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
These kids are about challenges, competition. I don't think they look at playing at Georgia any differently than they do playing St. Joe's. In their minds, being 13-0, they are going in there feeling that they are underdogs because it's a road game in a place that's tough to play.
This has probably been the greatest collection of guys I have had in one class in terms of understanding what unselfishness, what team is all about. They get that piece of it.
You could see then that they had the elements of a good team with the balance of their scoring and their ability to defend.
You could see him getting better and better and better. First guy in the gym, last guy to leave.
You can't get many assists if you don't shoot the ball well. I thought our player movement in the first half at times was poor.
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.
I derive a lot of pleasure watching these kids play. We don't have guys in the locker room talking about not scoring enough points or not getting enough shots. They play the right way. They really do.
I don't think that we have played against anyone with his size and athletic ability. He is very impressive because he is so skilled. He is a good passer which is impressive for a guy who is 7-foot-2. He runs, he catches and he alters shots. You just don't see a lot of players in college basketball like him. This will be a unique game for us to play against a guy like him.
I'd say, right now, that he's not going to play. I don't know how well his treatment is going to go, and I don't know how well he's going to respond. He's very sore.
I'd say right now he's not going to play. I don't know how his treatment is going to go and how well he's going to respond. He was very, very sore (Sunday) morning. He came in several times for treatment. ... He's not capable of playing right now.
The greatest equalizer in college basketball -- it doesn't make a difference about talent or who's better than who -- is the three-point line.
The complexion of college basketball has changed so much.
All of those guys can look at the individual honors and attribute it to playing as a team. They made it possible by being a team and they were honored as a team.
And he wanted to battle me and fight me on that. He just didn't believe it.