Billy Donovan Quotes (367 Quotes)

You just don't see a lot of players like Glen Davis in college basketball.

There is a point where somebody's going to do something and there's going to be a major problem. I hope it doesn't happen.

It's one of those things I can hope will get better and he can get back to playing because it's very obvious watching him play that he's not as reckless and daring and playing like he's capable of. I don't know if there's a level of uncertainty if he plants or runs or jumps or if the pain is so severe he just can't do what he's supposed to do.

Sometimes, it's about players. The makeup of these guys, they've come into the season and played unselfish. We're fortunate to be 12-0 but at the same time have done the things that we needed to do offensively and defensively to win those games.

They're not the kind to say in the media they could win without Lee, Roberson and Walsh. But they're very competitive kids. They play the game the right way. They make the extra pass. They move the ball.

One of the biggest things to stop is momentum. There are always teams that can get on a roll. Some people say that if you have won 15 games in a row, it's good to take a loss into the (NCAA) tournament. Other people say that if you lose a game, your confidence level is lower, that you are not going into the tournament playing your best. I always say that just because you lose, you can still play well. You can get beat by a better team.

The passion in the state of Florida is for football, and I'm OK with that. But the passion for the University of Florida is greater than football it's greater than anything.

I do not believe there is any clear-cut favorite right now. LSU has been the most impressive in our league, but you're dealing with depth issues for everybody, you're dealing with fatigue issues, you're going to have to deal with foul trouble, you're going to have to deal with playing three games in a row.

They appear to be playing very well. I've always felt like they have good personnel there, and it will be a great environment. As highly ranked as we are going into Knoxville, I think it's pretty clear the way both programs feel about each other. We know it's going to be a hostile environment.

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 think they were really ready to play today and they were excited about playing. Maybe too excited.

He's a great coach. This was just a matter of time.

I'm going to gain pleasure if that happens Monday night.

I thought we played well on the defensive end to only be down at 11 at the half with the way we shot the ball. As well as we played defensively in the first half, we didn't do the things we needed to on the boards and on defense in the second half.

Whether or not we're deserving of all this, I don't know, ... I'm just trying to look at the bigger picture of my team.

I thought that they basically beat us in just about every facet of the game. For whatever reason, we didn't have it tonight, and I think as individuals, as a team, as a coaching staff, we have to take a level of responsibility in this performance.

I think it's a great comparison. Bobby Jones was a great runner in transition, he was a great athlete on the floor. I believe as David continues to grow, his shooting will get better. He's a very versatile guy.

There are going to be times when he makes crazy decisions with the ball. But he's such a fast, quick, physical defender that I have a lot of confidence putting him in there.

I would say it's gone the other way with him. I'm not anticipating him back Saturday and I'm not anticipating Corey back at 100 percent right away. We're probably going to have to keep going through this for at least the next couple of games.

We could have had potentially seven or eight first-round draft picks in our league right now.

During a tournament, all the games are kind of like this. We were very, very fortunate to win. It could have gone either way.

I've been in this league a long time and I never feel like the SEC is given its due. If you look around the country right now, there are leagues out there that are very top heavy, but there are not many out there that have the balance that our conference has. If you look at what some of our teams have done to quality opponents outside the league, it's pretty impressive.

We've got a very quick turnaround. We're going to have to get a lot done in a very short period of time.

They outplayed us, outperformed us and hurt us in the backcourt. You have to give them credit. They are a quick, explosive team. They rebound well. We are going to have to play a whole lot better than we did in Columbia to have a chance to win.

I don't know if I've babied him or not. But it probably wasn't fair to evaluate him because he really was injured his first two years.

Ever since the Alabama game, for Humphrey and maybe the tirade I had on him in a timeout, I hope it's carried over. He just needs to let it go, it's really that simple for our team.

I don't know what the official said. I actually thought it may have grazed the rim, but I didn't have the best view of the play. Mike is a fiery guy. He's a tough competitor.

Sometimes it's crazy what these games come down to. It's a play here, a bounce of the ball there. I've been on both sides of it.

This is not about me. If we are fortunate enough to win tomorrow night, it's over. Tuesday morning, it's gone, on to the next thing.

That's generally a recipe for disaster, but because we defended the 3-point line that gave us an opportunity.

I don't think that we have played against anyone with his size and athletic ability. He is very impressive because he is so skilled. He is a good passer which is impressive for a guy who is 7-foot-2. He runs, he catches and he alters shots. You just don't see a lot of players in college basketball like him. This will be a unique game for us to play against a guy like him.

Get out there and make him a driver, let's see how many times he can finish going to the basket. We allowed him to do what he does well, and that's shoot the basketball.

Our bench really did some good things, some encouraging things. That really kind of sparked our main guys when they came back in there late in the first half.

It just goes to show you how many good coaches there are out there, how many good players there are out there. On any given night anybody can beat anybody. George Mason certainly has proven that in this NCAA Tournament over the last two weeks.

Offensively, pretty much the entire game, I thought we played very well. But we played an exceptional half defensively in the second half. We were just fair at best in the first half.

After practice, he'll thank me three or four times before we leave the gym.

I've had guys that have improved and made a really big jump, but I don't know if I've had a player go from a 6-8-10-minutes-a-night guy to being an emotional leader.

I told them this would be a 40-minute battle from start to finish, and if you let frustration creep in at all, you guys are going to lose the game. This is going to be an ugly game where we may not shoot well, but we have to defend and rebound.

It was one of those games where we did enough offensively to win the game . . . (but) you've got to defend and rebound better than we did.

We're just a basketball team that doesn't have a lot of depth right now. That's our biggest challenge.

Sometimes there's things that are out of your control in these games.

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.

They were kind of baiting us into it a little bit. I thought we took the bait at times.

I'm fine with them. I think we're a basketball team where different players have stepped up at different times.

Right now so much changes, there are so many games going on, and different things happen during the course of the year. So much of your RPI is affected on the teams that you play, how they do against somebody else, how all those things happen.

That's the one thing that's been great about our basketball teams over the years -- they've earned their way in. Now, we've got to make something happen.

If it were something where he was riding a motorcycle and he was popping some wheelies and he got hurt, than maybe I would be a bit more concerned. It was just a freak accident.

Our blocks in the Miami game came the right way. They came with our big guys playing good post defense, moving their feet. When someone from Miami committed to shooting the basketball, most of our blocked shots were on the ball.

You're time's here. Don't make the mistake of being so disappointed that you aren't getting to play that you don't come back ready for next year.

If he needs an extra day or two to rest, then we've got to rest him. On the perimeter right now, we need to make sure we have a healthy complement of players.