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
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.
The main piece has been their willingness to remain extremely unselfish. When you get to be 17-0, you can think it's easy or that you've got it all figured out. They really remained humble. They wanted to get better.
The level of focus they needed to have wasn't there. I have to take responsibility for it, and we all have to take responsibility for it.
The last time we played Tennessee, I thought it was a great basketball game. Both teams played well. It was a tie score with 20 seconds to go. Both teams played a pretty balanced game. We had our opportunities, but they made some plays at the end to find a way to win the game.
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.
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've had guys that have improved and made a really big jump, but I don't know if I've had a player go from a 6-8-10-minutes-a-night guy to being an emotional leader.
I've got to give back to so many people who gave to me, first and foremost starting with my dad. I would want to give him a piece of the net. He would love that. I gave him a piece at the regional final. That would be great for him. I know he's excited to be in this environment.
The complexion of college basketball has changed so much.
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.
These kids are throwbacks. It's very, very refreshing. You're dealing with different, different kids. Does Chris Richard want to start and score 35 points every game and grab 15 rebounds? Yes. But they're willing to put the team before themselves.
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.