Billy Donovan introduced as new Thunder coach
AP Photo
In a near 40-minute introductory press conference, Billy Donovan covered a whole lot of ground, ranging from why the NBA is right for him now, to how he’ll handle his star-laden roster.
But one of the things Thunder fans are probably most excited to hear, is what his offensively philosophy is and how he can apply that to his new team.
“I’ve always been a ball movement, player movement, extra pass team and coach. That’s what I really believe in,” Donovan said. “Ball movement, player movement and the extra pass. If you’ve got one, and someone’s got a better one, move the ball. Creating multiple actions on different sides of the floor, keeping the floor moving, keeping it spaced, and the ball continuing to move. Playing fast, moving and playing into a flow on offense. Playing at a concept, not stopping and calling a play every time, but letting those guys create and make plays inside that vision of player movement, ball movement and making the extra pass and being unselfish.”
Donovan said he plans on getting started on building a coaching staff next week as he gets settled in, but noted that he’s a pretty well connected person.
“I know a lot of different people,” he said. “I’ll go through that process.”
Here’s a transcript of the more pertinent quotes:
On making the decision: “It’s been a complete whirlwind for me the last four or five days. I am extremely thankful the way [Thunder general manager Sam Presti] laid out the organization to me over about a two and a half day period because to be honest with you, I really did not know a lot about the Oklahoma City Thunder. I knew of Sam, I obviously knew of the players and organization, but I didn’t know what it was about. And it was that, that really made me turn my head when I started to find out more, that I think the qualities, the values, what this organization is about is directly in line and mirrors what I believe.”
On what’s different now than in 2007: “I think the Orlando situation really had nothing to do with Orlando,” Donovan said. “It had a lot more to do with me and I think where I was at, at that time in my life. We were coming off two national championships and I didn’t feel like my job was completed there. I felt like I had more to do. This time around, when Sam called and said he wanted to meet and talk, I knew it was going to have to take something very, very special. And when I say special, I mean in terms of what I value and what’s important to me,” he continued. “And what’s important to me are the the things that are inside that organization. What’s important to me is the kind of people and players I’m going to have a chance to be associated with every single day and hopefully help. So I felt for me, after 19 years, I left my heart and soul and gave the University of Florida and Gainesville everything I had and I just had a little bit more peace about this in this point of my life and believe me, the last 48 hours have been very, very difficult and very, very challenging because there was a lot of deep long-lasting relationships that were left back there.”
On if he’s nervous about such a high profile job: “I think any time you walk into the unknown, there’s going to be a level of uncertainty, I don’t think there’s any question about that. I’m OK with that. I’m excited for the challenge, I’m excited to bring value.”
On Durant’s future: “Whatever decision that he has to make, I feel very, very strongly about the organization, and about Sam and Mr. Bennett and the commitment, and I think a lot of those things probably line up with Kevin and how he feels. I think the organization and Kevin, and this is from an outsider, are a great match in terms of he’s been, along with Russell, the face of this franchise. Let’s call it like it is. It’s been him and Russell doing that and that’s really, really special.”
On his style translating to the NBA: “I do think the things we’ve tried to do at Florida would translate, in terms of the style of play and system. Now, there’s certain things you can’t do in college than you can do in the NBA just based on the spacing, the 3-point line, a wider lane, but there are concepts and movements and things like that, that you can do. I think the style of play would translate to this level.”
On why he didn’t recruit Durant: “I can’t really tell you. We probably felt like we couldn’t get him. He had a very close relationship, and Kevin if I’m wrong tell me, I think my man Russell Springman, there was an assistant coach on Texas’ staff that was from Maryland and had a lot of close relationships to people that Kevin was close to with his family and I think that probably played a big part of it. I’m happy we didn’t see him in the NCAA tournament and that was a good thing.”
On his change in sideline demeanor: “I feel like I’m passionate. I wouldn’t say I’m emotional. Here’s what I think: When you’re in a highly competitive situation, you hear the word commitment used. And I just believe this in my heart to be true. There are three kinds of commitment. The first is a verbal commitment. Someone says they’re going to do something. That’s the easy one. The next commitment is a physical commitment, where you’re physically committed to doing something. And the third commitment is an emotional commitment, and that’s where you actually give up yourself to somebody else, where you’re actually emotionally connected to somebody else and you actually take responsibility for somebody else develop and grow. And I think and believe you have to have an emotional awareness to be able to connect with people to help people grow and develop.”
On emotional investment: “I think there needs to be an emotional connectivity for the team to reach its fullest potential. They’ve got to be emotionally connected. Because you can make a verbal and physical commitment, but it takes more than that. Some of the players that I’ve had and the best teams I’ve been around, and I know the NBA is different than college, but I still think team-wise, there are a lot of similarities at any level, they were emotional invested in each other. There was a deep-rooted emotional connection and investment and I think that’s something that’s very, very important.”
On title expectations: “There’s a process we have to be willing to go through collectively as a group. In that process, you’ve got to water the grass every day, you’ve got to water that soil if you want get growth and development. The only thing, and this may sound cliche and I’m not trying to avoid the question, but we need to take care of today. I think you get so far down the road that you forget to take care of today.”
On coaching Westbrook: “Obviously a fierce competitor. That comes out loud and clear. One of the things with Russell that I would say to kind of help him as a point guard and put him in an environment where he could still be who he is, I think that’s really, really important, but also having an understanding of how we can in a positive way affect other people around him. I think trying to help him with those things will be very important. And like I said earlier, I think Scott’s done a wonderful job of growing these guys when they were younger, and hopefully I can help continue in their growth. But I really admire Russell because of how fierce a competitor he is and how much he wants to win. And listen, I think when you want to win that bad, your emotions can get the best of you and they can boil over and that’s a part of it, but I’m looking forward to coaching all these guys.”
