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
almost coaching college hard highest junior level people stay time
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.
eyes hard highly hope humility level needs open sting
It's hard when you lose. We have highly competitive guys. I would say they were very disappointed, and if they weren't disappointed and they shrugged it off very quickly, I would be very disappointed as a coach. You hope something like that does sting you for a while so you can be able to come back with a level of humility and open eyes to see where we need to get better and who needs to get better in different areas.
ankle high
It's not a high ankle sprain, which is a positive.
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.
against coming dominate few game guys high people played
Coming out of high school, he was one of the few guys that could dominate a game without scoring, ... He was special. The way he played against us was the way people thought he'd be. If he played like that every game, he wouldn't have been at Villanova very long.
higher ncaa people seed throw tournament wrapped
I think you can take seeding in the SEC and NCAA Tournament and throw it out the window. If you're not a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the first round, to me there is no real big advantage. And I think sometimes people get wrapped up in a seed and say the higher seed should win.
higher ncaa people seed throw tournament wrapped
I think you can (take) seeding in the SEC and NCAA Tournament and throw it out the window. If you're not a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the first round, to me there is no real big advantage. And I think sometimes people get wrapped up in a seed and say the higher seed should win.
ability difficult gift high shots special
He has the ability to take difficult shots one, to get them off and two, to be able to make them at a high percentage. He has a special gift and there is nothing you can do about it.
bad chance chances higher lose sounds tournament win
If you win games, it sounds like you have a better chance of getting into the tournament and getting a higher seed. And if you lose games, chances are you may not get in or get a bad seed.
bigger deserving picture trying whether
Whether or not we're deserving of all this, I don't know, ... I'm just trying to look at the bigger picture of my team.
believe best both deal national sitting
We're sitting up here as national champions, but I don't necessarily believe we're the best team. In a one-shot deal like this, I've been on both sides. I've been heartbroken, and now we're national champions.
against basically coming goes perceived team top
What this goes to show you is that in our league, coming in with a team that was 1-4 against a team that was perceived as being a top team, we were basically manhandled today.
attention basketball chance experience feeling great inspire resentment teams year
What they've been able to do this year is great for basketball. Most teams don't get a chance to experience what they've been able to experience. In this tournament, they were able to inspire a lot of people. There was no resentment on our team for feeling like they got all the attention or we got slighted.
basketball great year
What they've been able to do this year is great for basketball.