Tuesday Bolts – 6.2.15
Florida AD Jeremy Foley to USA Today: “He’s had plenty of opportunities, so it wasn’t, ‘I’m going to be a successful college coach who’s going to cross over.’ I just think Oklahoma City presented a cultural thing to him. Time will tell. A lot of college coaches have gone up there and have not been successful. … Billy, obviously, we all want him to have great success. I want him to be the next Phil Jackson, Red Auerbach. I want Billy to win every game. But if he doesn’t, he’ll be back in college. That’s kind of what’s happened — Rick Pitino, John Calipari, Mike Montgomery, Lon Kruger.”
Kevin Pelton of ESPN Insider: “Going from good to great is really difficult. The Warriors made that leap with Kerr, who improved an already-solid defense but oversaw an even more impressive leap on offense. The Thunder are hoping to get the same impact from Billy Donovan. For second-tier teams looking to take the biggest step of all, it’s important to consider this lesson on balance. When you look to a new coach to get over the hump, you don’t want the guy who goes plummeting over the other side. You want the one who can balance on top.”
Kyle Singler talked Billy Donovan and his future with OKC.
Bradford Doolittle of ESPN Insider: “Hoiberg is similar to Kerr in a number of key ways. He favors up-tempo, free-flowing offensive basketball that is not only aesthetically pleasing to watch, but is friendly to those who delve in analytics. Like Kerr, Hoiberg has NBA front office experience, having worked his way up in Minnesota’s front office after retiring as a player. Like Kerr, he’s also a former Bulls player who was a knock-down 3-point shooter.”
(Note: I was pro-Hoiberg for the Thunder job. We’ll see how this works out for both OKC and the Bulls.)
A 2008 re-draft. Russell Westbrook goes No. 1 and the Thunder get Derrick Rose.
Bob Stoops on Billy Donovan: “Billy’s a great coach, he’s got great experience and he’s a great person. I was very excited. I was glad it worked out. Actually had a chance to visit with him at length, I think, the night before he accepted it. I’m really glad he’s here, and Christine. Of course I shared all the positives about Oklahoma. I expressed that I thought it’d be a great fit. I wanted to express to him all the positives of being in Oklahoma City and Oklahoma. I believe in that. Also, I figured moving his family from Gainesville to here is probably easier than New York, Miami, somewhere that could be a little different.”
Dakota Schmidt of Ridiculous Upside on Semaj Christon: “Another way that Christon had a positive effect on the OKC Blue was through his work as a facilitator. Although he’s still considered as a score-first guard, Christon displayed pretty solid court vision, which he mainly showcased while he was on the move. In the process of driving to the paint, he can either kick it out to a perimeter opponent or a big that’s also working towards the rim. Over the course of the season, Christon averaged 5.7 assists per game, which is an average that continued to grow as the season went. During OKC’s brief two-game stint in the playoffs against Santa Cruz, he averaged 9 assists per game, as he did whatever he could to prevent the team from being eliminated.”
