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.
Flat-out, the last several years, being totally honest, we weren't good enough to advance.
I was a little bit concerned just because he was throwing up, and it was several times throughout the course of the night. He didn't get very much sleep.
We're blocking more shots than we have in the last several years, but I don't think as a coaching staff we're saying this is a point of emphasis for our defense. We don't want to be a team that's just jumping up in the air trying to block shots because there are a lot of things that happen that are not good if you don't block it. So we just have to be selective.
I'd say right now he's not going to play. I don't know how his treatment is going to go and how well he's going to respond. He was very, very sore (Sunday) morning. He came in several times for treatment. ... He's not capable of playing right now.
I'm very blessed and thankful to coach these kids.
I'm sure he'd have too because he's got some wiring in his teeth right now. If he did, he'd definitely have to wear something. I don't know how he feels about that or if that would be comfortable with him, but my guess would be he'd have to do something.
I'm very critical of myself, and I know that you need to realize your mistakes to grow.
I knew this would be a team that would play hard.
Effort has never been a problem with these guys. Our problem has been our guys not understanding and not recognizing certain situations.
Everybody's role on the team is a lot different than a year ago. For us, right now, it's really a one-game tournament. We've got to play to the best of our ability on Friday and hopefully advance and be able to play on Saturday.
The biggest thing with the NCAA Tournament is to try to get across to your guys that there's a lot of drama and a lot of changing of routines. Any road game, we've never come in a day and a half early. We have to go to a mandatory shoot-around, we have to go to press conferences. When we go on the road to Alabama, no one cares we're in town. This is an event. For some guys, that can add pressure.
The biggest thing to with Villanova to me is it's not only quickness, it's the physicality. I thought last year's game that we played them, they were by far the most physical team we played against.
The biggest thing is, our kids play the game the right way. They're going to make the extra pass and move the basketball. We're averaging almost 20 assists.