Billy Donovan Quotes (367 Quotes)


    This isn't about me, but about all the people that have had an active role. It's about Jeremy Foley Florida athletic director, the three presidents of Florida in the past 10 years, and the fans and players who have shared in our fortune. This is my fourth time in the Final Four two as a head coach, one as a player and one as an assistant, and I've been blessed.

    Self-inflicted wounds. I knew it was going to be this kind of a game. I told our team we're going to have to grind it out and win ugly.

    When I looked at it, I thought it was pretty serious. That's something that we'll have to be careful with. We have an off-day (Sunday) and then we'll re-evaluate it.

    I was really hoping no one saw that, ... Thank God he didn't have any rings on. Wrong place at the wrong time. He got me pretty good, too.

    We have entered a stage right now in college basketball where 15 years ago, it would have been maybe totally no way George Mason could go to the Final Four. It just goes to show how many good coaches there are out there, how many good players there are out there. On any given night, anybody can beat anybody.


    Tennessee has been hardened by all those losses in the past, and now Bruce has brought in hope.

    He doesn't want this. He wants to spread it around. He doesn't view himself as a celebrity.

    As a coach, I can't put the ball in the hole for them. But what I can try to do is put them in the best position to take advantage of the talent level they have that they can make plays ... Right now, we have a bunch of guys that are unproven in that area so I'm going to try to eliminate any focus on them worrying about scoring.

    I know a lot of people are so excited for George Mason. It's great for college basketball. Believe me, I'm mesmerized.

    I think you could see how hard it is to play back-to-back nights. I didn't like our defensive intensity in the first half. In the second half, we did a much, much better job.

    As a basketball team you have to go through it. They need it. The game came down to our inexperience on the basketball court to their experience.

    The big focus for us was the 3-point line. We really talked a lot about the 3-point line and trying to mix up double teams on Jai Lewis and Will Thomas and just keep them off balance.

    It's a hard play. He had two people with him and he was able to get in the lane and see the basket. He probably thought he had a good shot at it.

    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.

    I think in the SEC tournament if you can get a bye that's always a great thing. It's certainly very hard playing four consecutive games in a row to win an SEC championship.

    This is going to be the most time that we have had off to get ready for an opponent since December. I am hopeful that during that time that we can continue to improve and turn the focus on ourselves.

    I thought the key to the game was the three-point line. They were shooting 32 percent for the year but shot 42 percent in the tournament. We knew the three-point line would be critical.

    I've said it all along about this team, they derive a lot pleasure from moving and passing the basketball and playing together.

    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.

    It was a great college basketball game with both teams going back and forth and they were able to take the lead on a play. We got Lee a pretty good shot and if he makes it, we're up by one. It was a little bit short. I thought it had a great chance to go in.

    I was hopeful going into second half. I thought maybe they were starting to get a little worn down. We were hopeful maybe their shots wouldn't go in and maybe they wouldn't rebound as well.

    He has a great passion and vigor for life. He has great respect for people - where they come from, what their heritage is and what their beliefs are.

    I was a little concerned with our foul trouble and our turnovers late. In the second half we did a much better job of taking care of the basketball.

    I hope that someday, if I'm here long enough, that we can have that sort of thing.

    For our basketball team, it was a tale of two halves. In the first half, our guys were very, very impatient on offense. We didn't have the ball movement and the player movement we needed to have. We had good ball movement and player movement and we shot 57 percent in the second half. If we would have played similar to that and rebounded like we did in the first half, it would have been a different game. We couldn't put it all together.

    With the teams we're playing and the stretch we have the next seven days, these guys need to get to a crossroad. Their backs are against the wall. They're either really going to try to do those things, or they're going to put themselves in a position where we can't play to the best of our ability.

    He's probably never going to get to a point where he feels great the rest of the season. But I think his confidence level is high. It's good to see him take the amount of shots he took. He put up 11 3s on the road. It was great to see him confidently shoot the basketball and it was great to see him move to the next shot, even when he missed a couple in a row.

    Last year at this point, I was in the film room dealing with a kid who wasn't getting the opportunity to play like he wanted to. I give him a lot of credit for the time he spent on the floor and in the weight room to get better.

    It's teams like George Mason that give so many people hope in their lives, just seeing what great things can be accomplished.

    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.

    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.

    He was almost in tears because, for the first time in his life, he wasn't getting an opportunity to play. I told him, this is going to come to an end this season. And when it does, your time is here.

    There has to be a level of balance that makes sense for the players, for the program, for the fans, for everybody.

    There are a lot of good point guards in this league.

    Chris, really, to be honest with you, was a very, very difficult guy to coach in his first two years here. And he has really grown.

    Sometimes when you win, people think it's all easy. Our guys have had to grind out games. Our guys have had to find ways to make plays in games.

    It just goes to show you that you're not as good as you think you are, and you're not as bad as you think you are.

    It's great to be able to move on and advance. I feel bad for these kids that the past woes had to be brought back up to them all the time. Some of them weren't even here, some of they weren't even playing.

    In my opinion, they are a better team this year than they were a year ago watching them on film. I would say that our basketball team is totally different.

    I don't know if we've played against teams as talented as teams we're playing against now. Playing hard, playing unselfish, doing all the right things, team-wise, is great. ... But it's not good enough to beat good teams.

    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.

    I think the media, it gets bigger and bigger with the Final Four.

    I would like to enjoy what just happened for a while. This is a milestone in our school's history.

    I thought we had some good looks, some good plays.

    I'm not even concerned about that right now. I'm more worried about playing LSU (Saturday at home). Even before this game, Tennessee was in control of its own destiny.

    Quite honestly, I'm not concerned about that. I'm more worried about making sure that this team understands what's a good shot, what's a bad shot, going into the season.

    The thing that gave me the most enjoyment on the bench is that I've never seen so many players at one time wanting to see him do it, wanting to see him grab a rebound or get an assist or score. I've never seen anything like that.

    The greatest equalizer in college basketball -- it doesn't make a difference about talent or who's better than who -- is the three-point line.

    He (Green) is so quick and so fast, he can get out and pressure the ball on defense, and he gets the ball and just goes, which makes everyone play at a different speed.

    Those are great for our basketball team. You hate to lose them. But our team has to go through this before they can reach their potential.


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