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
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.
felt fortunate locker playing room tied
We were playing for survival. I felt fortunate just going into the locker room being tied at halftime.
appear both clear felt good great highly hostile personnel playing programs ranked
They appear to be playing very well. I've always felt like they have good personnel there, and it will be a great environment. As highly ranked as we are going into Knoxville, I think it's pretty clear the way both programs feel about each other. We know it's going to be a hostile environment.
felt rebound size
We had size on them and I felt like if he got it up there we could get a rebound and put it back in.
coming felt fun great losses nobody offensive presence strong team translate wins
I felt like this year's team would be great to coach, a fun team to coach. They would be a team that would play unselfishly, play together. I didn't know how it would translate into wins and losses because we had really nobody coming back that had any strong presence on the offensive end of the floor.
bit emotion felt floor great guys hard learned physical played side talking team understand unfinished
I felt like our team learned a lot today. I think our guys understand a little bit more how hard you've got to compete, and I'm talking about physically. Our guys play with great emotion and energy, but there's also a physical side they've got to learn. They are an unfinished product, but they really try. We played aggressively, we got up and down the floor and we played our style.
bad brought felt kept manhattan past
I felt bad for these kids. The past kept being brought back to them. They weren't part of it. They had nothing to do with Manhattan or Creighton.
advance best felt game makeup ncaa sitting start starting teams tournament unselfish
To start this tournament over again, I may not be sitting up here. It is a one-shot game, one-shot deal. Sometimes the best teams don't always advance on in the NCAA Tournament. This team, starting the season, I felt had all the team makeup (to go far). They were unselfish and they wanted to win.
felt giving good guys imagine losing message overtime shore three tried
Those three losses, to be honest, I felt pretty encouraged. I just didn't want our guys to get down. I wanted them to see 'Hey listen, this is what we're giving up, and we're losing in overtime and losing by 2 to 3 points. Imagine if we shore this up, how good we can be.' That was kind of the message I tried to give them during that time.
basketball experience felt games starting team win
This team, starting the season, I felt had all the team makeup. Unselfishness. They wanted to learn, they wanted to work, they wanted to get better. I didn't know if we'd have the experience to win basketball games or enough basketball games because we'd never been there before.
andre both felt floor good improved likes looks major offensive team teams tennessee though
It's early, but it looks as though Tennessee is a very good offensive team. I've always felt like they've had talent. Major Wingate and Andre Patterson are improved offensive players. They are a team that likes to play in transition, like us. Both teams are going to get up and down the floor and do what they like to do.
falls felt gets key mitchell run trap tried
We felt like Darrel Mitchell was the key to their team, so we tried to run at him and trap him as much as we could. When he gets his 18 or 19 points, everything else falls into place.
against ball chance felt good hard inside offensive
They're so hard to get the ball inside against. But I felt if we could just get the ball up against the backboard, we had a good chance at getting offensive rebounds. It was good to see Al and Jo play the way they did.
coaching felt fun winning
I always felt I was going to have a lot of fun coaching these guys. They've had the right attitude, and winning has been the byproduct of it.