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
Flat out, the past several years -- to be totally honest -- we weren't good enough to advance. They didn't advance far enough in the tournament because maybe some of the past teams weren't built to make a deep run in the tournament.
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.
I think it probably means something to their players because they understand what they're representing. A lot of times, it's the past players that they know are watching them that gives them a level of expectation of the way they're supposed to perform. I think that's a good thing for a program.
I think the tournament is wide open. Is it any more wide open than in years past? It's hard to say, but I just think on a neutral site with the way this league is anything can happen on any given night.
Hopefully, the success we have had this year and in the past is something that kids can look at and say, Florida is very competitive nationally and inside their league.
Because the game was close, our weaknesses got magnified. We had the same weaknesses against Kentucky, but when you win by 17 ... you have a tendency to look past all the mistakes and focus on all the exciting plays.
I feel bad for these kids that the past has to be brought up to them. Some of them weren't even here. Some of them weren't even playing. The only constant is me. I just hope people write about these kids today.
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.
We weren't good enough. We weren't built to make a deep run in the tournament.
We were playing for survival. I felt fortunate just going into the locker room being tied at halftime.
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.