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
dealing maybe practice surgery understanding
The surgery went well. He wasn't at practice because he was dealing with so many things medically. . . . I'll probably have a better understanding maybe (today).
dealing depth fatigue favorite foul impressive issues move playing row teams three
I don't know there's a clear-cut favorite right now. If you're going to look at what's happened, LSU has been the most impressive in our league. You're dealing with depth issues for everybody, you're going to be dealing with fatigue issues, you're going to have to deal with foul trouble, you're going to have to deal with playing three teams in a row and you have to deal and move from one day to the next.
concern dealing draining guys
It is an emotional, draining year. And that's always a concern for you as a coach, especially when you are dealing with guys who go through it for the first time.
credit dealing floor kid last opportunity room spent time weight year
Last year at this point, I was in the film room dealing with a kid who wasn't getting the opportunity to play like he wanted to. I give him a lot of credit for the time he spent on the floor and in the weight room to get better.
chris dealing game grab kids points richard score start team willing
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.
believe dealing depth fatigue favorite foul games impressive issues playing three
I do not believe there is any clear-cut favorite right now. LSU has been the most impressive in our league, but you're dealing with depth issues for everybody, you're dealing with fatigue issues, you're going to have to deal with foul trouble, you're going to have to deal with playing three games in a row.
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.
felt fortunate locker playing room tied
We were playing for survival. I felt fortunate just going into the locker room being tied at halftime.
ball coaching easy guys half inside job missed second upbeat
We missed so many easy baskets around the rim at first. We did a much better job in the second half of getting the ball inside and rebounding. As a coaching staff, we have to keep our guys upbeat and not let them get frustrated.
convert decent easy looks missed
We missed a lot of easy baskets and missed a lot of opportunities. We had decent looks and couldn't convert in a lot of situations.