn't putting the blame elsewhere. That's the thing I respect. He asked me what else he could do to help us win. That's the agenda of this team - winning.
He's a problem for anyone because he can rebound, he can score because of their great spacing and he's a very underrated passer out of the post. John (Thompson) has the luxury of playing him and going big or taking him off the floor and going quick. They can go from one extreme to the next because of their balance, so it makes them tough to prepare for.
He's a player-of-the-year candidate, for sure. For me, their whole team is a concern because of their size, their depth and their athleticism.
He's always working very hard and is extremely visible. One thing I've always admired about him is that at 70, he still loves it. It's very impressive.
Georgia is a basketball team that's much improved from the 3-point line. There's no question that offensively they are a lot more explosive than they were a year ago.
George Mason has been playing great. But I thought the key to the game was the 3-point line. That was one thing missing from what people were talking about.
There has to be a level of balance that makes sense for the players, for the program, for the fans, for everybody.
There is a bond. When I see him on the road, I talk to him and we're very cordial.
Whenever he started to get attention, he deflected it to the team.
We kind of allowed them to get back in and get closer.