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
Everybody talks about the end result. You're playing for the national championship. I think the only experience I tried to use from 2000 was, you've got to want this night to last as long as you can. You've got to want them to put more time on the clock. You've got to love playing.
I would love to start Moss. Unless he tells me he doesn't want to start, I would like to start Moss.
I can tell you that these kids have a great deal of love and concern and care for one another.
I am happy I can be a part of the first-ever national championship. I am fortunate to coach an unbelievable group of guys. We appreciate your support and love and are happy to be part of a special university.
I believe they love being challenged, and that's unique. This is a different group of kids.
We'll have to deal with being ranked one, two or three in the country. These are the kids I would love to deal with those challenges with.
I've got to give back to so many people who gave to me, first and foremost starting with my dad. I would want to give him a piece of the net. He would love that. I gave him a piece at the regional final. That would be great for him. I know he's excited to be in this environment.
I love our team, ... I love coaching this team. When I come to practice every day, I just love being on the floor. I just love their eagerness.
He's always working very hard and is extremely visible. One thing I've always admired about him is that at 70, he still loves it. It's very impressive.
In the NCAA tournament, there are two things people love to see -- a Cinderella story and a team that is so powerful and explosive they look invincible.
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.
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.
We just wanted to continually attack and mix up our defenses.
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.