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
addressing environment florida great kids lack looks played scary security state takes talking win
On TV, it looks great ... but it's really a scary environment on the floor. The other thing it does is it takes away from what a great win Florida State had. They shouldn't (have to) be addressing their lack of security or whatever. ... They should be talking about how great their kids played and what a great win it was for their program.
everybody experience last love national night playing talks time tried
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.
beyond bothered college control george great guys inspire mason outside people rightfully talk upset
I don't think our guys are upset or bothered by it. That's something that's beyond their control. People can talk about the George Mason story and rightfully so. It's a great story that I think will inspire many people outside of college basketball.
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.
talk
There is a bond. When I see him on the road, I talk to him and we're very cordial.
defend game sharing talk team
I told them before the game, this game was going to come down to everything we talk about being. Team work, unselfishness, sharing the ball, and being able to defend and rebound.
case college everybody pros sure talked three win
For a while there, everybody talked about if you really want to win at the college level, you have to have two or three pros on your team. I'm not so sure that's the case any more.
ball game grind night respond shoot talked
That's one of the things we talked about with our guys. How are we going to respond when we don't shoot well? Here was a night where we didn't shoot the ball well. This was a game where we had to grind it out and find a way to win.
came everybody great public questions talk
I told I think it would be great if that's what they want to do if they came out public with it so everybody knows. No more questions about it or talk about it. It's over and done with and this is where they're at.
add careers college fact guards guys numbers played talk throw top won
When you talk about college careers and guys in the Big East, and you put not only their numbers and their stats, but add on top of that the fact that they have won as much as they have won, I think you can throw them in there with any guards that have played in the league.
advantage except games gives instead point talk three win
We still have to play the games. At this point in the year, you talk about those things. I don't know what real advantage it gives you except you've got to win three games instead of four.
coming create game help middle pick roll rotation talked trying
They are a real big rotation team, a real big help team, and we talked about coming into the game offensively and spacing them, and trying to create some middle pick and roll and help situations.
focused grind passion stayed talked
I think the one thing that should be talked about more is our guys' will and passion to win. They've really stayed focused on winning. ... We really didn't get a lot of breaks. We had to grind it out and find a way to win.
best defensive game last night offense played since talked team ultimately unselfish win
Last night I told them before the game this is going to be about everything that we've talked about since the first day of practice. Unselfishness. Team work. Team defense. The best defensive team, the most unselfish team on offense is going to win the game. That's ultimately the way it played out for our guys.