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've said it all along about this team, they derive a lot pleasure from moving and passing the basketball and playing together.
Did I think I would be here for 10 years? You never know. You almost have to go one year at a time and try to do the very best job you can. . . . It's very hard to stay at a place a very, very long period of time.
You look at Al Wednesday night and today, it's two different players. He accepted the responsibility. I respect him so much for that.
I was really happy for Adrian, especially after the game he had at South Carolina (no points, two turnovers in two minutes. It allowed our starters to get a little bit of a breather.
Get out there and make him a driver, let's see how many times he can finish going to the basket. We allowed him to do what he does well, and that's shoot the basketball.
I got on them because our thought process going into the game was go inside first and then come back out. We were letting the ball sometimes go on the perimeter with the ball never touching the paint, and I think South Alabama wanted us to do that early in the game.
We kind of allowed them to get back in and get closer.
The biggest thing is, our kids play the game the right way. They're going to make the extra pass and move the basketball. We're averaging almost 20 assists.
This has been a great place. It's hard to believe it's been almost 10 years.
It is so hard when you have departures all the time to stay at the highest level. It's almost like coaching junior college now, and people want to level to stay up high.
He was almost in tears because, for the first time in his life, he wasn't getting an opportunity to play. I told him, this is going to come to an end this season. And when it does, your time is here.
I think our guys are a little further along mentally than a lot of guys their age.
I know little about what is going on at Kentucky. I've seen them play almost not at all. Tubby is a wonderful man and a terrific coach who will continue to succeed.
I believe that based on our league, and we've played everyone right now once, they're as good as everybody in the league. Alabama probably deserves to be in along with a lot of other people.