Friday Bolts – 5.1.15
Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com on the hire: “Seems so; it’s no bigger risk than any other hire of a coach inexperienced at the NBA level. NBA teams have wanted to hire Donovan for years. His talent, judgment and player development have been excellent during his career as he’s constantly churned out lottery picks. He’s been thinking about and preparing himself for this job for some time; it’s a reasonable gamble.”
Sam Amick of USA Today: “For all the fear among their fans that this coaching change might ultimately inspire the Thunder’s dynamic duo to sign elsewhere in free agency (Durant and Westbrook are free agents in the summers of 2016 and 2017, respectively), the internal concern was quite the opposite. How would it look, Presti surely considered, if all they did leading up to Durant’s big decision was stick with the status quo while crossing their fingers that good fortune might finally come their way next season? What would the fearless Westbrook think if Presti played it safe rather than seizing this chance to set the stage for a better tomorrow?”
An excellent profile on Donovan from Pete Thamel of SI from last year: “Instead it was a pattern that led to Donovan to realize that he needed to make changes. A flurry of early NCAA tournament exits led to him becoming known as an ace recruiter who struggled to coach. In 2001, No. 11 Temple blew out No. 3 Florida in the second round. In 2002, No. 12 Creighton upset No. 5 Florida. In 2003, No. 7 Michigan State hammered No. 2 Florida in the second round. After the Manhattan loss in 2004, Donovan examined his staff and realized he needed more basketball expertise. He demoted assistant coach and recruiting ace Tommy Ostrom and brought in Larry Shyatt to aid with Xs and Os. Soon things began to change. Donovan is 26-5 in the NCAA tournament since, including two national titles.”
David Thorpe of ESPN Insider on Donovan making the college-to-pro transition: “It totally depends on the coach. If you’ve got a guy coming in who’s a Bruce Pearl-type, who’s larger than life, who thinks he’s the show, yes, you’re going to have a pretty knee-jerk reaction from players. He’s just very low-key. He’s very hard-working, too. That’s going to play very well there. This is not a guy who is going to talk the talk and then leave the building. The bigger challenge will be when he’s faced with the timeout. Forget about pregame, they’ll be prepared pregame. At a timeout, players are very quickly evaluating what is your command of the huddle? He’ll have a great command of the huddle. The next question is: What’s your content? What are you doing? What are you adjusting to? What are you coming up with? The players are looking at that.”
Thorpe also had some really interesting thoughts on THTV.
Berry Tramel: “Ideal fit. There’s the catchphrase. That’s why Brooks no longer is the coach and Donovan is. Presti came to believe that Brooks, once the ideal fit for a youthful Thunder squad that was ascending, no longer was. So Presti went looking for a fit for the current Thunder. This Thunder team has supreme talent and depth. It needs precise direction. It needs someone who works closely with Presti in terms of franchise belief.”
Adrian Wojnarowksi of Yahoo: “Several NBA coaches who know Donovan well believe he has the perfect blend of acumen and humility to make the transition to the pros. Pitino had two fatal flaws in his doomed run as emperor of the Boston Celtics: He was too impulsive with personnel decisions; and too vain to accept that the players are the stars. NBA coaching is increasingly technical and data-driven and management wants to construct strategies and styles around the percentages. Nevertheless, this is still a job of leading men too. Donovan bridges both components, and it’s why NBA teams have come again and again for him.”
Rob Mahoney of SI.com: “With that possibility looming, it should be fascinating to see just how much Donovan veers from what OKC finds familiar. He was hired as a replacement for a coach who had done well, after all—suggesting that the Thunder see room to improve somewhere in the difference between Donovan and Brooks. The trouble is the timeline. If Donovan had years to install his own systems and bring the Thunder up to speed (as is so often necessary for a team to really hit its stride), he would be afforded much more creative agency. As it stands, however, he’ll have to introduce whatever new concepts he can, play a single season free of major injuries, and be fully expected to contend for a title right away.”
Pat Forde of Yahoo on the impact of Donovan leaving college basketball: “Donovan is on the very short list of the best coaches in college hoops – has been for a while, and could have been for another 15-20 years if he had chosen to stay at Florida. Every bit as significant is what he means to his peer group and his conference. In former Butler coach Brad Stevens and Donovan, college basketball has lost its last two coaches under 50 who have made multiple Final Four appearances. Donovan is barely under that wire, turning 50 in late May, but the point remains that the top of the college coaching profession is not getting any younger.”
Rick Pitino on Donovan making the jump and what worries him: “I don’t. I’m as confident in Billy as a person as anyone I’ve ever been around. I was around Jeff Van Gundy as a young guy, Jim O’Brien and Brett Brown when he was young. With everyone I’ve worked with in my entire life, I’m the most confident in him. Forget about the X’s and O’s, it’s more about the type of person he is, the quality of character — he’s an extremely hard worker. I’ve never been around anyone like Billy in my entire life.”
