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
Every guy comes in and thinks they're going to play 40 minutes, and after the first game when they don't play as much as they want, you've got to be able to address it and get guys to accept their roles. If selfishness creeps in, teammates can sniff that out pretty quickly. Then all of the sudden the barriers of trust get broken down.
When you talk about college careers and guys in the Big East, and you put not only their numbers and their stats, but add on top of that the fact that they have won as much as they have won, I think you can throw them in there with any guards that have played in the league.
The biggest thing with the NCAA Tournament is to try to get across to your guys that there's a lot of drama and a lot of changing of routines. Any road game, we've never come in a day and a half early. We have to go to a mandatory shoot-around, we have to go to press conferences. When we go on the road to Alabama, no one cares we're in town. This is an event. For some guys, that can add pressure.
They have given us low-post presence, they have given us shot-blocking, and they certainly add a different dimension to our team. They are different types of players and they compliment each other pretty well.
On TV, it looks great ... but it's really a scary environment on the floor. The other thing it does is it takes away from what a great win Florida State had. They shouldn't (have to) be addressing their lack of security or whatever. ... They should be talking about how great their kids played and what a great win it was for their program.
This will be our second time to face South Carolina this season. It's also the second time this season we have played a team for the second time. They played with great emotion the last time we played each other. We got off to a good start early, but they were the better team that night. It was a six-point win for them, but they had us down 15 points at one point. This game will be a challenge for us. They have competitive kids and they totally out performed us. They beat us in every facet of the game. The challenge to our team is to take it one game to the next. Our last time against them is over. Our last home game is over.
This was a night when Corey Brewer really stepped up for us. He made some big shots and some plays. He was hitting on his 3s and also had the critical rebound in the final minute. I'm happy for him. He really found his game and his rhythm.
There are going to be times when he makes crazy decisions with the ball. But he's such a fast, quick, physical defender that I have a lot of confidence putting him in there.
When you hit him, it's like hitting a wall. You're not moving him back.
Without question, Ryan is good enough to play anywhere in the country. And he's going to continue to get better.
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.