Billy Donovan Quotations | Page 2

I went off pretty good at halftime. I was getting frustrated watching balls go up from the 3-point line when guys are standing in the post with a 6-6 guy guarding them. They finally got the message.

I was concerned about trying to double him. I wanted him to score and to take those other guys out of the game the best we could. It worked out for us.

I was a defensive stopper. I shut guys down. I didn't shoot much.

I was concerned. I just wanted to get through that stretch even and not to have to bring our big guys back in and get more foul trouble. I thought that Garrett and Brett came in and actually did a pretty good job for us.

I respect and appreciate him for coming across the country and playing at Florida. I think Ryan being away from his family and not playing as much was tough on him, and he saw that (since graduated guard) Anthony Roberson was coming back.

I said to those guys, we're doing a thing now and I'm probably going to be asked some questions beforehand and/or after and I said what I would like to do is say something. They were like, 'Yeah, yeah Coach, that would be great.' Now the whole thing they did I didn't know. I just told them I was going to paint a picture and say I don't know what those guys' futures were.

Stan has done a great job. People don't understand how hard this league is. Arkansas' loss at Ole Miss was not a bad loss. Ole Miss is a very good, well-coached team.

Statistically, that was the key to the game. We shoot 49 percent on the road, you're not going to get much better than that.

Playing at a neutral site, you can throw all of the seeds out the window.

Playing hard and playing passionately isn't good enough to win.

Part of it is youthfulness, but the one thing about the kids is that they're in every game.

Our options are getting smaller and slimmer. We've got to make due with what we've got. We've had some things we've had to deal with.

Our margin for error is small. We are not more talented than any team we play against.

I was a little concerned with our foul trouble and our turnovers late. In the second half we did a much better job of taking care of the basketball.

I think what George Mason has done this NCAA tournament has been a milestone and a breakthrough in college basketball. There's been so many programs that have been close. ... I just think in my opinion right now, when you talk about the word 'mid-major' or you talk about the word 'major,' there's no more of that to me. I think those days are over with.

Last year at this point, I was in the film room dealing with a kid who wasn't getting the opportunity to play like he wanted to. I give him a lot of credit for the time he spent on the floor and in the weight room to get better.

I think sometimes when you win people think you're not challenged, but I don't necessarily agree with that. (Wake Forest and Syracuse) were won by five points, then we went to Miami and with two minutes to go in the game the score was tied. Sometimes people think if you win, it's been all easy. I think our guys have had to grind out games and find ways to win some games. I'd rather learn through winning than losing.

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.

Our guys have done a pretty good job so far of keeping a level of humility and trying to get better each day.

Our guys have really tried to work hard at it.

Our guys have to be able to handle that pressure. There are a lot of distractions. There is a lot of tugging and a lot of things you have to deal with that are different from the regular season. I want them to enjoy where they are at because it is the pinnacle of college basketball to get to this point. At the same time, you have to keep the focus there and put yourself in position to play the best basketball.

Our guys needed to be taught why we were losing, what was causing them to lose. I wanted them to see this is what we're giving up, and we're losing in overtime, we're losing by two or three points. Imagine if we shore this up, how good we can be.

Our kids just kept battling and playing hard. I mean, to win a championship game and not even get to 50 points is truly remarkable.

It hasn't been just this game. It's been all year long. These guys stay focused. It's been a unique and special group.

It hasn't come up in any conversations we've had.

I thought last year's team that we played, they were by far the most physical team we played against. They're even more physical than they were a year ago.

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.

I think the difference in the game was the three-point line.

It is an emotional, draining year. And that's always a concern for you as a coach, especially when you are dealing with guys who go through it for the first time.

It is a one-shot game, one-shot deal. Sometimes the ?best' teams don't always advance on in the NCAA tournament. That's why there are so many ups and downs, and that's why there are upsets, because there is one game. One game, you don't play well that particular night, you are going to go home.

I think the media, it gets bigger and bigger with the Final Four.

I think the tournament is wide open. Is it any more wide open than in years past? It's hard to say, but I just think on a neutral site with the way this league is anything can happen on any given night.

I think a year makes a difference in a player.

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.

Right now Tennessee and LSU on both sides are the teams that have been the most consistent.

Right now, Tennessee is a team that's in control of its destiny.

Our schedule has been balanced. There are generally times when you have to play those guaranteed games. You wonder what it does to the mindset of your players, but we've played on the road at Providence and Miami and up in New York against Syracuse and Wake Forest. I think we've been tested.

Our starters didn't play a lot of minutes, and it was good to see us score as many points as we did with those guys not playing. For our team right now, playing this midweek game before getting back into the (Southeastern) conference at Tennessee (Saturday) was good for us.

Our team battled through the adversity of the game. They battled through not shooting the ball, and we found a way, defensively, to win the game.

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.

Our basketball team this year has played with energy; they've played with passion and enthusiasm. And this time of year, those things will keep you around and keep you in the game, but they're not good enough to win the game.

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.

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.

Our bench really did some good things, some encouraging things.

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.

I think I'm going to have to look at some things from the recruiting standpoint. We have not had the level of continuity in this program like Kentucky has had, in terms of having three, four seniors every year.

I still feel it's a learning and growing process for our guys. I'm shocked, unbelievably surprised, that we're 23-6. We've obviously lost a lot of close games, but if you would have told me that Brewer would be out for a stretch and Lee Humphrey would have a separated shoulder, I would have told you we would have had some problems.

I still feel like the kids in our program could get a whole lot better and could improve. And I think another year in college for those guys, or two, would prove to be valuable to them, rather than someone taking a chance or an opportunity, and those guys sitting on the bench and not having a chance to develop.

I was getting frustrated watching balls go up from the three-point line, when those guys are standing 1-on-1 in the post with a guy 6-6 guarding them. It's hard sometimes. I'm constantly preaching to (Green and guard Lee Humphrey), 'When you're open, let it go.' Sometimes you have to change your thought processes.

I was hopeful going into second half. I thought maybe they were starting to get a little worn down. We were hopeful maybe their shots wouldn't go in and maybe they wouldn't rebound as well.

I think hitting his first shot helped him. It was great to see Lee mix up his game. Lee took a step in that he found other ways to help our team win when he wasn't hitting his 3-pointers.

I think the one thing that should be talked about more is our guys' will and passion to win. They've really stayed focused on winning. ... We really didn't get a lot of breaks. We had to grind it out and find a way to win.

I think it was a great experience for our players. Obviously, it's hard to prepare for the White House on such short notice, but I think they enjoyed themselves on the trip.

I think it was a shock to his system. He had always been a part of things, and then he wasn't.

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

I think we have to earn our way right now. We've done nothing here at the end of the season. ... We have to go out there and prove ourselves. I think that we're in the same exact boat that we were in before the season started. We've lost some games. We've got to re-establish ourselves.

I think we have a different group of kids. They're having too much fun and enjoy playing together too much.

I think we've got a different group of kids. I believe in my heart that all those guys will be back. They're having too much fun, they're enjoying playing together too much.

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

I think you can (take) seeding in the SEC and NCAA Tournament and throw it out the window. If you're not a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the first round, to me there is no real big advantage. And I think sometimes people get wrapped up in a seed and say the higher seed should win.

I think you can take seeding in the SEC and NCAA Tournament and throw it out the window. If you're not a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the first round, to me there is no real big advantage. And I think sometimes people get wrapped up in a seed and say the higher seed should win.

I think you could see how hard it is to play back-to-back nights. I didn't like our defensive intensity in the first half. In the second half, we did a much, much better job.

I thought Chris Lofton had a phenomenal night. He made some very difficult shots with people hanging on him. But that is the type of shooter he is, so you have got to give him a lot of credit. We (Florida) did a pretty good job defending them - they only shot 31 percent from the 3-point line - but he certainly made tough ones.

I thought Corey Brewer's injury, when it happened, was a major problem. I never anticipated him coming back in the game. But that is the type of competitor he is.

I thought Corey was very focused. I thought the most valuable lesson he may have learned tonight was he hit some shots early and you started to see him involved in other areas of his game. He was able to affect the game in a lot of different ways.

I think in the SEC tournament if you can get a bye that's always a great thing. It's certainly very hard playing four consecutive games in a row to win an SEC championship.

I think in this tournament, they've been able to inspire a lot of different people, people that maybe are really, really in need. I heard Jim talk about some stories of some people and the letters he's gotten. To me, that's what his team has been all about.

It is so hard when you have departures all the time to stay at the highest level. It's almost like coaching junior college now, and people want to level to stay up high.

I was a little bit concerned just because he was throwing up, and it was several times throughout the course of the night. He didn't get very much sleep.

I think it probably means something to their players because they understand what they're representing. A lot of times, it's the past players that they know are watching them that gives them a level of expectation of the way they're supposed to perform. I think that's a good thing for a program.

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.

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.

I thought tonight was going to be about offense. Who could attack each other's defense better.

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 thought there were times (against South Carolina) when guys created off the dribble and didn't find him. I thought he should have gotten up 10 or 11 shots. There was three or four or five times when our guys missed him. Our team has got to do a better job of recognizing when he's open and getting him the basketball.

I thought the key to the game was the three-point line. They were shooting 32 percent for the year but shot 42 percent in the tournament. We knew the three-point line would be critical.

I thought the release by one of them there in the second half at the end of the game, his follow through did not look good on it and it came up short. Lee was in here (Sunday) night getting shots up. I've obviously got to be intelligent here because I've got a player burden in Brewer and we're down to eight scholarship guys. It's not like every day Lee can run and bang and go up and down the floor.

I thought we had some good looks, some good plays.

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.

We don't have the luxury of making a mistake on the backboard, and we make mistake after mistake. For every time one of our guys gets praise for blocking a shot, when they don't, they give up position by leaving the floor too early.

I would love to start Moss. Unless he tells me he doesn't want to start, I would like to start Moss.

I would like to enjoy what just happened for a while. This is a milestone in our school's history.

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.

With the teams we're playing and the stretch we have the next seven days, these guys need to get to a crossroad. Their backs are against the wall. They're either really going to try to do those things, or they're going to put themselves in a position where we can't play to the best of our ability.

We're not at all telling our guys when the shot is up, you need to block shots. We're more concerned about challenging shots and then being able to block out and rebound to start the break. That's where our focus has been.

We just didn't think he was right for us.

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

We could have prevented them from storming the floor at Arkansas, you know? Win the game. We could have prevented them from storming the floor at Tennessee. Win the game. . . . The only thing I would be concerned about is the safety of our guys.

I was really happy for Adrian, especially after the game he had at South Carolina (no points, two turnovers in two minutes. It allowed our starters to get a little bit of a breather.

The 3-point line is a great equalizer in college basketball.

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

You have to do a great job evaluating those kids maybe in the top 25 to 100. So we could (eventually) have some junior and senior classes.

I was really hoping no one saw that, ... Thank God he didn't have any rings on. Wrong place at the wrong time. He got me pretty good, too.

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.

That's the one thing we don't know. That's the big question right now is this something that gets prolonged into the end of February, the beginning of March. Right now, we're hopeful that it's not going to be that situation.

My biggest thing with the crowd coming on the court was just in terms of the players' safety. It looks good on TV, but you're always concerned or worried that there is going to be some type of altercation.

We have not faced anything close or remotely like this team.

When it comes to being around the media or adults or people who look at him differently he's very shy and very cautious, ... If he doesn't know you it takes a while for Jason to trust you.

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 realize the toughest stretch of the season is here.