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
basketball biggest certainly difficult good minutes picked second settle team win
It was a good win for us. Vanderbilt is a very good basketball team. Vanderbilt is a very difficult team to play against. The biggest thing is that our basketball team is still learning. Vanderbilt did some things to us at first where we had to settle in and we picked it up, certainly in the second half, but the first 10 minutes were tough.
certain effort guys problem understanding
Effort has never been a problem with these guys. Our problem has been our guys not understanding and not recognizing certain situations.
anybody beat certainly coaches george given goes good last mason ncaa night players proven tournament
It just goes to show you how many good coaches there are out there, how many good players there are out there. On any given night anybody can beat anybody. George Mason certainly has proven that in this NCAA Tournament over the last two weeks.
add certainly compliment dimension given players types
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.
certainly chris defending difficult good hanging job line people percent phenomenal shooter shots tough type
I thought Chris Lofton had a phenomenal night. He made some very difficult shots with people hanging on him. But that is the type of shooter he is, so you have got to give him a lot of credit. We (Florida) did a pretty good job defending them - they only shot 31 percent from the 3-point line - but he certainly made tough ones.
certainly four games great hard playing row tournament win
I think in the SEC tournament if you can get a bye that's always a great thing. It's certainly very hard playing four consecutive games in a row to win an SEC championship.
certain feed grow healthy help hope situations stuff trying
As a coach, all you're trying to do is feed them stuff that's going to help them grow faster. You hope that they take their vegetables, and they grow up healthy and they understand. And some of them do and, you know what, it certain situations they have.
certainly four games great hard playing row tournament win
In the SEC Tournament if you can get a bye, that's always a great thing. It's certainly very hard playing four consecutive games in a row to win an SEC championship.
believer certain elect expectation fine guys hurt injured sit totally uphold
I'm just a big believer that when guys are injured or hurt, if they elect to play, there's a certain expectation they have to uphold. And if they can't uphold that expectation, I'm totally fine if they sit out.
felt gave half offensive outside rebounds score second tried
We tried to make them score outside their offense. We gave up 10 offensive rebounds in the first half, but in the second half I felt like their frontcourt was fatigued.
assistance function fund kids notice players recently short student suit
We just recently had a function where we had to go into the student assistance fund to get players some clothes. Some of our kids come from backgrounds where getting a suit on short notice is difficult.
attack mix
We just wanted to continually attack and mix up our defenses.
attack continue defend extra game guys mix pass tried year
We just tried to continue to attack and mix up our defenses. I told our guys this game would come down to the same things we've been doing all year - unselfishness, making the extra pass and being able to defend and rebound.
built deep good run
We weren't good enough. We weren't built to make a deep run in the tournament.