Billy Donovan Quotes (367 Quotes)

I got on them because our thought process going into the game was go inside first and then come back out. We were letting the ball sometimes go on the perimeter with the ball never touching the paint, and I think South Alabama wanted us to do that early in the game.

We try to take teams out of what they practice every single day, whether through pressing, trapping, three-quarter-court pressing, through trapping pick-and-rolls, trapping the low post. We're trying to do things to disrupt the flow of the game.

We have been right there. There have been some things that have been out of our control a little. I think our guys have put themselves in positions to win, and you are not going to have them all go your way. . . . What our team has done to this point in time and the way they have battled, I think it's pretty impressive.

Actually it's going to start next year. It's a five for one. We've got you guys coming here five times and then we'll come back and play you guys there.

I try to be a good guy and just follow suit and go along. I'm coming out with big, huge lapels, bell-bottom jeans. Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley is going to give me a pair of his boots from when he was back in college. I think I'll look fantastic.

Those guys, being seniors, they know how to rest during a game. We had to make them guard to make them uncomfortable on the offensive end.

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.

Flat-out, the last several years, being totally honest, we weren't good enough to advance.

I really dont believe that seeding means a whole lot or makes a whole lot of difference anymore. It used to be a time where you got that No. 1 or No. 2 seed and you felt pretty good about trying to get to that Elite Eight. I think those times have changed.

I don't think basketball has ever been an afterthought, at least since I've been here. In the Southeast, in terms of enthusiasm and excitement, it's for football. In Kentucky and Indiana, it's for basketball. I understand that and Billy Donovan isn't changing that culture. ... But I think our program has gotten respect.

I thought we left a lot of points on the board in the first half, because we had 11 turnovers and we were shooting 52 or 53 percent from the field. Second half we only turned it over three times and we shot 52 percent from the field and that's why we had a 52-point half.

Our bench has done good. I really believe if I could have control of when they shoot the ball, our bench making shots and giving our bench production, we would do it. But I'm not concerned about that. I'm more concerned about the type of shots we're getting.

We've had some good quality wins on the road at Providence and Miami, but our guys still feel like they have an enormous amount to prove. The mindset of our basketball team is we feel like going against Georgia is a lot to prove.

This was a night when Corey Brewer really stepped up for us. He made some big shots and some plays. He was hitting on his 3s and also had the critical rebound in the final minute. I'm happy for him. He really found his game and his rhythm.

He needed to have a game like this. I was happy for him. The last week or so, I think he's been doing some soul searching, just trying to find a way to come up with some answers to help our team. He helped out big-time tonight.

Our guys were prepared and knew Sheldon was a good 3-point shooter. But I think there was a lack of respect for the 3-point line tonight by our guys.

I've been here 10 years and its a special place, an opportunity as great as any in college basketball. But tonight is not about me. It's about these young men.

I know little about what is going on at Kentucky. I've seen them play almost not at all. Tubby is a wonderful man and a terrific coach who will continue to succeed.

No one likes losing, but it's great for our basketball team to go through this. It is great because they need this. I really believe the difference was our experience as a basketball team in relation to their experience.

I really thought that maybe they were not as fresh coming down the stretch. That was kind of our hope in the second half, that maybe we could try to wear them down because they were really sticking with their seven guys.

I look at who we're playing as a basketball team and dont get wrapped up in what the perception is about their team. They're a very, very good basketball team that has beaten Connecticut, Michigan State, North Carolina.

We shot ourselves in the foot a lot of times in the second half. . . . I thought both teams had fatigue settle in as the game went on.

We have an enormous amount of room to get better. Are we the 75th-ranked team in the country Are we the second-ranked team in the country You know what, we're probably somewhere in the middle. Wherever that may be, it's probably fair.

I hope it doesn't flare back up with him.

There's been a lot of hard work and sweat that's gone into it. It's a huge milestone. It's a huge thing for our state, for our fans.

Corey just didn't have it today. And it's hard to expect him to have it when you don't practice for two days.

I thought our basketball team, it was a great lesson for them. The great equalizer in college basketball is the three-point shot.

If you look at our last four to six games, everybody knew it was going to be the toughest part and stretch of our schedule. Our basketball team, when we had all that early success, I don't know if we've played against teams as talented as we're playing against now.

I'm going to support any decision our players make, but I hope to be very involved in the process. The thing you have to understand is that our kids don't want to just make it to the NBA. They want to excel.

He created and made some things happen. He made some very timely 3-point shots when they were trying to make a run.

I can't live their lives for them. They could just as easily get hurt doing something on the court.

The second half was a back-and-forth basketball game. Give Arkansas credit. They made some plays and their kids played hard and I thought it was a great college basketball game that both teams had a chance to win at times.

These are the situations our guys need to be in for us to reach our full potential as a basketball team. I think a lot of people will focus on the last play, but you know what, with the way these guys battled, it's a shame to lose that way.

With the age limit, I think you're going to continually make college basketball very young. Some kids handle it better than others. ... It makes it very challenging, very, very, very difficult.

The whole thing with them is, if they pull up on jump shots in the lane, they take runners in the lane, and we are giving two, we are going to live with that. But we were not living with threes.

This is a very, very special place. Being part of this institution means something. We have the greatest student body in the United States of America.

These kids are about challenges, competition. I don't think they look at playing at Georgia any differently than they do playing St. Joe's. In their minds, being 13-0, they are going in there feeling that they are underdogs because it's a road game in a place that's tough to play.

I didn't feel like the game was over. They made some 3s to cut it to 12 and we had to make some free throws.

The first thing you realize is how long of a time it is from Saturday's game all the way to tonight. It's a long time. Feels like a week.

This is a one-time thing where he got lost. Let's help him find himself.

Whether it said across their jersey Cinderella, George Mason or another team, for us our basketball team, it's just a matter of going out there playing. Our kids were feeling the same thing that George Mason kids were feeling. The feeling was not any different between teams.

It was a great, great college basketball game. Both teams had a chance to win. I think Arkansas is as talented as any team in the league. They have more experience, much more size and physicality than we do.

Our bench coming in has to have a little more confidence when they're out there, that there's not going to be a drop off.

All of those guys can look at the individual honors and attribute it to playing as a team. They made it possible by being a team and they were honored as a team.

We allowed him to do what he does well, and that's shoot the basketball. If we force him to make all twos, we probably win the game.

This time of year, everybody's banged up. I think you could see how hard it is to play back-to-back nights.

This team has got balance. There's a lot of components to this team. And you know what, the last couple years our teams have been one-dimensional, and you can't go far being one-dimensional.

It's nice to do something that hasn't been done in 21 years. But it does not move you any closer to the goals you have.

Arkansas fans are great fans. It's a shame because you have two really great teams playing against each other and it wasn't a sellout because of the weather in the area.

Arkansas scored 25 points on fast breaks, and I guarantee the majority of those fast break points were off of our carelessness. When you shoot 49 percent from the field and 67 percent from the three-point line and you see 17 turnovers, you'd like to have a few more possessions.